Swallowing issues

ImMaggieMae

My DH has been having swallowing issues on and off for at least a year. He can chew and eats regular foods as long as things like meat are cut up. It is during water or other liquids that seems to be the problem. I have been using an added thickener (Thick It) that seems to help. But he often coughs right after drinking and I am fearful of aspiration.

I’ve been advised to have him checked by a speech therapist, but these are very elusive specialists. His PCP can’t seem to put us in touch with one and a couple times after DH had been in ER and we had a visiting nurse for a couple weeks, their agencies did not have a speech therapist on staff and they didn’t have access to one. Has anyone here been able to actually see one?

​fesk

Hi ImMaggieMae,

I just found this part of the site. I hope you have found some help by now but, if you haven't, I can tell you our experience and what I would advise.

My mother aspirated a couple of years ago. At the time she was on a medication that made her very tired. I think she aspirated because she was fed when sleepy. At the time I knew nothing of aspiration and panicked. Because I didn't know why she aspirated, I was afraid to feed her.

Her doctor's office had a speech therapist come to the home to observe my mother eating. The speech therapist was from a company that offered home services for short periods of time. Also, another option was a speech therapist from a company that offered physical and occupational therapists in the home. Check in your area to see who offers PT/OT in the home. They may have speech therapists. The therapist who came for my mom came several times and observed her eating different types of food.

Also, my mother had a barium swallow study done at the hospital which was more thorough. Check to see if a hospital near you can perform the study.

Both the speech therapist at home and the hospital swallow study showed my mother did not have any issues. We do stay away from seeds, lettuce, etc. We make sure to pace how she is eating - she tends to eat fast. We give her one piece at a time or pace her when eating with a spoon. We make sure the food is moist enough and watch to see when she might need water to help wash down any food. She also had a tendency to cough sometimes when drinking water. I think most of that was the aide's technique. We have to prompt her to have one drink at a time. I think if she gulped the water, it would be an issue. We also found part of the problem for her was when there was only a little water at the bottom of the cup. Tilting her head back to drink was difficult for her. We purchased "nosy" cups on Amazon to resolve that issue. You could also make sure the cup is never low on water.

Personally, I would recommend not using Thick It unless you are instructed to do so. You do not know what is causing the issue. I read that aspirating on thickened liquid is worse than thin liquids. I will tell you that was my immediate reaction when my mother aspirated - I went out and bought the thickener. I quickly stopped using it.

I find that making sure my mother is alert, pacing her food, prompting her to drink one drink at time and making sure the foods are moist enough have been successful so far.

Have you been able to find help yet? How is your husband doing?