My Grandma is 77 years old and has dementia. While capable of daily activities such as washing, showering and dressing, she chooses not to.
For the past few months she has stopped eating. She claims it makes her sick, and often stands over the sink wretching, forcing herself to be sick. She has many pills a day (roughly 6 in the morning and 5 in the evening) and when she has them, she does the same. She says she cannot take them and tries to make herself throw up. Most of the time, nothing comes of this but she states she is often physically sick when home alone.
We go in nearly every day to see her, and have nurses going in the morning and evening to help her take her pills. We receive calls every time they attend to say she won't take her pills, won't eat. We are all very concerned that she isn't taking in enough nutrients, and that it could be making her more sick (if this is even possible).
I went to see her with my friend roughly a fortnight ago, and when offered a drink she said "do what you need to and leave me to die".
Recently, we admitted my Grandma to hospital as she was becoming very aggressive (shouting at my dad when he is asking her to eat, becoming very easily annoyed) and was refusing to drink water too. The doctors put this down to low potassium levels, and she was put on a drip for two days. After this, she was her normal self again. She couldn't remember being sick, couldn't remember ever shouting at anyone and was very upset to hear how she had been for the past few weeks.
This lasted about 2 days, and as soon as she got home she was immediately back into her old ways. She wouldn't eat again, wouldn't take her pills and - to put it simply - didn't care about anything.
My Grandma has always been a very glamorous woman, who takes massive pride in her appearance and seeing her this was is completely heartbreaking. She doesn't wash her hair anymore unless we do it for her, and often sits staring into space.
Has anyon experienced anything similar and if so, how do you tackle the whole "not eating" situation? I have read countless forums about patients with dementia not eating, and I'm still very concerned she will become more ill as a result of this.
For the past few months she has stopped eating. She claims it makes her sick, and often stands over the sink wretching, forcing herself to be sick. She has many pills a day (roughly 6 in the morning and 5 in the evening) and when she has them, she does the same. She says she cannot take them and tries to make herself throw up. Most of the time, nothing comes of this but she states she is often physically sick when home alone.
We go in nearly every day to see her, and have nurses going in the morning and evening to help her take her pills. We receive calls every time they attend to say she won't take her pills, won't eat. We are all very concerned that she isn't taking in enough nutrients, and that it could be making her more sick (if this is even possible).
I went to see her with my friend roughly a fortnight ago, and when offered a drink she said "do what you need to and leave me to die".
Recently, we admitted my Grandma to hospital as she was becoming very aggressive (shouting at my dad when he is asking her to eat, becoming very easily annoyed) and was refusing to drink water too. The doctors put this down to low potassium levels, and she was put on a drip for two days. After this, she was her normal self again. She couldn't remember being sick, couldn't remember ever shouting at anyone and was very upset to hear how she had been for the past few weeks.
This lasted about 2 days, and as soon as she got home she was immediately back into her old ways. She wouldn't eat again, wouldn't take her pills and - to put it simply - didn't care about anything.
My Grandma has always been a very glamorous woman, who takes massive pride in her appearance and seeing her this was is completely heartbreaking. She doesn't wash her hair anymore unless we do it for her, and often sits staring into space.
Has anyon experienced anything similar and if so, how do you tackle the whole "not eating" situation? I have read countless forums about patients with dementia not eating, and I'm still very concerned she will become more ill as a result of this.
Hope your Grandad is okay!