Mother in law not eaten since saturday, need help.

Person_one

An episode of sickness or not eating can lead to loss of appetite, that's why people who go on hunger strike don't go straight back to normal eating afterwards.

She could have just had a stomach bug that started it all, but whatever it was its not normal and not good and it needs looking into.

Consider ringing the Mind helpline on 0300 123 3393, or NHS direct, they might be more helpful in helping you access the right services for your MIL.

Bluemeanie_2

Did anything happen that could have triggered it? A death of a close friend/sibling/pet?

Phoebe_Buffay

Bluemeanie wrote: »

Did anything happen that could have triggered it? A death of a close friend/sibling/pet?

Nothing at all. The week before it happened she was gardening and just her normal self.

Mojisola

Patients with gastroparesis describe the feeling of having a lump in the stomach - has the GP considered that?

Torry_Quine

Phoebe_Buffay wrote: »

My father in law called the doctor this morning, the doctor seems to think it may be psychological, that she may have got it into her head that eating=sickness but that doesnt really explain how it started in the first place.

This is the second doctor she has seen up to now (away from the hospital). It seems like they are turning us away each time we suggest something.

My husband just got off the phone with his dad, she is still in bed, he made her soup but she turned it down saying she couldnt eat it, my husband told her he would go down tomorrow to see her and she said "dont bother".

I know she is taking medication for other things, the doctor is aware of that too but I couldnt tell you what it is she is taking, until tomorrow.

No history of depression, I have known her for the last ten years and she just changed in the space of a few days and she hasnt been the same since.

The doctor thinks this could be psychological but does nothing about it. If he won't then you have to make a complaint to the practice and contact NHS 24 for help.

pearl123

If you do not get a result from her regular doctor then definately approach another doctor within the practice, as her non eating, age and weight make in a matter not to be ignored.
I suppose I'm stating the obvious.

Gingernutty

The physical sensations, the sudden and rapid weight loss and the total loss of 'get up and go' - should be ringing all sorts of alarm bells.

Just because the gastroenterology crew at the local hospital couldn't find anything - it shouldn't have meant them just dropping her like a hot stone.

She needs the hospital and fast, to be honest - a CT, an MRI or a special scan called a barium meal should have been ordered - just to rule out/in any other cause for her symptoms.

The doctors seem to be listening to what she's saying to them and not to the concerns of the people around her - "OH, I'm fine. No change. I don't want to go back to hospital."

Good luck. I know what it's like to worry like this.

Person_one

Doctors can't treat people against their will without them being sectioned or it being judged that they lack capacity.

Its not a simple situation, hence the suggestion to ring MIND, they know the ins and outs and can advise on this sort of thing.

wendym

My mother behaved in exactly the same way, just as suddenly. I was initially too far away to do anything except nag her GP by phone. He seemed to find it medically intriguing that she had become anorexic. He prescribed high calorie liquid food.
My brother then managed to visit her, and she denied all knowledge of her GP's advice, claiming he had told her that weight loss would be 'good for her arthritic knees'.
We never got to the bottom of it, and we really did try everything and everyone we could think of. But she was in her mid-eighties, and seemed to have made a decision. Which does not mean I think you should give up - with hindsight we could have insisted on a psychiatric assessment. But she would never have spoken to either of us ever again!
I am sorry to say that she had a stroke and died some months later.

daska

My mother did something similar, went to bed and pretty much stopped eating, just a few bites at most when really pressed. She ended up in hospital and died a few months later - the PM revealed that she had had a multitude of minor strokes of a very unusual variety which is why it hadn't been identified. We could see it in her voice/face/memory but the stroke team kept telling us she hadn't had one! So yes, just because x at the hospital hasn't found anything doesn't mean there's nothing to find.

What my sister and I found helped was writing to the GP's practice (i.e. not her GP specifically) stating our concerns and always including a history of how long she'd been in bed and asking question that needed a specific/considered answer - which meant that a GP had to acknowlege that she was still deteriorating and respond with the next step.