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Everything is too tough, dry or tastes funny. It's very frustrating trying to come up with ideas for dinner. I ask her what she wants and she just says she doesn't know. She'll eat ice cream and sweets with no problem though.

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I wonder if she is actually having problems with swallowing? Can you ask her doctor to have a swallow study done by a speech language pathologist?

Very often, patients with dementia say something like "I can't eat that" or "I don't like how this tastes" when in fact they mean "I can't swallow that".

I saw this happen in my FIL, who unbeknownst to anyone, had had a stroke. He was in the hospital for other reasons and kept saying "I can't eat". People kept bringing him things that he loved; he'd look at them and repeat "I can't eat that".

Finally, a psych consult was sought. After talking to FIL for a few moments, the doc realized that he'd had a stroke, had some expressive aphasia and actually meant "I can't swallow". Speech therapy helped!
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As my dads dementia got worse nothing seemed to taste right to him. Dishes my mom had been making for 50 years JUST DONT TASTE RIGHT he’d say.

I also learned to not ask if he wanted something to eat, he was never hungry, or ask what he wanted to eat, oh nothing, I just ate. I’d fix a plate, hand it to him and he’d usually eat most of it.

Left to his own devices he eats nothing but little Debbie cakes and coke.
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My dad is 92 and has dementia. He tells me all the time that food just doesn't taste right. He still lives on his own and will not let me buy food that is better quality for him so he lives on yogurt, bananas, chocolate milk, ice cream, and maybe some frozen meals sometimes, diet pop, and a few candy bars thrown in. Mostly sweets. Not the best but I think we've all given up and decided to let him eat what he wants.
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You should also look at the medications she is on, as some meds will affect taste.
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Teresa914 Jan 2019
Yesh, I thought about that. She's on a lot of meds I worry that she might be over medicated.
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BarbBrooklyn, I'll talk to her nurse about that. She does have some problems swallowing her medicine, especially the larger pills. Also, she has a hard time chewing food because of her teeth.
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