Does anyone use home IV to hydrate their elder to bounce back if they have swallowing difficulties caused by becoming dehydrated?

Question

T

truthbetold Asked February 2021

Does anyone use home IV to hydrate their elder to bounce back if they have swallowing difficulties caused by becoming dehydrated?

Do you use IV mobile or even going to an office for this? Does it help if the elder was functioning at a deficit with their hydration and the IV would bump them into proper body hydration and possibly improve their cognition? If so, what has worked? How is it paid for? Can it be done independantly?

Diet & Nutrition Hydration Senior Health

8 Answers

Most
Helpful Newest
First Oldest
First

Recent Questions

Related Questions

score 0 · Answer 1

My dad has dysphasia (sp?) too and I know hydration with iv does help him. But in his case I think the basic problem is more than that. His body cannot maintain his sodium. Which comes from an issue with his lungs that screwed up something in his adrenals or kidneys. It’s a vicious cycle for him. His BP gets really low, it affects his cognition too. Basically he is now on a steroid and takes as much salt as he can tolerate and has to drink a lot of thickened liquids. It’s all related and the initial “diagnosis” was that he was dehydrated so therefore more water was needed which actually depleted his sodium because the lungs were blocking some kind of hormone from doing it’s thing. I’m not saying you are wrong that she’s dehydrated, but you maybe treating the symptom not the problem. All of this also ended up causing neurological issues because keeping the balance of all these important electolytes etc can mess up the brain and cause dementia which does also affect swallowing. My point is: see a nephrologist and endocrinologist and get bloodwork done! In my dads case, he’s near end of life and we just have to deal with symptoms.

Helpful Answer (0)

score 0 · Answer 2

I'm not sure but I would think the doctor could order a home health nurse to do an IV for you? I'd start with her doctor. If he feels it's necessary then I would think there is a way to have this done with insurance at least partially paying for it (but I'm not sure about Medicare).

My dad gets very dehydrated as well and now has trouble swallowing but I don't think the two are related... other than swallowing is an old age issue as is not being thirsty. He gets aspiration pneumonia because of the swallowing issue. And he has gotten so dehydrated that he needed to go into the hospital to be rehydrated. Getting thickened liquids into her (or my dad) is a battle but necessary.

Helpful Answer (0)

score 1 · Answer 3

Just curious how the dehydration has been dx? Is this due to a known risk/previous problem?

If so, can the Doctor give you a go-to plan? (Like they do for other conditions eg asthma emergency plan). I would think the first responce would be thickened soups & drinks? But this is too hard due to swallowing issue, is that right?

What's the fuller picture? Is this post surgery? Post stroke? Frailty or end of life?

Helpful Answer (1)

score 2 · Answer 4

I don't see where i said in my post that my goal is to give an IV myself. I am asking if this is something that is done. What i have learned is that there are indeed many mobile IV companies that do come to the house and hydrate those with hangovers and even elders. I called the dr office and they said i had to go to the hospital for that. The other dr where i use to take her for IV is too far and veins usually collapse so that is out. So i ended up finding a local dr office that does special hydration IV's and it worked just enough to get a few ounces into my mom who did a turn around and began swallowing normally again. After that she improved. Now she is swallowing 95% better. In the last few days, as long as i provide meals and drinks that are thicker, she is good and no mishaps. I am going to be learning about how to hydrate using foods gelatins, thickeners. etc. I will be searching here and also have contacted nutritionists and hoping some of the members on this forum have figured out meal plans that keep a person hydrated without having to drink thin liquids but using foods soups etc.

Helpful Answer (2)

score 1 · Answer 5

I don't like to be so blunt but unless you're a medical professional, I don't think you should even be considering a home IV for rehydration.    How would you measure to determine his hydration level in the first place?

In addition, based on my experience with my father's dysphagia, it's NOT my understanding that dysphagia is caused by dehydration, which in my understanding and based on discussions with a speech pathologist and therapist, has other causative factors.

Beyond that, how would you plan to rehydrate?   Where will you get an IV pole
and other equipment?   And the bags of fluid? I can't believe any doctor would script for them (unless you're a med pro) nor would a DME deliver them.

PLEASE don't play doctor or nurse; you could seriously compromise your elder and cause him or her irreversible damage.

Helpful Answer (1)

score 1 · Answer 6

How do you know that their swallowing difficulties are caused by dehydration? Have they already had a swallowing test performed? It could be something much more serious, than just being dehydrated, so please get them tested at their Dr's office. My husband who had vascular dementia, had trouble swallowing, and ended up getting aspiration pneumonia, sepsis and septic shock, which just about killed him. I was told by his Dr that because he had dementia, that his brain just wasn't telling his throat to close anymore, thus allowing his food to go into his lungs. He ended up on thickened liquids(with the product Thick It) and very soft foods for the last 22 months of his life. It's nothing to fool around with, so please make sure you know exactly what this elder is dealing with, before you go to such drastic measures.

Helpful Answer (1)

score 4 · Answer 7

This sounds like a shockingly bad idea. Really, don't.

If you think the elder really needs IV fluids, consult a qualified medical practitioner.

Helpful Answer (4)

I have and got her 4 so far last month. The first one only gave 4 oz but it was enough to get her swallowing again so she could eat her meal. The following day was a successful IV of 16 oz. But i really need someone paying close watch and i am having a hard time locating a speach pathologist to come to the house that is not an hour drive. It seems that certain foods might cause the indigestion or perhaps it is a silent aspiration. But the nurse said if my mom is aspirating, she would have died already of pneumonia. Another practitioner said it might be a weak swallow and some of the pureed food stays in the vocal folds. A video lecture on the topic stated that people with a weak swallow might have to swallow something thicker to push down what ever is lingering in the throat. I am getting very irritated about this. Some days are so good and nothing presents any issue with swallowing. I think it might be vit C..or magnesium that disrupts digestion or that is too harsh to digest? I will post a question about that or search in the archives. There is issue with this because some think dysphagia is caused by GERD rather than a neurological issue or vise versa.

(0)

score 1 · Answer 8

Have you tried to increase fluid intake?
Lots of soup, Thicken soups with extra vegetables then process it as much as you need to.
Thickening other liquids with a product like Thick It. You can thicken from a nectar thick to pudding thick. As the person declines you will increase the thickness of the liquid.
Stay away from gelatin (Jello) and popsicles and ice cream as they thin out when they get into the mouth.
Is the urine light colored? If so she is probably hydrated.

Helpful Answer (1)

Does anyone use home IV to hydrate their elder to bounce back if they have swallowing difficulties caused by becoming dehydrated?

8 Answers

Recent Questions

Popular Questions

Related Questions

Ask a Question