Is it normal progression for dementia patient to eat well, but still lose weight?

I'm sorry that you are going through this but it's "normal" for the disease. As organs begin to fail, which happens with advanced Alzheimer's, food won't be digested efficiently, so yes weight loss is common. This happens to many who have long illnesses. It is hard to watch - I watched my mother go down to a little over 80 pounds. All that was left was skin and her tiny bones. Heartbreaking. However, it's the same with all of the signs of decline. All we can do is our best.
Try to take care of yourself,
Carol

Lucysmom: I am not a doctor but I think your guess is correct. Enjoy any time you have, there are still memories to make and pictures to take. 💞

My mom ate great! Everything that was put on the plate. When my moms parkinsons became worse, I started feeding her. My moms primary at this point was a doctor for the homebound and after looking at bloodwork one month she said my mom was a little malnourished but not a really big concern. I was shocked! She explained to me that since mom was no longer walking on her own that it was basically use or lose the value of food intake. All we did was add an ensure as the drink to one of her meals. Doc stressed that it was not to be used in place of a meal just to supplement it.

Dad, 96 with Dementia in Long Term Care in a Nursing Home. Had him in AL, but after he developed Aspiration Pneumonia and was hospitalized, I knew he needed more care than AL could provide. He was on honey texture liquid and pureed foods. Started the severe coughing while drinking last week so he was put on pudding thickness. They're monitoring him for Pneumonia. His diet is pureed and like others have said, he forgets that he ate. When the food comes, he digs right in. He will eat one of the scoops of food. When the area he's been eating is depleted of food, he simply goes through the motions of eating with his fork... Nothing on it. When I'm there, I turn his plate and he does the same with another scoop of food. Normally he eats all of it. He's lost 10 lbs since the beginning of September. His swallowing is worse. I asked him to stick out his tongue after he had a bad coughing fit. The drink was just running out of his mouth. I wanted to see if it had pooled under his tongue. He wasn't able to stick it out. I believe that the necessary muscles are losing the ability to work. He knows me when I go there, can spell his name, but to write it is an effort. I think this is end stage Dementia, and all I want is comfort for him. Am I right? Is it end stage?
E

my sister has copd, congestive heart failure, diabetes, has had a stroke and has renal failure. In the nursing home her feet and legs were very swollen. She is now at home in hospice care and the swelling went down, is eating well but not gaining weight. She has real problems having bowl movements. She is on O2 therapy with breathing treatments four times a day. Hospice gave the time frame of 6 months or less. Could this be accurate?

It is apparent to me that weight loss is infact part of the progression with Dementia. My mom has lost 30+ lbs in the past year and recently lost 6 in 2 weeks. She has never been a big eater, but we make sure she is eating 3 meals plus snacks, plus boost/ensure and an appetite increase med. and she is still loosing weight. I feel that her general activity is so low that allot of the weight loss has to be loss of muscle mass. However, I can't help but think there must be something I can do help her gain some weight back. So, the question is, How do we put weight on our loved ones.with dementia? From everyone's comments I am gathering there isn't much we can do if in fact this is part of the last stages of the disease, Any suggestions are helpful as I do not know what to expect with the disease this is all new to the family. I have read about dementia however, I still do not know what to is ahead. I heartfelt empathy is with everyone and prey for all of our loved ones as they go through these difficult changes.

yes, small bites and NO couscous or rice- or anyother tiny stuff like that , that can be inhaled

My husband has dementia and has 3 strokes nd he has the same problem he eats he takes all kind of vitamins nd he is so skinny that I can see his ribs and I can also see where his pace maker is. I can see the outline of it...He is nothing but skin and bones. He has no control over his bowels anymore He is sooo very skinny and cant keep his balance when he walks...I bring him home on the weekends and it takes myself and my daughter to take care of him.. It is very sad..We have been married for 51 years... I just don't know how much more he can take....Darlene Robinson

Sunnygirl my mom did the same thing this past year. Ate well, was wheelchair mobile but unlike your cousin she had dementia issues for 15 years and was 94. She passed away in Aug after steadily loosing weight for several months while still eating well. She went from the 105 she has held steady at for several years to 73 over about 5 months. And yrs they did add protein drinks to her diet.

My mom continues to lose weight. I warm ensure for her breakfast "coffee" and freeze it for her dessert. She has gone from 155 lbs to 105 when she was weighed at the Dr. last month. She only takes a few bites of food at each meal and I try to get her to eat snacks between meals. She says she is full after a few bites and can't eat anymore. She is on an appetite stimulant 2x daily. However getting her to take meds is becoming a problem. She had an endoscopy done to see if there was an obstruction, but nothing was found. She continues to eat very small amounts and lose weight.

My Mom's Doctor has stared her on one ensure a day mixed with a scoop of ice cream and a little ice, she loves it. I have one of those little mini blenders you get at Walmart or Target and it works great. She is down 4 pounds from last month so I'm hoping this will help. She just eats such a small amount of food, I have to sit and feed her most of the time to get a decent amount in her,

My mom was diagnosed with Parkinson's 9 yrs ago and she started losing wt. immediately at the 1st symptoms of PD. She went from 175 to 130 in several yrs. Every time I would go see her I could tell she had lost more wt. even though she was eating. Just a little over a yr. ago she became confused & hallucinating. We had to put her in an assisted living facility when she wandered off from the house. She continues to eat well and she continues to lose wt. She is down to 96 lbs and looks pitiful. I can feel and see every bone in her body. Her legs are so tiny. I can't believe that just in a few yrs. she went from a fully functioning adult to this dementia with Parkinson's and has lost this much wt. The Drs. she has seen haven't said a thing about her wt. loss until I kept asking questions. 1 Dr. said she could give her appetite stimulate but her body just isn't absorbing what she eats. She's just going to keep losing until she can't go on.

Thanks. I have watched my cousin eat and she seems to bite and chew well. Still, the Memory Care facility appears to serve all their meals cut into small pieces. They do serve the bread in one piece, but the meat, veggies, and fruit are cut into small pieces. I think I'll do the same.

My mom is abke to eat anythong ahe wants and is wheelchair bound.

I forgot to add. I don't want to upset her tummy. What foods are likely to do that for a wheelchair bound person?

Freakedout, I can only imagine that you and he are having a difficult time. I'm glad you're coming here to read, share and just unload. I hope that helps.

I need more advice. I'm planning on taking my cousin a high calorie, favorite meal this weekend. I've called the Memory Care to clear it. I'm arriving with the lunch before her lunch is served to her. I know what she likes, but want to keep the portions not too large, for fear of her over eating and making herself sick.

She has no difficulty chewing or swallowing by what I have seen and by what the facility reports to me. Any dishes I should avoid?

I know she would love a milk shake and french fries. Is chicken or beef better? I"m going to tear it in small pieces, even though I know she can chew okay. I'm doing that for my own piece of mind.

Thanks for the responses. Aricept does not help FTD so I only took that for a few months. The first time I posted I mentioned what a difficult time my husband is having with my diagnosis making him extremely difficult to live with..... life goes on.

Freakedout......it could also be one of your other medications that you are taking. I know that Aricept is bad about upsetting stomachs so a person doesn't feel like eating. Check into your medications. Any new ones?? And may God Bless you on your journey.

Thanks for sharing that Freakedout.It sounds like you are doing quite well and are not in the late stage of dementia like my cousin. I suspect that that is causing her weight loss as her health is otherwise good.

I do hope things go well for you and that you do stay functional far into the future. I would be interested to hear more of your story, when and if you feel like sharing.

I was diagnosed with Frontotemporal Dementia about 18 months ago. During the first year after diagnosis (although I've obviously had it for much longer than 18 months) I lost about 40 pounds although I was not dieting. I was thrilled to go from 170 pounds to 130 pounds without trying but what I'm reading here is kind of scary to me. I gained back 12 pounds and have remained pretty stable. My gastroenterologist did not find any issues with my digestive tract and is not concerned. My most recent blood test came back with all good numbers. But it is still scary reading the above as I am hoping to be able to stay functional and active for a long time to come. I just don't know what to expect.

My dad lost a lot of weight at mid/late stage Alzheimers. He was not eating. He was putting the food in his pant pockets and the staff was reporting he was eating 100%. Don't take for granted what the staff tells you. My dad loved ice cream and milkshakes and that's all he would eat . Eventually he stopped eating. He was 130 pounds when he passed...so sad..he looked like a skeleton. It's the nature of the disease and it's pure h*ll.

Mom was about 80 when we really started noticing problems with short term memory. Then it was just short term memory if we told her often enough it would get into long term memory and she would remember. It probably startrd before that. She went downhill very gradually but it has accelerated a lot on the past two to three years. Most of the people in her memory care are pretty far gone before they get there. Its expensive and families cope for as long as they can before they are put in memory care.

Kwriter, From what I have read about vascular dementia, the 15 years you describe does surprise me. How old was your mom when she was diagnosed? My cousin was 62 at the time. It's shocking how rapidly she went downhill.

I have noticed that not many people in Memory Care are verbal. I"m so glad that my cousin has her roommate. They are the most verbal of anyone I have seen on their wing.

I suppose there is no harm in adding extra calories. If she stops losing, I guess that is a blessing. If not, then maybe we have the answer to our question.

My mom has had vascular dementia for atcleast 15 years and now 94. She is in a memory care facility, incontinent, wheelchair bound but does move around quite a bit by moving her feet . She isnt too aware of much of anything and no memo at all. Her language skills are going. She usually can no longer recall our names instead referring to us family. She has lost 10 pounds in the last 2 months yet she still eats well. I am wondering if this is a part of the normal decline with Dementia. They are offering her protein shakes along with her regular meals

I really do appreciate all of the responses to my question. It has given me a lot to think about and to research. I've learned about something called cachexia. I've also reviewed much of the older material that I have reviewed about advanced dementia and nutrition. Since all her lab work is fine and she's not in pain, I'm going to monitor it. She's weighed weekly at the facility. I'll discuss it with her doctor again when we are in. This last time I pulled him aside and asked if there is something I need to know, out of her earshot, but he said no.

I will admit that there is something about her that says she is progressing. It's not just the weight loss. It's more. I can just see it. What I want to do is to keep her as comfortable as possible and if that means extra food that she enjoys, I'll try that, though, I don't think the extra calories will be absorbed.

Oh, she has been seen by a Neurologist and diagnosed with Vascular mixed with AD. It is interesting that she is so limited physically, but her verbal skills are excellent. She can say the words, but she can't really carry on a conversation. She only answers yes, no, and mostly, I don't remember.

She knows me and my parents when they explain who they are, as well as a few staff members at the Memory Care unit and her roommate. She doesn't use anyone's name though, except for me. She does still call me by name.

Last 2 yrs before my mom died she did lose some weight and she also ate very well. After routine bloodwork from the doc for homebound (her 2nd visit) she said my mom was slightly malnourished. I was in shock because she ate so well. I fed her so I knew what she ate. The doctor basically said if you don't use it you lose it. My mom was unable to walk at this point and could only stand. She suggested ensure/boost in addition to her meals, not in place of. Sometimes I would warm it and give in place of her tea in the morning or would give with a pbj sandwich at lunch. After discussing it with the doctor and me saying I wouldn't put her thru any GI testing because if something were radically wrong I wasn't putting her thru an operation, chemo, etc and the doctor agreed that our goal was to keep mom happy and comfortable as long as we could. Good luck.

I was confused by my mother's weight until I spotted her throwing out food when she thought I wasn't watching. With her dementia - she thought I would be mad. I don't know if explaining to her that I wasn't upset, just needed to keep track of portions being consumed.

62-yrs seems a little young for weight loss, but then again - medical conditions and medications can alter absorption functions.

Just because it's "part of the process" doesn't mean it isn't difficult to watch and make you want 'to fix' it. Maybe adding easily digested nutrients as Carol suggested.

cwillie mentioned muscle mass. My dad has been losing weight and eats great. He's 93 and in fairly good condition (no dementia like mom) but is now down to 114 (he's only 5' 2" maybe. of course has shrunk over the years. use to be 5'6" and 140?) His doctor just told us to eat as many calories as possible to put some weight back on him and I did get him some light weights to use to try to build up his muscles again. He's still pretty active and drives :( but just can't put any weight back on. My mom has been losing weight also but is in alz/dementia facility and is declining. Not eating as much so I know that means her organs are not functioning the way they should be. As long as I know she is not hungry and not suffering (which is what they tell me) that's all I can do. Can't force her. Getting old is not for wimps!

The weight loss can be a normal progression of the disease, My mom is 88 with advanced AD and eats 3 really good meals a day and plenty of snacks and continues to lose weight, they get to a point in the progression of the disease where the body can no longer absorbs the nutrients from the food.

Dairy products will produce runny noses as most are sensitive to cow's milk. Try goat's milk products or make sure the cow's milk doesn't have hormones and antibiotics (given to the cows). We tried Fairlife a new milk without the hormones, but is pricey. Experiment. If one has a hay fever allergy, any of the fruits like oranges, melons, (usually fruits with seeds), will produce a runny nose too. See what your body can tolerate.