Help! Dh must be the drooling champ. I'm at my wits end he drools all over the floor. Carpets must be a mess because I see all on the hardwood floors and can mop there but the carpets can't be cleaned daily. He takes donepezil and risperdone does anyone know if these could be the cause. I am ashamed to take him any place because he drips all the time. He is at the stage now of a stooped walk so his head is always down and I can't always see if he is dripping or not. I've gone to church the last time as I spent all the service wiping his chin. Any help will be appreciated. I just hope if it is the meds that a satisfactory substitute can be found as he seems to be on a fairly even keel with what he is taking now. I'm not on an even keel sorry to say. It has been one bad day after another and I've got to get hold of my emotions or I'm not going to be even a bad caregiver. Dh is declining so much all at once. Hard to remember that just a couple months ago how much he could do and now can't do much. At least he can still shave although he insists on shaving behind his ears! He has cut into his hair and it looks awful. Can't persuade him that he shouldn't do that. Does still shower. I'm insisting on depends at night as when he gets up to go he is so slow walking that he didn't make it a couple of times. I'm rambling but I needed to get these things out. He just came into the room and said where is E. (that's me) and I said here I am and he slammed his hand against the wall and said g.d. you know who I mean. What do I do?? I don't know how to do this caregiver thing.
flo39, bless your heart. I don't have any advice about the drooling. It hasn't happened here......yet, but I know what you mean about going to church. We don't go anywhere that we can't get back home in 15 minutes or so because we don't do public restrooms. DH puts the paper he wipes with in the waste basket and if there's not one handy, he puts it on the floor. Also, he pulls his shorts up but forgets to pull his pants up and comes out of the bathroom with his pants around his ankles. I think we reach a point with their condition where we're more comfortable and it's less trouble just to stay home. I could certainly identify with Joan's blog about this. Hopefully someone will come along who can help with the drooling problem. {{{HUGS}}}
flo39. My Dh does the very same thing...in fact your post is so much of what we are going through. I was told at the N/H that it's the respiredone, the stooped walk so his head is always down and I can't see if he is dripping or not till it's running off his chin. Yesterday he was eating a chocolate,, then started to drool...well the mess that made. My DH is just starting to get on an even keel with risperidaone and Sodium Valproate I don't know what we can do...I too hope someone knows...
The drooling IS caused by medications. Google the ones he takes and more than likely that will be one of the side effects listed. Anyone remember how Pope John Paul drooled constantly. I recall watching him deliver a Homily in Mexico City and he had a long string of drool hanging from his chin most of the time and some of his Assistants were constantly wiping his chin/lips. It was so sad. I cannot remember which drug caused it with my DH .. but we did change it to another one and it stopped. I was afraid he'd have a chafed chin from it being wet so much of the time (it was wintertime).
DW had excessive saliva, not drooling, but spitting. PCP prescribed glycoipyrrolate 1mg, 2xday, an ulcer medication with the pronounced side effect: it causes dry mouth! Problem resolved! Cut dose to 1x a day no other side effects
My husband raised his dripping nose with the specialist yesterday, and she said that Aricept causes it. There are medicines that cause dry mouth, but at least one group of them are anti-cholinergenics and so make cognition worse. Pro-colinergenics like Aricept and Exelon increase secretions. At a previous visit she did give him something for drooling he could use if he wanted--put a few drops in water, swish it around his mouth, and spit. I am at work at present--I can look up the name of it when I get home. But the problem obviously is whether the person will cooperate with the swish and spit.
I edited this message because the reply below points out a mistake I made that was so confusing that I thought I should change my text.
pamsc: Just a little clarification Drugs like Exelon and Aricept are known as cholinesterase inhibitors. The meds that cause dry mouth as a side effect are in the class of meds know as anticholinergics.
This URL provides a list of drugs that could interact negatively with Exelon or Aricept The list of meds ranges from: antihistamines, antidepressants, anti-psychotics, Parkinson's meds, and more. A list can be found on this site worth checking
My DW was incapable of spitting and swishing, she just drank down the mouth wash. Our MD told provided me what key words to search on Google to determine if I wanted to make an informed decision as to placing DW on an anticholinergic med. I discovered this med mentioned in my prior post in testing caused a decline of just 0.33% Scores in MMSE. DW is incapable of responding to 90% of the tasks and questions on an MMSE. The 0.33% loss of her score on a MMSE was of minimal significance The reward was being able to go out in public without having to worry about her indiscriminate spitting may have been selfish on my part, but I think keeping her socialized, rather than housebound , helps a great deal. I don't use the med daily, only when neccessary and start out with 1/2 tab. which usually suffices. I've also found that while the problem is not a "back drip" the use of long acting nasal spays on the bad day is also helpful.
my dh is bedridden and his pillows are sopping in the mornings and during the day when I have him on his side. His meds are ones he has been taking for a very long time. He does have allergy issues and lots of mucous (we have a suction machine). Already changed his pillow case twice this morning.
Lloyd's thing is drooling. He just walks around with his mouth hanging open and drooling. I really don't think he is that aware when he's doing it, but he does wipe with his hand on occasion after.