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My dad is 87 moderate Alzheimer's and has been in his memory care facility for almost a year now and for the past five weeks has been experiencing chronic diarrhea. I took him to his dr. to run labs and there were no findings (no IBS, no UTI and no parasite but the results on the parasite did indicate more testing may be needed - it was a general statement, not specific to his result). No changes in his medication or blood pressure. He feels good, looks good and still wants to walk with me when I visit him after dinner every day. He says he feels good and has been participating in the activities in the day. The dr. indicated that one of his meds Galantamine could cause diarrhea, but he has been on it for 4 years with no issues. We are starting to look at diet i.e. dairy and eliminating milk and yogurt. He is still experiencing it, so I don't know what to do. The care facility doesn't seem to think it is a big deal and have ensured me they are keeping him hydrated throughout the day.

My 88 plus year old dad could not tolerate cooking sprays used at certain restaurants. They all gave him Diarrhea. Could try boiled egg, no fried or scrambled egg and toast and no bacon. Dairy was often blamed for my dad but he ate ice cream and cereal with milk no problem. It’s the cheap cooking sprays with olestra or similar. Often used in institutional food preparation. Also, easy on the fresh fruit. Did they start him on a bowel regimen with stool softeners or laxatives daily when he went to facility? Some facilities do this to prevent constipation. Also affected my dad adversely.
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Reply to Beethoven13
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Kimberly916, does your Dad drink milk, or have other dairy products? As we get older, some of us can no longer tolerate dairy products unless they are Lactaid brand.


My Dad would get "the trots" (as he called it) any time Mom would give him ice cream, cheese, cottage cheese, milk for cereal, yogurt, or creamy sauces. For some people, even milk chocolate can cause stomach upset.


For my Dad, when he moved into Memory Care, once a week I would bring to the facility Lactaid milk and once in awhile Lactaid ice cream which the kitchen would keep on hand for him.
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Reply to freqflyer
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I second geaton777. Also, Cdiff is known to be very contagious and can be present in facilities. Unless the sample is handled appropriately, false results often occur (in our experience for my dad, it has to be frozen overnight and submitted promptly the next day). Although I think (and what do I know?) it would be unusual for him to have had this problem for so long and be otherwise fine, as Cdiff takes a big toll.

If GI docs cannot find a source that gets treated in some other way, and the problem continues, you could ask them about Cholestyramine  oral suspension. It’s a powder you add to water and drink, a great stool thickener.
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Reply to Hope21
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Diarrhea isn't normal so you need to continue sluething into the next level:

- Request a full medication + bowel protocol review
- Ask specifically about C. diff testing
- Rule out fecal impaction/overflow
- Consider evaluation for microscopic colitis if nothing else shows up
- Request a gastroenterology consult if it continues
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Reply to Geaton777
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To regulate my wife's bowls, I give her a daily probiotic (high dose refrigerated kind) and through trial and error she gets a Fibercon tab twice a week (Tuesday and Friday). When she does have a series of diarrhea or vomiting events, I also add Magnesium and Potassium supplements to her meds. When she dehydrates from purging she always goes low on those. I also use OTC anti-diarrhea or stool softener capsules as needed.
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Reply to jwellsy
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