My mother has changed her habits, what should I make of this?
My mother is not cleaning her house anymore. She was once very clean but has become very dirty and neglectful. She is also eating a lot and used to have very healthy eating habbits.
Eating a lot could be a symptom of several things, including memory loss and cognitive impairment. Dementia affects how the brain processes the body's information, so hunger or satiation may not be registering correctly. Or she forgot that she just ate, and is eating out of routine.
Please take her in to her doctor and stay in the exam room with her during the appointment. This way, you can tell the doc exactly what you're seeing in her home and behaviors. Ask to test her for a UTI, and other common problems, like thyroid, dehydration, vitamin deficiency. Once she is cleared of the presence of illness, then a better diagnosis of her cognition and memory is possible.
In the meantime, you need to keep an eye on her since she now seems less able to help herself. Once you sort things out medically, then you can make decisions about her care going forward.
You put your post under Alzheimer's & Dementia, so does that mean that your mother has been diagnosed with dementia? You don't give us much information to go on, but if she does have one of the many dementias it is very common that she would forget to clean her house and neglect her otherwise eating habits. And like already mentioned it sounds like there is some depression going on here as well which is also common with folks with dementia as they often are aware that their mind isn't what it used to be. I hope that she's not living alone or that she at least has some help coming in to assist her during the week. And of course if it's just not safe for her to be living at home anymore than it's time to be looking into placing her in the appropriate facility.
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Please take her in to her doctor and stay in the exam room with her during the appointment. This way, you can tell the doc exactly what you're seeing in her home and behaviors. Ask to test her for a UTI, and other common problems, like thyroid, dehydration, vitamin deficiency. Once she is cleared of the presence of illness, then a better diagnosis of her cognition and memory is possible.
In the meantime, you need to keep an eye on her since she now seems less able to help herself. Once you sort things out medically, then you can make decisions about her care going forward.
And like already mentioned it sounds like there is some depression going on here as well which is also common with folks with dementia as they often are aware that their mind isn't what it used to be.
I hope that she's not living alone or that she at least has some help coming in to assist her during the week. And of course if it's just not safe for her to be living at home anymore than it's time to be looking into placing her in the appropriate facility.
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Don’t know what to say about the eating. My mom did the opposite. She didn’t eat much at all.
Do you think that your mom is eating out of boredom or depression? Does she have a social life?
Can you fill in the blanks for us?
Best wishes to you and your mother.