No interest in food or eating

Southernmemere

Hi! I’m new to this group, my DH was diagnosed with Dementia about a year ago. These past months it’s progressing faster then I can wrap my mind around it & have so many questions. He has lost so much weight due to his lack of interest in food, he is never hungry & if I don’t remind him to eat, he doesn’t. My question is…is this unusual or is this part of it? We have an appt. in July with a Memory Specialist & I hope then to get a correct diagnosis & name. Thanks in advance for your help!!

BassetHoundAnn

One of the first signs that my mom's dementia had taken an abrupt turn for the worst was that she suddenly lost a lot of weight. Getting her to eat has been a struggle. It's as if her sense of appetite has vanished. I have found strangely that if I place a plate of food in front of her she will eat it--all of it. But she's often protesting wildly the entire time, as she's eating, that she's not hungry and doesn't want the food. 

I often buy her treats that she especially likes, like strawberries and Twinkies. Those will vanish quickly and I have seen her eating them. But there are certain other things that I know she likes, like chocolate chip cookies, that I will find dumped in her trash. I suspect she can't identify them or doesn't remember where they came from. If I ask her why the cookies are in her trash she makes up some strange story about a burglar breaking in and dumping things in the trash. 

I know there are foods that she definitely is unable to identify as food. And there are non-food items that she misidentifies as food. For instance, last year a PT came to the house to show her exercises for her arthritis. She gave her a ball of putty to squeeze. After the PT left my mom put the putty in a dish and put it in the refrigerator as if it were a dessert. It is certainly a strange disease, isn't it? 

KJL73

My MIL is very advanced and the NH staff are having a hard time getting her to sit long enough to eat (and she can't do two things at once, so she can't eat while walking, for example).  Anyway, she's lost a lot of weight and the doctor just prescribed an appetite stimulant.  I've seen on other forums that this has worked with some AD patients, so we are hopeful.  Maybe worth asking about.  Best of luck to you.  It's a beast.

Ablove

It has been 13 yrs since my mother's journey with alzheimer's.    I would say about 5 yrs ago, she used to complain about her food, but she would be happy to eat sweets.  She loved barbecue sauce.  So I started using that, and some other sweet sauce like honey mustard, but just little bit to give sweet flavor.  Since then, no complaint.  Even though the disease is progressing, she eats very well.

tdnp

We are in a similar position.

Mom constantly says that she is not hungry and that since she does not do anything she does not need to eat (or take a shower).  We try our hardest to get her to eat and when she does it is only a cup or two of whatever it is.  She will not eat a variety either.   There are several things that I know that she would eat and liked when I was growing up that she will not eat now.  My thought is that her memory has\is failing to the point that she both forgets to eat and that she forgets what she likes to eat.  (although I do not think that she has any taste from Coffee and cigarettes constantly)  

Best I have been able to do is keep what I know she will eat on hand.  I used the excuses that I do not want to “be in trouble with the Doctor for her losing weight”, which she is and is very fragile to get her to eat. I try to ask what she wants, and she will tell me nothing and then I state what she I am making, and she will usually eat a few bits.   The other thing that we are going to try is protein and enriched cookies, she like her cookies so we are going to try to get some more vitamins and nutrition in her that way.   One of the problems that we have run into is that she has constipation very bad and some food add to that so, we must watch that carefully. 

On “trick” we have done is that she likes her milk.  So, we mix 2 cans of ensure, pint of half and half and the rest milk in a ½ gallon jug.  Trying to get some fat and nutrients into her diet.   

It is hard, Good luck. 

zauberflote

Tdnp, your Ensure concoction is similar to something MIL liked for a while-- Ensure or Boost (I forget which) milkshakes. Double fudge Boost and good vanilla ice cream, blended together very well and served cold.