My 90 yr old husband is always clenching his teeth and unaware that he is also holding his breath or forgets to breath when he is doing any movements, walking, combing his hair and more. He has been diagnosed with early Alzheimer's ... he is not able to walk on his own and has to be reminded to lift his head, move his feet.. always has his tensed toes raised up and does not walk using his entire foot for balance .. he has neuropathy ..not diabetic... anyone else dealing with this breathing issue???
he also has a very high anxiety problem. One of the first signs was holding his breath to the point that it would start to slowly leak out like a balloon slowly letting out. I would have to pull his bottom jaw down and great gush of air would rush out. However he was not holding his breath but tensing his throat and neck muscles to to point that his neck would blow up larger than his head
he has started doing it again. Causes a lot of problems with his day to day life. Stops oxygen getting to his brain and from eating.
As your husband is ninety and had been diagnosed as being in the early stages of Alzheimers, how confident is his neurologist about the diagnosis? Could there be other types of dementia or neurological disease involved?
It seems a bit Pollyanna-ish, but I'd have a try, at least, at two types of exercise in the hope of conserving, ideally re-establishing, better breathing and moving habits.
One, singing, and if you Google "singing for the brain" you should find links to videos and information; and two, falls prevention exercises which again you can Google or which your PT might help you with.
Both of these of course will need a lot of input from you - I hope I'm not just adding to your worries.
I would purchasd a pulse oximeter and check his oxygen saturation rates during this behavior. Keep a log and share it with his providers.
If he develops difficulty breathing or O2 sats consistently are less than 91% call 911. He could be aspirating as well.