Funny, but not funny

Bunnyboo · February 27

As some of you know I am caring for my father in law. Well l was cleaning the downstairs bathroom, when l hear from the bathroom some gagging noises coming from the kitchen. I come running into the kitchen asking him if he was alright and he shakes his head no. I look in his hand to find that he drank some of the spicy oriental sauce that my husband uses to cook with. I handed him a bottle of water with flavoring that he likes, and told him to drink that.

SusanB-dil · February 27

Oh, my - yes, our LO's can pull some funky stuff!

It may have looked familiar, so he figured he would just have at it. That certainly didn't work out as planned!

M1 · February 27

Yeah not funny..you may have to start paying more attention to what's in the fridge. Up until now i have been able to leave toiletries out in my partners bathroom, but then last week she tried to put hairspray on her toothbrush. That was the end of that.

terei · February 28

My mother tried to eat carved stone grapes. I wish we could see things the way the PWD does. Their behavior is so bizarre sometimes

housefinch · February 28

I would lock up all poisons, medicines, cleaning supplies, even dish soap. He could do something disastrous.

BassetHoundAnn · February 28

I gave mom a dog biscuit to give to the dog. She ate it herself. Then she justified it by claiming that her doctor told her that dog biscuits were nutritious to eat.

mommyandme (m&m) · February 28

My mom tried to eat decorative soap shells. She also used very red lipstick as an eyebrow pencil a few times. Poor things, but you gotta find humor where you can, as long as it’s not a safety issue.

forbarbara · February 28

So glad you can see the humor in such a frustrating situation. Hold on to those chuckles.

Chammer · March 1

My DD walked in as MILw AD was sampling a large maroon candle that sat on the coffee table in front of the sofa. She only left teeth marks 😁

BassetHoundAnn · March 1

I realized it was no longer safe for my mom to live alone when she put a glob of physical therapy hand putty into a dessert dish and placed it in the refrigerator.

housefinch · March 1

My grandmother with early dementia (decades ago) almost used a metal knife to extract a piece of toast from a toaster (while it was plugged in & toasting). I will never forget my mom shrieking & lunging to stop her.

ButterflyWings · March 1

I have to get my sweet-dispositioned aide to stop just smiling and chuckling at the things DH tries to sample, as it really is dangerous when they ingest something that is not edible. Not only the potential poisoning issue...he's cracked a few teeth (off) trying to bite into things too hard to handle. One minute today he was looking at a CD - shiny and round. The next moment, he's trying to chomp on it. She thought it was funny, and yeah, kinda, but like the title says - not funny.

One day last summer it was a wooden checker that I realized had gone missing from a friend's board game as I sat next to DH reading my email. Luckily he pulled it out of his mouth and gave it to me when I held out my hand to inquire (it kind of did look like a tray of chocolates, I guess). Around that time I'd also heard a tinkling noise and turned to see him emptying some colorful beads out of a jar that was sealed tight, had been long stashed away for jewelry-making projects. I don't even know where he found that, but when I heard the noise I knew immediately what he was into and that he probably thought it was a jar of candy. Sure enough, he had a few in his hand and was about to pop the plastic treats in his mouth. One of the members who recently lost his DW said she'd begun swallowing coins and such, and had to have them removed in ER a couple of times. Scary and sad.

These days no chemicals, plants, sprays or such are accessible and laundry pods, bars of soap, the zinc cream for his butt, etc. all have to be inconveniently secured and retrieved for use multiple times a day. Line of sight is the only way to keep DH from chewing tags off his clothes and the stuffing out of the chux (underpads), etc. Can barely stay one step ahead of dementia snacking, these days. We really have to be vigilant once this hyper-oral behavior starts with a vengeance. That's where we are at my house these days.

dancsfo · March 2

Does anyone keep syrup of ipecac to induce vomiting in case something bad is ingested, or is it best to rely on EMT or ER? The Mayo Clinic provides many warnings before using it.

I realize, of course, that it is best to avoid these situations and to secure/hide any harmful substances, but there's always a chance you missed something.

Also fear that a PWD can't tell you what was ingested that later caused discomfort. Perhaps the bottle or other container was put away, and it took a while for symptoms to appear. Then you can't tell the EMT or Poison Control Hotline what happened, precisely. I'm skeptical about relying on videos to try to identify the ingested material. You may not see clearly.

Bunnyboo · March 3

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/200390#Comment_200390

He snacks like there's no tomorrow. Then makes a mess while snacking

harshedbuzz · March 4

@Bunnyboo

It seems as if you have 2 separate concerns.

The first is safety. He's no longer independently safe around things he might harm him if ingested. This means you have to think like the parent of a curious toddler and secure them where FIL can't access them. It would make sense to secure cabinets that have cleaning supplies, health and beauty aids, meds, lawn and garden products, etc. There are services that can come to your home to "baby-proof", or you can buy supplies at a hardware store or Amazon and DIY.

I belong to a couple of support groups for parents of kids with ASD. This kind of behavior is not uncommon for them. Many families prefer to use the magnetic cabinet/drawer locks as they're not obvious and work well. Alternately, some families set up a pantry in a garage or laundry space and lock the door. There are refrigerator locks, but those tend to be quite obvious.

How is the snacking a problem? Is there a health issue around weight, BP, diabetes that makes this a bigger problem than just the mess? Or is it just the frustration of tidying up around a person with no empathy for the work they've created for you.

What's driving the snacking? If he's snacking because he's bored, perhaps a day program would better engage him and give you a break. Is the snacking a side effect of a medication that could be changed. IME with kids on spectrum, the rabid snackers were often taking one of the atypical antipsychotics. This can be dosage related and some meds in the class effect folks differently in terms of appetite. FWIW, I noticed an uptick in dad's snacking while on Seroquel but he was losing weight so this wasn't a problem. I have heard of situations where weight gain was impacting mobility and the ability to be home with a single caregiver.

If the snacking is more of a problem because of the mess, perhaps you could stop bringing the messiest stuff into your home.

HB

Bunnyboo · March 9

He snacks mostly cause he's bored. I try to engage him in some kind of activity with him like helping me clean, but he soon tires of it and goes back to snacking.

I was thinking of getting locks, but in his frustration of trying to get in there he would break the locks.

Funny, but not funny

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