My mom has Alzheimer's/dementia and her asthma diagnosis has been changed to COPD. She is to be on oxygen 24/7 but we cannot get her to leave it on as she can't remember she needs it or doesn't think she does. We also took her off all inhalers as she was damaging her mouth and throat from improper use and she get any meds through nebulizer. Our issues currently are her demanding to have her inhaler and wearing the oxygen. Has anyone had an issue like this with a loved one? Any tips, tricks or advice? I'm beginning to be at a loss on this one and mom's behavior over it is getting increasingly angry.
As far as ways to get her to use the oxygen 24/7 that is an ongoing challenge, especially at night. I would just suggest supervision during the day to assure she gets the benefits at least during awake hours and try your best with the nasal cannula at night by putting a bit of Vaseline where the tubing sits on her nose and placing the cannula tubing to the rear of her head vs the front. This will be an ongoing challenge.
As for her inhalers, try giving her an empty inhaler and let her puff on it. There's no medicine inside to harm her or affect her mouth and throat and she may not realize that it's empty. Again, this is depending on how advanced her Alzheimer's is.