My alzhiemers mom eats all her food at each meal and snacks between meals. Chicken is her favorite. I changed her milk to lactose free milk. No more blowouts. Why is she losing weight. The doctor says it’s because she’s up all night wondering around. What can I do to get her to maintain a steady weight. She’s only 74. She’s losing and very frail.
My MIL has not eaten more than 400 calories per day in 8+ months. She drinks about 32 ounces of fluid--coffee, Boost and Diet Coke.
I think she's lost about 30 lbs, but she had it to lose, so to speak. Her weight is now stable on that diet.
Her Nurse is not concerned at all. A little befuddled, but not concerned.
She has mild dementia and doesn't remember that she ate or didn't. At first, everyone was panicky about that, now that they see she's not starving to death, it's become a non-issue.
I went through almost a year of cancer treatments, felt lousy the entire time and did not lose one pound! I could barely swallow, with the chemo blisters in my mouth--and I know I ate less than 1000 calories a day.
NOT A POUND!
Life is really crazy, sometimes.
Digestive enzymes may also diminish with age and lead to inefficient processing of food. Ask her doctor about testing for enzyme levels. Supplements can be prescribed if there is enzyme deficiency.
If your mom is up all night, ask her doctor if there is something she can take for the late night anxiety.
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