My mom is 93 with a sound mind, controlled type II diabetes and not much else wrong with her.
Sometimes she suddenly throws up out of the blue, sitting in her chair when all is calm and quiet.
There are other times that she feels nauseous and refuses to eat. I give her a ginger ale and that settles her stomach for the time being.
She has in the past complained that she chokes on her saliva. Are these issues related?
She is not a big eater and often wants to skip dinner. She refuses to eat the six small meals that is recommended and doesn’t care for snacks. She often skips lunch without telling me. (She serves herself breakfast and lunch.)
Sometimes when I bring her dinner tray she claims she’s already had dinner: a yogurt and a pudding. No matter how many times I tell her that is not a meal, she will not accept it, and I have to insist that she eat her dinner.
She seems to be concerned about her weight. She pays close attention at the doctors office when they weigh her. She often refers to herself as “big” and says she can’t wear certain items because they are too small.
The reality is she is shrinking and l get new clothes that won’t sag open at the neck, for instance.
P.S. I have her make her two meals a day because when I have to go to doctor or grocery shop it takes me awhile because we don’t have a car. I want to know she is self sufficient in case I get waylaid going home. She doesn’t want babysitters.
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My mother is 92 and constantly going on about what's fattening and yada yada, which I've heard my whole life. Honestly, if I NEVER hear such garbage again it'll be a day too soon.
I hope you can get mom in for some tests to see what's happening. Of course, if she refuses to eat, only God knows how you fix ANY of this, tests or no tests.
She doesn’t have citrus very often and a glass of cold orange juice can be a real treat, but so is cranberry juice and others so I’ll limit her on the citrus.
She has has been prescribed omeprazole but then the doctor takes it away again. I’ve been reading how much damage it can do so I go along.
I wonder if the old stomach remedies could help like tagamet and Zantac?
You all have put in perspective what might be going on-especially when I look at her not wanting to eat because she has “in-DI-gestion.”
Thanks very much.
Charlotte
This might also be a "mental" issue where she may be anorexic or bulimic. A talk to her doctor might be something to consider. I would also suggest that they convert the scale to metric so she can not focus on her weight as it would be difficult to convert (at least it is for me) to pounds. Not sure if they would do this but if she has been pretty consistent in her weight could they not get her weight each time? It is so easy to focus on that and if she is not over weight or underweight is there a need to get the weight each time?
If she had been overweight at any time in her life, or underweight this might be a time that she is thinking back to and making important in her life now.
Shes nit not obsessed with it yet but I should watch for that probably.
Thanks for the the heads up!
Charlotte
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If it’s all related, I Guess I need review those self help measures.
Thanks for your advice.
Charlotte
You can try to remove from her meals tomatoes, tomato sauce, oranges, grapefruit, chocolate, coffee, cola, onions, even mints that can trigger acid reflux.
I realize Mom needs numerous small meals during the day, but at 94 years old, unless she is doing manual labor, she won't be very hungry, plus at her age one tends to lost their sense of taste, except for sweet items. That happened with my parents at that age.
Again, check with Mom's doctor.