My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s related dementia about 4 years ago. She is now 86. She still functions quite well on her own except for her periodic stomach pain. We have taken her to the doctor many times for this issue. They have run tests many times and they have always been normal. The frequency of her stomach pain complaints have increased significantly the last few months and we are at our wits end on what to do. If we don’t take her to doctor when she complains about the pain, she calls 911. Any thoughts on what to do would be greatly appreciated.
I found that with my aunt she is mostly fine when she is distracted by something she wants to do, however, when she is bored, anxious, or looking for attention, her stomach hurts.
To rule out any physical issues she has been to specialists who found nothing wrong and her regular doctor prescribed daily IBS meds, benefiber, and a pain killer if needed. She needs a daily reminder to take these. She self-medicates with laxatives - you might want to check and see if your mom has laxatives or is using something that might be causing the stomach pain?
Someone mentioned diet already but it might be worth considering if she is eating frequently enough during the day, I'm not sure if hunger is something that registers quite the same way in someone with dementia.
If it isn't physical maybe checkout Diana Waugh, she has a video on YouTube, "How to talk to someone with Dementia" She talks about how when you ask how they are doing the response that the patient gives can sometimes be inaccurate because the question is confusing or demands too much of them. She specifically mentions the stomach complaint.
As she has had all the test it is difficult to say what this could be. It isn't really an age related issue often enough. Just found out about a diagnosis of the more rare blood dyscrasia called hemochromotosis in someone when everything else was negative (its an issue of iron in these cases, too much of it, and causes abdominal pain).
Often when we can't come up with an answer we move to "It's a head thing" but the truth is, where there is pain there is usually a reason, and medicine just has a hard time finding it.
I would say if you have been to a gastroenterologist, had stool testing, blood testing and any scans, then you have addressed it well as you can. Hoping this is not anything serious. A recent OP had an elder that had obstruction and perforation of intestine so this should not be ignored; but you have followed it up it seems as best you can.
It is hard to get a really GOOD description from our elders sometimes, such as when pain hits, if related to food, upper or lower, relieved by passing flatus or not. But try to get as good a history as you can when you speak to your Mom. Everything is a clue. Look on it as a mystery and collect all the data you can.
If she's still living alone and calling 911 frequently, this is probably the time to get her in-home help or placed in Memory Care. Someone who was dx'ed with AD 4 years ago really should not be living alone b/c too many things can happen; catastrophic events lie in every room of the house and she can hurt herself quite easily or burn the place down by forgetting the burner on the stove is on. "What to do" is to get her some help so they can give her some Tums or even Pepto Bismol when she complains of a stomach ache and prevent her from calling 911.
My elderly aunt with AD was calling 911 so much (in Assisted Living) that eventually, her daughter had to remove her telephone, which she did not want to do.
Wishing you the best of luck.