Grandma has been complaining of a dry mouth—so much so that she’s been obsessing about rinsing her partial plate and her mouth with mouthwash several times a day. Went through a medium bottle of mouthwash in four days! I know this is caused by a combination of factors—mouth breathing when she sleeps, age, less hydration, meds and AD itself and I know to stop the mouthwash because of the drying effects. My question is—has anyone tried any of the mouth rinses, sprays or other solutions—and what worked best for you?

And now for the other end….
Grandma has been bowel fixated her whole life. Over the past couple years I’ve gotten her into a daily routine of bran cereal, prune juice and Metamucil. About once a week, I supplement with some stealth Miralax. I’ve got to keep it stealth because she’d obsess over it. She’s always wanting some “medicine to make my bowels work”. She can’t remember if her bowels worked or not (but we are quite aware of it. LOL). If she knew that I had the magic powder, she’d hound me for it day and night. The product insert says it can be used daily for up to a week but there is no recommendation for long-term chronic use. Has anyone used this on a regular basis or something similar to help keep their LO fairly regular and happy?

Hi Pyro, I find that vegetable fiber pills work well. Give grandma one at bedtime nightly and that should keep her going refularly without any problems. Increasing fluid intake will help too. Having been a homecare nurse for many years, I've had many a lengthy conversation with elderly patients about their bowels....often in intimate detail. Warming up the prune juice helps too. As for the dry mouth increasing fluids will help with this. Lemon glycerin might be helpful as well. See if your local pharmacy carries them. Sugar free candies can help keep the mouth juices flowing. Good luck : ) Fran

For the mouth, ENT doctors recommend Biotene products to help with dry mouth from lots of drugs. It can be a rinse, or gum, and may come in other forms to. It is available at the pharmacy.

Good luck.

Thanks guys! I will check it all out!
BTW...warm prune juice? Ewwwww!

Just a word of caution with the mouthwash. Most of them do contain alchohol, and while it is not swallowed, some still gets into the system. and be somewhat dehydrating. My brother who is a recovering alchoholic-23 years-will not use the stuff for that reason.
Would there be anyway to just give her a small amount daily, and when it is gone no more until the next day?