Hello. My mom has late stage Alzheimer's but she is very alert, and attempts to communicate. She can say up to 3 words now, but mainly gibberish talk. However, eating is a big issue. Although she lost some of her teeth, I am not going to ignore other factors that could contribute to this. Her right lip is drooping slightly now and she drools a little from that. Also, we switched her to pureed foods, which is better. On solids she used to keep a small piece of food in her mouth and not swallow it, more play around with it. The food was small enough to swallow but she kept moving it around in her mouth. This would cause more resistance in accepting more food. Also, 2 years ago she lost the strength in her voice, and it is more raspy. I am not sure if this is connected to the eating difficulty. So to sum up, she is doing better with pureed than solid food. She doesn't choke on solids but really resists them. I am still concerned her issues might be from more than not having enough teeth. I was wondering if other caregivers noticed similar issues with their Alzheimer's patients?
Having a texture she can tolerate & safely swallow is important to avoid asperation. Actual prompting to swallow becomes necessary - by verbal & non-verbal cues.
In later stage people will probably reduce intake to very small amounts of preferred foods only, custards, jelly, apple sauce etc.
Many people may benefit from hospice care from here on. Certainly support (from Hospice or other sources) for family is beneficial too. Many families will experience a new level of grief when their loved one ceases to eat.
Warm thoughts to you & your family.