Swallowing Problems/ Late Stage ALZ

fogcat

I have a feeding tip for those caring for someone with late stage Alzheimers that have swallowing problems. This strategy helped my mom tremendously. I'm thinking it might not work for everyone, but it is worth trying and I hope it could benefit some of you.

My mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer's August 2020. The disease progressed rather quickly. She can no longer talk, walk, or do any self care including feeding herself. During the last few months she has had difficulty swallowing her food. She would hold the food in her mouth for awhile and then eventually swallow. Last week she stopped eating solid food completely, but was still taking in liquids. However it was not much liquid because she couldn't swallow well. My family was very worried and the hospice nurse said this was a sign that she is starting the process of passing away.

We tried different things to help her take in nutrients. We gave her Ensure Clear and she liked it. Yet, it was a slow process to have her drink a 10 ounce bottle of it. We would give her a portion in the morning, afternoon, and evening. It took her the entire day to drink a whole bottle of the liquid. We also tried giving her ice cream, pudding, apple sauce, etc. Other sweets she would typically enjoy, but it was too difficult for her because she was forgetting the mouth mechanics of swallowing. Unfortunately she only took 1-2 small spoonfuls of it.

One afternoon, we noticed when we were cleaning her mouth with a disposable oral swab, she started sucking it like a lollipop. This was the mouth mechanics that she was forgetting and the swab in her mouth seem to be triggering her muscle memory of what to do to swallow. So we tried spoon feeding her pudding while the swab was in her mouth to the side. Then while the pudding was in her mouth, we placed the swab to the center of her mouth and twirled it in a circular direction. Also pressed gently on her tongue with the swab, this prompted her to start sucking and to swallow! We did this with each bite of pudding and she was able to swallow fairly easily. At the end of the day she had a container of pudding, apple sauce, and a pureed bowl of soup & noodles by using the oral swab to trigger her tongue to swallow. This was the most she had eaten in over a week. We were so happy that this trick worked and I wanted to share this with the group just in case it could help others.

BassetHoundAnn

That's amazing Fogcat, thank you for posting. My mom is approaching this stage when swallowing sometimes is hard for her, and sometimes every little trick helps in getting her to eat. Thank you!

Emily 123

Great idea-thank you for sharing!

eaglemom

That is a great idea. However, I do want to warn you to make certain that you have your mother in a complete upright position when your feeding her. It is very easy for someone to aspirate and that is the last thing you want. (Yes, we've been through several aspirations & aspiration pneumonia.) Also make certain that she gets some clear water to 'wash' down what she's eaten.

It's great what your doing, just in an upright position. Good job figuring out what would work.

eagle

GHJ

My heart goes out to you, Sweetie..finding new ways to do old things is a necessity we all learn early on. If I may offer a tidbit here, not to improve on the sage wisdom offered but in an effort to help - a LO of mine entering this phase responded well to a bottle and nipple, with the hole modified for whatever she was being fed. Yes, this is a signal that the end of the AD journey is nearing but I felt we could have maybe a few more weeks with her and she did stay about that long before even the nipple, which stimulates the sucking instinct, was not a help. The nipple lessened the aspiration risk, tho that is always a concern no matter what. Yes, again good counsel, be sure the LO is sitting up. I'm new to the group, forgive if I have butted in just wanted to share an experience.