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Hi All


I am new to this as only been caring for my mother for the last 6 months.


She is diagnosed as mild/moderate Vascular dementia with Alzheimer's.


I wanted to know if anyone on the forum has any experience with the following.


She has been using 8 to 9 toilet rolls in a 24 hour period! Constant visits to the toilet! I don't think she actually does any thing on most occasions! She does not use the loo at night very much as sleeps quite well! Most of the visits are in the day time 6 to eight times an hour. She lives in an annex joined to our house, when she comes in with my wife & I on a Saturday night for a meal she very rarely uses the toilet & she is with us for about 3 to 4 hours.


We have a lady PA that comes in for 1 hour a day 5 days a week to give me a break & to shower her. The PA has noticed that my mother is constantly rubbing & drying her genital area with the toilet roll! Also on one visit the PA showered mother & dried her put her underpants on then left the room to get some more clothes. On her return to the bathroom mother had removed her underpants & was drying herself again with the towel.


I am really confused as to this strange behaviour! Also the water bill is getting very expensive & mother has blocked the toilet twice so far.


We have been to see her GP about it & to check for infection, not much help there! No infection.


Please help with any suggestions or if you have experienced any thing similar.


Many Thanks


Neil

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Make sure the PA checks her for infections, both urinary tract and skin infections in her genital area. It’s a long shot, though and chances are there are none. However, if there’s constant rubbing and wiping down there, the skin could be irritated and itchy which is only made worse by more “scrubbing”. A lot of these behaviors in our loved ones with dementia are caused by anxiety. These anxieties manifest themselves in repeated motions. Maybe a call to her doctor for an mild anti-anxiety Med might help.
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Can you limit her access to the toilet tissue rolls? Maybe give her one a day? Even that’s a lot though. Present it as what a waste of resources it is. The greatest generation were penny pinchers & maybe, just maybe, this may work.
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I agree about limiting her access to the tissue. Perhaps take the roll off the holder and place 6 or 7 sheets on the holder instead as opposed to the whole roll. Do this throughout the day. Just dole out toilet tissue as she needs it. She doesn't need an entire roll in one day. No one does.

I'm not sure you will be able to reason with her as her ability to reason is obviously impaired.
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My Mom counted the squares and stopped at 8. Everytime. Maybe you can teach Mom to count, Are you using a 500 ft roll, if so buy a 1000 ft brand.
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I was in the bathroom with Mom. She would run the water till it was warm, which took a while. I made her rinse as soon as she turned it on.
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I have tried giving mum just 2 toilet rolls a day. But when she ran out of them over night I found a tea towel in the trash bin with poo on it. She obviously needed something to wipe her butt with. Still searching for the right answer. Thank you for all of your replies.
Neil
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