I am a carer of a gentleman in his 70's who has PSP. Coughing and chocking are becoming a huge problem for both my client and his wife.

[tranqui]

Hi, I am looking for any advise that could help my client. During drinking and eating my client coughs violently, it would seem he is trying to clear his throat, but to no avail. He sounds as if he is choking, often splurting food out if the food is still in his mouth. The noise that he makes is distressing for both my client and his wife. My client is also coughing/spluttering heavily during the night, often for an hour at a time, and this is when he is not eating or drinking. All of his drinks are made thicker with an agent, and I cut his food up as small as I can, although he still does try to put lots of food in his mouth at once. I read that ginger drinks could possibly help clear his throat, however, it seems to have made no difference.

I would appreciate any advise that people could give so I can assist this gentleman as best I can. Many thanks in advance. xx

[Yvonneandgeorge]

Hello welcome to the best site ever, I would get In Touch with his doctor, his food needs to be puréed, maybe it has come time for him to decide on a peg? My husband coughs a lot, we give him carbonated water, seems to be better, he won't have thicker in his drinks. Yvonne x

[Kevin_1]

Hi tranqui

Seek medical advice, please.

The symptoms you report are very common. There are a number of things which can be done to alleviate this.

Here is a link for medics which includes advice o this.

pspassociation.org.uk/for-p...

It is very distressing both for the sufferer and yourself.

I do hope this helps a little

Warmly

Kevin

[Georgepa]

You need to call in a speech therapist who will assess his swallowing . They should be part of the team coordinated by an occupational therapist and Community matron . He should have been referred to them at the onset of the illness .

[HelenRodier in reply to Georgepa]

In my case, speech therapists were not so good at the feeding but brilliant at speaking aids.

[laila123]

i gave my husband pinapple this dries the throat hope this helpsi also i blended his food in a bullit which helped

[easterncedar]

A prescription for atropine solution to put under his tongue morning and night stopped entirely the hour of nighttime choking my guy suffered. I concur that your patient should be assessed by a speech therapist if possible. There are exercises that can help strengthen the swallow muscles and make the patient better able to control it, IF he is not too far disabled already. Good luck!

[VronB in reply to easterncedar]

Atropine has helped John a lot in stopping dribbling but he is still coughing a great deal. He refuses to have his food puréed. Xx

[HelenRodier]

It might be coming to the sage for a PEG tube for feed direct to the stomach. My husband had to have this. Might be worth consulting the doctor/consultant about this?

[AliBee1]

Hi

My husband coughs and chokes but not as badly as you are describing. He really dislikes the thickened drinks and gags on them so the speech and language specialist advise milk shakes and thick custard, gravy or sauce with food as it 'coats' it and natural yogurt with cereals etc. It dow seem to have helped. He does have ginger ale drinks and non alcoholic ginger beer because he likes them and ginger is good for feelings of nausea but I had not made a connection with that.

Hope this helps

AliB