Drinking with Alzheimer's Disease

Hello and welcome to 'here', but sorry for the reason.

It would affect her condition and her meds. I know someone began watering down the alcohol a little at a time.

Hi and welcome. I am sorry for your reason to be here but pleased you found this place.

I have a lot of experience with the intersection of alcohol use disorder and dementia (Alzheimer's and Wernicke-Korsakoff's which is an ARD).

I answered this recent post along with some other folks—

Would love to hear tips/tricks from people caring for parent with Mild Alzheimers that also drinks — ALZConnected

A big piece of this is how much mom actually drinks; a nightly cocktail or glass of wine is different than black-out drinking.

IME, reducing dad's alcohol consumption was a challenge not easily overcome. We tried alcohol-free versions of beer and wine. He absolutely could taste the difference. We even tried pouring the NA version into a non-NA version bottle. We tried cutting his wine with water; beyond 10% he could detect it. His brain was diseased, but his palate was not. YMMV. Some folks claim this did work for them. It's worth trying.

It was impossible for mom to be the alcohol-police. Restricting it in any way was a risky as he could be aggressive to the point of violence if denied. In the context of his mid to late-stage terminal condition, it was not a risk worth taking. Again, YMMV.

Unfortunately, dad had made some disastrous financial decisions in the earlier stages of the disease which impacted the decisions and timing of placement in a facility where he couldn't access alcohol as mom will likely need care in the future.

Any other questions?

HB
(harshed buzz)

I have given my dad nonalcoholic beer. It takes exactly like the alcoholic version.

At the beginning stages of my DH drinking alcohol it was a battle. He also can taste the difference between NA beer. I would just give him a beer and when he is not looking dump some out. Less stress. Now at stage 5 he will hold a can of beer that is practically empty for hours. Most time he forgets where he put the beer. Hope this helps.