My father has had Alzheimer's for a few years now since we was made to give driving he has taken up the habit of regurlarly drinking beer. If there isn't any in the house he will go to the pub or just buy some more down the shop. ( And we don't want to take away that independence) We try where we can to water it down when he's drinking at home because drinking gets him so confused. If we tell him to stop he won't because he can't remember how many drinks he has had. Any advice from others would be welcome.
Alzheimer's and alcohol
- Thread starter Narwhale
- Start date
Hello Narwhale,
welcome to Talking Point.
I don't have experience of a person with dementia drinking a lot, but I do know that my dad never listened to me when I advised him to take it easy on his drinking, even when he came out of hospital after heart problems the first thing he wanted to do was have a pint or three!
Hopefully others will be able to give suggestions.
welcome to Talking Point.
I don't have experience of a person with dementia drinking a lot, but I do know that my dad never listened to me when I advised him to take it easy on his drinking, even when he came out of hospital after heart problems the first thing he wanted to do was have a pint or three!
Hopefully others will be able to give suggestions.
A warm welcome from me too @Narwhale.
This is an issue that has been discussed before so a search may unearth some info for you(search box at top of page).
Some of the main things to come out of previous discussions is that alcohol can be a problem and many carers buy low alcohol versions of beer and wine(or put fruit juice in wine bottles) and water things like spirits. The difference in taste often goes unnoticed as the sense of taste can be reduced in dementia. Also, if someone is on medication for Alzheimer's, alcohol can cause an interaction or negate the benefit of the drug.
In my own case I have an ongoing struggle to curtail my wife's intake. She has Alzheimer's and we have major behavioural and emotional problems if she goes beyond a couple of beers.
Having said all that, my wife's consultant knows that she will drink a couple of beers a couple of times a week and hasn't raised any concerns. The problems arise if I fail to limit the intake to that. I know it's a fact in my wife's case, and is probably common to many with dementia, that because of her failing abilities she wants to drink herself to oblivion - an understandable point but one that causes problems if not managed.
This is an issue that has been discussed before so a search may unearth some info for you(search box at top of page).
Some of the main things to come out of previous discussions is that alcohol can be a problem and many carers buy low alcohol versions of beer and wine(or put fruit juice in wine bottles) and water things like spirits. The difference in taste often goes unnoticed as the sense of taste can be reduced in dementia. Also, if someone is on medication for Alzheimer's, alcohol can cause an interaction or negate the benefit of the drug.
In my own case I have an ongoing struggle to curtail my wife's intake. She has Alzheimer's and we have major behavioural and emotional problems if she goes beyond a couple of beers.
Having said all that, my wife's consultant knows that she will drink a couple of beers a couple of times a week and hasn't raised any concerns. The problems arise if I fail to limit the intake to that. I know it's a fact in my wife's case, and is probably common to many with dementia, that because of her failing abilities she wants to drink herself to oblivion - an understandable point but one that causes problems if not managed.
Thank you both for getting back to me. Yes we do try the low alcohol beers for him ( though he does not like a lot of them) we are greatful it's beer he likes and not something stronger. I suppose I came here to see if there is anything else we can do. I think he drinks because he is depressed but the doctor has not diagnosed this ? Who should my mum and I talk too?
hi @Narwhale
might your mum visit the GP and explain all your concerns, including how caring for your dad is affecting her - the GP might then invite your dad in for eg a review of his meds and can then consider the possibility of your dad being depressed - it certainly isn't unusual for someone with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's to also be depressed
or your mum might drop a note into your GP but make an appointment for herself asking your dad to go with her for support, or because it's on the way to something he likes to do, and hopefully the GP will tell your dad it's a 2 for 1 day and he'll just give him a quick check over too ....
might your mum visit the GP and explain all your concerns, including how caring for your dad is affecting her - the GP might then invite your dad in for eg a review of his meds and can then consider the possibility of your dad being depressed - it certainly isn't unusual for someone with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's to also be depressed
or your mum might drop a note into your GP but make an appointment for herself asking your dad to go with her for support, or because it's on the way to something he likes to do, and hopefully the GP will tell your dad it's a 2 for 1 day and he'll just give him a quick check over too ....
I hope that you manage to find a way to moderate your dad's drinking as it can cause real unpleasantness. My mum was drinking up to 4 glasses of red wine every evening at one point and it was making her really unsociable, emotional and argumentative, and dad often found it impossible to get her to go to bed. It was before she had a diagnosis of dementia but in hindsight she was well down that road already; maybe she felt that the wine made her feel better, or that she just didn't remember how many she'd had. Eventually, after I'd said how worried I was about it, dad tried diluting the wine, and then properly swapping it for cranberry and red grape juice which he served in a wine glass in the evening, and even topped it up for her. We weren't tricking her as we brought the tetra-pack bottles to her when filling up the glass, but she never queried it. Both my dad and I learnt to intercept any real alcohol that other people gave her even though they sometimes thought we were spoil-sports! When she came to live with me, I continued the routine, so right to the last, mum was able to enjoy a drink from a wine glass to mark the beginning of the end of each day. I hope things improve quickly for you Narwhale.
I agree with Murper 1 (lovely name!). Mum would happily get rid of a bottle of wine given the chance and at the beginning of her dementia I would go to her house and she would sometimes be incapable of speech. It took a while but over time we hid the brandy but if she did find it, it was already watered down. Then we watered the wine a bit but she noticed, so we bought the low alcohol wine (not the zero alcohol as it tastes absolutely foul). We had to pour it into a regular wine bottle as she always read the labels but as the label got more and more worn that was my excuse to treat myself to a really nice bottle of wine so that I could re-use the bottle - honest. If she queried why the screw top was already undone I would hand her another bottle of something and just tell her to open it. She no longer had the strength in her wrist so we overcame that little bump in the road. Corks had been beyond her for some time and, fortunately, the dementia meant that she had forgotten you could get wine in boxes.
Stealth, deviousness and lies I know but, ultimately, you can't risk falls, choking, etc.
I hope it gets better for you.
Stealth, deviousness and lies I know but, ultimately, you can't risk falls, choking, etc.
I hope it gets better for you.
@Narwhale I have had a long battle to wean my husband off too much alcohol. I was at my wits end at times and then he had collapsed at a dinner without me in February, probably alcohol related but nobody really knows, and was taken into hospital where all the investigations were done which led to a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. I still had problems because he would go to the pub and if I tried to stop him he would drink it secretly from the bottle. I got all the alcohol we had out of the house, encouraged him to cut down ‘because the doctor said he should’. Four weeks ago he was put on donepezil and then I had some leverage to stop him having alcohol, which he accepts but I have a nightly battle to stop him going to the pub. He has got used to non alcoholic drinks such as beer cider and wine, and I have found the ones he likes. He had a half of 4% beer the other night and I noticed he was a bit worse with the restlessness. If he had his way he would be back on the real stuff, but he doesn’t realise what he is pouring and keeps topping up. He does that now with the non alcoholic stuff and I think he is confusing the two and is thinking he is drinking alcohol. It is a never ending battle and I do feel like throwing in the towel at times but the support on the forums keeps me going.
