Dad has Alzheimer's and has lost all interest in food and is battling to understand the instruction to swallow. Advice?

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Nicolene Asked November 2015

Dad has Alzheimer's and has lost all interest in food and is battling to understand the instruction to swallow. Advice?

This has happened very very suddenly.

Dad has had Alzheimers for about 15 years. Last week he vomited for a day. It seems to have really flattened him. He did not speak much and when he did nothing made sense - but now he does not at all. He doesn't even get agitated and grumpy as he used to late in the afternoon. He is very tired and hardly stays awake to be fed. He shows absolutely no interest in food, no matter how tempting, and when feeding him it seems like he is battling to swallow and does not seem to understand the instruction. I have stroked his chin to assist - with limited success. Should I be taking him to a doctor or is it possible to regress so fast suddenly? Don't know if a doctor would help because he not able to communicate what wrong. Any advice?

Alzheimer's & Dementia

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score 0 · Answer 1

I'm with Gardenartist on this, the fact that in came on suddenly makes me think there is something more than end stage dementia going on... my first thought was a bowel obstruction.

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score 1 · Answer 2

My Mom had the same problem. One of the effects of Alz is that they can forget how to swallow. But my Mom also lost interest in eating. It can be the body's natural way of beginning to shut down. We made the decision not to try to force my Mom to eat. We'd offer her food and if she didn't want it, we didn't try to feed her. I think consulting a doctor sounds best for you. Much love to you.

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score 0 · Answer 3

I should have added that I wondered about a stroke because of the speech and swallowing issues.

He could also have developed some kind of blockage that could also have caused the vomiting as well as the difficulty in swallowing. This could be an emergency situation.

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score 2 · Answer 4

Vomiting, not speaking much, speech incoherent, tired, no interest in food, difficulty swallowing....I wonder if he had a stroke.

I do think you should take him for treatment, but I'd go to the ER instead of getting a doctor's appointment. They can evaluate him quicker.

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score 0 · Answer 5

Hello Nicole;
Maybe, if you cook him, some tasty food, the most he likes, maybe we can notice any expression on his face, any sign of appetite.

On the advice of Daniel R Hoefer MD, and making foods more palatable with salt, and these tiny amounts of food. An example can be a small portion of Spanish paella maybe?
I would like to cook it for him.
Good luck!
A greeting .
Fernando M.

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score 0 · Answer 6

Thank you so much .... just downloading it now! Appreciate it.

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score 1 · Answer 7

Here's a link that I have found helpful. It provides a lot of information about late stage dementia patients, especially page 6 and then 15-26. I've had other posters say they found it helpful too.

avoidablecare/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Sharpe-Handbook-A-Caregivers-Guide-to-Advance-Dementia.pdf

A number of things could be causing the swallowing problem. The link above provides some information about that, but others here will likely also respond.

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Dad has Alzheimer's and has lost all interest in food and is battling to understand the instruction to swallow. Advice?

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