Eating

Norman

Registered User
Oct 9, 2003
4,348
0
Birmingham Hades
following Peg's throat infection,and the anti-biotics,which cured the throat,she decuded not to eat.
After 3 days our GP called and examined Peg,he found nothing untoward.
He said it could be the anti-biotics and prescribed a tonic.
I was assured that she would eat and not to worry.
For 8 or 9 days now it has been "little bits" a biscuit,half a hot cross bun,a morsel of dinner. :eek:
Today oh joy she ate half a sausage and some mash followed by a little ice cream.
She is still on a very short fuse,awkward and not my Peg.
There again she never will be again will she?
I don't think it was the tablets,I feel this is another stage in this bloody awful disease,I hate it.
By the way I have a Ph d in moaning,
What would I do without this TP family.
Kind thoughts
Norman :confused:
 

Brucie

Registered User
Jan 31, 2004
12,413
0
near London
Hi Norman

glad that it is getting just a mite better.

Keep hoping for more improvement, and say your very own mantra....

...day by day
 

angela.robinson

Registered User
Dec 27, 2004
520
0
82
HI NORM .have you thought about the replacement meals in liquid form.these can be obtained on prescription,they come like a milk shake or fruit juice ,i got them for JIM when he was too knocked out with the tablets ,to eat they give you peace of mind knowing they are not going short of vitamins and nourishment ,and are well worth having instore ,mine are called ENSURE,i am still taking one to the hospital now though they do have them there ,but i like to make sure ,hope PEG,S a little better to day.ANGELA
 

CraigC

Registered User
Mar 21, 2003
6,633
0
London
Hi Norman,

any impovement? It may be worth asking your GP if he can prescribe anything to help encourage appetite? You may wan't to be wary of steriods (I think this is what they normally use).

You may want to check out this link where I got the quote below:

http://familydoctor.org/044.xml

What medicines can help reduce depression?
Antidepressant medicines can be very helpful for people who have Alzheimer's disease and depression. These medicines can improve the symptoms of sadness and apathy, and they may also improve appetite and sleep problems. Don't worry--these medicines are not habit-forming. The doctor may also suggest other medicines that can help reduce upsetting problems, such as hallucinations or anxiety.

You could also check out the following link:

http://www.alzinfo.org/treatment/maintaining/default.aspx

See the section - Do people with Alzheimer's need to follow a special diet?

Hope things improve
Craig
 

daughter

Registered User
Mar 16, 2005
824
0
My Dad was like this for a while, Norm. He said that everything 'tasted funny'. It was around that time he started having sugar in his tea again after years of going without. He was given something for depression and his appetite picked up again (I don't know if this was the cause).

Best wishes,
 

Sue P

Registered User
May 5, 2005
1
0
Nuneaton
Eating!

Hi, my dad went through a very long period of not eating. My mum tried everything to get him to eat, but he would just sit there at the table and move the food around on his plate, only when she brought him a bowl of his favourite ice cream did he attempt to eat!So for about 2 months he ate very little, and lost a lot of weight. We tied this stage in with the excessive aggresion that was taking place from him, and the events that followed where not pleasant, but now nearly 7 years on, my dad eats like a horse! He is totally dependent on nursing care, and some of his food has to be 'soft diet'as it is referred to in the unit hes in, but as long as you keep feeding him he keeps eating it!I know this may not be of much help but it does at least illustrate that things can turn round.
Sue
 

Norman

Registered User
Oct 9, 2003
4,348
0
Birmingham Hades
Thanks folks
Dr did give Gentian alkaline which is an appetite stimulant.
Will go for meal supplements if no improvement when we return from Weston next week.
Perhaps the sea air will help
Best wishes
Norman :(
 

connie

Registered User
Mar 7, 2004
9,519
0
Frinton-on-Sea
Dear Norman, sorry to hear of Peg's loss of appitite. You have been going through a bad patch with this illness recently. Hope the holiday in Weston does you both some good. Take care of yourself, as well as Peg. Love Connie.
 

Sheila

Registered User
Oct 23, 2003
2,259
0
West Sussex
Hi Norm, sorry to hear of your difficulties. I found tinned/jars of todler food a Godsend when Mum went off her food once she needed it mashed up. I got a bottle warmer that took jars and she could have what ever she fancied 24/7 roast, fish, puds, what ever. She loved them. Love She. XX
 

karen_white

Registered User
Apr 21, 2004
72
0
Berkshire
I don't know whether this would relate to Peg or anyone else for that matter, but my Dad also went through a period of not eating. He was given ensure and had no problem drinking, eating was his problem. The only time that he would start eating was if we went in there with sandwiches we had taken in or something like that and started eating with him. We concluded that Dad had forgotten what to do with the food so seeing us eating made him understand what to do. It was like a light went on again in him. Of course very different for different people. Don't know whether it was coz Dad has vascular dementia and not alzheimers, but he did start 'remembering' what to do with food again.
I guess it's trial and error to see what works and what doesn't.
Hope it improves Norman and that your trip has helped. Hope you had a lovely time.
Best wishes
Karen.x
 

Norman

Registered User
Oct 9, 2003
4,348
0
Birmingham Hades
I am pleased to say that Peg is eating again.
More cake and biscuits than anything,but why worry,she is happy.
The GP was right in his statement"she will eat when she is ready"
Norman :cool:
 

Nutty Nan

Registered User
Nov 2, 2003
801
0
Buckinghamshire
Norman, you must be so relieved - it's the seemingly little things that make all the difference, and so often, there is quite simply nothing we can do to make them happen.
Well done, and bon appetit!
 

snuffyuk

Registered User
Jul 8, 2004
188
0
Near Bristol
which Weston?
Snuffy


Norman said:
Thanks folks
Dr did give Gentian alkaline which is an appetite stimulant.
Will go for meal supplements if no improvement when we return from Weston next week.
Perhaps the sea air will help
Best wishes
Norman :(
 

mailife49

Registered User
Oct 21, 2004
34
0
uk
Hello Norman..

Dear Norman,

sorry to hear about your Peg and her throat infection..........
right now my teenage daughter has a streptoccal throat , the worst part was when she nearly collapsed after the booster (1000mg) injection........

she's a teenager and we have to fuss over her, like now she's watching a pay-film instead of being at school, and I'm missing Roland Garros!!!

So I came here to see how every1 is doing..........
My mother is 91 now and she has lost a lot of weight my sisters tell me...........
she was always as far as I can remember big-built, handsome woman - great golfer - which she passed on to my son!

Problem is when she had her medication taken off (unbeknown to family members) at hospital where she had her hip-op (successfully done) she is back to square one, and unsettled again.......and I am far away wondering whether to leave my plane ticket for summer until things are more clear for her.

She may have to go to a place she hates, to have it all sorted out, which I'm b eginning to think would be a bad idea as she's starting to settle with the splendid staff at her 17-patient nursing home (not far from her last family home). She has countless visits, but the last time my family (brother and sisters) went to see her , she was unaware of what was going on - didn'ot speak till the end when she over-politely said, " Thank you for coming. Goodbye" my sister was speechless, and somewhat amused at this sudden utterance of formality.

She's lost a lot of hair(her beautiful soft white hair has been falling out) why , is it part and parcel of the process, this whole prolonged ghastly affair of matters.??

I'm sure nobody deserves this end-deal, as I guess that's what it is.........she asks my aunt not to bring flowers (she who LOVED everything is nature) It's as if subconsciously she doesn't want anything to do with love.......I don't know, it's the saddest disease - hers is vascular dementia so she does have quite a bit of recognition with family members.........but she hates when they have musical concerts at the home and she always ADORED music , she was always an ostrich burying its head in the sand, when she didn't want to hear something........maybe there's a chord struck, somewhere, reminding her of her loving, doting kind husband who died 3 years ago,...........it seems like a lifetime ago now, he pushed himself to the limit (emfisema) taking her out in the car, and just being there, but when things got bad he got a carer in for her, and from then on it progressed to getting a group of carers(when he died, as she went downhill fast) from an agency, and now since not long ago, she's in this nursing home.......

Well Norman, I didn't mean to go on so much about my situation with my mother, but I know how you all are suffering, having been through some of that myself, I would stay over in the summer when my own family went back to Spain, and try and be of some help , by just being there.

Well, maybe there is a reason for all this, if you believe in an after-life, and many do, I for one, so I just hope there'll b e some light at the end of the tunnel, and .............................. . that's all.

Best wishes to you and your loved one,
mailife49
 

Leah

Registered User
Oct 22, 2004
31
0
83
Northumberland
Hi Mailife49
I think you need a big hug.
As others say on here "one size fits all" and remember Norman's mantra "one day at a time"
 

mailife49

Registered User
Oct 21, 2004
34
0
uk
your reply- LEAHA

Dear Leaha,

thank you very much for the HUG , yes I guess maybe I do need one. I've noticed that I'm becoming very vulnerable lately as regards even going out of the house, and things like that - I've lost some of my energy somewhere along the road.

But having just had a medical checkup , have gone on a diet to try and lose some pounds - and only allow myself a tipple of wine at weekends.......today have had none , as it's so fattening!! I'm 56 (just, she says defensively!) BUT i DON'T really feel it, I do when I think of this b............y illness though. I think I used to drive some of the carers in our old family home, mad as I was so obsessed about little things like why can't I take mum out without going with one of you, and stuff like that........and I still dream of whisking her off with me to some far off place - you know what I mean.

I give English classes to kids over here, so that keeps me out of mischief! and I do the cooking as well, although leave my husband to make his marvellous paellas at weekends (he's a born cook!). He loved my father and my mother, who he hasn't seen since last summer. He used to serve them drinks in the evening, and pretend to be Manuel (from Faulty Towers).......that really made them laugh!

So I have loads of LOVELY memories, Leah, and can't complain - two beautiful people who gave me more than they'll ever know...........

I must see if you've written anything in the forum, I usually just read most of the stuff and let it all rip myself - that way you're not bottling it all up I guess.
The funny thing is that when my mum was in her 70's and very energetic as she was(!!) , she saw this rather lost -looking member of the local golf club and she said, Hello John and he recognised her and was pleased to see her, but then went on to tell her that he didn't recognise any of the roads, and where was he?

So my mum took him in hand , always good with the shy or lost and walked home with him............what a woman!

There'd better be something good at the end of all this, if not I want a refund!!!!

Just joking,

thanks again for your letter (I do go ON a bit though, sorry!), LOL(xx)

mailife49
 

Staff online

Forum statistics

Threads
138,115
Messages
1,993,113
Members
89,779
Latest member
peanutbrain