From 150 lbs she is down to 105.
She lives in a lovely apartment.
Her kitchen is well stocked, she eats a healthy breakfast at home .
She goes out to eat regularly and often orders a chocolate milkshake after a generous, well balanced meal.
Yet she continues to lose weight.
She is generally active, using a walker to shop and do errands with her companion.
The companion is taking on more housecleaning duties but she still does her own laundry and changes her sheets and straightens up her apartment.
She does have arthritis and a colostomy.
Her heart is strong and though she has fallen a few times she has never broken a bone!
She knows what she likes and what she wants and is demanding, usually getting it.
Best of luck
Weight loss, when not purposely dieting, can be due to a number of illnesses, some of them very serious.
My 91 year old mom has gone from 145 lbs to 113 in one year. She also has a well stocked pantry, freezer and refrigerator and generally shows a normal appetite when eating around others.
Still, I'm worried, and I've taken her to the doctor twice so far since beginning caretaking earlier this year. So far, everything checks out ok physically; mentally, it's apparent to everyone that Mom's in the early to mid stages of Alzheimers.
My mom still knows how to use an oven and microwave. I often "let" her cook lunch for the 2 of us, because it's helpful to her to feel as if she's useful in some way. Also, I keep her fridge and pantry stocked with everything from fresh organic veggies to cake and ice cream, in order to tempt her failing appetite.
One thing I learned from watching my dad die -- throw out the diet cookbooks at the end! The important thing is just to get them to eat something...no matter whether it's "health" food or not.
I hate Dementia too. It's become my Nemesis.
We now have "Pie Lunch Wednesdays"!
Are you sure she is eating the food and not eating and throwing it up? or eating and having diarrhea? or worse, acting like she is eating but actually tossing the food because it didn't taste good? Does #2 (output from the body) align with the amount of food that she is taking in?
Assuming none of the above is happening, I agree, it is time for a full blood panel analysis. Make sure they check for thyroid which is an "extra" test.
In addition, I have read (and do believe) that the "elderly" body is not as efficient at absorbing nutrients from food, some bodies more than others. That is why the suggestion of taking a daily multi-vitamin and especially vitamin D and/or vitamin B12 supplement. However, a complete blood panel analysis would be able to point out any known vitamin deficiencies.
Is she seeing a doctor for an annual or bi-annual? Has the doctor commented on the change in weight?
My mother, who is about to turn 90 in two weeks suffered a huge weight loss from the time she got sick last year to the present time. I live with mom, so I saw this first hand. Last year after turning 89. she got very sick, with a number of ailments. First, she had a bad reaction to a new drug, then she got a UTI, followed by diverticulitis, and some other stuff. She dropped from 120 lbs to 87 lbs. For a while she was in hospice, but thankfully, she was removed from hospice after it was apparent she was not dying. Now she wants to gain weight but says she has no appetite. She has upper and lower dentures. She tells me she trouble swallowing "solid" food, meat potatoes, salad, etc. She lives almost exclusively on soup, preferably creamy vegetable or seafood soups. I put all the soups through a blender to eliminate large pieces and get a smooth texture. She always eats her soup. Mental state is good with little cognitive loss. She walks with a walker fairly well, though she does get tired.
My goals for her are to try to get some more weight on her. She wants to gain weights but has little appetite. So far, I have started adding grated cheese to her soups to increase the caloric count. Also, she is eating Greek Yogurt in the mornings. Someone on this post mentioned thyroid problems, so I'm thinking of setting up a Drs visit to check her thyroids. She has started eating some solid food. Yesterday she ate some sheppards pie, with no problems. At the moment, she is eating enough to maintain her weight, but she needs to eat more. I would like to get her to 100 lbs or so. Any suggestions are welcome
your mother (96) sounds like she has amazing health (apart from the worrying weight loss). going out! errands! manages to do her own laundry. incredible. hug!!
What does her doctor suggest might be causing this dramatic weight loss?
[You're using the same, accurate scales? and she wasn't holding on to anything for balance the last time she was weighed, was she? - it might be worth checking again]
Take care.Liz
You cannot expect a 96 yo gut to do the work that a 40 yo gut did. Just one more lovely part of aging. I've become lactose intolerant as I have gotten older and much more sensitive to overeating--I have to really watch the dairy.
My mom has maintained a weight of about 140 lbs for years, eating whatever she wants, but pretty much just 2 meals a day. She is almost immobile, so she isn't burning many calories at all.
My MIL has GAINED a lot of weight in the last few years and told me she was over 180lbs after always weighing about 130 all her adult life. I think she eats a lot and is also pretty immobile, but IDK, I'm not in her life.
I think at 96, you should just let her have what she wants. Short of a physical problem, which should be ruled out by her Dr., just let her be.
My words of warning - something very similar happened to my mother (although her weight loss was more subtle and I failed to notice it), it lead to weakness and frailty, which lead to falls and ultimately started the downward spiral of her final years.