@A myALZteam Member: I'm sorry. The Limbic System controls Autonomic functions like hunger and thirst (also blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature); and the Limbic System includes the Hippocampus (plus the Amygdala, Thalamus, Hypothalamus, Basal ganglia, and Cingulate gyrus) so as the brain atrophies, the autonomic functions are increasingly affected. Not eating and drinking generally are late-stage behaviors (Stages 6 & 7), so you may be at a point now where an evaluation by Hospice might be a good thing.

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A myALZte...

@A myALZteam Member. Don’t worry about your Mom starving. Re read Helen’s post. Your Mom isn’t feeling bad because she isn’t taking in much foods or fluids. Those areas are being taken over my Alzheimer’s so she doesn’t feel what you and I would feel if we were deprived of intake. You might want to concentrate on liquid things she can take in. Ensure or something similar, soups, popsicles, puddings, runny oatmeal in a cup that she could drink. Then she will get nutrients and liquids at the same time. When she gets to the place where she won’t chew, you can purée the solids with a little liquid, or some things like casseroles, bananas can just be mashed so they can take a small spoonful, things like the oatmeal, soups can also be run through a blender, or use a stick blender if you have one. If she chokes on thin liquids there is something you can buy to thicken them. Eventually she will forget how to swallow and take in nourishment. It takes about 2weeks (+ or - ) to die if you have no food/fluids, but like my Bob, and others above is was just a couple of days because they didn’t die from lack of food or fluids. They died because their organs were shutting down d/t the disease. All this is to say, Don’t feel guilty because your Mom doesn’t have a good intake. You can try your best, but our best is all we have to give. They do lose weight toward the end and yes, that is sad, but that is the disease. I remember going through that with my husband. It hurts! Oh we hate that disease so much! Remember, we have no power over the disease at this stage. We can only do our best to provide care, keep them comfortable, give lots of gentle hugs and tell them how much we love them. You may also want to sit and tell her all the good memories you have about your years with your Mom. She may not respond or understand the words, but they hear your voice, they hear the joy and the love in that voice and when she leaves you, you can be at peace knowing you did your best against impossible odds, and our best is all we can do. Sending lots of hugs. ❤️💔

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A myALZte...

“Our best is all we can do.” Perfectly said @A myALZteam Member, and great advice.
Admittedly it was a hard thing to accept while I was going through it. I am very thankful that my heart and my head finally reconciled their differences and I could focus on comfort and just being present… I believe she knew full well she was loved when she left. ❤️ …. and that really is what matters most.

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A myALZte...

Yes. She is on hospice. It’s just so hard to watch when you feel like the person you love is starving themselves.

When my mother was in the final stages of AD, all she would eat were Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies. That shocked us since she was 4'11" and skinny as a rail. She also developed fierce, uncontrollable anger accompanied by such strength that my dad and I together could not handle her. That was the deciding factor in her being admitted to a long-term care facility until the end. That was very hard for my dad. He spent every day from breakfast until supper sitting with her while she lay in bed. I lived 500 miles away, so I wasn't very helpful. We were very thankful for the well-trained staff there!