Is over eating a symptom of dementia?

My MIL eats everything you give her and looks for more,, she will just keep on going! And forget candy.. she sneaks it and they have to hide it from her. I don;t know where she puts it,, she is pretty slim and sleeps alot. We brought a chicken lunch recently.. she ate 2 pieces of chicken, slaw, potato salad, rolls.. and wanted chips too! Oh well.. if this is the worst thing she does... Dad ate alot too, just took him forever to do it... no lie. over an hour for a sandwich and a cup of soup.

I think they crave sugar. My mother in law only wants sugary foods or occasional bread. She even puts three flavored sugary creamers in a small 6 oz cup of coffee.

My friend still gets his own meals and these are non stop. He'll have a bowl of soup then shortly after he'll have some toast, then a bowl of cereal, then some tea cakes etc. This goes on all day and I wonder if it's because he forgets that he already ate?
I know he often forgets he's had dinner, one night he had fish and chips and an hour later I saw him eating scampi and chips as he'd forgotten he'd had the fish and chips.
I am trying to make sense of this, he's never been one to over eat, if anything his appetite has been very poor for a long time so it's good to see him eat. As well as forgetting they've eaten does the dementia increase their appetite?

The hospice doctor told me that elders with dementia eat a lot and for some reason don't gain weight. Must be a chemical imbalance in the brain. I don't know but I heard of it. Is your friend gaining weight. I bet not. Interesting anyway.

Yes
Under eating and over eating are symptoms of dementia. It just varies from individual to individual
Sugar craving - chocolates etc is also a classic symptom

I can't persuade him to get on the scales but he doesn't seem to gain any weight. He is up a lot at night and I've come down at 2am n he's been eating "supper" and 4am and he's eating "breakfast"!

Kaydi your friend smokes a lot, right? That might keep him from gaining weight.

I think they over eat and crave sugar because it comforts them..also they probably like food..and figure..I'm old..I can do whatever I please...blast the calories! Seems to be that way with my mom anyway! I'm amazed the size of the portions she eats! I control my prediabetes with diet..so I know what size of portions should be eaten...and she doubles that...and she is overweight...not good for her double knee replacements..but this isn't a battle I'm taking on...other than dishing out her food..giving her slightly smaller portions..

Writing a list of symptoms is a good idea. Then ask if you can accompany him to the doctor. Present the list of symptoms to the doctor and see if that helps with the diagnosis.

If you can't go along for the appointment and you don't know the doctor's name, try to find out in conversation. Then write the doctor a note for his or her records. so that when your friend goes for a checkup the doctor has some background.

You are a good person to be concerned. We love to see an update if you learn more.
Take care,
Carol

Dad is 86 & MUST eat every 2 1//2 hours of he says he's "caving in." (He's 250 or more lbs.) He gets very cranky if he is not allowed to eat all day--until recently. His blood sugar spiked because of his secret binges & he lost the feeling in part of his foot, stepped on a nail twice, & couldn't figure out why his whole foot was swollen & red. He nearly lost his big toe! That got his attention. Now he's on a sensible diet & sticking to it. Amazing, huh? Wouldn't listen to anyone til reality gave him a taste. Where'd the dementia go?? (Probably out with the sticky, salty, fatty diet).

It sounds like you are right about your friend having dementia issues. The brain usually signals the stomach in about 20 minutes that it has eaten( thats why we overeat and do not know it until too late!) Has your friend had a good check up? Certainly a blood work -up to check for diabetes 2, etc. The fact that he doesn't remember and is also rising during the night is also a good sign of some dementia issues. Does he live by himself? How does he react if you point out what he is doing? If he cooks is there a concern about safety with a stove?

Since my mom was diagnosed 4 years ago she has gained 30 pounds. She loves to eat and her day revolves around meals. I am ok with it because she needed a little weight on her bones and she still feeds herself pretty well. It's a time we can have fellowship and share. We also go out to eat and she loves that. We only ration candy because she would eat it non-stop-I have definitely seen a relationship between the dementia and sugar /sweet craving can anyone biologically explain that? Thank goodness she is not diabetic.

Yes my Dad is going to be 89 and has some dementia. We have had to hide some food from him because he eats everything in sight. Anything he can grab and eat disappears. Twelve pounds of bananas went in two days! He has not gained weight either. I believe he doesn't remember that he has eaten or that his many bathroom trips leaves him empty, therefore, he is constantly hungry.

I'm falling on the floor laughing. I binge eat a lot and am not, yet, demented. Please go to this site for help: oa

But remember, as with all addicts, nothing will work until he is ready.

At the same time, if he is eating so much without gaining weight, then something is going on. Doctor, as you have already said.

Good luck!

Absolutely, to the doctor with a list of symptoms. My mom doesn't eat very much at meals but snacks a lot. She cannot remember 10 minutes after she ate that she did so. Overeating is also a sign of depression. How does your friend act overall? When you ask what he ate, can he remember? Does he forget other things? Is he confused about times and recent events? Best wishes!

Great question! Drs never told me anything about this. Of course the drs didnt do anything but give more prescriptions. But my hubby ate non stop the entire time he was conscious. Would throw his dinner plate in the floor food included and demand junk. I never knew there was a connection. Back when I started searching the internet 20 years ago there just wasn't any good resources. My hubby died in January 2016 and I am still finding answers to unanswered questions thanks to all of you. God Bless each and every one of you. I will keep you all in my prayers. If no one has told you that they love you today...I do. Thank you for all you do. There is life after this. Mine is very happy and active. That was my blessing.

I have a theory about this...my husband has Alzheimer's, diagnosed 8 years ago. About the last 5 years he too eats constantly unless he's sleeping. My theory is that he is doing something he can still do on his own.
He no longer drives, no more fishing, no more working in his shop....but he can go in the fridge and get an apple, peel it, cut it up and eat it. He can pour himself a cup of coffee and get a bowl of ice cream. He's had up to 7-8 bowls of ice cream in one evening thinking each one is his first. What the heck...I just let him eat. And no, he doesn't gain weight. So the weight gain control must have something to do with the diagnosis.
I think when they are stripped of so much, have terrible confusion and can't just sit all day, they will find something they can do without help from others. And in most cases they can still eat!
Hope this helps...

My dad eats meals up to four times a day sometimes, with dessert each time. If I leave fruit or snack he'll munch those, too. Food has been a comfort to him through much of his life, having grown up through the depression.

As he approaches his 99th birthday, with limited sight, hearing & mobility, he is easily bored during the times he is awake. Other than gaining a few pounds after he returned from hospital stays where he lost significant weight from IVs and limited food selections he liked, his weight stays stable. I watch it for signs of cardiac problems/water retention. He plays computer gains, but acknowledges his thinking speed has slowed in recent months.

What does a decrease in executive functioning have to do with overeating? Persons with dementia due to Alzheimer's frequently lose their ability to plan ahead and make decisions, etc.
But I do agree that overeating and dementia go together, especially sweet stuff. I have had two clients lose large amounts of weight in a relatively short period. Also if the person had OCD tendencies earlier in life, then eating can be viewed as a replacement for other compulsive behaviors.
The mere mention of 'ice cream" can distract persons with dementia when they acting in a distressing manner.
I wish neuroscience would better explain this behavior, as it is pretty common.

Dad, now dead of Nov. 2, 2015 would eat tons of stuff and never gain weight. My husband use to say that he had a hallow legs. We did not know where the food was going. Had dementia, hepatitis C, liver cancer. He kept losing weight. Think there is a connection. Know there is a connection.

Perhaps it goes along with the general loss of control many dementia patients experience. There's a lot on this site that talks about a loved one "losing their filter" having to do with the person suddenly blurting out inappropriate things that they would have never said in public before the AD. With food, "will power" is gone so a couple of cookies is now the whole whole package in an afternoon.

I find that people with dementia or head injury tend to eat especially sweets. It may be because the brain no longer controls the feeling of being full, hungry or thirsty.

I would would check with their physician. ? Diabetes, my mother always ate second meals because she never remembered eating the first one. No inhibitions, they see it, they want it. I always let my mother be.

Quite interesting to read the responses. My Dad, 91, with ALZ wants to eat at least 3 meals a day...like clockwork. He is always asking for cookies. And while he hasn't gained tons of weight he does tend to gain ...so we do watch. And the sign of his weight gain is his pants size! Have found though, that he is starting to eat less at dinner..maybe he knows dessert is coming up next!

I don't believe in letting them eat and gain weight. My Mom gained almost 10lbs after starting daycare. When I saw what they fed them for lunch I saw why. So dinner on those days are light. Sweets are given but watched. She has lost 4lbs. I can't afford her to gain. She will have a hard time getting up and I can't lift up dead weight.

Hi Anne, I've been reading back entries in the diary I started in 2014 and even then I mention he's got memory and concentration problems and fails to retain information. No he doesn't live alone as I live with him. His reaction if I mention his over eating is to deny it. And if he detects the slightest criticism in my voice he will become aggressive. As for him seeing a doctor, he refuses and I know from experience he has to be at deaths door before he will agree to seeing one. And yes I do feel he is unsafe using the cooker as one night he went to bed after putting his dinner in the oven!

My husband sneaks downstairs while I'm asleep and raids whatever he can find. I wake up to find M&Ms on the floor, crumbs under and on the kitchen table. If he can't find sweets, bread will do. He has gained some weight, and at mealtime, I try to get him to eat fruit for dessert and limit the cookies to two. This sneaking in the middle of the night interfered with a procedure that was scheduled requiring him to come to the hospital fasting since midnight. We had to reschedule because he finished a box of crackers at some undetermined time? Who knew, I was asleep again! The next time my son came to our house and we blocked the door of the bedroom. He slept on the landing of the stairs leading to the kitchen, and I gave my husband a Xanax before he went to bed at 10:30. This worked and the procedure went without a hitch.

I attended a workshop on dementia last year, and the presenter discussed this constant eating. One thing mentioned is that the brain needs a lot more energy due to the misfiring in the connections....the brain works overtime, trying to send signals the right way, or to get memory issues to work. Also the brain requires a lot of carbohydrates to function. She said people with dementia and Alzheimer's may need 4000 calories a day, just due to the activity going on in the brain, and that is why they want to eat and snack constantly, crave sweets and yet do not gain weight in proportion to what they want to eat.

From what I understand - when a person has dementia - the brain is constantly trying to heal itself. There fore it causes the body to crave food for the energy to perform the healing (which it really cannot do with dementia). Especially carbohydrates. Carbs are high in sugars - pasta, bread, candy. This also causes a vicious cycle for the body- the more you eat of these foods the more you crave. My mother is constantly on me to provide her with chocolates! She goes through them like crazy. Also, causing the sugar highs and lows - and thus lots of tiredness and sleepiness and crankiness. Like I said - a vicious circle.

Wow- I never thought about it as a symptom, but recognize it. And good explanations, especially about the brain trying to heal itself and needing energy.

My aunt always says she's not hungry at meal time, but we tell her it's ready, and we'd like her to join us at the table, even if it is just for coffee. Then she scoffs down a meal. She also eats lots of sweets. I believe she can no longer tell if she is hungry, or remember if she has recently eaten anything.