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Hi..Over the last two weeks mom suffered from constipation. Luckily, she had a nice bowel movement last night. Since mom isn't active enough - she's mostly sitting all day - I am wondering when it is best to feed her during the day. Also, should we reduce the meals from 3 to 2, like 10 am & 5 pm? Well, mom isn't eating much, anyway, but I don't want her to become constipated [like that] again. Thanks a lot in advance.

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Tony, in case no one else has told you, you are a really good, thoughtful and caring son.
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Tony11 Aug 2021
Thanks. I try my best with mom in every regard.
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Tony, I am with the others on more frequent smaller meals.

Not all food items create bulk, that's part of flushing. Lots of high protein foods can take days to produce a bm. High fiber foods create bulk and with enough fluids produce bm. Some are natural flushers, raisins, dates, figs, pears to name a few. Watermelon is a great source of fiber and fluid. You can blend food items and make smoothie type drinks that you give mom drinks of throughout the day.

She probably eats sweets more readily then anything else, so let her. At this stage it is about getting fluids and calories in them really. Of course nutrition is important but, not as important as keeping her hydrated and fed.

You are doing great and they are blessed to have you.
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I would go with smaller more frequent meals or snack size portions.
I also dealt with my Husbands constipation. I would give him prunes several times a day then had to switch to juice. As I had to thicken liquids I could not add Miralax to a glass that had Thickit in it as that Miralax would counteract the thickener. So Miralax went into soups and cereal like cream of wheat or oatmeal.
A puree of Pineapple and Papaya was also good
A herbal tea called Smooth Move helped.
Hospice suggested what they called "the bomb" 1/4 Cup each of Milk of Magnesia , Orange Juice, Prune Juice heated up to about body temperature. That typically worked in about 30 minutes.
Suppository when needed
And lastly we started with a prescription Lactulose daily.
It is always going to be a problem you just monitor it and there is always the Enema and Magnesium Citrate but these 2 I would have left to the Hospice to either administer or suggest.
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RedVanAnnie Aug 2021
You make your anti-constipation suggestions sounds almost tempting!
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I’ve personally had this issue. Since I control my blood glucose with lower carbs and eat no cooked veggies, I have a glass of “prune punch” everyday ..half low-sugar prune juice with diet sprite or ginger ale.

For low-carb bread-lovers, I use a microwaveable mug to make a 1-minute flax muffin (after I turn it out and let it cool for a few minutes, I turn the muffin on its side and make 3-4 round slices. Freezes well. Eat plain, top with cream cheese, peanut butter, or whatever. Over a day’s time, I finish off the muffin slices. Helps tremendously with constipation issues, as flax is fiber.

recipe: in un-greased microwaveable mug, mix well: 1/4 cup ground (not whole) flax seed, 1/2 tea baking powder, 1 tea cinnamon, 1 packet Splenda, 1 tablespoon low-sugar or unsweetened applesauce, 2 tablespoons cream (or oil+water combination equivalent), 1 egg. Microwave 1 min plus 15 seconds on high. Note- applesauce can be omitted and cooking time is then just one minute. Sometimes I sprinkle with just a bit of Swerve powdered sugar. This is a very tasty low-Carb bread substitute packed with fiber.
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Tony, has mom been evaluated for hospice services? I seem to recall that you are not in the US, but please find out from her doctor if there is hospice service available.

Hospice is not a place; it is an level of service provided by a hospice organization. Please call mom's doc and get a referral or look up hospice organizations in your locale.
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Tony11 Aug 2021
No such service is provided here, as there are no such hospice organizations.
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Tony, here is a resource on eating and drinking in late dementia:

https://www.scie.org.uk/dementia/advanced-dementia-and-end-of-life-care/end-of-life-care/eating-drinking.asp

It seems like offering small amounts of foods mom likes throughout the day would be a better idea than regularly scheduled "meals".
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Tony11 Aug 2021
You’re right. It makes more sense. Thanks.
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Tony11: Imho, continue with regular small amount meals. As well, perhaps your mother should take a daily probiotic.
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How about you ask her????

Or maybe smaller meals less often.

As you are saying nothing about her medical state apart from her bowel movements it is hard to know if she can tell you what she would like, and harder still to know why you think cutting her meals down in number - which goes against how our digestive system works - would be a good idea. She is not a dog/cat she is more like a child - little, often and varied to assist digestion would probably help. Speak to her dietician and get some sensible advice - some foods aid bowel movement some should probably be cut out.
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Tony11 Aug 2021
Mom (74.5 yo) is close to the last stage if not already there, so effective communication isn't possible for the most part. The problem is where we live we don't access to a dietician. Another hitch is that mom has no teeth - she stopped wearing the false teeth almost a year ago.
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Tony, is mom on Hospice? If so, the nurse should be guiding you here.
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Tony11 Aug 2021
No, mom is at home.
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Tony, is someone regularly listening to mom's bowel sounds?
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Tony11 Aug 2021
Not so far. In fact, except for the last two weeks, we hadn’t noticed any abdominal issue with mom, and defecation had been regular.
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