Natasana, is what you Mom is more like what I call hitching. Your Mom breaths in but instead of breathing out slowly it comes out all at once like you say in a huff. If so, this is serious I think. When my Mom did it her pause ox was low. My husband does it because he has sleep apnea. Does it when he is on his back but not on his side. Does Mom have little jerks. If so she is not breathing right. I would call her doctor and question this.
Tardive Dyskinesia can be life threatening. What are the warning signs of tardive dyskinesia? Jerky movements lip smacking. moving your mouth, jaw or tongue. tapping or moving your hands or feet. movement in your hips. movement in your upper body. blinking your eyes a lot. puffing out your cheeks. making noises or facial expressions you cannot control.
The puffing motions with her lips could be Tardive Dyskinesia. Alva Deer mentioned it. Caused by a medication, it has other symptoms such as lip smacking, tongue movements, and tic-like movements in other body parts.
Do look that up online. It can be improved by discontinuing the medication causing it.
My mom does similar thing but it's more of a huffing and puffing. She does this when she's agitated during sundowning episodes. Often she will also start pacing, then the huffing and puffing is more like panting. Hospice nurse says this is the signal to give her the calming medication lorazepam. This is how mom's demented brain deals with her agitation. I'm not saying your mom has dementia, nor that she needs medication. The puffing may just be a harmless way of dealing with her feelings. I would definitely discuss this with her doctor though just to be safe.
This is actually quite common. Is your Mom on any medications at all? There is often a low of mouth movement involved with seniors who are medicated at all and you can best see some examples if you look up tardive dyskenesia. There also can be mouth movements due to ill fitting dentures. These things become habitual. I would discuss with her MD.
If at all possible get her in for a physical and cognitive/memory exam so that you can find or discount sources of her problems, and you'll know what you're dealing with in terms of her cognitive abilities. If she's making puffing motions with her lips, perhaps she is having a problem with breath or breathing.
As others have pointed out, it this behavior could be caused by a lot of things, so starting with a medical exam as a baseline would be the logical place to start.
Is she awake when she does it? Did she ever walk or run for exercise? Runners and walkers will sometimes dream they are walking or running and will do puff breathing in their sleep.
Does she have dentures? Do they fit correctly? Did she used to smoke? Is this making a sound that she likes? Is she doing this at a particular time of day? Is she occupied when she is doing it? Might be a way for her to concentrate. If she is not occupied it might be a way for her to "do something"...kinda like twiddling your thumbs. As you can see there are hundreds of reasons someone might do something. If she does not seem to be in pain. If this does not distress her. I would not worry about it. If it bothers you that is a different matter...get used to it.
You do not mention dementia in your profile but you do mention stroke there may be some Vascular Dementia at play here....my Husband "hummed" or I should say he made noises. That was his way of coping sort of like they way a child with Autism may rock or make noises. I learned to shut it out as best as I could. And I knew when he was gone I would miss the noise...and I did and sometimes still do. Whenever I was on the phone his noises would get louder almost like he wanted to participate in the conversation.
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What are the warning signs of tardive dyskinesia?
Jerky movements
lip smacking.
moving your mouth, jaw or tongue.
tapping or moving your hands or feet.
movement in your hips.
movement in your upper body.
blinking your eyes a lot.
puffing out your cheeks.
making noises or facial expressions you cannot control.
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Alva Deer mentioned it.
Caused by a medication, it has other symptoms such as lip smacking, tongue movements, and tic-like movements in other body parts.
Do look that up online. It can be improved by discontinuing the medication causing it.
Also look up tics.
Look up stimming.
There also can be mouth movements due to ill fitting dentures. These things become habitual. I would discuss with her MD.
As others have pointed out, it this behavior could be caused by a lot of things, so starting with a medical exam as a baseline would be the logical place to start.
Did she used to smoke?
Is this making a sound that she likes?
Is she doing this at a particular time of day?
Is she occupied when she is doing it? Might be a way for her to concentrate.
If she is not occupied it might be a way for her to "do something"...kinda like twiddling your thumbs.
As you can see there are hundreds of reasons someone might do something.
If she does not seem to be in pain.
If this does not distress her.
I would not worry about it.
If it bothers you that is a different matter...get used to it.
You do not mention dementia in your profile but you do mention stroke there may be some Vascular Dementia at play here....my Husband "hummed" or I should say he made noises. That was his way of coping sort of like they way a child with Autism may rock or make noises. I learned to shut it out as best as I could. And I knew when he was gone I would miss the noise...and I did and sometimes still do. Whenever I was on the phone his noises would get louder almost like he wanted to participate in the conversation.