Re: Re: Mom is refusing to take any medication

[Guest guest]

I'm glad things got better, for now. I remember a woman in the nursing

home with my mom. She was a very sweet lady, but every few months she

would go through a week or so when she refused meds, food and drink because

she thought everyone was trying to poison her. She'd even tell an aide

that the aide was a very sweet girl, but she should stop trying to poison

her. It was cyclical. If she got hungry enough, she'd eat even though she

thought the food was poisoned. Then she'd get better and go back to her

days of wheeling around and singing her thoughts instead of speaking them.

If you can get to the place where you can relax about whether your mom gets

her meds or not, I think it would help both of you. When Mom entered the

nursing home, we put her on palliative care and reduced her meds

substantially. It sounds terrible, but we removed any med that was

life-prolonging. And if she didn't want to take the meds that we kept

going, that was OK. The nurse would make two attempts and then leave her

alone. This wasn't easy for us, but we knew how Mom felt about nursing

homes and were more worried about keeping the stress of being there as low

as possible. That included not pushing her to take something (even mixed

in pudding) or eat something she didn't want to.

One thing I did do, though, was start bringing in small snacks of her

favorite treats. The nursing home didn't often provide fresh fruit, so I'd

bring her berries and pretty deserts, which she delighted in and ate when

she refused everything else. The morning nurse and I conspired on this and

I kept some yogurt and berries in the fridge there. The nurse would then

make Mom a fresh smoothie every morning. Not only did Mom love the

smoothie, but she drank in the special attention. And then both the nurse

and I knew that Mom had taken some nutrition, at least.

Good luck. I hope things go more smoothly now that she is better, but

don't be surprised if it happens again.

Kate

On Sun, Apr 15, 2012 at 4:29 PM, phoenixrising1961 wrote:

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> Hi everyone. Thanks for your help. Mom decided (at least this morning) to

> take her pills. She is currently at an inpatient geri-psych unit (admitted

> late Friday) at Mt. Auburn Hospital Wyman Center in Cambridge. They have

> started her on Depakote and are trying to simplify her meds. Will see how

> it all goes.

>

>

>

>

> >

> > Hi all - my mom is now refusing to take any medication. She is sure that

> everyone is trying to poison her. She had stopped eating and drinking

> anything but eventually got so hungry she decided that would be ok.

> >

> > Any thoughts or ideas? It's been almost 2 days now.

> >

> > Thanks

> >

> >

>

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>

--

Kate Knapp, OIT

University of Minnesota

You were born with certain gifts and talents.

In kindergarten you were taught to share.

The world needs all of the gifts it can get.

Don’t be shy.