Ativan and hospice

Common Questions and Answers about Ativan and hospice

avinza

She is on Hospice care and they are prescribed to her but I just worry about her taking too much.... She only weighs in at a whopping 85 pounds....I know that the Comfort Care is a huge thing with Hospice... I just don't want my Mom overdosing herself... as that would be a major sin in the Lords eyes....Any advice on how to gently remind my Mom that less is more for her would be appreciated....

Shortly after 5am this morning he started thrashing and groaning in terrible discomfort, gasping for breath, struggling as if fighting an unseen enemy. Hospice nurses recommended we double his pain and anxiety medication... ten minutes later, holding his hand, I looked into my husband's eyes and heard him take his last two breaths just before 6am today. And just like that. He's gone. They filled out a death certificate... Feb 3, 2012 at 6:15am.

Now, she has been taken to hospice care where they have stopped all medication she was taking and now they are talking about reducing her nutrition via feeding tube. I have a feeling that hospice is ending her life with Ativan and Morphine to relive her of pain and suffering. I don't know if her prognosis was terminal in the first place. If it wasn't terminal in the first place, day to day it seems to be terminal after starting the hospice care. What can I do to clear all these doubts?

Hi I am a hospice nurse and I am looking for information about medicatons that can be inhaled. recently my triage nurse who is a NP sent me to see a hospice patient who was having severe respiratory distress, choking coughing etc. The small 0.5 ml of MSO4 and 0.5ml of Haldol were exacerbating the choking symptoms, the family refused to send the patient to the hospital and we were out of options at 3am. The triage nurse told the family to give Roxanol 10 mg and Haldol 1 mg via the neb.

My Dad is presently under hospice care for kidney failure and has numerous other health problems. He was told a month ago of his condition and dialysis was not an option. We have been given two meds to administer, ABR cream and ativan. The visiting RN advised us to give it to him as needed. Dad has a persistent cough that sometimes scares him because he can't catch his breath.

Doctors turned her over to Hospice and they are very nice. SHe had complained about severe pain, and now she is getting 5mg of morphine every four hours. I want to know how much damage it will do and if it will cause her do die more quickly. We have asked the nurses if she should take it, they say to make sure she isn't in pain. I don't know what's best for her?

I was in the hospital for about a week and was on death row..I finally gained strength enough to go home with hospice care..I still have a very hard time breathing with out the use of Ativan..My question is I feel as though my diaphram is pushing against my lungs making it hard to breathe..Also my stomach is very tight..I had to take three seperate regiments of steroids and gained 45 pounds..Is there any truth to the way I feel or could this be something else?

My Mom is in end stage COPD and CHF and it has been a battle of "wills" and "won'ts" between my sisters and my mothers care....My Mom is on Hospice care and I believe in there "mission" for "comfort care" but my sisters think that my Mom is/will become a "drug addict" (my Mom can be given Morphine and Ativan if her respirations get too high... (and my Mom has been having respirations up into the 40's - normal is between 18 to 20....

It has gotten me into other health issues whilst self-medicating. I have a RX for .5 twice a day. Ativan. Loraxzapam (sp). I feel I'm getting better taking fewer each day. I take nothing from time to time. I need to know it's there. My question is how soon can you be "immune" to the effects? It also gives me very bizarre dreams and it has me taking in my sleep.

He has prescribed Fentinyl, a higher dose of Percoset for breakthru pain and Ativan. She has abdominal pain, no passage of gas and few and far between movements. Additionally she is barely eatting. Can anyone tell me approximately how long she will be with us? I am the sole provider for 2 small kids and my husband has been laid off. I do not want her to be alone, but I am unsure when I should be with her on a 24 hour basis since no one is currently assisting her physically.

Right now she is on Ativan drops every four hours, which helps with what the hospice nurse feels is seizures. She has lost a considerable amount of weight since the middle of January. For my own sanity, because it is hard seeing Mother go through like this, I need to know how long she can last like this. I am her only care giver. Her heart was weak also. Please help me to understand what is going on and why seizures. At one point her nurse diagnosed the sweating and nausea as TIAs. Please help!

My life has changed drastically and I am my Mom's primary caregiver. She has been on ativan for awhile which has helped and a nausea pill everyday. She smoked for 55 yrs and just quit last Thursday. Of course her breathing did not improve much. In fact yesterday she had a spell, for lack of a better word right now, where her breathing was so difficult, her BP was 210/104, pulse ox was 70 and her color was gray. I signed up with a great hospice that can be from your home or their place.

The on call dr this morning was trying to tell me to do hospice this morning, but my dr wants me to to have the dilaudid and ativan pumps and my insurance will pay for it. I know how you feel, and I wish I could help my mom and family through this, I hope it goes well for your family.

Hello all, My mom is on in-home hospice care and receiving Morphine Sulphate for pain related to cancer. She has mets in her spine, including her neck. Her requests for morphine, of which she was usually getting 5mg, has tapered off over the past two or three weeks, but she suddenly started complaining of neck pain yesterday. We tried a small pillow that you heat in the microwave and put under her neck, which helped very little.

She pretty much slept for 3 days straight and then we realized that the Hospice nurse added Ativan to her meds morning and night and years ago mom had a bad reaction to Ativan so we think that is what knocked her out for those days so we stopped giving them to her all together. Her last one was last night and today she seemed more alert but now her ankles are starting to swell and the nurse told us that this is the process. I just hope MD Anderson can help her. Thanks for all the info.

I asked a friend for advice on your post. She said that your mother needs to speak to her doctor about possible medication to control her depression. She also strongly advised counseling, but your mother does not want that assistance. My friend also said that your family needs counseling as well, and said that even if your mother is not ready for "hospice" type care, the local hospice center could still direct you to someone qualified in this field.

she had a craniotomy then put on hospice then kicked off hospice for doing too GOOD! YAY!!! now, she had severe pain in head aver past several months and Dr. again referred to hospice for pain management and to help me with the extra care she required once the side effects of the Morphine began. All side effects were masked with benadryl for itching, compazine for nausea and vomiting, she had diarrhea constantly and biliary cholic along with confusion to boot...

My mom last wish was to be home and not die in the hospital. My family took her home on hospice for the remainder 4 days of her life. At home, she is no longer receiving antibiotics for her opportunistic infections, no more daily platelets therapy and no more lasix to drain her edema. I helped took care of her as best as I can. My mom was unconscious most of the time at home. During the first 2 days at home, she was able to only her eyes slightly at times to recognize family and friends.

I was only on 40-50mg for about 6 months, but I quit CT, no taper. I did it under medical supervision and for the first 3 days w/ Ativan, Ambien, Tylenol, and Sinemet (RLS/Parkinson's Disease medication and my LIFE SAVER). I also had IV fluids for the first few days. It was hellish and all I wanted to do was sleep, but my legs hurt so bad and I couldn't. I got my appetite back after 2 days and energy at about day 5. Sleep remained disrupted for a few weeks and then slowly got better.

He seem to get worse with each dose. Now this is his 6th day back in ICU. They continue to given him Haldol with Ativan and Lortab for pain. He has not made any cognitive improvement. Is this normal? Could the Haldol be the cause? Please, help ! We try to talk to the doctor's and they give short vague answers, basically saying it is not the Haldol. If anyone has had similar experiences or can give any suggestions, please do so. I feel like I am losing a little more of my Dad everyday.

They gave me some Ativan when I was having palpitations and you are right that does seem to help. I think maybe it takes some of the worry and stress away. I find myself so closely examining every symptom is almost like being obsessive with what this is doing to my body. And I have to limit caffeine because of the palpitations seems it makes PVC's worse. I also agree that on a bad day nothing helps!

Don't know if that had anything to do with sides leaving so quickly or not. Did have rescue drugs of Ativan and Prozac; extra strength Tylenol helped alot with the pain. I will get answers on hubby today or tomorrow. If it is what we think, it is in his bones. All we can do for him at this point is keep him comfortable and pain free. I know what I am reading in all the scans dictations, just need the doctor to confirm.

But she was in a nursing home, withthe nurses administering Percoset, then Morphine and Ativan in her last couple days. I don't know if Hospice is anti-med- it wouldn't make sense if they were, since in the last stretch it should be about being relieving symptoms, not suffering through them. I just realized this post is from August. If youcheck back and read this- how's it going? I hope the issues with Hospice and meds got resolved. Best of luck to you with everything.

She will need mouth care and perineal hygeine. Hospice is ok but if you feel she needs more morphine or ativan intravenously and the nurse doesn't speak up. Insist on it. Pallative care is of the utmost importance. Talk to her and if you are comfortable with this tell her it is all right to go. Make sure you have the living will and medical power of attorney on record. If she is a do not resusitate that does not mean no care. She is very lucky to have such a caring sister.

. i am a nurse and have worked with cancer and hospice patients so i know A LOT about pain medication which is probably why i'm also an addict. i've given up the vicodins and now i'm legally on the duragesic patch. i have a congenital back disorder and have been told without surgery i'll be on pain meds forever. the patch works! i don't crave pills. i'm on 50mcg. i change them every 3 days. have you ever tried these? they might work for you. hope the best for you. we are here if you need us.

They started her on Ativan (anti-anxiety) on Tuesday. They were giving it intravenously and immediately she was out and has been asleep for I'd say a good 95% of the time since then. She's barely woken up to eat. I spoke with her doctor today...first time in person. I was pleased to hear that he is backing off some of the meds in order to make her more coherent.

I was his care provider when the doctor put him on hospice. After his death, six weeks after diagnosis, I had severe panic attacks, and barley made it through my second to last semester of college. As of now I still cannot remember most of the semester. It took me about four months to consider going back to school to acquire my final degree. I must not have finished grieving properly or attended to my panic attacks thoroughly; before going back to school.

my son was dying from a brain tumor and still denied his morphine because of the way it made him feel, and he was only 7. I took him home on hospice and was giving him his I.V.'s, Ativan, Morphine, Dilantin, Steroids, ETC. ETC. ETC.....I was not put on any of this until after he passed away. I fell and hurt my arm then next thing I know they say oh well you have RSD....

Yeah, the sleep depravation is quite taxing to say the least!--Especially in my profession of working with Hospice patients, and NEEDING to keep a clear mind as to what your doing at work/with them!---I have an appt Monday with my Neuro, and beleive me---I intend to tell him I can't sleep and that we need to try soemthing or "tweek" whatever meds I'm on now that are not letting me sleep.---So, wish me luck!

My Mom past Feb 11, I had been there sleeping by her side at the hospital then the hospice. On and off for three years I helped take care of her. I know where she is. The mourning is excruciating and oh so very lonely. My husband's good but he was just involved in a serious accident right before this so between work, doctors and pain, I try to not totally drain the guy. I have been on bioidentical for my body meds that have totally replaced the antidepressants.

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