I haven't seen it discussed here. Has anyone else had this problem? My DH often gathers saliva in his mouth, then spits on the floor or the bed; though sometimes I can get him to spit in a plastic dish. Other times, I can't get him to get rid it. I've tried gently forcing mouth swabs to try to get him to open his mouth, manually working his jaw, holding his nose, and forcing more liquids to encourage swallowing. His hospice nurse is unable to suggest any other actions. This can go on anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes before he will either swallow or spit. He is in stage 7 and is bedridden. Anyone have any suggestions?
I have no suggestions, however, my husband is doing the same thing. He really only does it when he has been asleep. He does drool a lot when he is asleep.
mine does it too and is about where yours is Denny. i think they are forgetting how to swallow and muscles in the throat and mouth are lax. it takes a bit for the connect to click. its part of the disease in my opinion. next we know they totally forget to swallow and can cause aspiration. this is when those patches of atropimine )sp? will probably be used to dry up secretions. divvi
Thanks, Kadee and divvi, for your comments. At least I know I'm in good company.
Divvi, from all the reading I do on this site, I think yours is just a little ahead of mine. My DH has been on Hospice since last November. He abruptly stopped walking at the end of April. Still eats like a horse, though; as long as I'm shovelling it in.
Denny, I think your husband & mine quite alike. My husband stopped walking abruptly also in April. He also still eats really well...I also feed him. Sometimes I do need to remind him to open his mouth & swallow.
also pocketing the food in the cheek like a chipmunk is popular too. :) this is also a seemingly common trait in late AD. a gentle massage of the cheek will usually stimulate enough for them to renew chewing and then swallow followed by a sip of water. :) it works for me now for a while.strange how the disease has alot of commonalities mid stage, aka shadowing, aggitation, phone phobia:) etc. and then even in late stage they also exhibit common symptoms as well. i am sorry we all have to deal with it at any stage. divvi
Just be careful with the scopolamine patches or any med that is "drying." These meds are generally anticholinergics (opposite of what Aricept is supposed to do for example) and can worsen memory and cause constipation.
My DH has just started doing this. 2 days ago..like your DH Denny. He is swallowing but then it comes right back up in his mouth...a whole lot. I called into Hospice this morning and they just said use the swabsticks...really not telling me why this is happening....and what this means. he is still eating and drinking...it's very little but he is still eating and drinking.. He was up all night and I am not sure if this is why or is something else going on.
Don't know if what we are dealing with is the same issue. My dh has a lot of mucous (he is bed bound) and the nurses think maybe he is not swallowing properly. They suggested pureed food and a food thickener (it makes liquids like applesauce consistency). Spitting up thick mucous can go on for hours when it gets bad. DH is on Levsin and the nurse also suggested cough syrup (this seems to make the mucous more liquidy and easier to swallow and spit). We also use Flonaise spray. With any drying agent, you have to make sure not to give liquids right before or after as it stops the medicine from working. Our last episode (last week) lasted 6 hrs! He seemed to be having the dry heaves after several hours and the doctor suggested something like Maalox to settle the stomach (haven't tried this as yet).
Thanks for bringing this thread back up, Denny. My DH hasn't had any problems with swallowing. In fact, he eats like a horse. Also drinks a lot of coffee, water and juice. I think he's not even aware that he's spitting because when I mention it to him, he says he didn't know he did that. I'm beginning to wonder if it's about time to quit taking him out in public places. Things just keep getting harder.