Wife lost sense of taste & smell can it effect her bowels?

I meant bowels 🙂

@tunared, I corrected the typo in the title. 🙂
I'm not sure I understand your question. You're asking if losing the sense of taste and smell can cause irregular bowel movements in someone with dementia? What changes has your wife experienced: constipation or loose stools? Do you think that the loss of taste and smell may have led to different eating habits that could upset the regularity of bowel movements?

Hi Colleen, 1st off, thank you for correcting the typo. 2nd; If MCI can cause a loss of taste & smell, could it also effect other body parts (i.e. cause constipation, no movement of the bowels)? It's been going on for weeks. Wife has gone to her PCP & had an xray. no blockage but there is a back up and her eating habits have not changed.

Hello Dan. My husband was recently diagnosed with MCI and he too has been having trouble with constipation. He also has lost his sense of smell to some degree. I do believe there is a link between MCI and constipation. He's been having problems for about 3-4 weeks. If anyone has knowledge regarding this issue I would really appreciate more info. Thanks!!

My wife who has Alzheimer's disease had a problem with constipation while in a memory care facility. The situation was resolved when she was properly hydrated. For about a year before she has needed frequent cueing to drink. When we noticed that the staff would just set a drink in front of her, we told them they needed to hold it up to her to suggest she take a drink. That did the trick.

Thanks everyone. After 6 weeks, my wife is back to normal. I've taken a more active role in her hydration and it has helped. It's nice to have a place to bounce ideas / concerns off others going through the same thing.