DM is 85 and in the early stages of dementia. Still living independently with support from family but short term memory is getting worse.
She’s liked a drop of whisky at night for many years but we are concerned that a drop has turned into a very generous measure. For some time she’s been getting through a one litre bottle each week. I bought her one last Thursday and by Monday there was only a drop left, so she’d had the majority of the bottle over four nights. She is only petite, by the way.
For a few years she’s sounded slurred in the evenings on the phone and a few weeks ago my sister was called round as DM had accidentally triggered her alarm and she said DM virtually had to crawl up the stairs to bed. The next day she had a word with her about how much she was drinking and asked her to cut down but it seems DM hasn’t.
My adult niece, who is a health professional, thinks we should leave her a small amount of whisky only and tell her it is to last for the week but DM would hate being treated like a child.
I don’t drink at all so am struggling to decide if she has a problem or not. According to what I found on the internet a bottle should last about three weeks if someone is having a double measure every night, so to get through one bottle in four nights she must be having a lot.
At 85 does it matter that much if she has a drink to help her sleep? Or is it something we really need to come down firmly on?