Is eating disorder a common issue with memory loss? My wife is in early stages of a not-yet fully diagnosed cognitive disorder of executive function. Doctor appointments are few and far between, other than urgent care visits for concerns that turn out to be false alarms. Over the last two months the food she will eat has dropped to almost nothing because of aversion to food's color, smell, texture, flavor, temperature, age and origin. She is formerly a "foodie".
People can lose their appetite for a lot of reasons. Sometimes it’s the side-effect of medicines, or losing sense of taste, or getting a metallic sense of taste, or stomach problems, or pain after eating…
My relative must be forced (strongly encouraged). After eating, she’s always happy she did; feels better with food in her stomach.
Every case is different.
Here is a useful link to an article discussing this topic at length:
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-support/daily-living/poor-appetite-dementia#:~:text=A%20person%20with%20dementia%20may%20lose%20interest%20in%20food.,loss%20and%20less%20muscle%20strength.
If I recall, your wife is sort of fixated with healthy eating and the like, which really isn't helpful in this situation. She can likely convince herself that everything is "bad" and start withering away. I suggest you offer her a "healthful" smoothie with high calorie protein powder ( u can buy on Amazon) with a banana and frozen berries (good antioxidants) and anything else you can think to throw into the blender like flax seed and Greek yoghurt. She may like such a thing, it's worth a try. Experiment. Maybe she likes crunchy food this week and pastas next week.
Best of luck.
I did forget about whether the food was healthy. She was 93 and I was focused on getting calories in her. She loved sweets.
I would try new items to see if they work. Try different textures, drinks with calories. Mom liked Ensure juice. I had read that a colored plate helps them see their food better. I bought red plates and made sure the portions were small as to not overwhelm her.
You may want to speak with your doctor about a med to increase her appetite. While it did not work for me, some folks on this forum have had good results.
I wish you success. It is very hard to watch your loved one refuse to eat.
I made smoothies often for her. She seemed to enjoy drinking more than actually eating.
My grandmother lost her appetite when she got older. Some older people don’t want to eat a whole lot. My grandmother was happy with a boiled egg and one piece of toast for her dinner. Possibly a cup of soup for lunch.
Mom and grandma were excellent cooks in their younger years.
protein shakes..
ice, frozen fruit blueberries, strawberries.. Trader Joe’s has mixtures;, some frozen peas.. not much..ensure, and I add a tablespoon oh whey powder too..
blend it..
if she likes a banana.. add it.. no wrong creating something fun to eat.
Another friend sent me muscle milk.. chocolate.. it tasted great in the shake.
more soupy may be a better word …
its hard to keep these bodies going sometimes.
I know sometimes the brain will crave sugar/calories. …
Just try different things.. something might stick, and then the next day… forget it… that stuff is horrible!!!
Not fun…
“10 more spoons”, I say, as I feed her. I count. She knows it’ll come to an end at 10 (she really doesn’t like to eat).
”great! I lost count, now we need to start over..!”
🤗🎉🥰🤗
Not only that, but swallow may be affected and eating can become almost uncomfortable for some.
Interestingly enough, my son, also with mental illness, has developed anorexia with his cancer.
Both had never had anorexia before, so it is possible to have an eating disorder develop in such situations.