toilet paper issues

[Ronnianne]

I'm sorry if this sickens anyone but I need help. My husband has been recently reassessed as having mixed dementia, and has declined rapidly in a month.
the latest thing is hiding soiled tp all over the house. I always go with him to toilet him, but somehow, he is finding tiny scraps of tp, using them (how and when I have no idea) and hiding them. I have been finding them down the back of wardrobes, tucked in between books on the shelves, in the clean laundry cupboard, in fact, they turn up everywhere. His doctor shrugs and says it's part and parcel of the illness. Has anyone any advice? And yes, I do try and hide the loo roll. Sorry, but I'm getting desperate

 

[LynneMcV]

Hi Ronnianne,

I am not really sure what to advise re how your husband is finding scraps of tissue, however stepping in to make sure he is properly clean in the first place might help.

My husband reached a stage where he was still wiping himself after going to the loo but later in the day he would start poking around his bottom (not out in public thank goodness!) sometimes pulling out small bits of dry poo which he would then come and show me as he didn't know what to do with it. Possibly, if bits of tissue had been around he might well have started putting soiled tissue in weird places too.

I suspect he was feeling an irritation caused by not being as clean as he would like. My answer was to let him clean himself as much as he could, to maintain his independence, and then step in at the very end with wet wipes or similar to finish off the job properly.

The poking around promptly stopped and we have continued this routine for about 10 months now with great success.

 

[Ronnianne]

Hi Ronnianne,

I am not really sure what to advise re how your husband is finding scraps of tissue, however stepping in to make sure he is properly clean in the first place might help.

My husband reached a stage where he was still wiping himself after going to the loo but later in the day he would start poking around his bottom (not out in public thank goodness!) sometimes pulling out small bits of dry poo which he would then come and show me as he didn't know what to do with it. Possibly, if bits of tissue had been around he might well have started putting soiled tissue in weird places too.

I suspect he was feeling an irritation caused by not being as clean as he would like. My answer was to let him clean himself as much as he could, to maintain his independence, and then step in at the very end with wet wipes or similar to finish off the job properly.

The poking around promptly stopped and we have continued this routine for about 10 months now with great success.

That's exactly what I do, I thought maybe he had haemorrhoids, but the doctor says there's nothing to cause irritation. I've found a box of tissues with tiny bits torn off, so that answers one question, but the thing is how do I stop him, apart from hiding anything he could use? There were even bits of torn newspapers. I'm constantly deep cleaning, and as I have Afib and heart failure, lugging a steam cleaner and buckets of boiling water round isn't helping my health much. Thanks anyway.

 

[Adnil]

My Mum with Vascular Dementia/Alzheimers also hoards lots of tissues and loo roll, not always soiled, in a bowl in the bath, in a bin bag under the bed, anywhere she can stash them, she uses loads! She won't say why she needs to do this. I try to encourage her to put the paper in the bin in the kitchen where her carers will take them out with the rubbish. Also offered to get paper bins for the bedroom and bathroom, she's not interested in having them. She is not really incontinent yet she sometimes has an accident if she cant get to the loo in time... therefore she stuffs her pants with tissues or loo roll just in case. I've bought her pull up protection pants this week but it remains to be seen whether she will use them. She also uses lots of tissues for her nose, just one tiny little wipe then throws the tissue away and starts on another. I live 50 miles away and can only visit every 3/4 weeks. She's producing so much tissue paper the carers don't know what to do with it, too much for the wheelie bin which only collected every fortnight. I've no idea what to do about it.

 

[Spamar]

Her local council would give her an extra bin for incontinence products. Might be worth a try. On the other hand, it may be just a phase. Or, if you have a recycling centre nearby, put it all in bags and take them up there.

 

[Adnil]

Her local council would give her an extra bin for incontinence products. Might be worth a try. On the other hand, it may be just a phase. Or, if you have a recycling centre nearby, put it all in bags and take them up there.

Thank you for the reply, the first idea sounds good. I will investigate.
I couldn't get rid of it myself at recycling centre as I don't live near Mum.