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My MIL has mid stage Alzheimers and has taken to stuffing toilet paper into her vagina and the lips around her urethra (sp?). She insists that she's not doing this although I saw her with her pants and underpants to her knees shoving TP up there. When I spoke to her about it she said "I don't do that". I'm worried about the consequences such as UTI and Yeast Infection. I take care of her 3 to 4 days a week and she also has 24 hour care thru an agency. The TP falls out all over the floor when she urinates and we don't know if any is getting stuck inside her. We are not sure how to remedy this situation. She is going to the DR for a routine check up and we are going to address this issue to the doctor. Do you think that if we remove the toilet paper from the bathrooms and just leave 2 sheets of tissue paper and a panty liner or incontinence liner this could solve the problem. She's very stubborn. Any experience with this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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I agree that this could be an issue with infection in that toilet paper may shred and some may stay inside of her. As to how to change this, I say thank goodness she's seeing her doctor soon and you can address this issue! Whether or not she listens in another thing.

Your idea of limiting the toilet paper and leaving a pad in plain site sounds sensible to me. Please let us know if this works. This community is a huge help with practical issues as well as emotional support. I'm hoping someone in the community has other ideas for you.
Take care,
Carol
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I agree with addressing this issue with the doctor. Often the older generation will listen to the person in the white coat, who says the same thing that you will say, but since he is wearing a white coat she may listen. I also agree that hiding the rest of the toilet paper would be a good idea. Perhaps the doctor could write a "prescription" that you could put up in the bathroom in plain sight that says something to the effect of that she needs to wear a pad.
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Is MIL incontinent? if not a pad is pointless and may be irritating. if you take away the TP she will find something else to shove up . As long as the TP is clean it probably is not a problem. Maybe the Dr would prescribe a daily douche and putting a Tampax in. putting foreign objects in the vagina or rectum is not an uncommon occurrence so others may share their horror stories and remedies. You could get her some washable incontinence under garments if she just has urge or stress incontinence. She may just continue to put the stuffing in the turkey whatever you do so the only answer is to put on a glove and get it out. Have her lie on her left side while you do this and use plenty of KY so you don't hurt her and she feels less exposed and violated. Some old ladies are very modest and other don't care so assume the former. this is a stage she may or may not get over. Even at an advanced age people have sexual urges so this could be related.
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Take all the underwear out of her drawer and replace them with disposable panties like Depends, Tena or Prevail. I have a case of Prevail (72 pants) delivered every month to MIL. I went to amazon, found her size and brand preference and subscribed to monthly delivery with a discount and free shipping. Saves a lot of panic calls about "I'm out of pants!"
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