I am helping a friend of mine whose mother is in the moderate phase of ALZ. She's having difficulty swallowing and often simply doesn't want to take her pills altogether. I've looked over her medlist and identified those meds that can be safely crushed.
My question is what, in your experience, are the best foods and liquids to mask the taste of the meds. For other health reasons- they avoid giving her sugary sweets like applesauce, pudding, and ice cream so I'm looking for alternatives to those.
I want to say that if she is already having trouble swallowing, she's reaching the more advanced stages. Quality of life should be a priority, so I have to agree with the previous poster about restricting her favorite sweets. Jelly or Jam can be a great medium for crushed meds.
Unsweetened applesauce is relatively healthy, I don't understand why it would be avoided. Plus, there is something about the "slipperiness" of it that helps meds both whole and crushed slip down.
I had a patient that the only way for him to take his meds was to peel back the chocolate part of an ice cream sandwich, push the crushed meds into the ice cream and replace the chocolate portion and then he'd eat the ice cream sandwich.
You can get sugar free varieties of ice cream sandwiches.
Please do not make the mistake that I am not educating. I'm sure you all can be empathetic to the reality that I cannot change people's hardened views overnight and perhaps the family is in denial a bit as well. It must be very difficult to see their mom have to take pills like a baby, along with all the other horrors that come with the disease. I asked a very specific question about palatable foods to help the medication because that's where the familiy is at. Changing views, opinions, about what their mom cannot and should not eat will come with time, hopefully, sooner than later. Thanks to all who have provided me answers to the actual question I posed without assuming I'm not doing my job by educating or being realistic about the progression of the disease.
Please do not make the mistake that I am not educating. I'm sure you all can be empathetic to the reality that I cannot change people's hardened views overnight and perhaps the family is in denial a bit as well. It must be very difficult to see their mom have to take pills like a baby, along with all the other horrors that come with the disease. I asked a very specific question about palatable foods to help the medication because that's where the familiy is at. Changing views, opinions, about what their mom cannot and should not eat will come with time, hopefully, sooner than later. Thanks to all who have provided me answers to the actual question I posed without assuming I'm not doing my job by educating or being realistic about the progression of the disease.
Very good point, readiness to learn is a very big factor here. I do hope they consider joining a support group for caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease.. that might help break the wall down...
Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.
As a friend it's not your job to educate-you risk losing that friendship.Your job is to provide emotional support and encourage them to seek and accept support and education from appropriate sources .I have worked with many families who tried to strictly control and aggressively manage their demented parent's health.Do you know how many regretted those decisions in the end? When confronted by the horror show of the end stage of the disease they realized what they had done.That's why support from groups like t he Alzheimer's association is so important-it helps to talk to people who have walked the path before you.
How very kind of you to help your friend in a practical way during this difficult time. Even if she doesn't always listen to you and displays a poor readiness to learn, I'll bet that she will gratefully remember your effort to guide them through this ordeal after her mom is gone.
Just a thought I had from your mention of very health-conscious kids--
If they are "anti-refined sugar" folks or "anti-artificial sweetener" folks, there's some chance that they may still be willing to give her something perceived as more "natural," such as honey or maple syrup. The taste change could definitely be an issue if you just mixed it straight, but there are options with this, such as some jams/jellies that are sweetened with honey instead of sugar.
I think some of the newer studies are showing the non-calorie sweeteners do have an effect on blood sugar, and can negatively affect A1C. A friend of mine (T1DM) says that when she drinks coffee with splenda, her sugars spike, then crash. I think that if they are worried about what to mix the foods in, they could just count the carbohydrates when meal planning.
lifelearningrn, BSN, RN
2,622 Posts
I want to say that if she is already having trouble swallowing, she's reaching the more advanced stages. Quality of life should be a priority, so I have to agree with the previous poster about restricting her favorite sweets. Jelly or Jam can be a great medium for crushed meds.