Lack of Interest in Food and Drink.
Eating and drinking are some of life’s greatest pleasures and many family members may become concerned when their loved ones lose interest in these pleasures. Family members may feel that food and drink are important and try to force their loved one to eat. Although this may be done with the best intentions, it is important to not force or guilt the individual into eating and drinking.
Witnessing your loved one go through the stages of end of life is indeed difficult, but you must also realize that this process is not easy for your loved either. Your loved one will tend to reflect on past memories and life experiences with a sense of admiration or at times even remorse, which could result in restlessness. Restlessness often presents itself as inability for someone to relax, concentrate, or rest. As a family member or friend, there are many things that you can do to help your loved one feel more at ease.
Crying out for help, sometimes repeatedly; not being able to tell you what’s wrong; uncharacteristic profanity; disrobing, trying to get out of bed or out of the room.
Psychological, social, and spiritual issues, such as loss and grief or fear of dying, can cause anxiety. Anxiety can cause dyspnea.
We may feel it is healthy and even necessary for individuals to have daily bowel movements, but towards the end of life bowel movements tend to become irregular. Many will experience constipation or even diarrhea due to many factors. It is important to realize this irregularity and inability to have a bowel movement, so as not to force the individual into doing so. In the event your loved one becomes uncomfortable, there are indeed treatments offered that can ease and relieve their discomfort.
Constipation is a frequent problem for patients nearing end of life. There are many factors common to these patients that lead to constipation.
Constipation can be very uncomfortable, and should be treated as aggressively as other symptoms that cause discomfort near end of life.
The main objective when caring for a loved one during their end of life stages is to assure they are in no pain and that they are as comfortable as possible. Pain can be displayed in a variety of ways and all people experience it differently. External physical pain can be more easily seen in your loved one than the internal emotional and spiritual distress they may also be experiencing. Therefore, it is important to be very conscious of your loved one’s behaviors that may resemble signs of pain.
Total pain is the sum of four components: physical noxious stimuli, affect or emotional discomfort, interpersonal conflicts, and nonacceptance of one’s own dying. These four components may individually or in combination affect patients’ perception of their total pain.
The “gold standard” of pain management is constant pain assessment. Pain is whatever the patient says it is. Simply asking patients about their pain is the best way to obtain this information. Patients describe nonphysical components of pain as “discomfort.” In dying persons, pain is never purely physical. Things related to when and how they will eventually die influence their pain.
Pleasant smells of certain plants or fragrances (aromatherapy) such as lavender, etc.
When caring for your loved one as they near the end of their life, you may notice a gurgling or rattling sound when breathing. It may appear that your loved one is choking, yet in fact, this is just a build of up saliva over the airway that produces this sound, but does not harm them.
There may also be a rattling noise (often referred to as the “death rattle”) at the back of the throat. The person is no longer able to cough or swallow, which causes secretions such as saliva to pool in the back of the throat.