High dose of morphine

Hey Anon;
I cared for both my dad and my first wife while on morphine. This becomes an extremely delicate balance. It really depends on how much pain your husband is in. If he is in severe pain, you would much rather see relief, if his pain is manageable with less than you control that too. Unless your hospice system is different, you or another caregiver in the house are the ones who give him the morphine. If it is knocking him out and he doesn’t need to be knocked out, then don’t give as much. You will know when it seems to be appropriate to up the doses. Talk to the nurses/doctors about this. They will listen!
God’s blessings on you, him and your family as you prepare to take this journey.
Ted

Hi Anon. I am so sorry for all that you and your husband are enduring. I have never taken care of adults in this scenario, but I have taken care of many children. Drugs like morphine and other pain medications have routine use dosage recommendations. However, unlike other drugs for which we have clear, well defined and absolute dosage guidelines – the dosage needed for these drugs in these circumstances depend on many things – the patient’s developed tolerance and the patient’s level of pain are two significant ones. Clearly, these are both hard to define and appreciate. I have administered pain meds to four year olds that would have put me on the floor, if not in the ICU – yet – for their condition and status – it was what they needed and tolerated. At this point, I would do whatever it took to keep your husband comfortable. My only thought is this – if your husband can swallow pills easily, I might ask for pills with a smaller dose that I could give more often. That way, you could certainly give 120 mg three times daily – but you could also manipulate the dosage as you need to in order to keep him comfortable but also alert as he prefers. It would just give you both more control. I would also encourage the hospice facility to get him a pump that works and works well. Mechanical problems can be troublesome, but they can be worked out and he deserves every bit of the help they can provide.

Don’t know that my words are very helpful, but I will be holding you both in my heart. Know that he is blessed to have you. yours, celeste

Hi Anon, I’m so sorry for what you and your husband are faced with and I agree with Bubbles and Ted. If this helps any, I wanted to share my experience with my mom. She was on high dose morphine for the last two weeks for end stage lung cancer. My mom randomly told me several times during her life that she wasn’t afraid of dying or death but she was afraid of being in pain while dying. That made our decision easy to treat the pain. My mom wasn’t a big talker and pretty stoic so for her to say those things to me, I knew she really feared the pain. And even though my mom wasn’t doing a lot of talking those last few weeks, I have no doubt that she heard me talking to her and telling her all the things I needed to tell her. I’m a pretty data driven person, but I absolutely know that she heard me, hospice was phenomenal. And knowing she wasn’t in pain and we just had that time to sit together and me talk to her made that time with her very special. I like Bubbles suggestion of getting the pills in smaller doses and that gives you flexibility since he is still able to take pills. Then you do have some control and can always adjust more as needed. Many hugs to you. I’m so sorry, this is so hard, any decision you make will be ok, it is the right decision for you and your husband.