My bedbound mom is incontinent of feces and has chronic UTIs. Anyone else have this problem as a caretaker?

If mom is bed bound, how do you know if mom has UTI? I’m in the same boat and my mom can’t talk and has a gtube.

D-Mannose capsules or powder will help. They can be purchased on Amazon or at a local drug store.

if the doc gives her antibiotics for the UTIs… be sure to ask about an anti fungal for yeast infections that typically follow on after.

Ladydiana777: You're going to have to change her diaper as often as is needed in the middle of the night. Which begs the question - perhaps she requires managed care facility living as you require sleep and especially since your mother suffers from dementia.

It’s hard for one person to handle the needs of your mom. Before you know it, you’ll be the one needing help. You need to get someone to come in at least 4 hours a day, whether it’s during the night or day in order for you to get some sleep. Overnight, 8 hours would be preferable as you need time to recharge. Speak with her doctor about a referral for home health nurse to evaluate your mom for a better routine system for you & what other options may be available to help her. Should be checked at least every two hours to maintain skin integrity and prevent infections. Have her drink lots of water. Would suggest getting rid of catheter and use a female urinal. You also need to spend time, on phone if not able to meet in person, with a friend or family member in order not to burn out. You also need to reposition her every 2-3 hours round the clock.

We keep Mom on her side(s), and leave the Diaper open so that the feces doesn’t get smushed up toward the vagina. I’ve also been wadding up a soft, dry wipe to form “barricades” to prevent it from reaching the sacral bandage as well as vagina. To prevent the top sheet from falling into the feces on the open diaper, we clip the sheet to the bed rails so that she is still covered up. We check her every 30 min at a minimum to see if she needs changing. The runny stool is from her tube feeding, and we’ve added Metamucil to give more consistency to the stool, and reduce frequency of BMs. Our issue is the bad rash / yeast infection on her buttocks that we are treating and providing lots of air exposure, anti fungal powder, and Nystatin cream.

Please speak with her PCP about your observations, needs and challenges with her care. Perhaps also request some form of in home care support ( hospice or non- hospice ) ; these professionals should also be helpful to offer you options and suggestions. If she is bedbound and incontinent of B & B, I would suggest you may want to explore having her assessed by hospice for potential hospice admit; this will provide her and you/ family with quality of life support.

There’s a prescription med that is preventative for uti. Have they considered catheter for her?

We had/have this problem with my mom too. She is capable of going to the bathroom and changing herself through even though she doesn’t always do it. The program that has worked well for us (as long as we can get her to follow it) is a pad that is made to be used with disposable underwear which is changed every 2.5-3 hrs during the day wet or not. If her disposable is wet of course that is changed too, this way she has a fresh clean set up next to her skin at least 6 times a day oh and always fresh Depends and pad before bed. She also has special wipes that are larger and sturdier than normal ones which she is supposed to use every time she uses the bathroom (changes) and she is reminded to wipe front to back and dispose. Then we added Medimucil at the same time each day 11am and her bowel movements are like clock work which is a huge help. Plenty of water, D-mannose (no idea if this helps) and a prescription maintenance med that isn’t actually an antibiotic but I guess acts like one (?) Hiprex. It’s been working for us, thank goodness!

Have you tried booster pads made especially for fecal incontinence?

Try witch hazel wipes. You can get them at CVS. They do work.

Personally I would look at nursing home care. She needs constant changes and perhaps a low dose antibiotic daily . My moms assisted living checks her during the night. My mom went on low dose Keflex and the utis stopped. She is incontinent of urine.. Good Luck. PS: D-Mannose did not work for my mom.

My mom is in a nursing home and struggled with frequent uti’s. She has a catheter and fecal incontinence. A friend told me about D-Mannose. We use the “Now” brand that’s organic. She is given it daily. It took about a month or two of being on it and now no more uti’s. Also very important that she is drinking lots of fluids.

HI. I look after my mother who is double incontinent. With vascular dementia. We have had the GP refer us to the incontinence team. They have given us the correct creams and pads to use. They also check her skin to prevent sores developing. When she has a UTI she us put on antibiotics . I'm in the UK

I am caring for my bedbound husband who has dementia and I check his diaper every hour during the day and 3 hrs at night. I change him whenever I see him wet or soiled. I don’t have much sleep because I get up every 3 hrs during the night to change him. Even with this regimen, he has UTI once in a while. I wonder if changing your mom more frequently would reduce UTI.

My MIL's doctor prescribed a small dose of an antibiotic to be taken daily to prevent UTIs. It did work for her.

Cranberry juice does not help because it has sugar in it. Need to try cranberry tablets and a probiotic. Also, needs to drink as much water as possible. A nurse on the forum swears by D-Mannose. It keeps bacteria from clinging to the sides of the urethra. So it washes away when she pees.

What medications is she on? Many medications can cause chronic UTI's.

Perhaps you're going to have to change her diaper every couple of hours(yes, even overnight)to prevent the UTI's. And make sure that right after she poops that she's being changed and cleaned up thoroughly; again even if it's overnight.

My late husband was completely bedridden for the last 22 months of his life. He was a morning pooper(for the most part)so I hired an aide to come in the morning to put him on the bedside commode so he could poop. When he was done, she would hold him up while I cleaned him up and put on a clean diaper, and then put him back in the bed.
So if you're noticing that your mom poops either in the morning, afternoon or night, you may want to either put her on the bedside commode yourself, or hire an aide to come and put her on it during that time.