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Elderly parents
Original poster

Inability to swallow

14 replies

whiteroseredrose · 07/05/2025 20:48

My poor, lovely MIL (91) has been in care home for the past 2 years. She has dementia but is cognitive in the moment.

She is currently on antibiotics for a UTI and a chest infection and now has oral thrush. It is an absolute nightmare.

I tried to help her eat when we visited this evening, but she couldn’t swallow the food. Even a very small mouthful.

Has anyone dealt with this? The care home provide shakes and things but she hasn’t eaten that either. Not sure what we can do to help.

OP posts:
Sunnyglowdays · 07/05/2025 20:50

What do you mean by she is cognitive? Do you mean she is aware?

Original poster
whiteroseredrose · 07/05/2025 20:54

You can have a lucid conversation and she makes sense, but she has forgotten about it the next day. Even being blue lighted to hospital was forgotten a couple of days later.

OP posts:
Deanthebean · 07/05/2025 20:55

Are the care home aware of this? I should home so??
It could be the thrush that is causing some discomfort so she is fearful but she needs an urgent SLT referral, the care home can do this direct
Does she have any thrush treatment and is she medication compliant?
If this is the first the staff are aware of swallowing issues I'd be pretty pissed off and be wondering why it's taken you to notice a swallowing problem.
I'd also be asking if this could be why she has a chest infection in the first place i.e aspiration or micro aspriation.
Of course it could just be the infections making your mum not want to eat or swallow.
When I was a senior carer I would make sure we knew who was having difficulty swallowing and everyone was on SLT diets etc to prevent aspirations etc...
Hope any of this helps.

tartyflette · 07/05/2025 20:58

My late DM was given her hot drinks like tea and coffee with a thickener added. Looked horrible but she didn't seem to mind it and it did make swallowing a little easier for her.

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 07/05/2025 20:59

I'm sorry to say that I believe that the inability to swallow can be a trait of Parkinson's disease.

Wakemeupbe4yougogo · 07/05/2025 20:59

It sounds like her dementia is progressing and/or she's heading towards end of life. Which at 91 sounds like a pretty good innings. We used to offer shakes etc but they are little more than liquified sugar, the main thing is that the home are offering water (can be thickened with powder and spoon fed) or using a sponge around her mouth/saliva drops. I'd have a chat with the nurse about it.

Wonderknicks · 07/05/2025 21:01

Thrush makes the mouth very sore, so she needs treatment for this first & foremost.

HobnobsChoice · 07/05/2025 21:06

Dysphagia is the medical term and it can be another symptom of dementia or a sign of something such as a stroke. @Deanthebean has given very excellent advice and definitely find out how long the care home as noticed this as if she has difficulty with swallowing she may be aspirating drinks/food/saliva which can lead to infection (although they are not uncommon especially if she is less mobile and if she is not able to drink much then UTI are more common and harder to ger rid.

Original poster
whiteroseredrose · 07/05/2025 21:08

Thank you. She has had a loss of appetite for a few days which we thought was probably due to feeling off colour. However it was her favourite meal today (prawns) which is why I tried to help her. She chewed but couldn’t actually swallow which was a shock. She ended up using a napkin to take the food out of her mouth. We told one of the carers when we had to go.

They staff are lovely. They feed her when she needs help, and also sit and have a chat and a cuddle.

I think the not being able to swallow is new.

OP posts:
Bannedontherun · 07/05/2025 21:26

A GP needs to be called in, to treat the thrush, she should not be given solid food as the swallowing problem will case pneumonia as food particles can end up in her lungs.

it is common in end stage Alzheimer’s but can happen mid stage too.

Keep on it with the home.

PermanentTemporary · 07/05/2025 21:30

Agree with medical review and urgent SLT review.

It is also possible that she is having more trouble organising the job of chewing, so that she would do better with a pureed diet, but don't go there until the thrush and swallow review have been done.

Mumof1andacat · 07/05/2025 21:53

I hate to be the one to say this but could she be reaching the end of her life? Her body looks as though it might be starting to slowly decline. Most of that will be the more advanced stages of dementia.

FancyCatSlave · 07/05/2025 21:57

My grandmother has difficulty swallowing, she’s 98. No dementia though. Her nursing home manages her well with thickeners etc.

We were told she was end of life 2 years ago, but a bout of Sepsis and Covid later she’s still very much here! It can be managed but they should take it seriously.

Deanthebean · 07/05/2025 22:01

For those saying end of life,
Not always we had patients who were on thickener and stage 5/6 diets for years before they passed so yes, whilst a possibility OP's mum could be at the end of life let's try not to scare her 💞

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