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CharK60 Asked September 2019

My 93 yo mom sometimes vomits spontaneously with little warning. Is there a cause for this?

My mom is 93 with a sound mind, controlled type II diabetes and not much else wrong with her.


Sometimes she suddenly throws up out of the blue, sitting in her chair when all is calm and quiet.


There are other times that she feels nauseous and refuses to eat. I give her a ginger ale and that settles her stomach for the time being.


She has in the past complained that she chokes on her saliva. Are these issues related?


She is not a big eater and often wants to skip dinner. She refuses to eat the six small meals that is recommended and doesn’t care for snacks. She often skips lunch without telling me. (She serves herself breakfast and lunch.)


Sometimes when I bring her dinner tray she claims she’s already had dinner: a yogurt and a pudding. No matter how many times I tell her that is not a meal, she will not accept it, and I have to insist that she eat her dinner.


She seems to be concerned about her weight. She pays close attention at the doctors office when they weigh her. She often refers to herself as “big” and says she can’t wear certain items because they are too small.


The reality is she is shrinking and l get new clothes that won’t sag open at the neck, for instance.


P.S. I have her make her two meals a day because when I have to go to doctor or grocery shop it takes me awhile because we don’t have a car. I want to know she is self sufficient in case I get waylaid going home. She doesn’t want babysitters.

lealonnie1 Sep 2019
It could be regurgitation......part of acid reflux. Regurgitation can come from out of the blue and even during sleep, which can cause aspiration pneumonia or even prove fatal. Citrus seems to be a huge aggravation to this condition so if she's eating oranges or grapefruits or drinking citrus juices, you may want to try eliminating them to see if she improves. Acid reflux is also aggravated by an empty stomach which your mom seems to have from skipped meals.
My mother is 92 and constantly going on about what's fattening and yada yada, which I've heard my whole life. Honestly, if I NEVER hear such garbage again it'll be a day too soon.
I hope you can get mom in for some tests to see what's happening. Of course, if she refuses to eat, only God knows how you fix ANY of this, tests or no tests.
CharK60 Sep 2019
Thanks Lealonnie,

She doesn’t have citrus very often and a glass of cold orange juice can be a real treat, but so is cranberry juice and others so I’ll limit her on the citrus.

She has has been prescribed omeprazole but then the doctor takes it away again. I’ve been reading how much damage it can do so I go along.

I wonder if the old stomach remedies could help like tagamet and Zantac?

You all have put in perspective what might be going on-especially when I look at her not wanting to eat because she has “in-DI-gestion.”

Thanks very much.

Charlotte
Grandma1954 Sep 2019
I agree a swallow test would be a good place to start.
This might also be a "mental" issue where she may be anorexic or bulimic. A talk to her doctor might be something to consider. I would also suggest that they convert the scale to metric so she can not focus on her weight as it would be difficult to convert (at least it is for me) to pounds. Not sure if they would do this but if she has been pretty consistent in her weight could they not get her weight each time? It is so easy to focus on that and if she is not over weight or underweight is there a need to get the weight each time?
If she had been overweight at any time in her life, or underweight this might be a time that she is thinking back to and making important in her life now.
CharK60 Sep 2019
The necessity is because she wants to know lol. She can be sick and barely moving but she’ll get up and stand by herself to get weighed.

Shes nit not obsessed with it yet but I should watch for that probably.

Thanks for the the heads up!

Charlotte

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AlvaDeer Sep 2019
She needs to have a swallow evaluation by professionals. If that goes well then she needs MD to check her out for certain.There can be spasming and/or narrowing of the tube from mouth to stomach, or problem with valves; even gastric reflux can cause this. The problems with the saliva makes me think you should start with swallow eval. This is usually done by OT, Occupational or Physical therapy departments. Definitely time to pass this past her doctor.
CharK60 Sep 2019
We did talk to her doctor about choking on her saliva and decided on self help as we have agreed to no invasive tests since we know we won’t be doing any procedures.

If it’s all related, I Guess I need review those self help measures.

Thanks for your advice.

Charlotte
freqflyer Sep 2019
CharK60, have your Mom see her primary doctor to check to see if the cause is acid reflux. Keep a food log of what Mom eats.

You can try to remove from her meals tomatoes, tomato sauce, oranges, grapefruit, chocolate, coffee, cola, onions, even mints that can trigger acid reflux.

I realize Mom needs numerous small meals during the day, but at 94 years old, unless she is doing manual labor, she won't be very hungry, plus at her age one tends to lost their sense of taste, except for sweet items. That happened with my parents at that age.

Again, check with Mom's doctor.
CharK60 Sep 2019
Thank you very much. I appreciate your input. Good ideas.

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