I am a Paramedic, new to care giving, but have been staying with a friend's dad, whom has some form of dimentia.

Since my friends mother died with alzheimers, it has been presumed the same thing affects his father, however I've noticed something that flags for me.

Every evening after eating the largest meal of his day, Mr.D seems to fall off a cliff; remembering wives he never had, looking for the car he no longer ownes.

During the day he seems quite lucid; impressing me with his memory, however just after the evening meal, (which is about 2 times his beakfast and 4-5 times his lunch in quantity) he seems to fall of the proverbial cliff.

Seems to me too much blood is being diverted to digestion, its so predictable, and repeatable. Big meal, big loss of function.

Has anyone read or heard anything about large meals requiring so much blood that they may impaire mental function?

I've read about sundowners, and it just does not seem to fit this situation.

T.I.A.

Hmmmm I guess there just might be somthing to this Angel....Anybody else out there trying this???? I give her the Chamomile tea myself. Oh yeah and no white sugar just honey to sweeten things. It seems to help alot. Heres to personal research Baby!

hmmm, i tried this test also...seeing if a bigger meal made a difference on her mentality. What i think is (surely no scientific evidence) that sometimes after a big meal i get sleepy and tired. I do notice that when the granny is sleepy and tired she tends to hallucinate more and be more aggrivated. So i wonder if the big meals make her tired, like they do me and if that is what causes her to act differently after big meals. Iuno, just a thought. Bunny, I have also had to cut the caffeine out of the granny's diet and i do notice a difference, it has helped cut back on her night wandering through the house in the middle of the night. She also sleeps longer in the morning. I give her hot apple cider instead and she thinks its tea

Ok Sandi I saw when you posted to this and did my own little tests here to see if there might be something to this...2 weeks later I have come to a conclusion here! It seem LRD might have been on to something here. After the Big meal she does get aggitated more but if I feed her smaller portions throughout the day she levels off on the outbursts.....Hmmmmmm.....
Could this be? And one more thing I have weaned her off of caffine (Im havin a dislex moment here doesnt look right but you get what I mean)Wow what a difference in demeanor here!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Sandy99:
I'm new to the group and just wanted to add while doing all this reading, I too am in South Florida and had the paramedics here three times in one week.

Hi, Sandy99 and welcome to the Forum!! Three times in one week?

I checked your profile and cannot believe your companion's children are not trying to do something (anything!!!) to help. Did he have a good relationship with them previously?

Please, come on back and talk with us. We *do* care and will be here for you even if you just need to VENT!!!

I'm new to the group and just wanted to add while doing all this reading, I too am in South Florida and had the paramedics here three times in one week.

OK, I've only had a few cups of coffee and didn't notice when this was originally posted......those fricken bots are at it again. I'm just now noticing all the ads on the bottom. That really sucks. Maybe RedDog is still around?....


Very interesting observation 'LilRedDog. My father has dementia and is getting worse and worse. When I took him to the dr., 1 of the medications in particular were thought to be adding to the psychosis. They told me to cut the mg. of Tramadol because that along with one of his pain meds, they claimed were causing more delusions. I think it's still too early to be sure but even though he is still very delusional, the episodes aren't lasting as long. I haven't noticed any correlation between meals and episodes. Yesterday when I took him to the doctors and was out of his environment, he started again with talking about his car that he hasn't driven in years and his golf game (he's been in a wheelchair from a massive stroke) that he just had with all his friends....who, all have been dead for over 5 years.

Any information that you find, I'd really be interested in reading.

Regards,
Sandy

P.S. If you're a paramedic here in South Florida, you've probably been to our house. I think every paramedic in my vicinity has been to this house.

quote:

Originally posted by 'LilRedDog:
I am a Paramedic, new to care giving, but have been staying with a friend's dad, whom has some form of dimentia.

Since my friends mother died with alzheimers, it has been presumed the same thing affects his father, however I've noticed something that flags for me.

Every evening after eating the largest meal of his day, Mr.D seems to fall off a cliff; remembering wives he never had, looking for the car he no longer ownes.

During the day he seems quite lucid; impressing me with his memory, however just after the evening meal, (which is about 2 times his beakfast and 4-5 times his lunch in quantity) he seems to fall of the proverbial cliff.

Seems to me too much blood is being diverted to digestion, its so predictable, and repeatable. Big meal, big loss of function.

Has anyone read or heard anything about large meals requiring so much blood that they may impaire mental function?

I've read about sundowners, and it just does not seem to fit this situation.

T.I.A.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SandyF,

Hi RedDog, My name is Don and I am a registered nurse. My wife has multi infarct dementia. There are many forms of AD and dementias plus other medical conditions which play a role. My wife participated in a research study at Case Western University in Cleveland which was showing the level of light and contrast helped people whose cognative (thinking) functions were impaired. We have a very bright house at night. Decreasing the flow of blood to the brain ususally results in fainting or a TIA (this is my RN side talking). What you are doing is what all of us caretakers do. You are observing and seeing what is changing. It is important to write the observations down and bring them into the doctors to help them take care of your relative. Don

LilRedDOG, i HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THIS BUT IT MAYBE INTERESTING TO LOOK INTO.