Salt driving me mad !!

[Manu]

My mother has 'mid stage' alzheimers , and needless to say, a very poor memory. All is well as can be expected at the minute, apart from meal times.
She tends to drown her dinner in salt, and a few minutes later she will do the same again, I have tried every imaginable 'therapeutic lie' and trick under the sun, but this continues to happen. Normally I would just let this stage run its course until she gets fed up, however, she has angina which is worrying me. If I just remove the salt from the house she refuses to eat...
Has anyone come across this before? I was thinking of substituting the salt for another substance, but what??

Baffled,

Mike.

 

[cragmaid]

Start by using the low sodium salts that you can get in the supermarkets, then say Here's the salt Mum, hand it to her once then say to her I'm putting it away now Mum THE DOCTOR told me you can only use it the once for each meal.....and every time she asks, remind her what "the doctor" said. Sometimes they'll accept the Doctors word more than ours.....sometimes!

 

[nitram]

Try replacing some of the sodium with potassium e.g. >>>LO SALT<<<

 

[BeckyJan]

There is a salt substitute - this link describes it. However before changing anything I would discuss this with the GP. I am wondering if there is some medical reason for her 'needing' salt or whether its strange dementia behaviour.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_substitute

 

[Ann Mac]

Every meal time in our house,. one of us will ask Mil if she would 'like some food' with her salt. She absolutely drowns everything in it, and I too worry about the health risks, as she also has angina. I spoke to the nurse who did her last medical revues - bless her, she had a very earnest 3 minute chat with Mil about the reasons not to use so much salt, Mil nodded and agreed with every word, the nurse gave me a very satisfied smile (as if to say 'That's sorted') - and that tea time, Mil poured on the salt again!

You can try lo-salt and sea salt, and you can try not adding salt to the food when cooking (shame for anyone else eating, but . . .), I've tried blocking up some of the seller holes, to lessen the amount coming out - she unscrewed the top You probably - going on my Mil - cant persuade her to just cut back. She will forget, or she will be certain she knows best and won't like being told. Occasionally Mil will agree not to add more, when reminded that the nurse said its not good for her - but she forgets, a couple of minutes later..

It is, I think, just yet another dementia created situation where all you can do is wait for time to change things, and try not to stress about it in the meantime x

 

[Noorza]

Is it possible to buy salt sachets like the ones you have in some restaurants?

 

[Manu]

Thanks

Some very good advice as usual...
I am going to try and find a 'salt substitute' and fill the salt cellar then let her pour it over her meals to her hearts content, thats if I can find somewhere thats sells it.

Thanks for all the replies.

Mike.

 

[Noorza]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&...aps&hvadid=2978709430&ref=pd_sl_2l3dyv0ovp_ee

I can't vouch for them but here are some.

 

[Saffie]

You need to be very careful with potassium. Too much can be really harmful for the kidneys.

 

[Manu]

Higher power

Thanks noorza.

 

[loveahug]

Had the same problem with mum and pepper, I mixed in some rice flour and glued up 3 of the holes so she ended up with very little, she's never noticed.

Good luck

 

[jaymor]

If her eye sight is not knife sharp then maybe just the shake of an empty salt cellar will be enough. She is maybe forgetting she has already done it and thinks she is doing it for the first time every time.

Jay

 

[Sue J]

My sense of taste, smell and other senses fluctuates very much and I too resort to putting more salt onto my food than I once would have, in my good moments I am aware that it's not good for me, but when am in a 'phase' I lose that awareness. I wonder if she may benefit from food with a stronger taste than perhaps she has been used to. I find I like things now that I once never did e.g. parsnips because of their stronger flavour.

Hope you manage to sort something that helps
Best wishes
Sue

 

[Owly]

They say you lose your sense of smell long before you lose your mind and it's a very early indication of trouble brewing for the future. And if you lose smell, you lose taste.

There was an article about testing yourself by opening a jar of peanut butter and holding it at varying distances from your nose and looking for a difference between right and left nostrils.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...s-detect-early-stages-Alzheimers-disease.html

 

[Ash148]

We had exactly this problem with mum before she went into a nursing home recently. I think it was the reflex action rather than the real need for the taste of salt. Similar problem with sugar on strawberries which my father kept buying all through the winter to tempt her to eat. Wish I had thought of some of the clever ideas above.

 

[legolover]

Yes beware of salt substitutes as they are made with high levels of potassium, equally dangerous as sodium in high doses

 

[BR_ANA]

Does she notice if you mix some flour on salt?

 

[dottyd]

How's her digestion?

How's her zinc levels.

You need sodium chloride to make your stomach acid hydrochloric acid

You can get a zinc test. If you can't taste the metallic taste of zinc you might be low in the mineral and not getting any taste from your food.