My wife is becoming a chipmunk.

Ragfoot · January 1

Something new going on. Now my DW, more than once, will "eat" something but, leave the food in her mouth without swallowing. For hours. I try to get her to open her mouth, but she refuses. EVENTUALLY she will open her mouth and I can see all the masticated food inside her lips and all around her teeth. With much cajoling I get her to take a few sips of water, which helps wash some of the food down. Next meals will be eaten normally until she does it again.

Anyone else have someone who has done this? Any suggestions?

Iris L. · January 1

This is called pocketing. It is a part of later stage dementia. You have to change how you feed her in order to avoid choking and aspiration.

Iris

Jgirl57 · January 1

I don’t have any suggestions but I think “pocketing” food is common in later stages . Chocking and aspiration can become a problem . My husband does not yet do it with food , but swishes fluids in his mouth for a long long time before swallowing . Talk to the doctor , it may be time to downgrade food texture .

Ragfoot · January 1

Thank you VERY much for the comments. Doing a Google search on "pocketing" produced a LOT of sites explaining what it is, and what to do for it.

As a side note, one of the sites I discovered during this search took me to https://dementiacarenotes.in/

This site turned out to be a "gold mine" of information regarding dementia care covering nearly all aspects.

Ragfoot · January 1

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/232665#Comment_232665

While not the case with my DW, from the source I listed above…

"DCN: Can we check to know if the person really has swallowing problems?

Dr. Hegde: Usually a swallowing problem due to dementia deterioration starts with difficulty in swallowing liquids. They cough if given water, but may not cough when given food. That is when we switch to mashed or semi-solid food."

It is a fairly extensive section, also mentioning thickening liquids for those who need it.

Read more at Dementia Care Notes: Page title: 'Home care for late stage dementia, Part 5: Eating/ swallowing problems', Link:

https://dementiacarenotes.in/late-stage-dementia-care-eating-swallowing/

Emily 123 · January 1

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/232674#Comment_232674

Looks like a good resource—thanks for sharing it!

harshedbuzz · January 1

@Ragfoot

This behavior can quickly lead to an emergency situation.

You might want to ask her doctor to order a swallow study with an SLP to get a sense of the degree of impairment around eating and recommend strategies to safely feed her now. Some clinicians are moving away from the routine practice of mechanically processing foods/thickening liquids as being ineffective. You'd want guidance specific to your LO. That said, banning straws and sippy cups has been something ordered for both my parents with different swallowing issues and SLPs.

Since it is very common for pocketed food to be silently aspirated and cause pneumonia, you might want to figure out what your wishes would be in that situation. Aspiration pneumonia is leading contributing factor for death in Alzheimer's Disease. Some caregivers opt to bring in hospice and comfort care rather than treat it aggressively with hospitalization, antibiotics and steroids.

I'm sorry you are facing this.

HB

SDianeL · January 2

I would contact hospice now. After my husband started pocketing he rapidly declined and eventually aspirated and developed pneumonia. If you make the decision to treat the pneumonia it could happen again and again. So sorry.

My wife is becoming a chipmunk.

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