Dementia and Swallowing

cwillie, GardenArtist, thanks for the advise.

However, my mom will not do any of the above. She likes orange juice, ginger ale and water. She sips one sip at a time. But it's how she sits when she drinks. She won't listen to me so she does things her way and I don't want to argue with her because she gets aggressive.

GardenArtist, we have an appt for her coming up and I am definitely going to mention this to her doctor. It's not food she chokes on, it's only liquids. I cut her food up in small pieces so that won't be an issue. And she actually does pretty good with sandwiches. I make her tuna, salmon and turkey ad she loves those options.

So, we'll figure something out. She doesn't even like sneezing anymore. She reacts the same way as if she's choking...she fights the motions natural to stopping it. Not sure why.

I have found that poptarts broken into pieces provide some solid food, because the "filling" is a liquid, and my mother can eat that broken into pieces and hand fed, as a good snack with some sips of coffee.

I have watched my mum slowly go from bad to worse. She now lives with me after only a few months since being told her brain is srinking, this is called dementia. It's been 2.5 yrs now, mum hasn't spoken for 2yrs has been completely bed bound for the past 2 yrs. she has had normal food to blending food to now protein milk shakes and nothing else. Shakes have been for 8 mths now. Her swollening is getting harder and harder and each feed time it's heart breaking. I have read up and can now only guess my mothers throats has started and will close. I had hoped one morning my mum would of past in her sleep, the easier way for us her family watching but I fear she will stop completely on the shakes and starve, it's says the DN would put her on the pathway to help her sleep pain free until she passes. Dehydrated and starved. This will be the most trying time of all for both myself and daughter to have to wait and watch. I choose to look after mum 3 yrs ago and feel to quit now would make the last 3 yrs a waste of time. What if she new she was being taken from the house, what if she died all alone in a strange place. I don't believe that they are in dementia 24/7 as only this week I was cutting my mums nails as she handed me each finger as I finished the other one.

Anyway I feel a weight off my Trouble mind just for putting pen to paper,

Thank you ❤️

Mich, instead of worrying that she will be "dehydrated and starved" understand that she will no longer feel hunger or thirst (although she may be more comfortable if you were to moisten her mouth if it is dry), in fact forcing food and drink on someone at that stage is more cruel because it causes pain and distress.

I went to a Teepa Snow conference this winter - she explained why dementia patients don't want to eat or why they pull back in the later stages. One reason may be that, as the disease progresses, their vision narrows to tunnel vision, so when you try to feed them, it catches them by surprise and they pull back. She shows techniques that cue the body and mind that it is going to be fed. In this link, she shares more information on how to understand what's going on when the patient is not swallowing properly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNPAESrllgQ Teepa Snow is a great resource.

My sister, who has Alzheimers, does not want a person to come into her home and help with meals and housework. She says that is for "old" people and she isn't old yet (78). Her husband tries to take care of her but she doesn't want to eat very much so we wanted someone to come in 3-4 day a week. I live nearby and can do the other days. Should we force this on her or just do the best we can helping her. She can still get angry at you so we hate to insist on this.

Swallowing is actually a complex activity, and it's typical that swallowing difficulties occur in brain diseases. Your doctor can refer you to a speech therapist. They are the ones that help people with dysphasia.

jcrowley, what kind of help are you looking for? Have you considered meals on wheels? She may also eat more if offered small snack sized portions throughout the day vs a few bigger meals.

We lost Dad when he started having trouble swallowing. He had a speech therapist, and when I asked, said he was having trouble. But I ate with him frequently, and never noticed him struggling or choking. I actually thought he just wanted more attention. He did get a cough a couple months later,and I took him to the Dr. who said it was a virus, and not pneumonia. He was wrong, and Dad had aspiration pneumonia, which quickly developed into sepsis. Lost him in 4 days.

Mitch6666 It's time for at home hospice.

Jcrowley1 it might be time to start introducing more softer meals, even pureed meals.

There are now more details, Scientists have taken detailed images of one of the proteins involved in Alzheimers Disease for the first time! I found the article under the Health section of www.newsgrit.com

We all need to know that dementia patients move towards sweet things to eat as savoury puts the taste of meltalic in mouth. I have looked after my mum 3.5 yrs she only eats kids yogurts, but loads of them.last night the muscle stopped working in her throat. Now is the hardest time of all.