Eating disorder.

I’ve seen this happen.

People can lose their appetite for a lot of reasons. Sometimes it’s the side-effect of medicines, or losing sense of taste, or getting a metallic sense of taste, or stomach problems, or pain after eating…

My relative must be forced (strongly encouraged). After eating, she’s always happy she did; feels better with food in her stomach.

Every case is different.

Hi Eddie. A poor appetite and loss of interest in food is common with the dementias. You'll have to figure out which colors, textures and flavors appeal to your wife now and offer her small portions of food 6x a day at least. Don't be surprised if she begins to prefer sweets.....thats What normally happens. Don't rely on her doctor for much of anything......they use guesswork more than any other "scientific" evidential based or useful info for caregivers. We learn more from one another than we do from doctors who are still scratching their heads about brain disorders.


Here is a useful link to an article discussing this topic at length:

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-support/daily-living/poor-appetite-dementia#:~:text=A%20person%20with%20dementia%20may%20lose%20interest%20in%20food.,loss%20and%20less%20muscle%20strength.

If I recall, your wife is sort of fixated with healthy eating and the like, which really isn't helpful in this situation. She can likely convince herself that everything is "bad" and start withering away. I suggest you offer her a "healthful" smoothie with high calorie protein powder ( u can buy on Amazon) with a banana and frozen berries (good antioxidants) and anything else you can think to throw into the blender like flax seed and Greek yoghurt. She may like such a thing, it's worth a try. Experiment. Maybe she likes crunchy food this week and pastas next week.


Best of luck.

As my mom declined she lost the taste for things she had always loved. She was a vegetarian but began to dislike all her favorite dishes. I think, in her case, she could not swallow easily. We did give her an appetite enhancer but it did not have the impact we had hoped. I tried new foods that she historically did not like and some of those worked.

I did forget about whether the food was healthy. She was 93 and I was focused on getting calories in her. She loved sweets.

I would try new items to see if they work. Try different textures, drinks with calories. Mom liked Ensure juice. I had read that a colored plate helps them see their food better. I bought red plates and made sure the portions were small as to not overwhelm her.

You may want to speak with your doctor about a med to increase her appetite. While it did not work for me, some folks on this forum have had good results.

I wish you success. It is very hard to watch your loved one refuse to eat.

My mom was skin and bones because she claimed that she wasn’t hungry. Her clothes started falling off of her.

I made smoothies often for her. She seemed to enjoy drinking more than actually eating.

My grandmother lost her appetite when she got older. Some older people don’t want to eat a whole lot. My grandmother was happy with a boiled egg and one piece of toast for her dinner. Possibly a cup of soup for lunch.

Mom and grandma were excellent cooks in their younger years.

seeing too much food can be turnoff .. not for me.. :/

protein shakes..

ice, frozen fruit blueberries, strawberries.. Trader Joe’s has mixtures;, some frozen peas.. not much..ensure, and I add a tablespoon oh whey powder too..
blend it..
if she likes a banana.. add it.. no wrong creating something fun to eat.
Another friend sent me muscle milk.. chocolate.. it tasted great in the shake.

Greek yogurt is good.. it’s not too thick. If she has had a swallow test, then you can thin it out with a bit of milk, juice, or water.. you can mix ensure into it to make it different consistency, liquidy.. experiment with it and try..
more soupy may be a better word …
its hard to keep these bodies going sometimes.
I know sometimes the brain will crave sugar/calories. …
Just try different things.. something might stick, and then the next day… forget it… that stuff is horrible!!!
Not fun…

1 technique I use, is tell my relative how many more spoons. Then she has a goal in her head.

“10 more spoons”, I say, as I feed her. I count. She knows it’ll come to an end at 10 (she really doesn’t like to eat).

Yes, problems with eating in both perception, likes/dislikes may change radically.
Not only that, but swallow may be affected and eating can become almost uncomfortable for some.

my Mom could Not taste or smell and she did Not want to eat. They No Longer taste things and food is No longer Pleasurable .

My MIL developed anorexia when her vascular dementia was causing weight loss, her mental illness issues may have played a role. She loved the weight loss and took great pride when people commented on how thin she had become.

Interestingly enough, my son, also with mental illness, has developed anorexia with his cancer.

Both had never had anorexia before, so it is possible to have an eating disorder develop in such situations.