Meal time problems

[Birdman34265]

Hi everyone ,my wife Kathy is in her 4th year of psp ,at meal time she sits in a lazyboy chair with 2 cushion on her lap the meal tray sits on top,as her eyes can only see left and right she has a problem seeing the food plate,i let her feed herself but she shovels the food in the plate into her mouth before she finished swallowing,i tell her to slow down, she only coughs on liquid sometimes,i have read somewhere that psp patients stuff there food into their mouth.if this continues i will have to feed her myself.the other thing i notice is her assisted walking is a lot worse at night, where she freezes and find it hard to move,as result i use the wheelchair between lounge and toilet/bathroom.love to everyone Peter& Kathy

[easterncedar]

My guy lost his ability to manipulate utensils without getting to that shoveling phase, so I was feeding him for a long time. I was the one who ended up shoveling the food in myself, feeding two at once. Sorry to have no advice for you, except maybe put only small amounts on her plate at a time?

[doglington]

My husband did this but would slow down if I prompted him.

We got into the habit of reminding him to blink, swallow, slow down !!!

Jean x

[Tippyleaf]

Hi Peter and Cathy

My husband in his 5 th year of PSP has recently started using downward looking prism glasses which help him find the food on his plate ( but not always his mouth) I have to remind him at frequent intervals to slow down and put less in his mouth. He continues to try and shovel food in whilst he is still coughing on previous mouth full. I. now give smaller portions with everything cut up and all meals in bowls - main course in a pasta bowl and a spoon and fork.

I think it is a matter of trial and error.

Love Tippy

[Cuttercat]

Yep they all do this. Hang in there and feed her. It helps a great deal. Charles lets me know.

Cuttercat

[raincitygirl]

B'Man; Did you see Sawa just posted a link on this site about Feeding Aids from another PSP website?

[aliciamq]

My husband, too, with the :pm walking problems. He needs to go downstairs to the toilet - going up and down the stairs are not as much of a problem as getting to them😱

[rriddle]

Sorry, yes, the shoveling is common. (This is considered a frontal lobe symptom of PSP.) And, you are right -- you may have to start feeding your family member to avoid the shoveling....if it causes choking.