My husband has dementia and he eats and drinks fine he can feed himself also. My question is he collects saliva in his mouth an then spits it in the sink . He doesn’t have any problem swallowing he can drink liquids fine . But he lets his saliva collect in his mouth till he has to spit in sink..
Have asked our Dentist an Doctor but they have no answer was wondering if anyone has seen this before.
Thank you
Susan
That's what I was thinking, too, @A myALZteam Member. My guess is he didn't know to swallow.
There was a time when I noticed my husband didn’t seem to remember how to spit, just as he no longer can blow his nose.
I wonder if it’s a similar brain blip—he doesn’t know to swallow spit. 🧡
Definitely not a side effect to any meds? That’s a difficult one. I guess better than a dry mouth but a worry when sleeping. Any problems with taste in the mouth? I’d check with a pharmacist too. I’ve quickly realised that doctors are not always up to speed on side effects. Yes buscopan or hyocine or scopolamine will dry up the secretions. But that might leave things open to infection and discomfort in the long run. x
Thank you all for your answers gives me some insight where this may be going.
Jackie has failed to manage properly her saliva for a couple of years now, along with a disappearing ability to coordinate properly the muscles around her mouth. She drooled continually for around 15 months. Now she can compromise her breathing when she sleeps and especially after meals by having saliva run into her airways. We have antihistamine patches, normally prescribed for travel sickness, that are supposed to help control saliva production. Not very effective for Jackie. The same drug but in iv form and much stronger is part of her end of life kit. It will be used in her final days to dry her mouth so that she may die comfortably. Hopefully, in your husband’s case this may just be a phase, a habit that will pass. Otherwise it may be worth talking with his doctor about patches - here they are called Scopoderm. S