Morphine

For those who have had loved ones in nursing home facilities at the end of life, how long have they lived after the morphine is introduced to "control pain"?

Depends on the dose....a decent amount really puts them at ease, though pretty much unconscious, a little more will stop their breathing and then the pain is gone for good, I think a fair amount of end of life patients get the little more then enough, frankly it's a blessing for all... I'm sorry you are going through this, it isn't easy.

My dad had terminal cancer. He made it very clear to me when he gave me power of attorney that he wanted as little pain as possible. I conveyed that message to his doctor who told me morphine would shorten his life.

I gave the go-ahead and he died in hospice a week later. He might have had a month without large doses of morphine.

I had morphine for several months. I had pain bad enough I would watch the clock and every 12 min I could give myself another dose. As soon as I could handle the pain I had, I quit taking the morphine. i was scared I would get addicted and would not take any at all. Then a nurse told me I could heal faster if my body was not fighting pain all the time and could spend time healing. Made sense to me. Morphine made me itch all over but reduced the pain I had..
It's not a nice place to be, I don't know why I was blessed to live, but I was and I am grateful.

My wife’s grandmother passed a day and a half after they administered morphine. That was after her kidneys shut down. Whether it was the morphine or the lack of kidney function she only lasted a day and a half.

That is how they take care of terminally ill patients.
Like was said already it is a blessing for all.
Cause of death will be recorded as cardiac arrest.

My biological father died when I was a kid, he died from a burst aneurysm. The aneurysm was believed to be caused by a weakening of the artery caused from heavy radiation doses used some years earlier to cure a cancer he had. When he was fighting the cancer and radiation damage (it was in the early 50's when they didn't know much about it) he used morphine to deaden his severe pain. One day my mother returned to the house from some errand to find my aunt, who was staying there while my mother was gone, sitting at the kitchen table with two men "dressed like Dick Tracy", as my mother told it. They were, in fact, detectives that were there to question my mother. It seems the local drug store sold more morphine than any other Rx in that area of the state, and, said the detectives, my mother was buying more than anyone else. They wanted to know just what she was doing with it. She said follow me, and led the two men to the bedroom where my father lay in bed nearly unconscious. She pulled a bloody towel off my father's face, exposing his mouth where his cheek had fallen off from too much radiation. They immediately apologized to my mother and told her they would not be back. My father went on to beat the cancer, and the horrible skin graft surgeries he needed to try to fix his face. He did it with morphine's help and was able to quit the stuff without a problem when he no longer had pain. If you need it, it is a Godsend.

I've had 2 there and borh passed with in the week of being on it.

Typically the nurses have all the family go out of the room for a little bit, after the whole family gets there, to take care of the patient, then call the family back in and the patient dies within 20 minutes. I have no doubt they ease their passing. I have no doubt it is the right thing to do either.

Keith

Got a parent that has been on it for 3 years depends on their condition and the amount administered. Bottom line I think if they are terminal they go quick, if it just pain and administered conservatively it can go on for years. I guess some people in addiction can live most of their life on it.

I made IVs in a hospital for about a decade. I used to work the weekend night shift for about 6 years. You get to know patients names if they show up enough over time. We had an 80+ year old woman, her name was Amber which I thought was funny for an 80 year old in the early 1990s, who built up quite a tolerance to MS over time as an oncology patient. That standard MS IV at the time was 100 mg in a 100 mls. I remember getting an order about 0430 one morning for Amber who had been admitted and the dose was 5 grams of morphine in 100 mls. I wiped my eyes about 3 times before I made it. For most people, it would have been lights out in about 15-30 mins. I think Amber must have passed sometime shortly after that admission. I'm sure she was an anomaly when it came to length of her time on MS and the final dose strengths.

Was about a year for my mom. She had lymph cancer that spread to her brain. She got what the nurse called the death rattle at the end and died within the week. Was December 18th and it snowed minutes after her last breath. I love snow.

It is administered in super slow release small dose form nowadays also. It is used for chronic round the clock pain management. Better than taking Norco, without the ups and down in pain. The up and down pain leads to accidental overdose. This is not the treatment a terminal patient gets, it is for functioning people with arthritis bone/back issues that cause chronic pain. Highly regulated and monthly drug test monitored.

my dad was terminal , in a nursing home on morphine ,for three months ,never talk couldn't move ,just lay there a moaned , it was terrible

My mother was on it for a year before she passed

they put my mom on the fentanyl patches and it wasn't long.

cute story-i came out one morning and she told me she was sorry but she had taken the jeep for a ride and wrecked it a couple times but the cops couldn't catch her.mom never touched a drop so long story short,after her nurse put a patch on her and left,she put a heating pad on the same spot giving her a full dose all at once pretty much.

prayers for ya,taking care of mom at her home till the end was one of the hardest things i've ever done but also one of the most rewarding.