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My mother in law is 80 years old and has Alzheimers for last 5 years. She is in moderate stage now with aggression, confusion and short term memory loss. She is highly diabetic and loves drinking juice and bananas and we hide it from her. But in the last month or so, she has lost interest in it. I also notice she is not eating as before. She takes iron tablets, so her poop has always been black and small for the last few years. Her tummy has suddenly increased in the last couple of weeks, inspite of reduced eating. She wears a size 14 that fitted atleast 2 weeks ago, but when we tried the same size now, it doesnt fit and then we bought the next size and it doesnt fit. A month back we found a little blood in her underwear and took her to the doc but the UTI tests came out fine and doctor said an ultrasound for bowel was not needed. Is this type of bloating common in Alzheimer's patients?

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She needs to go to doctor find the source of this bloating
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The number of things this coukd be...ascites, enlarged uterus due to uterine cancer, fluid retention from a variety of causes.

Your call if you are in charge of mom's medical decisions.
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Lor1234 Dec 2020
Her uterus was removed several years ago..Yes, I will be taking her to the doc.
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Juice can contain a lot of fructose, sometimes added sucrose (ordinary sugar) as well. It’s far less healthy than most people think. Could someone be giving her orange juice without your knowledge?

Blood in her underwear might be more likely to be a bowel problem than a Urinary Tract Infection (I’ve had several UTIs, but never blood). It could be from a gut irritation, but could also be bowel cancer growing very quickly, hence the bloating. It is possible that her GP thought there was nothing useful to be done, in view of her age and other problems. Alternatively, perhaps it would be worth getting a second opinion. My mother had metastatic cancer through her tummy, radical surgery, lots of pain, huge medical bills, and died three months later. I wish we had had ‘do nothing’ advice, don’t assume it’s incompetence.
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Lor1234 Dec 2020
We insisted on a bowel ultrasound last month but the doc was adamant in not doing so and we were wondering why. Probably also because we are in Canada and because of Covid, probably doctors could be focusing more on treating Covid rather than burden the system with other procedures. But we have telephoned the doc again going to ask for an ultrasound. My MIL lives with us and there is noone giving her juice here at home. I know her eating habits well and have noticed lack of interest in foods that she used to like previously and constant complaints of food, especially its bitter and not tasty
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Go back to the doctor without delay.
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You say these changes happened and you took her to the doctor a month ago? And since then there is no demonstable change?
It can be normal to have more belly fat accumulating in the female after age 50. You are also mentioning dark stools which makes me know that you recognize there can be a danger of occult blood turning stools dark; being on iron can mask finding here, but the doctor will have tested for blood in her stool and the UTI.
Given her visit a bowel obstruction is likely ruled out with good bowel sounds, passing flatus, and having stools.
There can be accumulating fluid in the abdominal area with right sided heart failure also; is there any increase in swelling of lower extremities.
It seems to me you are doing proper followup and checking in with the doctor. While this concerns you this is a good idea, and if you continue to be concerned another visit to MD is appropriate. He is your best guide with anything concerning that falls into the medical sphere. Wish you good luck. You seems to me to be on top of this, and seeking medical help. That's about what you can do.
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Go to the doctor. My dad had that happen, and it was liver cancer. I had to take him to the hospital to be drained every week for a month. It was his only symptom before he was diagnosed.
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Could be any number of things. There are several tests before an ultrasound may be warranted. Bowel sounds, movements? Constipation can do this. A good gut clean out may be needed.
Lab tests- how is her white count? Protein and liver function levels? What is the status of electrolytes?
lastly, does she have any heart issues? Many women hide fluid retention in their gut. Could be she needs a good diuretic. Again, checking electrolytes could show potassium or sodium out of normal levels.
Ypu sound like a good advocate for her, so keep asking.
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This happened to my friend when her kidneys gave out and she was a juvenile diabetic. Once dialysis was started the bloatiness went away. If she has a diatetic dr I would call him.

From what I understand of bloating and the Liver, if cirrhosis, that is the last stage.
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