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My 80 something mother had that for years and the doctors could not isolate it. A friend suggested she might be lactose intolerant. It seemed impossible since she was a light eater her whole life, almost living on yogurt, however, when she switched to the lactose free milk, it cleared up. Perhaps some people develop lactose intolerance when aging. It's a small thing to try - I hope it works for you.
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My 86 y/o MIL had constant diarrhea until her geriatric doctor suggested she limit her dairy intake to 3 servings per day. It worked! She no longer has diarrhea. She has a gluten allergy so she was eating a lot of ice-cream and cheese, which was causing the diarrhea.
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I've seen blogs on this site that describe their loved one, with dementia still living on their own, so that's why I am asking this question. Does your mom self administer her meds? If not, who is responsible for administering your mom's meds? Sometimes a drug itself or a combination can cause this. Sometimes food is required before, during or after the drug administration. What about her diet? Has anything changed that may be causing her to have irritable bowel syndrome.
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Could be anything but what happens to most lactose intolerent people is they also cannot eat high fructose syrup . This is in yogurt. I think its Yoplait that just came out with a high frucose free yogurt. If you read labels, its in almost everything and that and lactose intolerance go hand and hand. You can become lactose intolerant at any age. Good luck, I would get her to eat Bananas to bind her up.
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My mother, now 95, had chronic diarrhea for most of her life. We went Mayo, Duke and local hospitals, and they all said it was irritable bowel. Removing dairy helped, but still wasn't enough after awhile. At age 88 we removed all gluten just by chance. Unbelievably, diarrhea has now been gone for most of 7 years. There are a few times we had set backs and got contaminated food or dairy, but overall this has been a complete cure. Also the fibromyalgia stopped, balance and nerve problems gone .. probably because of ability to absort more b vitamins. It costs little to nothing to try to remove gluten for a short period? Tests aren't really a good idea, as the real test is a biopsy and the doctor thought the risk was too much. It does take awhile to understand where all of the gluten is in food .. as it is more than you think. Best to use fresh things or things labeled as gluten free. to start with. I surely sympathize with your situation, it takes a strong person to keep up with being or caring for someone with diarrhea. Hope you find an answer.
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If your elder has been in rehab or a hospital at all prior to the onset of diarrhea, there's a very awful bug called Clostridium difficile, or C Diff for short. It causes nonstop diarrhea. They think it comes from two things: 1) taking antibiotics or 2) germs present in rooms and on surfaces in a rehab hospital. The only thing that kills the spores this nasty germ makes is strong bleach water. Nothing else will kill it, so it's oftentimes present in nursing homes and hospitals. Might want to get her tested for that...
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It could be anything. My dad's is caused by kidney disease. I had another person who had developed gall bladder disease. On both of these any foods that were full
fat caused problems. Rice will also help to bulk things up. My dad has had to start
wearing depends because of his. It comes like every 2 or 3 days. Try changing her to nonfat milk products and watching fat and sugar intake. Maybe soy yogurt?
My father decided to drink lots of gatorade and this made it worse because of the
sugar.
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My mom developed Crohn's disease when she was 90, which has caused chronic diarrhea.
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My mother-in-law had the same problem for quite a while. This was when she was still getting around on her own. It took a couple of months to figure it out. She had a stash of Ducolax laxatives tucked away in a kitchen cabinet. The diarrhea cleared right up after that discovery! You just never know what people will do.
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Wow folks, I learn something every time I read here. My mom gets bouts of diarrhea too. I never knew that lactose intolerance or foods high in sugar and fats could cause it. Mom has a powerful sweet tooth and will binge on doughnuts, cookies and peanut butter cups on occasion. No wonder she ends up with "the runs". Thanks everyone!
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