My father in-law (85 yrs old) is in between beginning and moderate stages of alzheimers, deals with skin cancers but is experiencing his first need of radiation on one spot, is taking medication for alzheimers and depression, fell a couple of weeks ago (hitting his head), sleeps all the time (totally fatigued), has no appetite (can't seem to eat) therefore, losing weight. Dr's have not been able to diagnose him with any reason for sleeping/fatigue or lack of appetite. He did make a comment that he didn't want to die, so we don't believe he's given up. Does the body slow die this way, without any real diagnostic ailment?

Sorry to hear about your father-in-law. Yes, the body can die slowly or very quick.

I'm sure his doctor has considered this but sometimes an elderly patient is seen by several different specialist. Each of these doctors prescribes needed medications and sometimes aren't careful enough to check for drug interactions. The drugs he's taking may be the culprit. A careful check and review of all his drugs, doses, etc would probably be a good idea. As we age, drugs that we've taken for a long time can change in their effectiveness. Either becoming too strong or too weak.

Even if he's being seen by one doctor, a specific discussion about his medications is a good idea.

Ditto Lindaella -- DO check the interactions of the drugs he's taking and the doses.

These symptoms are not uncommon in elderly patients with problems like you described. Love, communication, comfort, and patience do help. What is his diet like? Sometimes the foods we eat also interact with the drugs we take and with various physical & emotional conditions.

My mother would eat tons of cheese and sardines and chocolate and go through horrible mood swings and depression. I cut out those foods and it has helped her -- she reduced the amount of anti-depressents she takes (she was taking two different drugs for this) and she gets angry or disappointed that she can't have her favorite "comfort foods" but her overall attitude and outlook has improved, as well as, her physical health.

Take a look at his diet -- maybe some of the physical and emotional problems can be reduced by a change in diet. But don't expect it to happen overnight. It may take 4 - 8 weeks for the body to cleanse itself.

Is he on ELavil? If so talk to the Dr.
So many elderly have an Elavil build up. Most of the symptoms you stated point in that direction.
THings to remember:
At 85 the body is dying off faster than at 60.
With a slow down that means drugs that would act one way at 60 can be different at 85.

keep us posted!
You sound like a great daughter in-law

my suggestion is you need to have him checked for acidodis, this means his body chemistry is very acidic, which is not a healthy state.when the body is in acidosis the system breaksdown...basically it starts to decompose. you need to alkalize his chemistry.

[This message has been edited by moderator2 (edited 07-28-2002).]