Eating slowly and excessive chewing

[Selinacroft]

Not sure where to put this thread as not sure if is is due to late stage dementia and wondered if others had noticed the same thing.
Personally I know I eat too fast and I find once I chew something 2 or 3 times it has dissolved and I tend to "bolt" it down . Dad has always been a slow eater but I have just been observing him eating without him noticing.
His technique seems to be to put in a large mouthful, bigger than you would normally expect, 1/4 of a sandwich plus half a chocolate biscuit all at once and then commence chewing. I thought it was taking a long time so actualy started counting each time his jaw moved as I was sat slightly behind him. I counted 196, 159, 184. Now this seems way over the top, I remember hearing 32 times recommended and thinking to myself, how on earth can anyone chew something 32 times but I appreciate I am at the opposite end of the scale!
Is this slow chewing a dementia thing? Do others do it?

 

[LynneMcV]

Hi, I haven't experienced this with my husband but there is a lady who goes to one of the memory cafes we attend who does exactly this.

Her carer refers to it as 'the washing machine effect' (a phrase she's coined herself, rather than from any book on dementia) because the food just goes round and round in her mouth for ages. The carer has several other clients who do the same.

 

[lemonjuice]

Hi Selinacroft.
I have never counted the number of chews with my mother , but if your dad is having problems swallowing he may instinctively be chewing more to make more saliva to make it easier to swallow. or forgetting he's chewed enough and it's become a habit.

In late-stage they do develop lots of swallowing issues and you may need to adjust the types of food you serve.

Certainly over 3 years ago now, my mother started 'forgetting she needed to swallow' and used to 'pocket' food in her mouth and needed stroking/ stimulating to encourage her to swallow. Now they just serve 'totally mushy' food, which makes it own way down via gravity eventually.

 

[stanleypj]

If the food eventually goes down without a problem I suppose that's something. I can appreciate that meals are probably lengthy, but this is often the case anyway with dementia.

If it's really worrying you it might be an idea to get some advice - from a SALT - and perhaps 'mushy food' is an answer. I've noticed, like lemonjuice, that it often slides down with little evidence of a swallow. And I also have occasionally to pat her lips to remind her not to keep it in her mouth.

 

[jan.s]

My husband was a very slow eater throughout his life, but with dementia he spent ages chewing food. It actually impeded his intake because eating too so long; that was the point he was given some pureed food to ensure he ate enough for his needs. He really enjoyed some of the pureed foods and I spoke with the chef in the care home to make sure his food was fortified with as many calories as possible. Every bite mattered!!

 

[Jannette]

I have noticed this with my mum over the last 2-3 days. She's even saying some of the food is tough - meat cooked in a slow cooker for 8 hours, and fish from the chip shop. This excessive chewing is wearing her out. She looks completely exhausted after eating a meal. As mum has reduced kidney function, down to 35%, she can't even have conventional soup. It's very difficult to know what to give her to eat. She's even refusing sandwiches now, guess it's because of the bread needing to be chewed? So sad to see.

 

[LynneMcV]

Reading back on this thread just now has hammered it home to me how quickly and unexpectedly things can change. It was only on 22 July that I responded saying, that although I don't have experience of this with my husband, I was aware of the issue via what I had seen elsewhere.

Here we are, just a few weeks later, and my husband has started to 'pocket food' in his cheeks, chew for ages (but not for as long as the OP mentioned) and is at risk of choking. He is being referred to SALT, who I expect will just advise on softer foods he should have.

It's a shame because he has always had a good appetite but now he is eating less (although, thankfully, it is still a healthy amount).

 

[Slugsta]

Mum has always been a slow eater relative to me. Now that her dementia is severe she is given mostly soft and/or pureed food. When I feed her, I notice that she seems to forget about the food in her mouth - she only swallows when I wave the next bit at her!

 

[Kevinl]

When my wife keeps chewing or stops chewing I give her just a little sip of a drink, this seems to get her started again and helps her to swallow. One of the side effects of one of her medications is a dry mouth and I can see she's getting this from her tongue and lips, so I guess her saliva production is down.
I've stopped giving her bread with the crust on and avoid brown bread other than if I put the crusts in her soup to soften them as there is a lot of value in eating the crusts.
I try to make the food as moist as possible so most things come with a gravy or sauce or combine things like a fishcake with coleslaw, burgers with gravy so I provide a bit of substitute moisture in the mouth to compensate for the lack of saliva.
K

 

[Babymare01]

Mum started struggling to chew and just chewed and chewed to point it was taking so long she would fall asleep in mid chew. We - NH and i - decided mum should go on to pureed food and yes mum started to eat complete meals again. The issue I had was because mum is a vegertarian the chef at the time thought this meant just pureed vegatables so no real calories and mum started to lose weight. Even the carers where commenting on mums meals. There is a new chef now and by heck mums meals have improved. Pureed bake beans with heaps of cheese. Fish pie made with cream. pureed sardines. So much more variety and where possible heap with calories such has cheese and cream. Mum has started to put weight on again Its a sort of a game - in a lovely way - with the chef to keep bringing out inventive foods for mum