Swallowing

Cecil Jones

My wife has started having trouble swallowing pills. Is this the start of other swallowing or eating problems? She seems not to have any problems eating, although I do cut everything up for her.

gampiano

Hi Cecil,

In my experience, this is the beginning of swallowing problems. My husband began this way, and I cut pills in half at first. That lasted for a few months, and then i had to crush the meds and put them in pudding or ice cream.

My husband developed a loose "cough" . When then hospice nurse came to evaluate, she told me that that was indicative of a weakening or loosening of the swallowing muscles, and she was right.

This is only my experience. of course.

Cecil Jones

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/199780#Comment_199780

Thanks, she's been having trouble a couple of months. It's like she forgets how.

Kat63

My husband has also started having issues with his pills. He seems to forget that he is to drink and swallow them. I have to say don’t chew them when I give them to him and then I hand him the drink and say now take a drink and just swallow it quickly. Seems to work right now. I will be interested also to see what others say whether this is the start of having trouble with eating.

mommyandme (m&m)

My mom had trouble taking her pills but no problems with swallowing. It did seem to be something she just forgot and/or was afraid to do, like a child. I also gave her directions on “how to” until that didn’t work. Ultimately, she took her pills (that could be crushed) in yogurt for quite some time. She didn’t know they were there, I fed it to her to make sure they’d go down. Any meds that couldn’t be crushed were simply removed from her cocktail, ok’d by our medical team.

I was glad she didn’t have swallowing issues for the most part. Hope that’s the case for you both.

upstateAnn

Easy solution. Grind the pills and put them in applesauce. My husband has swallowing problems because of radiation. Problem solved by applesauce and disappeared.

Cecil Jones

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/199786#Comment_199786

I've got to where I give her the glass of water first and then the pills and she usually gets thems down

Cecil Jones

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/199796#Comment_199796

Thanks, sounds similar. I haven't had to crush them yet.

Cecil Jones

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/199820#Comment_199820

I haven't had to crush them yet...just wondering if it's the beginning of major swallowing problems.

​fesk

We've been crushing my mother's pills and putting in applesauce for some time because she will chew them. For us, this was not the start of swallowing problems.

GothicGremlin

The pills were the first indication of a swallowing issue for my sister. We're still crushing medications and putting them in applesauce or sorbet in order to get them down.

My sister is late stage at this point (stage 7) and she's definitely forgetting how to swallow. She'll hold things in her mouth or spit them out. It's challenging.

Ed1937

I just have one comment to make. If you want to crush her pills, please talk to her doctor or pharmacist to make sure it's okay to do that. Some pills should not be crushed.