89 yr old mother with Alzheimer's and hungry all the time

Hi Candace,

Welcome to Caring's forums! I'm glad you joined us.

Let me say before I start that I am not caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's, so this is just food for thought, but two things came to mind. Could she be having blood sugar or metabolic issues? If she's eating tons of food and not really gaining weight, those things immediately popped into my mind. Second, I wonder if she's overeating, could this be the cause of her GERD.

There are so many wonderful people here with firsthand experience and I'm hopeful one of them will be able to share some wisdom.

I don't have an answer for you but I will share my experience with my mom. She is 75 & also enjoys food. She comes from senior meal & will eat a sandwich with her caregiver. She is crazy about sweet treats & anything that is offered. My mom has gained some weight. My mom is remembering little so I think she has actually forgotten she has just eaten. I think the forgetting is stressful & food is bringing her comfort & something she can do with another that doesn't require remembering anything. My mom really has no other ailments so for her the extra food isn't really an issue. I figure she might as well enjoy it while she can. Would your mom be interested in popsicles or maybe a sucker. It could be sugar free. It would take awhile to eat. Sorry, I have no real answer but that seems to be the nature of this disease. Take care of yourself & stay positive.

I try and leave fruit out for my husband but found out as long as he sees it he will eat it up in as little as one day. so when i place fruit in the fruit bowl that we have I will put a couple of oranges or apples out, and for lunch i will make a fruit salad this way he can eat all that he wants and its not fattening.

Just a thought...could it be indigestion? I'm only replying to this post because I am pregnant and am having a difficult time deciphering between hunger pains or indigestion. Try some OTC (over the counter) indigestion meds before or after a meal.

Also, my live-in grandmother with Alz. doesn't complain about being hungry all the time, but she does forget that she has eaten and wants to eat again. I try to make sure she has lots of protein in her diet to make her feel full. Yogurt, beans, peanut butter, nuts, etc.

My mother is 85 and has no other serious problems, except normal arthridic pain and she is on prilosec for indigestion. She has had a hip replacement and knee replacement and she occassionally has pain but will not take pain medication. She is a heavy woman, always has been but she is gaining weight from eating. She forgets she has eaten and askes for something. She enjoys Yogurt so I give her that when she asks for something but when I have to run an errand she will get into the snack bowl and put some in her pockets as well. I buy the mini candy bars and only put a few in the bowl along with peanut butter crackers or cheese crackers. I really have no answers or suggestions. It sounds like you are doing the best you can.

((hugs)) My Mother had Alz...my heart goes out to you for caring for her. Maybe some raw veggies to snack on, or pretzels? Or low calorie pop corn? I wish you the best.

Being Hungry--all the time--I think it is her NERVES, I suggest leaving fruit that she likes--and YOGURT---or JELLO or pudding snacks... Anything you can find low fat--Pretzels, I personnally think it is better for her to be hungry and then to loose her appetite altogether (so I would be grateful in that fact)..Good luck--and thanks for Caring for your mother (that is really really nice of you)!!!

Hi, hugs to you for being an at-home caregiver! I work in a long-term-care facility. Almost every patient in the later of stage 2 and in stage 3 does that. Several will go to their rooms after breakfast, sit for approx. 15 minutes, and head back down to the dining room. They will argue with you about having just eaten and sometimes it takes an act of congress to get them into an activity or distract them somehow. I asked both the Psychologist and the dietitian who gave opposing answers but both sounded good. The dietitian claimed it was the inability for them to distinguish the feeling of full from hunger. As children, we feed the feeling for comfort, so this carries over when memory fails. “I am confused so I must be hungry”. The psychologist claimed it was an attempt to return to a moment they know when they lose time. He says the thought pattern is somewhat like this:”Ok. I am out of bed and dressed. What do I do when I am out of bed and dressed? I go and eat.” Therefore, they often think they are just getting out of bed and dressed for the first time of the day. A full stomach or the feeling of just having eaten has no influence on the memory. I have no clue if this is correct, but they both sounded good. Both explinations helped as far as finding solutions for the patients.

When people have Alzheimer's they often get to the stage where the brain does not understand the signals that are coming from the stomach! They can either feel full all of the time or hungry all of the time. Frankly, I would rather they like to eat and are a little on the 'chubby' side, as there will come a time when they don't and that added weight will work in their favor. Also, should they get the flu, it is nice to have some extra weight for the few days that they can't eat well.

I would get rid of candy, baked goods, and other empty calory foods; don't even have them in the house. Use fruit, vegetables, protein bars, and other healthy snacks instead. Sugar Free jello might work as a before bedtime snack for the lady with GERD, as it is basically flavored water. Because of her medical needs, you may just have to secure all of the food in the house.

Although memory loss is what most people think of when you mention dementia, anyother big area of loss is in judgment; the ability to make good decisions becomes very impaired and they can be very impulsive. It isn't just that they don't remember that they just ate, but also that they are cued to continue eating by the environment and respond accordingly.

Provide alternatives to eating: go for walks or drives; garden; visit senior centers; go shopping; volunteer at a women's shelter, church, or day care; and/or work on a project at home (life/memory books, crafts for a holiday, projects to benefit a charity, etc.). Tap old interests. These will distract from the food issues. Since long-term memory is usually a strong area, this is a great time to go through all of those old family photos and keepsakes and have your parent tell you about them. This is safe territory for both of you, and you can make a wonderful life story of your mom or dad to hand down to the family.

Doing these things not only benefits the person with dementia, but also the caregiver, by providing you with variety and socialiation.

You seem like such a caring person and your mom is so fortunate to have you home with her. My husband seems to have the same eating problem and has gained some weight (he is naturally slim, but now has gained about 15 pounds...) I can't get him to drink water and have wondered if thirst has been replaced in his mind with imagined hunger. My daughter suggested mixing his Ensure with half water and it worked! Also I have some of his favorite recorded DVD musical performers that he has always enjoyed listening to and watching. He naps off and on during the day and while he is awake I try to find things to keep him occupied. We have a pet and lately he seems to take an interest in giving him attention. Lots of hugs and kind words are comforting too. Hang in there, it could be much worse....

There are many foods that contain a high water content and can help with your problem. Jello, ice cream, watermelon, popsicles, and grapes are some of them. Anything that melts and becomes a liquid is counted.

Avoid foods that are diuretics - anything with caffeine - and you would be surprised what has caffeine in it - chocolate (especially dark), many carbonated drinks (check the labels of ALL of them to be sure), tea, and even some so-called "decaffeinated" coffees! Caffeine is a diuretic - meaning it pulls water out of your system. Check with your local health food store for a complete list of foods, etc. that have diuretic qualities.

Hello Candance, I read your letter with interest. My problem is just the opposite of yours.
I am the caregiver to my husband. His problem is that he is NEVER hungry. I can't get him to eat much at all. He was 165 lbs when I married him 25 years ago. (second marriage) I weighed him yesterday. He is now 127lbs. His main source of nutrician is ENSURE. He drinks 5 or 6 8oz bottles a day. When he does eat, he wants only sweets.....like a cinnamon roll. He seeems to be a bit more willing to eat in a resturant. He has two things he will eat in a resturant. But when i give him this at home, he doesn't want to eat it. He also takes NAMENDA for Alz. I thought this is what takes away his appetite. But if your mother is on NAMENDA and is hungry all the time, I'm probably wrong about this. My husband never wants to snack. Sometimes I can get him to eat a half of grilled cheese sandwich for his meal. TUMS....the one thing he will suck on is TUMS. We keep a bottle of TUMS by his bed. He puts one or two in his mouth every night when he goes to bed...... (His dotcor says he can have up to 10 a day, spread out from morning to night and it won't hurt him.) This satisfies his sucking instinct and helps to absorb the extra saliva in his mouth. I think he thinks this is his snack. So my suggestion to you is: you might try letting your mom suck on TUMS. (It must be TUMS brand, as the other brands have aluminum in them.) (small size....regular strength...plain white ones) My husband also never has reflux or upset stomach. My good wishes to you as your care for your mum. Marilyn

Hello Marilyn, I am a caregiver and I see this often. At first , Like you, I thought maybe they forget that they ate. But once I investigated I found out that some of the medications can cause a person to feel hungry.Check with her doctor and asked if one of the medications may have this side effect. Hunger is a terrible feeling. Constant foraging on anything healthy or not is not good for you. Hopefully a simple change in medication can ease mom's belly problems.

Hi Candance - my mom was recently diagnosed with Alz and has the same problem. She went from having little appetite to eating constantly. The only medication change she had at that time was an antidepressant and Risperidal (sp?). I have decided to lock away most of the foods that she snacks on constantly. Every morning I put out what she is allowed to eat that day. There are other foods that we can leave out all the time because she isn't interested in them.

She doesn't drink water, but drinks milk all the time. She loves Mt Dew and I just won't buy it anymore. Instead I buy apple cider once a week. When that is gone, I make her Crystal Lite Lemonade so it is low calorie and mostly water.

I loved the suggestion for having lots of vegetables and yogurt available, unfortunately my mom won't eat either one.

Good luck to you. Personally, while this issue is annoying, I'm happy that she is eating as she was losing 5-6 lbs a month before.

I was caregiver to my mom for nine years and I had the opposite problem. Mom lost quite a bit of weight during the time that I allowed her to feed herself and it never returned. I took charge of feeding her when I realized that when she would stop eating it didn't necessarily mean that she 'full' but most likely that she was just weary of the process of feeding herself, or forget what she was doing...(feeding herself) or why.

Her appetite improved. I also took great pains to identify the foods that she liked best...and made sure to give them to her often. {That is one good thing about memory loss.} In the final stage of alz she found eating tiresome, so I prepared apples and cinnamon oatmeal for her each morning. I replaced the rubbery dried apple chips with real stewed and spiced apples that I had prepared for her. I cooked the oatmeal not in water but in milk enhanced with instant breakfast....to which I would occasionally add a few slices of banana. Because losing weight was her problem, her noontime or PM treat was ice cream with chocolate syrup, a sprinkling of wheat germ, bananas. At her death a few months ago she weighed about 100. She didn't like Ensure....even after I spiked it with chocolate syrup....it's pretty nasty tasting/smelling stuff. If you have a loved one who will drink it, you are truly lucky.

Think that keeping fruit cups, jello, pudding, vanilla wafers, whole prunes around for snacks. Some seem worried about weight gain but in my experience, in the later stages, food loses it's appeal and your loved one will lose weight rather rapidly. So unless obesity is a real possibility, I'd stop worrying about the desire to eat and make sure to keep healthy or harmless snacks around (grapes, ice cubes made from flavored water...get creative).

I would not be surprised if the alz med is causing food cravings...since loss of appetite is a common problem.

Good luck with your mom. I found that creative thinking often turned up interesting solutions.

It was not until the final year that I discovered a way to teach Mom to exercise her legs from her wheel chair by using it like an old- fashioned porch swing. I'd sit her in her chair in front of the open front door landing...or the TV. I pulled her back about 3 feet then gently pushed her toward the front door...she would naturally stop the forward momentum with her feet... then she'd bend her legs and push backwards and come gently rolling backwards to me. We spent a lot of hours 'playing swing'...this was something that even the young members of the family could do with their 'GangGang.' And it got her out of the bed and up and doing something that made her feel productive. Sometimes I'd sit down on the sofa and push her....that worked too.

Before Alz she had been a very lively, smart, creative lady...that loved nothing better than reciting long poems from her childhood, quilting, and tinkering --- all her grandkids said Grandma can fix anything.' So it was important to honoring the dignity of the person she'd been for me to find a way to engage her in activities that she could participate in - rather than 'just sitting.'

Thank You so much CarolynGA for your response. In five years of brainstorming on how to keep up muscle tissue I never thought of natural reflex. Thank you I'll try that swing out tomorrow. You brought tears to my eyes.

Just wanted to say that symptoms of acid reflux can also be too little acid. When my daughter was sick on an airplane (started on second bag), the airline attendant had her suck on a slice of lemon. It worked at once. I have since used it for nausea myself and it almost always works.

i have started caring for my grandmother, she is 87, and she forgets that she has just eat. she once eat breakfast for 3 hrs. she kept saying she hadnt had anything since yesterday. i put a fridge and some shelves in the basement and keep most food there. out of sight - out of mind. i only put food for that day in the kitchen. everybody will say just take it one day at a time, but for me it is one meal, one bath, one car ride at a time.

This is my first time on the website. My mom is 89 and lived with us for 11 years before being placed into assisted living two months ago. I was her primary caregiver up until that point. While reading the posts it seems that many people with moderate to end stage dementia want to eat often. My mom, who usually weighed about 145 during her lifetime, is now down to about 90 pounds. She is an excellent eater but cannot gain any weight. Over the past four months she has been hospitalized three times with physical therapy. One hospitalization was due to a fall and two others due to infections. The doctor has recently started talking about hospice. My mom has a living will and dnr. How do I know that this is the right thing to do? Yes, she is in her own world, has a pressure sore on her tail bone along with numberous skin tears but can still ambulate. Her quality of life in assisted living is good, but how do I know when it is time to begin hospice??? Please help!

Please go on with hospice they are so nice and helpful, hospice has been coming to my mom going on 1 year, and I love them, the whole team. they help me with everthing that I need for my mom. I don't how I would have made it this far without their help. Please give them a try,

My mother is now on Hospice also and it is truly wonderful. They do work as a team and I feel that they are with me in doing what is best for my mother to keep her as comfortable as possible. She qualified due to her Alzheimer's diagnosis and the stage she is in now. She still knows where she is and what's going on some of the time but other times she thinks she is back in Oregon where she grew up and thinks her mother is still alive and things like that. She will have to be re-certified for Hospice every 6 months but with the declining memory and nature of the disease this should not be a problem.

I'm still dealing with the hungry-all-the-time so I just try to give her something to eat every 2 hrs and have it be something healthy if possible. I'm having a hard time being patient with her. I have very little time for myself. She's OCD about worrying. It's always been a problem but now magnified. If I could get away some I think I could handle things better - but it's so expensive to hire anyone. I do alot of praying!

Thank you for your responses to my comment. As of this week, the doctor has not placed my mom on hospice, but her condition is deteriorating. I try to visit at least three times a week. Unfortunately, each time I visit my mom is constantly moving, opening and closing doors, playing with her hands, etc...You are all aware of these symptoms. Can someone PLEASE let me know how to deal with this??? It feels as if I am at a total loss right now. After three years of dementia, here at home, we are trying to readjust our lives to some form of normalcy; not happening!!! The guilt is very bad. However, it was the right thing to do for my mom's safety. I send hugs and prayers to all of you for your love and patience. Each night I ask the Lord to watch over my mom and to help us at this difficult time.

Part of the disease.