My 85 year old mother has lived with my husband and I the past 3 years. I have never seen an elderly person with this kind of appetite. She does have vascular dementia but unsure it would cause this. If I didn't monitor what she was eating, I think she would eat all day. To make matters worse, she doesn't have any teeth. When she moved in she had ill fitting dentures that she wasn't able to wear. We had a new set of dentures made and they do not fit properly either because she has too much bone loss.
All she likes to eat is junk. She thinks eating 3 or 4 hot dogs at a time is normal ?? She can eat half of a large pan pizza by herself. It's a chore to feed her. Drives me nuts !
However, I realize it would be bad if she didn't eat.
Can't win!
Thanks for the reminder !
Thank for replying !
If your mother could eat all she wanted of only high quality, well-balanced foods, her eating behavior might be less extreme.
My mother wasn't prone to over eating really - her downfall was the ice cream bars for dessert - gained 20#s she did NOT need. However, there were times when she would eat more than usual. The staff told me how she'd eaten breakfast, and apparently someone else was eating a later breakfast (they didn't force people to get up or eat during the "usual" times), so mom insisted SHE had to have breakfast. When they told her she already ate, she said nope and she got a second breakfast! So, it does happen.
Since you also say your mom has diabetes and is overweight, try to leave out snacks that might be less unhealthy. Would she eat carrots, celery with PB, cut up fruit? Of course she can still have a "treat" occasionally, but if you can get her to scarf down raw veggies and the like, it could satisfy her need to munch, but not impact her health as much. Sure, all 3 conditions will shorten her life, but why compound it with unhealthy stuff if you can get her to snack on better stuff between meals?
Also, the part of her brain that deals with impulse control is not working correctly. Her caregiver will need to be the one to help her control her impulses.
Let her neurologist know about these new symptoms - it could be worsening disease or a new issue.
Also, do your best to help your mother with her meals: put food on everybody's plate and make sure pans and bowls of food stay off the dining room table. If she is prone to helping herself to snacks, you may need to lock those up as well.
I just need her to like healthy foods instead of Little Debbies lol. Not going to happen !!
Thanks !!
My mother also drinks Ensure. I just purchased the Ensure Max (more protein and less sugar).
I am wondering if it's my mother's dementia along with boredom coupled with "why does it matter?? I'm at the end of my life"
Thank you for replying !
Her attitude is.... I'm at the end of my life so why does it matter? I'm trying to keep her out of a facility and at home.
If she loses her mobility (which isn't all that great now) I will have no choice to put her somewhere because I can't handle 200 lbs. and that's my real concern.
I will be retiring soon so we'll see how things work out.
Thanks for your reply !!
With dementia, there IS no 'normal' anymore. So just ignore what your mother is doing and let her be, that's my suggestion. Why try to prolong her life, at 85 with dementia? Even with diabetes and obesity at play, she's better off living life on her terms than living longer with restrictions in force and with the misery of worsening dementia at play, in my opinion. If I get dx'ed with dementia, there is no way I'm doing ANYTHING to prolong my life!!!!!!!!!!!!
I guess just be grateful that she still has a good appetite, and seems to enjoy eating, and the fact that it's mostly "junk" food is ok too, as someone with vascular dementia's life expectancy is not long, so let her enjoy it while she can. Best wishes.