Father won't eat

martindm

My dad has had problems with eating food. I first noticed in August that he wasn't eating very well. He would say everything tastes terrible. Even the foods he was used to eating and liked. He would still eat the snacks he liked so I wasn't too terribly concerned. Since I do his grocery shopping I did notice he was not eating as much. But, what I didn't realize until Thanksgiving is that he would try to eat but would end up just spitting the food out. He had been pretty lethargic this past week so I really began to get worried. Now that I know it is because he is not eating I am terrified that he won't last much longer going along like this.

I took him to the ER on Friday and they confirmed he was dehydrated and malnourished. The only thing they did was give us a consult to a GI doctor to see if there was something wrong with his esophagus. He has lost 30 pounds in 5 months. These past few days I have spent most of my time with him. He takes a bite or two of food. Chews it up and spits it out. He does not swallow. I cannot get him to explain why. He is able to drink fluids but will not do so unless prompted. He does not like the protein shakes/drinks. We had quite a fight last night because I was insistent he has to eat. I don't know what to do. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

jfkoc

Weocome...

Your problem is not uncommon so you will undoubtedly get a bunch of suggestions.

What worked here was to stop foods that involved chewing. We relied on things like orange sherbet, cottage cheese, mashed potatoe, and applesauce. We added protein powder. This worked for a long time.

Do give up the insisting. That is a dead end road.

Paris20

My husband lost a great deal of weight but then I discovered he’d eat when and what I’d eat, so I make sure all our meals are identical. Your father, however, seems to have a more difficult problem. Inability to swallow is serious. Don’t let doctors be dismissive. With AD, we’re never sure that a new symptom is physical or behavioral or both. One thing I discovered is that although my husband refused to drink Ensure, he was fine with Ensure pudding. I found it on Amazon. It’s packaged like any ready-to-eat pudding so there was no complaining.

mariawotters

Why don't you try something delicious? My friend also had this period and it worked. She refused to eat, so I had to add various vitamins from https://www.canadadrugsdirect.com/online-pharmacy to her dishes. We also often played cards at will and when she lost she had to eat what I said. It was fun for her so she agreed. I think you can also find a way to encourage Dad to eat. Try to start with his favorite food and I think you will succeed

ButterflyWings

jfkoc and Paris gave you some good advice. Swallowing issues are very serious. He should be assessed immediately for this. In the meantime I would try puddings, applesauces, ice cream with protein powder stirred in, thick soups, pureed anything (winter is a great time for soups!) Maybe he needs a lot more seasoning or even salt these days? Doesn't covid make it hard to taste and smell (?) has he been tested? Some people have it without getting sick, right?

Have you considered getting a hospice evaluation for the support they provide with a team that can provide the weekly in person nursing assessments, his meds (delivered and free), 24/7 phone access if you have a question or something happens they will come out to check on him, OT/PT therapy, social worker, regular caregiving respite and overall hygiene and incontinence supplies + most any equipment you will need as his needs increase? He would surely qualify with that drastic weight loss and not eating -- and hospice for dementia patients is not just short term "end of life" care. 

Hospice is a huge help for us, and DH is still walking, talking, eating (but he does chew things forever lately!) and still going to the toilet on his own (but missing it half the time when urinating, so we also use pull ups 24/7 -- and I mop the bathroom a lot). It can't hurt to call and have him evaluated. You can always decline to sign him up if he does qualify. But they are our team now, and I don't have to make all the heavy decisions alone with only the (GREAT!) input from this forum. 

***Our hospice team also sends a CNA aid 2 days a week for 1 hour. She just sits and talks with him for now while I run short errands, but could do hygiene help, make his bed, do laundry, fix lunch, etc. in your LO's situation, maybe that person could fix a lunch, eat it with him and see if he'll cooperate more for them. Sometimes that works with bathing or other care resistance. Our LOs will often agree to something with others that they fight us over. I hope this helps - Keep us posted!

Marta

Martindm:  does your father live alone?

DrinaJGB

If there is parietal lobe involvement with the progression of his disease it may be a factor. The lobe is involved in sense of smell/taste. It could be that all the food is now tasting like cardboard to him if that lobe has been affected.

Jo C.

The first clue given is that "everything tastes terrible."  There is an often overlooked cause for such outcomes . . . . there are medications that can cause food to taste really, horribly dreadful; sometimes it is a noxious metallic taste; whether metallic or not, the change in taste can indeed be noxious and in fact can even cause a person to feel naseous.

It may be a good idea to look up each med being taken and see if that is a side effect.  If not mentioned, then re-Google each drug with:  drugs name and the words to the effect of affecting taste of food or causing negative changes in food tastes and see what pops up.

I noticed that you say you do his shopping, "for him."  Is he living alone or does he have someone with him?  This may make quite a difference in various ways.  If alone, who does his meal preparation?

If a med is the cause for the noxious taste, that will be easily fixed and the physician can change the med to something else. If this is not the issue, the physician can order a swallow test as appropriate.  This is easily done and is not invasive; nothing touches the body.  The test is done in an outpatient setting, usually an outpatient radiology department and is run by a Registered Dietician. The patient is sat upon a guerney with a fluoroscope before him/her.  Then the person is given sips of water, then a spoon of pudding or applesauce to swallow and perhaps then a cracker.  The fluoroscope can see the inside of the mouth and chewing and follows the food swallow down to the stomach seeing if there are any problem areas on the way and what difficulties there are, if any, at what point.

This is usually done before a big GI consult is made with invasive procedures unless symptoms are dicey.  So hope an answer is found and that it is something easily remedied. If he lives alone, it may be that perhaps that is no longer a safe place for him considering his weight loss, etc.  Also, if he is depressed that too can affect the willingness to eat. Just throwing out some ideas that are possibilities. Let us know how things are going, we will be thinking of you.

J.

Loralli23

Why don't you try something delicious? My friend also had this period and it worked.  She refused to eat, so I had to add various vitamins from https://www.canadadrugsdirect.com/online-pharmacy to her dishes. We also often played cards at will and when she lost she had to eat what I said. It was fun for her so she agreed. I think you can also find a way to encourage Dad to eat. Try to start with his favorite food and I think you will succeed

martadydaz000

My husband lost a great deal of weight(((