Is eating only the same thing common for someone with dementia?

Hi. My experience with my Mom and Alzheimer's is that she would only eat grilled cheese sandwiches and crackers/cookies. She became unable to use the fork and spoon well, so she liked things she could pick up with her fingers. This is what we allowed her to do for her own happiness and comfort. Hope this helps.

I'm not sure if it's symptomatic of dementia as such, but it does seem to go with getting to old age and knowing what you like. The day my mother won't eat a smoked salmon sandwich I'll know she's ready to cash in her chips.

As long as your mother's fixed on something reasonably nutritious, I shouldn't worry. Slip her a common or garden variety multivitamin to cover any gaps and she'll be fine.

Hi. My father says that he don't like to eat something but I ask him to do me a pleasure and eat with me. Usually, he likes what he eats while he's eating. Than, he forgets. Tomorrow, we eat french fries & meat (his favorite meal), and day after I ask him if I can choose what we eat. Compromise. In circles. That's what I do and it works ;)

My father was that. Before the stroke, he would put sauer kraut and tomato catsup on everything. It got to the point that I could not eat with him because the food he put it in became very gross looking. My stomach literally would start heaving when I happened to see the food in his plate. Then he had his stroke. And he doesn't like anything that he used to love. At the moment, the only thing he wants to drink is the fiber grape drink or the chocolate almond milk (no milk in it). And he's gaining weight. And I dread him ever getting diabetes (runs in his family.) I think it's a phase. After a while, he's going to get tired of drinking the same thing over and over for months. His doctor said that he needs protein and Vit C in his nutrition. So, last night, I gave him apple juice. He really liked it. So, now, I've expanded his only 2 fluids to now 3. I need to go now and Google on what food I can give him that has protein and is Soft to chew.

My mother is 86, fairly healthy and seems to be having some minor memory problems. She lives with me in a very small inlaw apt attached to my house with no stove but toaster oven, microwave and fridge. When I am home to cook dinner she eats what we are having if not her go to substitute is Jones microwavable sausage, egg and cheese on an english muffin for dinner for the 7 years she has been with me.

Bookluvr - I have a milk problem so I make a protein drink with Spiru-tein. It has 16 grms of protein, comes in many flavors and can be ordered on-line. There are many other protein drinks available, but they all contain milk. That might be something your father would like if he doesn't like to chew.

My Mom had Alzheimer's. Until she went into a Memory Unit where she eats what is served she would only eat spaghetti or this sausage/onion/peppers meal with rice that my Dad prepared. He got tired of cooking the same thing every night but that is all she wanted. When they moved to Independent Living she ordered spaghetti all the time and would have had it for breakfast if it was offered. Before her illness she was a wonderful cook and always ate varied things. Also, her tasteds have changed. She used to LOVE lobster. Now she says she hates it and never ate it.

Thanks, Amott. Doc also said that he needs to stay away from dairy. My dad has a serious bedsore on his butt and rashes all over his body, with his skin flaking off all over. Doc said that he needs more Vit. C drinks (so I got apple juice, pomegranate drink, OJ, et... to tempt him) and protein - to help his body heal quickly. The protein is especially needed for his bedsore. He has cavities and refuses to go to the dentist. Hence his poor eating habits and being a picky eater. Thanks for giving me the tip. I will order it online and include it into his meals for protein.

Yes, this is very common. Especially, if someone is eating something they like. They may honestly forget they had it and keep eating it again. Or it could be something they saw on tv and now they keep thinking about that same meal.

my mom was diagnosed with vascular dementia yet only by the mini mental test alone which does not diagnose it. but she does like to eat the same things which would be the things she likes and she is always bickering that at the nursing home they do not give her proper vegetables or food . but what do you expect they say they are there to care for your loved ones and they really do not.

My 91 year old mother still largely eats foods in balance, although extremely small portions at this point. I often bring her several portions of something that I've made and she seems to enjoy it all (soups, slow cooker meals, etc.). But, I also have to say she has quite the sweet tooth and also a taste for the "other stuff" - ice cream, cake, cookies and candy and also too much popcorn & potato chips. The doctor and I have the same attitude at this point....there isn't anything she can/should eat, just let her have what she wants. So, that's what we do.....

I don't know if it's a sign of dementia, but Mom who is 93 is the same way. She will eat either grilled cheese or an egg sandwich for lunch. For dinner all she ever wants is chicken tenders and mashed potatoes. She would eat this every day if I let her! She was a very good cook, but doesn't remember anything she used to cook. She made wonderful Lasagne. Now she says " I would never cook that crap!" I hate Italian food!

Yes, my mom almost eats the same thing everyday. And thirty minutes later can't tell me what she has eaten. As long as they eat something is better than nothing I always call me mom when she eats now basically its usually at the same time everyday since she tells me she is in bed at 6:30PM :)

If you mom can get out I buy her gift cards to restaurants she likes and then she tells me she went out to eat

Too many choices only confuses them, even though the fish and sweet potatoes are good for her you really need to introduce new foods to her for a well balanced diet. If you know what some of her favorite foods were then start there. Maybe get her onto the ensure as it is designed for this type of problem. Try switching the fish for maybe chicken fingers with some carrot sticks or cucumber sticks, Good luck

My husband has terminal cancer. His appetite and taste for food has changed drastically. I formed a menu with at least 3 choices of prepared meals in the refrigerator. He then chooses from that menu. Each week I change the menu, I never leave out dessert! EB

At least her taste buds like something sweet and salty. This is usual. Heck, I will do this myself and I don't have dementia. I eat the one thing until I don't have a taste for it, and then I usually never touch it again. Let her eat whatever she wants as long as she eats. Don't sweat the small stuff because you have much more important things to worry about in the future.

Glad I read through these...MIL (91) has eaten so many chicken pot pies that to look at them almost makes me gag...has had the same cereal for breakfast every day since she's been here, now eating it dry and drinking the milk on the side to keep the mess and choking to a minimum...she does eat different things for dinner depending on what I cook...if it's going to be something that she has trouble chewing or if it's spicy she's right back to the chicken pot pie even if she is given several choices. if she has a hot dog and soup for lunch she wants the pot pie for dinner...we just keep a supply in the freezer.

I think my mum eats easy things that dont involve cooking as shes afraid to cook she has already burnt things and i think this scared her. I cook all her meals but if im not here she will just eat cheese and crakers or toast and marmalade as long as shes eating i supose but in her case i know its "fear" of anything that involves heating anything. Ive also read that this is another reason for not having a bath they are afraid of water being too hot?
My mum eats well BUT she has gone off alot of things and its getting frustrating I find if i say nothing and just cook her something and hand it to her shes more obliging i think asking her what she wants only causes confusion as i get a list of what she dosnt want?
My heads wrecked even typing this off for a NAP!

You could try sending a written note to the administrator. Most of them will care about the nutrition. Threaten to go to the state if it is not corrected.

I read the biography of George Washington Carver and something stuck in my head. Remember he was the chemist that studied peanuts and found all kinds of uses for them? He also studied sweet potatoes. He discovered that if we could only eat sweet potatoes and peanuts for all time we would get all the nutrition necessary for good health!

My husband's tastes have changed over the last few months. He no longer will eat sliced peppers or mushrooms or greens. To get him to eat these things, I chop them up small and add them to tuna salad/egg salad and spread the salad onto a sandwich which seems to be easier for him to eat. He has cut down on the amount he eats, as well. I can't put too much on his plate or he will quit eating anything, but the protein (because his doctor told him to eat protein). Whatever I tell him to eat doesn't count. He lives for the end of the meal -- halvah, cookies & lemon meringue pudding! I too worry about him getting diabetes as he seems to eat less and less of the vegetables so he can get to the sweets faster.

My mom does not have a specific food she wants to eat other than cookies. I can fix eggs, sausage and hash browns for breakfast and she eats until she says she is stuffed,but has to go get the cookie tin and have her cookies....this happens at every meal.

Maybe they do just really love this food so this is all they want. Anderson Cooper from TV says the only thing he has in his refrigerator is hot dogs. Its all he makes and eats. I thought it was a joke but it isn't.

I must say it would make my job of cooking dinner easier, I would not have to figure out what's for dinner tonight!!!

My mom might sprout feathers any day from all the chicken she has eaten in the last 8 years! That, along with 2 or 3 'go to' things are what she is sure to eat. My theory is, as her dementia (or whatever it is) has progressed, she will always choose what she remembers liking. The good news is that she will usually eat whatever I prepare partly because I remember her preferences and lean toward those even though she may not. She, too, wants a cookie or two after almost every meal. And in agreement with others, short of a physical or health condition preventing it, anyone who has made it successfully into their eighties or nineties should get to eat what they will. The long term effects of bad choices don't really apply in their cases. And as some other wise one posted, there are bigger issues than long term nutrition now. Less agitation, any nourishment, and the act of eating itself now move up on the list.

When they can not remember, it is a hard thing to question what they will eat. Till she cam to live with me, she had a boneless pork chop everyday. But she doesn't want them now. She wants a yogurt, 2 scrambled eggs, a honey bun, coffee for every breakfast. She says today I want...it's the same thing everyday. For lunch she prefers toasted ham and cheese sandwich, but I will give her a lean cuisine a lunch every once in a while, it just has to have sweet potato in it. She also drinks strawberry hi-protein Boost everyday. She seems just fine, she is 95.

Eating right is important. I'm fortunate in that my mom loves vegetables and will eat heartily. Mom's day care person cooks breakfast and lunch and I will cook evening meals and the weekend meals so she gets a variety. She generally has the same thing for breakfast every time but we vary on lunches and suppers.

my mother has dementia, she eats only eggo waffles and syrup with ensure. she drinks 8 a day, a case of 24 lasts her 3 days, it her main source of nutrition she don't recognize food anymore, so she don't eat it.I try to incorporate foods that I know she loved, nothing works. so this is what she eats 3 times a day. I have to pay out of pocket for the ensure, because she don't have a feeding tube, her part D wont cover it, this stuff is 30.00 a case of 24 @ sams, the cheapest. I m an only child 43, no children. I m caring for her all my own, she have sisters, but they don't want to be bothered with her, sad, because she did everything for them . iv been caring for my mother since I was 15yrs old, she also has arthritis, and is totally disabled, now my health isn't so great, I have 3 types of arthritis, and barely getting around, with diabetes, type2. and that's my story....

As I reread my moms breakfast that I wrote above, I forgot the glass of fresh squeezed orange juice she has with that breakfast. She looks forward to it every morning. When I run out of oranges every once in a while and give her water, she pouts. So she knows what she likes.

Thanks for all the input. I can get her to eat more variety at breakfast. Lunch is more challenging and dinner is the same every day. I suggest other foods she used to eat but no luck.

My mom is 89 years old with Alzheimer's. She has lived with me for a year and is able to stay by herself when I am working. She is in excellent physical health. Her appetite has lessened the past three months. She has lost 18 pounds but is still within normal weight for her size. The past two weeks she will only eat two or three bites at each meal. She says she has no appetite. Some days I can get her to drink one Ensure, other days just a few sips. Is this normal for Alzheimer's patients? Her blood work was fine a few months ago. What can be done?