What does it mean if an elderly parent is clammy, cold, unsettled, confused and pale?

Get him evaluated: Please get this patient to see his primary care doctor. Good luck!

Emergency evaluation: These symptoms sound very worrisome to me -- like someone ill and delirious, possibly toxic, infected, or having a medication side effect of some kind. Please don't wait until the next primary care doctor appointment time on this one -- get your parent to the er. Better safe than sorry.

Almost anything: Illness in elderly is different. Younger people have specific symptoms that correlate with disease: chest pain (heart), fever & cough (pneumonia), nausea-vomiting-diarrhea (intestinal), etc. Elderly response to almost any illness can be totally nonspecific: no fever, no pain, no cough etc, just confusion, lethargy, anorexia, malaise, etc. Doctors are taught this early on: it could be anything.

Very worrisome: These are the symptoms of shock. It may be that he/she is infected and septic, or have had a heart attack, stroke, bleeding on the inside or many more bad things. Get your parent to the er asap (call 911) unless they are very debilitated and dnr/hospice.