Can anyone help with this really difficult one ? I have an elderly mother, aged 88, who has been diagnosed for a few years and has reached the point where she refuses food even though she has a rumbling tummy. She lives in a specialist dementia home, but all efforts to encourage her to eat have failed. I am at my wits end, as I really do want to find some method to help her regain some strength. Thanks
Lack of appetite with Vascular Dementia
- Thread starter Oakfield
- Start date
my mum is barely eating. 4 years ago she weighed over 16 stone, now she is fading away. She will have a maximum of 5 mouthfuls of anything, so we have had to start giving her those nutritional drinks to ensure she gets some nutrients. I don't think she will ever get her appetite back.
Hello Oakfield
My wife had alzheimers and in addition to many other problems she had a problem with eating . After a mouthful of food she would vomit back the food and what she called clear slime
the district nurses tried her on all sorts of supplementary liquid foods and drinks but she would not take them . ( I cared for her at home by the way )
The only success I had for a while was with soups (she liked cuppasoups with bread dunked into it , I tried liquidized food but she hated that ,After a while she would insist on a proper meal but always vomitted after
I hope the people in your mothers care home come up with a solution that will help your mother and relieve you of your worries
jimbo 111
My wife had alzheimers and in addition to many other problems she had a problem with eating . After a mouthful of food she would vomit back the food and what she called clear slime
the district nurses tried her on all sorts of supplementary liquid foods and drinks but she would not take them . ( I cared for her at home by the way )
The only success I had for a while was with soups (she liked cuppasoups with bread dunked into it , I tried liquidized food but she hated that ,After a while she would insist on a proper meal but always vomitted after
I hope the people in your mothers care home come up with a solution that will help your mother and relieve you of your worries
jimbo 111
Oak field, my mum is like this but if she is having a bad time I usually put some" treat" type foods that mum enjoys, i.e. nibbles cakes yogurts and biscuits for as long as she is eating it doesn't matter wither is is proper nutrition or junk food.
Best wishes. Xxxxx
Best wishes. Xxxxx
I went through the same with my mum. Sometimes I could encourage her - for example peeling a satsuma and eating some segments myself to get her to share and also what you have tried with favourite foods but she would only take the occasional mouthful. My mum also refused her medication. There was the option of getting the GP to agree that medication could be given covertly in food but by the time this was in place she was eating and drinking so little it was of no use.
I hope someone else will come along with something more positive. There is the option of tube feeding but this would have just upset my mum more. However, if your mum is not eating because she has an infection or something like this then it may be worth a try. The staff in my mum's care home tried really hard to get her to eat. At first she did take some buttered toast when it was provided specially for her and no-one else had it but soon even this was refused.
I know that problems with swallowing can cause this, but this was not the case with mum- she just sort of lost interest in food. Perhaps the part of the brain that tells us all whether we are hungry or full get affected by the dementia.
All you can do is just try gentle encouragement.
Tre
I hope someone else will come along with something more positive. There is the option of tube feeding but this would have just upset my mum more. However, if your mum is not eating because she has an infection or something like this then it may be worth a try. The staff in my mum's care home tried really hard to get her to eat. At first she did take some buttered toast when it was provided specially for her and no-one else had it but soon even this was refused.
I know that problems with swallowing can cause this, but this was not the case with mum- she just sort of lost interest in food. Perhaps the part of the brain that tells us all whether we are hungry or full get affected by the dementia.
All you can do is just try gentle encouragement.
Tre
Hi,
We've had this twice with Dad. 18 months ago, when he was in hospital he just stopped eating, and it was really hard to persuade him to try anything. He went down to 7 stone from 12 in the three months he was in hospital, so when he went into a nursing home, I was resigned to it continuing. However, how wrong I was! They fed him thickened milkshakes, with extra cream and ice cream and fruit in. He couldn't get enough of them, and gradually started eating "proper" food again. He got up to 9 stone, and was doing well when he had another big stroke, and then stopped eating again. They tried him with the milkshakes again, but with much less success this time. Then they would put out a plate of pink wafer biscuits on the table where he could reach them. If nobody mentioned them, he would absentmindedly pick them up and eat them! If anyone tried to encourage him, he would just refuse. After a few weeks, he started to eat some of his dinner. I would just start spooning some mashed potato into his mouth and he would eat it. Then if he was given a bowl of pudding he would accept that. This went on throughout August, and this week he has eaten all of his dinner every day. The trick with Dad is just to get him started on something, and it doesn't matter what. Then he seems to remember that he does eat.
I hope it works with your Mum. Dad is also now taking morphine, so it could be that it helps that he is no longer in pain.
Love and hugs,
Sue xxx
We've had this twice with Dad. 18 months ago, when he was in hospital he just stopped eating, and it was really hard to persuade him to try anything. He went down to 7 stone from 12 in the three months he was in hospital, so when he went into a nursing home, I was resigned to it continuing. However, how wrong I was! They fed him thickened milkshakes, with extra cream and ice cream and fruit in. He couldn't get enough of them, and gradually started eating "proper" food again. He got up to 9 stone, and was doing well when he had another big stroke, and then stopped eating again. They tried him with the milkshakes again, but with much less success this time. Then they would put out a plate of pink wafer biscuits on the table where he could reach them. If nobody mentioned them, he would absentmindedly pick them up and eat them! If anyone tried to encourage him, he would just refuse. After a few weeks, he started to eat some of his dinner. I would just start spooning some mashed potato into his mouth and he would eat it. Then if he was given a bowl of pudding he would accept that. This went on throughout August, and this week he has eaten all of his dinner every day. The trick with Dad is just to get him started on something, and it doesn't matter what. Then he seems to remember that he does eat.
I hope it works with your Mum. Dad is also now taking morphine, so it could be that it helps that he is no longer in pain.
Love and hugs,
Sue xxx
