My friend eats all day long and in the night too. I'm not concerned about weight gain as he's had serious physical illness and lost 4 stone but he hasn't yet been diagnosed with dementia so I am writing a list of his symptoms and wondered if this is one?
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If you can't go along for the appointment and you don't know the doctor's name, try to find out in conversation. Then write the doctor a note for his or her records. so that when your friend goes for a checkup the doctor has some background.
You are a good person to be concerned. We love to see an update if you learn more.
Take care,
Carol
He no longer drives, no more fishing, no more working in his shop....but he can go in the fridge and get an apple, peel it, cut it up and eat it. He can pour himself a cup of coffee and get a bowl of ice cream. He's had up to 7-8 bowls of ice cream in one evening thinking each one is his first. What the heck...I just let him eat. And no, he doesn't gain weight. So the weight gain control must have something to do with the diagnosis.
I think when they are stripped of so much, have terrible confusion and can't just sit all day, they will find something they can do without help from others. And in most cases they can still eat!
Hope this helps...
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Under eating and over eating are symptoms of dementia. It just varies from individual to individual
Sugar craving - chocolates etc is also a classic symptom
But I do agree that overeating and dementia go together, especially sweet stuff. I have had two clients lose large amounts of weight in a relatively short period. Also if the person had OCD tendencies earlier in life, then eating can be viewed as a replacement for other compulsive behaviors.
The mere mention of 'ice cream" can distract persons with dementia when they acting in a distressing manner.
I wish neuroscience would better explain this behavior, as it is pretty common.
I asked him if he's depressed but he is adamant he's not. He forgets he's eaten dinner, still gets his own meals and one night he had dinner then an hour later made another dinner and said it was the first. He gets AM and PM muddled, came back from the toilet one day and asked me what I was doing up at this time of the morning. It was 3.45pm. His whole personality has changed, he's impossible to reason with and quickly becomes aggressive. He fails to retain most of what I say, no longer reads books he used to spend hours reading, he severely self neglects, has gone 2 months without a shower or clothes change but believes he showers daily as he always used to do. He refuses to see a doctor so I've written all these and more on a list to show our doctor.
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