For the past few months my 83 year old nan has been complaining that she can’t go to the toilet. After visiting a doctor saying she can’t go they then gave her strong laxatives to solve the problem. After getting a bit suspicious of her saying she still hasn’t been in days. I’ve been trying to listen to when she’s going... she’s been going to the toilet about 4/5 times a day. She gets confused at night and then gets angry that she hasn’t been to the toilet all day? I’ve tried to explain to her that she’s already been 4 times and she just gets angry saying that I’m lying trying to make her look like she’s losing her mind. PLEASE HELP. She is absolutely obsessed with emptying her bowel completely. She doesn’t want any food in her stomach because she thinks it’s going to get blocked. She’s never been tested for any dementia, but is this a symptom?
As for wondering if your Grandmother may be developing dementia..... at her age, every day is ground-hog day. For myself, I am in my mid-70's and ever since my office closed up forever last summer, I find I need to check the newspaper to see what day it is :P
Since some of your nan's problems are related to dementia you have a couple of issues - she forgot she went and she may still feel the need to go. The obsession is not going away. For reminder purposes - put a white board in the bathroom and tell her as soon as she goes to put an X or a mark on the board. Maybe that will help her - depending on how her memory perceives the marks on the board.
If memory loss is more advanced, don't even try to convince her she already went. Broken brain versus reality = you won't win that reasoning or argument. Instead, try asking if she feels like she needs to go. If no, then tell her to rest for a while to see if she feels like she needs to go in a while. If you know that she just went, as she comes out of bathroom say something like - I bet you feel better now.
Good luck.
It was the only think my poor dad obsessed about as he aged. At the end, he wasn't eating ANYTHING solid, so of course, no bowel activity. We never did solve that one.
In any case, there obviously is physical discomfort of one sort or another and you want a qualified medical opinion.
You should deffiently speak to her Dr to let the Dr know she does go to the bathroom so he won't prescribe her any more pills.
Some people don't understand that different people have different routines of how often they go to the bathroom.
Some go every day some every other day and nothing to worry about unless you don't have one for 3 days.
It's possible her poop routine changed do to her meds.
Instead of fussing with her, you might consider installing a Nest Camera which can be seen from your cell phone or computer and then play it back for her, showing she went to the bathroom.
Also, if she doesn't eat much, you might start having her drink a chocolate breakfast drink like Ensure, ect and it helps you to poop without the negative side effects from a laxative.
My 96 yr old Dad drinks a little Ensure every day and he doesn't eat much so it works like a Laxative.
Prayers
Anyway, his primary has suggested MetaMucil which has fiber and helps with bowel movements. It has been about 10 days and he is having better BM. Need to drink a glass of water with the capsules.
Good luck. It's a rough road for us as caregivers.
Elderly often forgot to drink enough water and that can cause constipation. You need to monitor how often she is drinking fluids. If that is not the problem and she needs a laxative--fiber like Metamucil, or, failing that, prescription lactulose, are much safer alternatives.
It is important to put a lock on your toilet handle because you need to see if she is going, and how the stool looks like. They sell childproof locks on Amazon for toilet handles. If you see blood in the stool then she has another problem that needs medical attention.
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