Frequent cough and spitting. Have you experienced this for your loved ones?

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Annat123 Asked June 2022

Frequent cough and spitting. Have you experienced this for your loved ones?

I have posted about my MIL issues before. MIL is in moderate stage for quite some time now. No major changes. Of late, she is frequently clearing throat, coughing and spitting. She does not have any cold or respiratory illness. Healthwise, she is fine very healthy in fact. Not dysphagia, because when shes eating, shes not having any swallowing issues or cough and she eats all thick solids including meat, fish etc.. This is just constant coughing, clearing throat, spitting. It's as if shes trying to create a cough. Honestly it's very annoying hearing this every other minute. She's always moving from the couch to the washroom many times a day for this. If we take her outside, she's secretly spitting on the street, parking lot, etc. It's embarrassing. But, it's not as frequent as it's within the house. Makes me wonder why is it just inside the house. Is it because she has nothing else to do? If she doesnt spit as much when shes outside, does that mean she does not have any health issues and she knows how to behave outside. Have you experienced this for your loved ones?

Alzheimer's & Dementia Swallowing

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score 0 · Answer 1

My mother has had a few of these symptoms. I would give her cough syrup which the coughing stop quickly. In the mornings with other medication I included an Loratadine 10mg. I would rub Vick's vapor rub on her chest area in the evenings. Try a cough drop too. My mother like those Ricola lemon cough drops

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score 2 · Answer 2

You really can’t be sure about aspiration issues without an exam by a speech therapist trained in swallowing disorders.

There may be excessive saliva, “silent” aspiration, and other concerns that don’t present with the expected symptoms.

There can also ne issues such as tonsil stones or vocal chord variations.

Consider seeking medical advice.

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My Mother often coughs on thin fluids & occasionally just out of nowhere. I suspected silent aspiration & problems with saliva swallowing.

Thickened fluids were recommended.

I was told by MC staff that some later stage Alz/Dementia patients drool or cough as unable to swallow saliva well. Some are prescribed medication to thicken the saliva to help.

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score 1 · Answer 3

Post nasal drip is a common reason for this sort of behavior, frequent clearing of the throat along with coughing & spitting. In fact, my 95 y/o mother was doing it constantly, minus the spitting. She had advanced dementia also, btw. I find myself clearing my throat often too, which is irritating, and I know that I DO have post nasal drip which is exacerbated at this time of year with the pollen count being high. I wonder if an allergy medicine like Benadryl at bedtime might help her? I take this decongestant which helps me quite a bit:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CQ2YR8G?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-reorder-t1_ypp_rep_k0_1_9&&crid=MW0YVDJBW869&&sprefix=decongest

This sort of symptom can also come from GERD; does your MIL suffer from that? If so, you might pay attention to what foods she's eating that could contribute to it; for me it's acidy foods like tomato sauce (that is THE worst food of ALL for me); so, if I were to say, eat tomato sauce during this time of year, the combined effect of GERD and post nasal drip would have me coughing and clearing my throat to the point I'd be driving MYSELF insane with all the noise!

I hope this helps.

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score 0 · Answer 4

Is there any wheezing at all? This is making me think of bronchitis, asthma, allergies. I would discuss with her doctor. Take note of color and consistency of the phlegm before you go.

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Frequent cough and spitting. Have you experienced this for your loved ones?

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