I’m wondering if anyone has suggestions for dealing with someone in fairly late-stage Alzheimer's combined with Bulimia. I’m the sole caregiver for my younger sister with these issues. She binges and vomits after every meal or even a small snack. While she does eat normal meals, she can eat a full bag of sugar in a week, and loves raw ingredients like flour, corn starch, shortening, etc. (I’ve talked with several doctors, and they say let her binge on whatever she wants (even sugar), because of her extremely low body weight. I do have my pantry stocked with other healthier foods and a variety of sweet cereal, cookies, etc. but she consistently goes for raw ingredients.
I feel like I’m either feeding her, bathing her, or cleaning after her all day and into the night (when vomiting, it thoroughly covers much of the bathroom including the floor, toilet, sink and even the mirror as high as I can reach. Of course, this is combined with liberal doses of poop, rubbed pretty much everywhere. I can’t get her to clean her hands so pretty much every surface in the house has a layer of icky stickiness that I clean several times a day. The pantry is similarly a mess from where she spilled whatever she is binging on. The floors throughout the house is specked with spit.
I feel like I’m cleaning nonstop, to no avail. Also, I get very little sleep because she is sundowning. I can’t afford outside help because her income and mine are above the level where we can get any assistance. Yet nearly all of our combined income is going toward her care. So, there’s no money for housekeepers or outside caregivers.
I’m wondering if anyone has ideas on dealing with Bulimia/Alzheimer’s. This has been going on for about 5 years. Is there any hope she will eventually just forget this behavior as her Alzheimer’s continues to progress? (I’ve heard that alcoholics sometimes forget to drink, but her bulimia shows no sign of abating).
Doctors are no help and have no suggestion other than letting her do what she wants. Anyone have ideas?
Could this be a variation of Pica.
Pica is usually non-food items.
But uncooked flour, sugar, salt, raw ingredients= same as non-food items and can hurt her.
Of course don't allow her to ingest what is not good for her.
The doctors were not listening to you. All they 'heard' was bulemia = over eating, binging on food, then vomiting.
Do not know what to do about it. Thinking a behavioral unit where restraints might still be legal.