Eating stuff

cjcadmen157

My DW is in stage 5/6 of Alzheimer's. Lately she has been eating all kinds of things. She ate all of her toothpaste from the tube, orange and lemon peels and whole tomatoes like an apple. Has anyone else seen this?

Vitruvius

It is reasonably common for later stage PWD to try to eat all kinds of things including items that are not food items. In late Stage 6 or maybe it was early Stage 7, my DW occasionally put things in her mouth that were not food but fortunately did not swallow them, just sort of chewed on them. As an example she pulled the drawstring out of some pants, bunched it up and put it in her mouth. This did not happen very often but others have reported it happening routinely with their PWD. I don’t have any advice on what to do about this other than vigilance unfortunately. Maybe others will weigh in with more constructive advice.

Just as a humorous side note, I know “normal” people who eat things like large onions like an apple. I for one eat kiwis like it was an apple, with the skin on no less, which friends and family think is daft.

SDianeL

it’s called pica and fairly common. Some tips: remove all objects that she could put in her mouth. (Think crawling baby). Put baby locks on all cabinets and refrigerator. Some dementia patients don’t look up so maybe store things like toothpaste in an upper cabinet. Don’t leave her unattended. Provide snacks often that she can eat. Make sure she is hydrated. They make jello drops to help with hydration. Have the doctor check blood work for vitamin deficiencies that could cause it, ask the doctor about anti anxiety meds. Pica is very dangerous because she could eat something that would make her very sick or she could choke. Please keep us posted.