payback time

[angela.robinson]

hi all
it looks like i am paying for the weeks respite Jim had,he came home without having had a bowel movement for 5 days ,even though i had sent a letter asking them to take note of his problems and sending a bottle of lactulose in with him .it took a further 7 days ,and double the laxative plus dulco lax ,and copious amounts of fruit fibre ,that was 12 days in all .it does not seem to really be constipation more acase of him holding it back,anyway i called the doctor out atter ifound out how long he had gone in respite ,as usual it all happend before the doc arrived ,he then started to vomit for 12 hours the doc thoght this was conected to the same problem ,of course after all the retching he had a raw throat and chest wich meant he could not take his tblets and did not eat or drink for another day ,i had to call the doc out again has he was now dehidrated,,well he is on the mend to day ,i am glad to say ,except he still has a cough and does not like the taste of the antibiotcs even though they are in with his fruit juice ,it is now 4 days since .he went to the toilet ,so it looks like this is going to be a regular thing.any ideas how to deal with this ?as i said it,s more a case of him holding it back he usually shouts when i hold him down on the toilet and says that it is dirty.sorry if this is all to graphicbut it must be happening to a lot of youHELP PLEASE .ANGELA

 

[Brucie]

Hi Angela

When Jan was home, I used to lace her morning and sometimes,evening drinks with lactulose. There was an element of hit-and-miss because I sometimes gave too much with understandable results, but it did seem to work. But regular use of lactulose did it for ber. She would not touch Movicol.

 

[Jude]

Dear Angela,

Constipation has been an ongoing problem with my mother, especially when my parents were living in close care accommodation as nobody was checking up on her. She developed serious pains in her right side and stomach and eventually the doctor was called, who administered suppositories.

These days both I and the carers keep a very close eye on her visits to the loo. We make sure that she takes Lactulose a couple of times a day, prunes for breakfast as well as making her drink plenty of water and eat several pieces of fruit daily. Syrup of Figs is also a really excellent tonic if she seems to be blocking up again....! It's much better than Sennacot, which is far too harsh.

Jude

 

[Chris]

Linseeds

The last time Mum was in hospital they refused to carry on with the Fibrogel Mum used to have twice a day and said recent research had shown that giving linseed in the form of actual seeds - available from health food shops & some Sainsburys etc) was much better at keeping the system functioning well.

The danger with Fibrgel is that (& esp with older people it seems) sufficient liquid will not be drunk to prevent it 'gumming up the works' as it were !!!! I was really cross at the time as Mum seemed happy on it. hae to admit my observations of care homes over 7 years is that the amount of drinks given out to people who are not able to ask for these themselves is minimal - wondered if that was becase the less that one drinks the less hte need to go to toilet . On occassions when I took Mum in a really cold dring (she loved chilled drinks - alway luke warm in hte home) - I got black looks from some of care staff !!!!!

A few years later Mum moved to a Nursing (where qualified nurse always on duty & person in charge also a nurse) Home . when I mentioned probs 'keeping regular' she looked so pleased & said they cracked it !!! they had called in local continence nurse who had also recommended Linseed . Having encouraged all the residents (some of whom did not have any sign of dementia) to go on this regime - it was amazing . Some of them said things like - "You have transformed my life " - as far as I know all the residnets in this home have a teaspoon of the seeds on hteir cereals in morning and they are happy bunnies.

Is it really this simple ? - if so - what a saving in anxiety & how easy to improve quality of life. Maybe manufacturers of all those preparations & drugs wotn be too pleased.

Look forward to others experiences.

 

[Jude]

Dear Chris,

Linseed/Flaxseed can also be bought as ground meal which can be sprinkled on vegetables as well as breakfast foods. It's easier for people with dentures or those with wonky teeth. Recommended dosage is usually 2 tablespoons per day for ground meal.

Linseed is very high in protein and is stuffed full of Omega 3 and 6, making it a very good food supplement for elderly people with eating problems as well as constipation.

Jude

 

[Chris]

Linseed in bread too - nice !!

Have a superb foodstore not too far from us - Waitrose - go there for treats - lots of unusual things.

Bought interesting bread there & when home saw it had Linseeds in it - as well as other seeds - not good for denture wearers etc but for others - a good way to get the very beneficial Omega 3 oils as an alternative to fish itself.

 

[Chris]

Linseed as ground meal

Hi Jude

I guess you get this in health food shops ? Wonder if you can use it in recipes too -eg brad & cakes & biscuits s'pose it is still as benficial when cooked?

May not be as heat changes fats - sometimes changes 'good' fats in to 'bad fats' - thats why crisps & fried food not so good - yet grilled or roasted in oven OK - dont follow that. ????

Think I read the bad fats are trans fats ??

 

[angela.robinson]

hi ,thanks for the linseed tip ,i will try this as soon as i get chance ,as Jim is already on every thing else that as mentioned here,exept fibre jell ,this turns to a thick goo before you take 2mouth fulls,he is already on double the amount of lactulose ,that he has been prescribed,60 ml a day ,but the big problem is getting him to go to the toilet ,he just sits there and starts a long meaningfull conversation (THAT I DONT UNDERSTANDA WORD OF)and as soon as there is signs of a bowel movement ,he is up and off ,and going home.i feel like the whole days are revolving round trying to get him to go to the toilet or take his tablets.he was so weak after all his problems last week that ,his legs kept buckling even when i was holding him ,i had to call in some help to get him of the floor 3 times ,so i have decided it is time to take some help,after 7 years,i am having carers in to assist in getting him up and ready ,and also to get him back to bed at night ,i really cant see him cooperating in this but will have to give it a go.ANGELA

 

[Sheila]

Dear Angela, sounds as if you could do with talking to the inco nurse or your GP again. Perhaps he needs to have suppositaries every few days to make it happen. Can be messy, but at least it will come away from him. Love She. XX

 

[Jude]

Dear Angela,

I know how you feel. Last year I spent the greater part of every morning sitting in the bathroom with my mother or alternatively taking her to and from the loo because she couldn't decide whether she wanted to use the toilet or not. Most of the time she would forget why we were there anyway. Finally after gallons of prunes, figs and lactulose, we finally managed to get her into a regular moring routine. Thank God for that, cos I was getting a bit bored with the colour scheme in the bathroom.....

Taking tablets... hmm. That involves a great deal of bribery and time. Usually I scruch them up between two spoons and mix them with jam or honey.

Jude

 

[Jude]

Dear Chris,

Saturated fats are the ones to avoid. Those include the skin on chicken, the dense white fat on meat, such as lamb chops and bacon rashers, butter, margarine, lard/suet etc.

Most cooking oils and butter/margarines don't handle intense heat and become carcinogenic at high temperatures. I only use cold pressed olive oil for cooking because it doesn't do that. It's also much better in salad dressing, rather than 'salad oil', especially mixed with balsamic vinegar and chopped garlic.

You can buy linseed/flaxseeds or meal in most good health shops - it's not expensive. I also eat 1 tablespoonful of raw sunflower seeds, 1 tablespoonful of sesame seeds and 2 tablespoons of pepitas seeds [green pumpkin seeds] every day. They are all very high in protein, Omegas and unsaturated fats. You can mix them up with yoghurt or chuck them on vegetables or salads, or alternatively grind them up together in a blender to make meal if your teeth won't cope!

Jude

PS: Linseed is fine in cooking and making biscuits, etc.

 

[angela.robinson]

hi she ,i am sure the suppositary would work, but it would be a very brave man or woman,to try to administer it , i know ,i have tried it ,i have also tried the tablet crushed in jam ,i am still pulling the bits out of my hair where he spat it at me , i dont have a continance nurse yet but i dont think it will be far off.well whats that word ?perseverance.ANGELA

 

[Sheila]

Hi Angela, if it was that difficult you could ask the GP to try!! At least he would know "first hand"!! What you are struggling to achieve. I think sometimes it's because we don't insist they try to do the things they expect us to do so easily, that they come up with some of the things they do. Love She. XX

 

[Dawnb]

opposite problem

Hello there
My father who is 61 seems to have the opposite problem at the moment, he goes to the bathroom constantly, so much so that is now almost impossible to go for a walk, for fear that he will need to use the toilet. He is on immodium , which does not seem to be working at all. My mother is at her wits end as he unfortunately does not remember to flush the toilet and needs to be reminded to clean himself before leaving the bathroom. Sorry if this is a bit graphic, its my first time to use the forum.
the other problem that is now coming to light is that he was orginally diagnosed with AD( 5 years ago) but having read more we feel along with an observation from the local clinic that he may have vascular dementia ( due to many small attacks he had which may have been lacunar strokes but we did not know at the time) previous to any of the memory loss occuring. I guess what I am trying to ask is, should his tablets be reveiwed and is there different help for vascular dementia than AD ?
Will stop rabbiting on now.
Many thanks for listening.
Dawn

 

[Sheila]

Dear Dawn, from my own experience, I would say you get more highs and lows with Vascular. They seem to go down more dramatically in steps than the more gradual decline of Alzheimers. This was my Mum's and a few other people I know of's pattern with Vascular anyway. The mood swings were also more severe than those of my husband's Aunt who has Alzheimers alone. Love She. XX

 

[angela.robinson]

hi dawn ,this toilet thing seems to take over your lives ,i finally asked for a continance nurse ,who agreed with me ,that he was not constipated as such ,and was holding on to it ,he goes mad when anyone tries to make him sit on the toilet ,she put him on movecol,that acts as a stimulant so after a couple of days he has to go ,then its a dash to get him there in time i am also scared to take him out ,becouse of this ,i can allso vouch for the linseeds working,ANGELA

 

[Dawnb]

Hello Angela
The problem is that he is not constipated at all, he is the complete opposite, I am not sure if his bowls move every time he goes to the bathroom but in the morning time he may go 4 or 5 times in the space of an hour and everything seems to run through him. Do you think this is a form or inconintence ? they say that anxiety can bring this on too so dont know what to do really ? If we go anywhere with him there has to be a bathroom within easy access as you never know when he needs to go. Maybe this if very normal I dont know.

 

[angela.robinson]

hi
has your dad gone on new medication ? i dont think it is just incontinance ,if it is this frequent,sounds like something is upsetting his stomach ,how long has he been like this , you might have to watch he does not get dehidrated,its worth ringing the GPif it continues,ANGELA

 

[angela.robinson]

hi since i last posted to you i have been reading the post .the stages of altzheimers ,so it seems i might have it wrong, ?there seems to be a lot of people ,that have gone thr
ough this ,iwould still get this checked out though .ANGELA