My husband with Alzheimer’s has lost ten lbs this past year. He always says he isn’t hungry except for English muffins and coffee in the morning. If I put dinner in front of him, he will eat part of it but still says he isn’t hungry. What has anybody done to stimulate appetite ?
My MIL has not eaten more than 500 calories a day, usually only >300 for the last 8 MONTHS and she's still alive.
Any time anyone (mostly SIL) pushed her to eat more, she will do it, then she vomits. She just does not need the fuel anymore.
A 10 lb weight loss over a year is very slow. Even my MIL, to my best knowledge, has stopped losing weight and has stabilized on what's basically a starvation diet.
I drank Boost when I was having intestinal problems. I put it in the freezer for about an hour till it thickened up. It gets like a milkshake. The colder this stuff is, the better tasting.
A woman in my caregivers support groups mom who lived to be 103 and had dementia, said that her mom lived on chocolate, cashews and ice-cream for the last 5 years of her life.
If I live to be that old, I wouldn't mind that diet myself.
I know that there are medications that can be given to stimulate his appetite, but in all honesty why would you want to do that? Let him just eat and enjoy whatever he wants to in this final journey of his life.
Just do what you can, and don’t worry.
No, I don't know how to stimulate the appetite, only to make things easier to swallow and digest. I hope that other posters can answer your actual question. But please remember my comments.
Wishing you all the best.