Palliative care - fluid, food, and digestion

What You Might Feel

Loss of appetite

Trouble chewing, caused by:

• Mouth or tooth pain
• Sores in the mouth
• Stiff or painful jaw

Constipation:

• Fewer bowel movements than usual
• Hard stool

Nausea:

• Feeling sick to your stomach
• Throwing up

What You Might Do

Fluids:

• Drink sips of water at least every 2 hours when awake.
• Fluids can be given by mouth, through a feeding tube, an IV (a tube that goes into a vein), or through a needle that goes under the skin (subcutaneous). When fluid is given under the skin it is called hypodermoclysis.
• Keep your mouth moist with ice chips, a sponge, or oral swabs made for this purpose.
• Talk to someone on your health care team about what happens if there is too much or too little fluid in the body. Decide together whether to give more fluids than are taken in.

Food:

• Cut food into small bites, and chew slowly.
• Eat food that is soft and smooth, like soup, yogurt, applesauce, or pudding.
• Blend or mash foods so they don’t need to be chewed much.
• Drink shakes or smoothies.
• If you feel nauseous, try dry salty foods and clear liquids.

Digestion:

• Keep a list of when you have bowel movements.
• Drink sips of water or juice at least every 2 hours when you are awake.
• Eat fruit, especially prunes.
• If possible, walk more.
• Sit up when you try to have a bowel movement on a toilet, commode, or bedpan.
• Talk to someone on your health care team about stool softeners or laxatives.

When to Call the Doctor

Call your hospice nurse or doctor if you have nausea, constipation, or pain that cannot be managed.

Alternate Names

Constipation

Update Date: 6/12/2012

Updated by: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine. David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M. Health Solutions, Ebix, Inc.