Feeding my mom with Alzheimer's; any ideas?

There’s 40 things you need to do simultaneously. Dr Dale Bredesen has reversed symptoms Fish oil, 2-4 g, low carb high fats huperzine, (tastes nasty put in smoothi) lecithin, blueberries , alternate probiotics, coconut oil or MCT oil, magnesium zinc etc etc .the list is long but gets easier . If she can chew and not choke, arrange clams cut in half, blueberries , pieces of avocado. You need to experiment. My moms on these things and is totally manageable now. Sleeps through the night. Walks and is starting to get up again from the toilet without resisting . After you sneak the supplements into the ice cream, her mood will change almost immediately. Then you need to get her up and walking 15 min at a time or massage her legs and pads of her feet to start. Don’t know her age or issues but William Walsh has also reversed symptoms. It’s basically a bunch of deficiencies that once corrected, the body works again. Get the best labs from functional medicine doctors. Good luck . Google key words; Bredesen protocol, list, reverse Alzheimer’s... (ignore naysayers) Start getting familiar with metabolism and creating purposeful activity after her mood gets back to some stability. Bring children into the house. Get her a physical therapist order from the doctor so she get up and out into Sunshine . If you are rich or can afford a practitioner, it might cost $1000 a year to get coached . There’s also a place you can go for $20,000 and they treat your mom for 2 weeks and show you what to do. It’s very hard to give the supplements initially but go slow adding the supplements into her ice cream . You can also mix icecream with squash and almond butter and blend it and refreeze.

Cream soups & Boost.

Sweet is the last taste bud to go, try sprinkling sugar on her food. Also, she may be overwhelmed by the amount of food on her plate, try using a smaller plate and just putting small amounts at a time on the plate.

In my experience with Alzheimers is often times they are looking for a particular taste. Some taste buds stop working before others. I have had residents who only wanted salty tasting foods like puff corn, salty rice, etc. And then there were others that no matter what was served we added something sweet, and they would eat it. Adding brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, putting out a sugar shaker instead of salt, or even ketchup worked. Sadly there is no "key" to what will work, just trial and error. Everyday may be different, and PATIENCE with meal time is definitely key too.

We offered scrambled eggs with cut up bits of sausage then poured Maple syrup on that. She fed herself for awhile then wanted us to spoon-feed, then just got too tired to eat. It's the Alzheimer's/dementia process and difficult to watch but SO normal! Our Hospice nurse explained it's more difficult on the body to take in food/nutrition and eventually water when it's trying to shut down. Dehydration actually acts as a sedative effect, the body's natural way to die. It's hardest on loved ones watching, but this is the point where it's not about us as survivors but about the one preparing to die. Offer whatever sounds good to your Mom .. yes, even ice cream! Our Hospice nurse had a patient that lived on ice cream for a couple months! And when nothing sounds good, let her know that's OK.... and YOU are gonna be OK! 💜

You may be at the end of having traditional "meal times".  try leaving snacks and finger foods that she likes around.  She enjoys ice cream, so get some Ensure and make shakes with fruit and/or peanut butter, freeze Ensure puddings.  Cut sandwiches in quarters and offer frequently.  As far as sleeping, it is very important to keep your mom on a schedule with purposeful activities that she can be successful with.  Think about Adult Day Health ("the club") a couple times a week.  Avoid long naps but encourage quiet time or short nap for about 1-1.5 hours in early afternoon.

Orgain protein shakes (health food store) make a decent substitute if she likes them. Fruit cups, apple sauce. Creamy mashed potatoes w butter. Try to bring all of her favorite foods forward and make them easy to eat.

However...how can I gently say...as one ages, our appetite naturally decreases...and especially, as the body begins to prepare for death.

Blessings to you and all that you do!

Oh I struggled with this with my mother but she would drink those Ensure drinks which were better than nothing. Some days she would eat, some days very little but always enjoyed Ensure.

I agree that letting her eat anything she wants is better than not eating. Still, i get my mother to eat fruits and veggies by making them fun to eat. I bought a book on bento lunches which shows how to cut carrots into flowers or fish, make little rice balls that look like panda bears, put faces on just about anything. Fun food and it's easy to eat with her fingers. It makes her laugh.

Alz. Disease "is" horrific, so in that light, I gave my mother whatever she wanted. Who am I to to take away her pleasure of eating. I made milkshakes with crushed up vitamins and whatever she wanted. The body will start to shut down and cannot process a lot of different foods. Give her whatever she wants. At this point, it is her "quality" of life that matters. This has been my experience the past eleven years. Good luck and God bless you.

Mom has end-stage Alzheimer's and the ONLY thing she likes are black beans. I give that with nutritional supplement; granted the protein levels are high but she now eats. And yes it takes over an hour for her to eat. You must be very patient. Do not rush meals. Put THICK IT in all liquids because people with end-stage Alzheimer's will get dysphagia and have difficulty swallowing. It MUST be honey consistency. Actually her nutrition is great. We both never eat meat -- and if she did I would be fearful of giving her meat because it is a choke hazard.

There is an article here at AgingCare that addresses this.

It says, "let them eat ice cream." Your mother can't help that her taste-buds have changed - I went through a period of months when all my DH would eat was Fish Sticks.

He also wanted Hot Cocoa every morning so I used Ensure Plus Chocolate with a little syrup in it. He was happy and he got 350 calories this way.

Remember, it's still food and eating anything is better than eating nothing.

I have started to add some Lumpia to her diet. She ate four out of six today. Check them out. Some have several veggie and little meat in them. They are similar to the chinese egg rolls (finger food).
The visiting nurse was here and favorably impressed with her appetite today.
Just wanted to slow her weight loss. It seems to be working.

Wish you the best of luck.

At one point I had a tall skinny 9 year old daughter diagnosed with juvenile anorexia. I told her that proper milkshakes were supposed to have 2 eggs in them, and shops only left them out to save money. It was a success that might help you too!

My mother goes thru periods when she doesn't want meals, but asks for chips, ice cream, candy, etc.; that's when I get creative. I make milk shakes with nutritional supplement powder and her favorite ice cream and grind pills to hide in applesauce/pudding with extra sugar/honey to mask the taste. At this point, the sugar is the lesser evil, so I give it to her, sparingly, still making it seem that I'm giving in. We live in a medical marijuana state, so a tincture helps her appetite, and to calm some of her anxiety about eating; all AD patients I've known eventually believe family is trying to poison them.
As bad as it may sound, treat her like a toddler trying to have bad eating habits, sneak in the "good for you" foods

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I dose of concentrate is the size of a half grain of rice.
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Smoke lasts less than 1 hour in contrast to edible 5 hours.
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This might not apply to your situation but if we're feeding mom and the t.v. is on she will not eat.  Once it's turned off it's easier, not perfect but easier.  We have a hard time getting her to open her mouth sometimes and when she drinks she bites the straw.  Can be very frustrating.  I just don't know what we'll do when we can't get her to open her mouth.  She is staying home until she goes to Heaven so we'll definitely be needing more guidance when that time comes.  Regarding sleep, how about some sleeping medicine?  My mom takes Trazadon and sleeps all night.  It's a life saver.  I know some people say NO to sleeping pills but there comes a time when you have to do something.  Not only for her but for your family too.  All my best.

Hdrodlady, It is the most brutal way to loose a loved one.

Thats a good idea with the carnation instant breakfast, will she drink milkshakes? You can always add fruit to get some fiber in her diet. I personally love chocolate and banana, strawberry, pineapple, coconut, peanut butter, mango, oh, I guess chocolate and anything .

If she doesn't like shakes, you can add the ingredients, blend and refreeze.

Try not to get caught up in all the what if's, maybe's and second guessing, just when you think you've got it, it changes.

Focus on safety and wellbeing with out taking her reactions to heart, if she eats ice cream, she is not hungry, if she needs to go to the dr and doesn't want to, oops, sorry you need to mom, you get the idea.

You can do this!
🤗Hugs for all you do!🤗

I understand how you feel. When I look back on my mother’s behavior I realize she was showing signs well before she crashed with a UTI and was evaluated when she was in the hospital. My mom seldom ate much in the nursing home. At one point, she had lost 12 pounds in a month. They tried to get her to drink Ensure, but that stuff tasted so gross I don’t blame her for refusing it. I tried, at least once a week, to stop at McDonald’s at get her a cheeseburger and fries, which she loved. I also kept her stocked with pudding cups, chips, crackers and chocolate bars. I didn’t worry so much about a “healthy” diet. That was fruitless and that time had passed since she was in her 90’s.

Let her eat what she will.

Any calories are better than nothing and quite frankly with Alzheimer's shoot for quality and forget about quantity.

3 months happy eating ice cream 6x daily or 3 years miserable not knowing who is feeding you or who you are?

I'm sorry that your family is going through this awful disease.