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My husband's food obsession early in his dementia was ramen noodle soup -- those cheap little packages with seasoning packets. This was not ideal considering his CHF. I reduced the sodium somewhat by using only part of the seasonings. That obsession soon passed, thank goodness, but while it was active I tried to give him what he wanted, mitigating the risks the best I could.

JJ, I hear you on the reluctance to take away the one thing that seems to be what she really wants. The fact that it is apparently bad for her ... not in some distant "could cause x" way but bad for her right now ... puts you in a really tough spot. Hugs to you!

What if you told your mother that you read about something that was even better for constipation and would she like to try it? It could be iced tea or flavored water or any non-carbonated beverage you think she might like but that would be better for her than the pop.

Obsession with the bowel is not uncommon in dementia. I remember one member of my support group bringing it up meeting after meeting that her father insisted he was constipated and spent lots of time in the bathroom, even though he was regular. So weaning Mom from the diet pop may not completely solve her concern about her bowels.
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Barb, I have an email into the head nurse to ask them to rule out UTI. Thanks for the reminder.
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Susan, my Mom is actually very healthy besides the dementia. She works out on a regular basis and has no other major health issues. Diet Coke is the one treat she has left, so I hate to take them away.
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FF, the nurse says part of the problem for Mom is the carbonation causing gas....so she recommended I replace Mom's Diet Coke stash with non carbonated options. UGH
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FF has a good idea here. My uncle was a diabetic and addicted to diet soda. The nursing home would let him have it, but they only provided those little tiny cans that are about 4 oz. total. He was allowed 1-2 of those per day. If you can lower the amount she's drinking slowly, week by week, it will be far better for her.

Some would be of the mindset that your mom is already in a nursing home, so apparently in bad health - so why not give her the one thing that makes her happy? I think that might be appropriate for someone who is in the last stages of life and perhaps struggling with appetite issues - my dad's NH staff told us to bring him whatever we wanted in order to try and get some calories into his body, because he was so sick from infections that he wasn't eating and was wasting away. So we brought milkshakes, Coke, burgers - all things to tempt him to eat. But that's far different than your mom with her Diet Coke addiction, which is obviously an obsession.
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As someone that was addicted to Diet Coke for years i know how difficult it is to stop. It contains a boatload of caffeine which definitely could be causing issues from irritability to nervousness. Not only has aspartene been link to dementia but also mdd ( major depression disorder). Thank God I finally got off this stuff. I suggest weaning
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Oh, one way to get your Mom off of the diet coke is to have someone handle the coke, not your Mom. Bring the diet coke in a glass to her. Do that for a week. Then the following week, use 1/4 regular coke and 3/4 diet coke and see if Mom notices the difference. Then the week after that, 1/2 regular coke and 1/2 diet coke... you see where I am going with this.
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One has to be careful regarding diet sodas, as I just noticed a few minutes ago reports that aspartame could possibly raise one's risk for dementia [Harvard Health Publications, Harvard Medical School, June 17, 2017]. Of course, there are other health issues that can also add to the risk for that aspartame soda drinker.

I use to drink diet sodas back in the 1970's and 1980's, then one day I stopped, I had a gut feeling about aspartame. So I went back to the regular sodas. Wasn't a big drinker of such sodas. Now that I have acid reflex, I went totally off all colas. I do miss my Cherry Coke !!

And yes, some artificial sweeteners can give you the "trots" as my Dad would call it. 
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Has she been checked for a UTI?

I think I wouldn't settle for an increase in curse t psych neds. I'D ASK for a new psych assessment by the geripsych.
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