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She had rectal prolapse and was going to the bathroom a lot and was using 2 rolls a day. After the situation was corrected she is using one roll a day. It’s either going to cost plumbing problems or break her. Is there anything I can do? She does have dementia.

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You can hang onto an empty cardboard roll that had toilet paper on it and from another roll (kept out of sight) drape some toilet paper onto the empty cardboard roll. Then just replace toilet paper on the cardboard roll as needed. Basically, you'll doling out rations of toilet paper.
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ladytootall4 Aug 2019
Thank you. I think this will work.
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This is just a caution regarding “flushable” wipes... ‘cause basically - they are about as real as unicorns.

When I was a young teen I plugged up the family throne by trying to flush some Kleenex. And - not a huge amount of Kleenex, either.

My father, in his college years had worked at a paper mill and used the occasion of my Kleenex clog to educate me on paper fiber.

It seems, that paper products such as Kleenex are made with a tighter weave than regular toilet paper and therefore are harder to break down with water when flushed. This applies to the higher quality brands of toilet paper as well. So, when the cartoon mama bear tells her baby bear on the TV commercial that he can use less - it’s more than just the implication that quality is the reason why.

Of course, this same weave applies to “flushable” wipes. I actually read the fine print on a travel pack of “flushable” wipes recently. It said to only flush one wipe at a time. Seriously? It’s got to be a pretty immaculate pooper who can get clean with ONE wipe.

Back when Rainman was born, The Donor insisted we use cloth diapers. I wasn’t thrilled with the idea and searched for a way to make using cloth diapers less icky. The salvation came by way of “flushable” diaper liners. Ummm - our toilet plugged in less than 24 hours of bringing my baby boy home. You’d of thought I would have known better having received my Toilet Paper Tutorial in my teens. It was an expensive lesson learned with the clog way down the line and the plumber having to call in the big gun from a special truck that housed the worlds longest “snake”.

So... back to the point. Basically, there is no such thing as a “flushable “ wipe.

In the wise, wise words of my father so many - many - years ago: “Only three things go into the toilet - S.T.P. (visualize a fatherly looking man holding up fingers as he counts ‘em down) Sh!t, toilet paper and p!ss”.

... and not too much toilet paper at that. Not if you’re using a nice, quality brand. And, not without multiple courtesy flushes in between every couple of wipes.

“Here endeth the lesson”.
~ Sean Connery as Jim Malone;
The Untouchables.
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disgustedtoo Aug 2019
"... and not too much toilet paper at that."

I will back you up on that! My mother had a running battle with dad clogging things up - between his larger poo and wrapping the TP around his hand, resulting in too much paper AND wadding it, he would clog the toilet up and then make it worse by trying to clean up rather than getting mom to help!

I dislike the "premium" brand of TP (although I don't like Klingons, I don't like the foofy TP either) and avoid putting anything besides your dad's S.T.P. in the toilet. The cat litter I use is corn based and proudly proclaims "septic safe" - but I will NOT flush that! If I had one cat and was on a sewer system, perhaps, but even then, there is a lot of plumbing before your "flush" gets to the tank or sewer system! Clogging could get VERY expensive. I do flush some of their solid waste (for the boxes positioned near a toilet), which will include a little bit of the litter, but absolutely will NOT take the chance of flushing the clumps outright!
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My grams has a toilet paper and tissue problem. She will stuff what appears to be a box of tissues in her shirt over the course of the night lol. She was going through a lot of toilet paper when she first moved in with me and I decided to downgrade to the thin 1000 sheet rolls which are a bit harder for her to waste. The fluffier toilet paper flows too freely and is easier for them to keep rolling. I don't know if this will help but it worked for us.
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ladytootall4 Aug 2019
Thank you for your suggestion. I will down grade and use this method of placing tissue on a empty roll.
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I too LOVE the Bidet I bought my sweet elderly mom on Amazon $35. Like previous comments, be careful of the pressure stream. Low is best. She is no longer having toilet, cleaning issues and feels fresh after each use. Use TP to pat dry afterwards. It's been a very positive experience not to mention a good conversation piece to guests. I first heard of the bidet on this website that has been so helpful. It was very easy to install.
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Have you considered a bidet toilet seat?

https://wiki.ezvid.com/best-bidet-toilet-seats

(Full disclosure - I've never used one of these but I've always wanted to try one. Can you imagine finding a a shop with a showroom?🤣)
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JuliaRose Aug 2019
Bidet toilets are fantastic! It really works to get the area clean down under, as long as you get a good stream of water that isn’t too intense! Lol. Most have a knob so you can adjust this. Pat with TP to dry and to make sure it’s clean, and that’s it! Very easy. We added one to the toilet a few years ago. Now that my husband can’t sit tall on the toilet, I’m looking into a handheld bidet (like a water bottle with an attachment) because I imagine what I’m doing now, cleaning with many wet wipes, can cause irritation. A well aimed, refreshing squirt that drips into the commode might help.
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Buy a portable bidet, less than $40 at Lowes.
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cetude Aug 2019
If the person has dementia they won't be able to use a bidet. However, I use one and they are absolutely marvelous.
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If it hasn’t been considered, she may have a medical issue causing frequent BMs, even diarrhea, which you may not know about? If she has silently been dealing with IBSD, or undiagnosed celiac disease, or another disease that affects stool production and consistency, she may not be able to help the amount of toilet tissue needed to get clean, down there. I have finally been properly diagnosed as having not only IBSA, but also BAM. With proper medication regimen, the diarrhea is pretty well controlled. Side benefit is that I clean up with a normal amount of toilet paper now, not the constant wiping, just to clean up after diarrhea. Like maybe 1/4 of what I was needing before correct diagnosis.

Sorry this is graphic, but she could be silently suffering, maybe out of embarrassment. Or dismissive doctors, a huge issue with gut diseases and conditions.
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Buy more toilet paper. You can still find "Scot's" but no longer 1000 sheets to the roll. You don't have to purchase double ply.

Be very thankful she can still go to the bathroom instead of wearing Depends.

If you're really that concerned, offer to clean her when she's done. I had to clean my DH and it's really not that awful. I used Baby Wipes because the sizing was better for us than adult wipes.
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As several of us have shared, please have her checked medically, for all the medical conditions that can affect stool. I just read your post about leaving out about five rounds worth, laid out for her at night. This sounds like she is up in the night to use the loo.

You haven’t shared whether she has diarrhea, so I’m going to go there, just in case. If she is seen by a gastro, it could be key, that she gets up at night to toilet. Do you know if she uses it all at one sitting, or five bathroom events? If it’s nighttime diarrhea, waking her up to go, it’s not IBSD. She may have more than one medical condition at play. I’m throwing this out because doctors can be lazy diagnosticians, labeling everybody with chronic diarrhea as having IBSD. I happen to have IBSD, as well as BAM. Plus, I have unrelenting bladder spasms. All those large muscles ‘down there’ more often than not, when a woman has IBSD, she will be highly likely to have bladder spasms, creating a sense of urinary urgency, constantly. As my own muscle that closes to keep urine from leaking out at the wrong time does not completely close, I have to constantly urinate, to keep my bladder empty. The emotional, mental component associated with IBSD, isn’t turning on the plumbing when we are sleeping. However, an excess of bile acid circulating will cause a person to wake with pain, and urgent diarrhea. So, it will need to be determined if she has stool she is cleaning, small amounts of urine with sense of urgency from bladder spasms, or if it’s a habit she has developed. Your feedback to a doctor could be key in getting to the root of the problem. When a person has both IBSD and Bladder Spasms, the use of dicyclomine (generic Bentley) will relax the long muscles, which helps with both conditions. If she has nocturnal wakenings with urgent diarrhea, assuming you are in the US, she cannot have the nuclear test to assess that, but a trial of the bile acid binder, Cholestyramine, can be attempted, to see if it’s the liver not taking the bile acid back up once digestion has been processed.

I’m sorry to be so graphic, but I sure hate the idea of her suffering silently, if there is a medical reason behind it. You are a good daughter to be so concerned.
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Your mother might really be having trouble getting clean after a bowel movemen. Intestinal problems like IBS make it harder to "finish" the BM and messier to clean. You don't want her to leave the bathroom dirty. Get Mega rolls of moderate grade toilet paper and encourage her to flush every few wipes to avoid clogging the toilet.
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