Effects of morphine

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User

Posted 30 Oct 2024 at 05:57

My dad had an episode of terrible pain at home where his pain was not properly managed, and ended up in hospital where he was taken under the care of a palliative care doctor.

Now he is on 1.5ml of morphine syrup, to be taken every 4 hours. This seems to have taken care of the pain so far. He was also given a shot of dexamethasone in hospital, which perked him up and he was very chirpy the next day when he was discharged, and happy to go home.

However there has been a marked change in personality since. He is drowsy and non communicative most of the time, rarely articulates and just gestures to indicate what he wants/thinks. His previously good appetite has deteriorated markedly. We can only imagine that this is the side effect of the morphine.... naturally this is devastating for all of us, as he is a totally changed man. The doctor told us 1.5ml was only a very low dose, but the effect has been dramatic.

Will this get any better?

How has everyone elses morphine experience been?

worriedwomble

User

Posted 30 Oct 2024 at 07:40

Morphine is a balance between pain control and sedation. Hospices are the experts in pain control, so it would be a good idea to get a hospice involved in his care at home.

I have no experience of morphine, but I might be tempted to see if a lower dose is still effective against the pain. I suspect you would need to reduce the dose slowly to avoid withdrawal, but I could be completely wrong, and this is where hospice expertise would come in.

User

Posted 30 Oct 2024 at 08:16

Is the solution 10mg/5ml or 20mg/1ml some people are very sensitive to opiods but tolerance does develop.

Seek as much help as possible and his pain should be managed well .

User

Posted 30 Oct 2024 at 23:43

His dose is 3mg/1.5ml every 4 hours - sorry, should have provided a more precise measure. His palliative care doctor at the hospital suggested this was a low starting dose and should be reasonably well tolerated.

However it's not just excessive tiredness, he has behaved like a zombie since coming home, has difficulty understanding simple instructions, barely speaks and has hardly eaten for a few days. Rejects even his favourite food. Sleeps most of the time, but when we wake him at night to give him his midnight dose, we have found him looking dazed and staring blankly at the ceiling which never fails to give us a terrible shock, especially when it takes him a while to respond to us...!

The hospice has suggested stretching out the intervals in between morphine doses to see how it goes... we're starting on 6 hourly intervals today. His kidneys are moderately impaired so he might have difficulty clearing out the morphine fast enough....

This is so incredibly hard for us...

Thanks for the helpful replies. Will look forward to the day he develops better tolerance to the opioids or they may have to switch him to something else.

User

Posted 31 Oct 2024 at 12:12

Good sounds like he is in good hands , that is a low but suitable starting dose and he should tolerate it soon .

Best wishes

Mike

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