This has happened very very suddenly.
Dad has had Alzheimers for about 15 years. Last week he vomited for a day. It seems to have really flattened him. He did not speak much and when he did nothing made sense - but now he does not at all. He doesn't even get agitated and grumpy as he used to late in the afternoon. He is very tired and hardly stays awake to be fed. He shows absolutely no interest in food, no matter how tempting, and when feeding him it seems like he is battling to swallow and does not seem to understand the instruction. I have stroked his chin to assist - with limited success. Should I be taking him to a doctor or is it possible to regress so fast suddenly? Don't know if a doctor would help because he not able to communicate what wrong. Any advice?
avoidablecare/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Sharpe-Handbook-A-Caregivers-Guide-to-Advance-Dementia.pdf
A number of things could be causing the swallowing problem. The link above provides some information about that, but others here will likely also respond.
Maybe, if you cook him, some tasty food, the most he likes, maybe we can notice any expression on his face, any sign of appetite.
On the advice of Daniel R Hoefer MD, and making foods more palatable with salt, and these tiny amounts of food. An example can be a small portion of Spanish paella maybe?
I would like to cook it for him.
Good luck!
A greeting .
Fernando M.
I do think you should take him for treatment, but I'd go to the ER instead of getting a doctor's appointment. They can evaluate him quicker.
He could also have developed some kind of blockage that could also have caused the vomiting as well as the difficulty in swallowing. This could be an emergency situation.