trouble swallowing medications

[ELLIE69]

My husband does not want to take his medication. He doesn't seem to be able to swallow, yet he is able to swallow his meals. He lets the pills dissolve or tries to chew them. Is this a symptom of Alzheimer's?

[rumpled]

Ask the pharmacist.
In general, most can be crushed except those that are time release. Time release ones cannot be cut or crushed as they lose their potency. Ask the pharmacist next time you pick up his meds.
We used to crush up my MIL's meds and mix them with her "dessert" yogurt and she ate it all down - we put the medicine in the first few spoons and then the rest helped kill the taste.
Other times of the day, we used applesauce.

[Hospice_Nurse]

You may also ask for specific medications that can be crushed.  If a medication is crushed and mixed with a bit of applesauce it can be mixed with a boost or ensure drink and even end stage alz patients seem to tolerate this well.  This works just like a suspension medication we would use for infants or small children.  Very small pills that are not able to be crushed may also be floated in a larger bite of applesauce and they will sometimes slide down easier for the patients.

[momtofourboys]

I agree it wouldn't be a sign.  I bought a pill crusher for my kids or my dogs pills (have you ever tried to give a pill to a dog it isn't fun) I bought one at the pharmacy for $4.00 and crush thier pills. for adult you can put it in drinks or foods like pudding or applesauce not a lot thought you have to be sure they eat it all. by the 2-3rd stage of alzheimers you usually see people not swallowing (not all of them but some) they rather "pocket" the food. so they stuff it to the side of their cheek sometimes it is because they forget how to swallow. I have had to do reminders of this for people when I worked in the alzheimers home. Plus my hubby's grandmothers both had it.

I agree check out with your doctor first it could be texture or he just doesn't like the taste of the medication.
Good luck
michelle

[mikemelkess]

Hi, I have worked with seniors for over 20 years with this similar problem.  I would not say it is a symptom of Alzheimer's, a full medical assesment should be done by your physician to diagnose Alzheimers.  However, for the problem with taking the pills...  if you can, crush them (check with your pharmacy to see if you can crush his meds) Some lose their strength if you crush them.  You can then mix them in applesauce or pudding.  This always worked well!  If they are in capsule form, open them and mix them in the same way.  Sometimes pills can feel like extra food, or something foreign in the mouth and therefore it feels odd.  Making it very difficult to swallow.  Hope this helps!