Happy Thanksgiving all. I'm hoping I can get some input from anyone who has experienced a family member with lung cancer or any cancer who has taken morphine for the pain. My mom is in the final stages of lung cancer. She is 67 and is at home with my Dad and brother. About a month ago we had hospice come in to help (just twice a week). She is now taking morphine for the pain. For the first couple of weeks, we thought it was very helpful. She didn't hurt and that was a blessing. This took a big turn this past week. She is now afraid of both my Dad and my brother. She thinks they are out to hurt her. She is seeing things that aren't there, an animal ontop of the fireplace, she thinks my Dad has been "unscrewing" a large portion of the wall and hiding something there.. the list goes on. It has been absolutely devastating to my brother who stays up all night every night to take care of her. My sister and I (married with families) have gone during the night the last few nights to sit with her because she is terrified of my Dad and brother. We are at a loss as to what to do or why this is happening. I know that morphine can cause some of this and I also know that it is a possibility that the cancer has spread to her brain. I am just wondering, and yes, hoping, that most of this is from the morphine. It is our hope to keep mom at hope as long as possible (she requested early on that near the end she be moved to a hospital). Has anyone had experience with this? Thanks so much for any input, it is greatly appreciated.

My husband was given Morphine at the hospital, during his final stages. It was horrible, a nightmare all in itself! Lots of mental side effects that the doctors though were from the brain tumors, I did not agree. Once transferred to a hospice facility, the doctor there recognized it right away and took him off of the morphine. Scott was given medication for anxiety, and he was given Methadone for pain, this combo worked great, and no weird side effects! Ask her doctor about this, maybe they can change her medication.

Renee

I also wanted to add, you can keep your Mom at home until she passes, if you choose to. I brought Scott home from hospice, and had no problems administering his medication. Hospice placed a pick line (or med port, the one that goes in where the arm bends, and up. It can stay in for months) the syringes screwed on, really easy! Hospice visisted us 2-3 times. They would have visited more, if I needed them to. Scott was only home for a week before he passed away. I do not regret bringing him home, it made things more peaceful for him.

Good luck!

Happy Thanksgiving all. I'm hoping I can get some input from anyone who has experienced a family member with lung cancer or any cancer who has taken morphine for the pain. My mom is in the final stages of lung cancer. She is 67 and is at home with my Dad and brother. About a month ago we had hospice come in to help (just twice a week). She is now taking morphine for the pain. For the first couple of weeks, we thought it was very helpful. She didn't hurt and that was a blessing. This took a big turn this past week. She is now afraid of both my Dad and my brother. She thinks they are out to hurt her. She is seeing things that aren't there, an animal ontop of the fireplace, she thinks my Dad has been "unscrewing" a large portion of the wall and hiding something there.. the list goes on. It has been absolutely devastating to my brother who stays up all night every night to take care of her. My sister and I (married with families) have gone during the night the last few nights to sit with her because she is terrified of my Dad and brother. We are at a loss as to what to do or why this is happening. I know that morphine can cause some of this and I also know that it is a possibility that the cancer has spread to her brain. I am just wondering, and yes, hoping, that most of this is from the morphine. It is our hope to keep mom at hope as long as possible (she requested early on that near the end she be moved to a hospital). Has anyone had experience with this? Thanks so much for any input, it is greatly appreciated.

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I can address the morphine side effects. Morphine ( and derivatives ) can definitely cause scary and realistic nightmares. But, IMO, the other ( conscious ) hallucinatory type behavior that you describe is related to something else.

JMO

~ Bill ~

HI

There are other pain meds out there. Fentnyl is often used for end-stage cancer. It's quite powerful. It's worn in a patch on the arm. It offers a continuous dosage of medication for 48-72 hours.

While it could be a side-effect from the morphine, it could also mean that something else is going on. It warrants investigation.

Good luck

The halucinations could mean that there is something else going on. But with Scott, within 24 hours after being taken off of the morphine, the halucinations went away.

Thanks so much for all the help/advice. My sister and I are going to contact the doctor tomorrow to see what other alternatives there are. We were under the impression that morphine and methadone were the same, while at my parents home today I checked her medicine bottle and she is actually on methadone. She takes half a pill every four hours. Hopefully something else can be prescribed tomorrow, the patch sounded like it would be worth a try. It is really our fear that the cancer has spread to her brain but we can't help but hope that it's just the pain medication. My mom has never been one to tolerate anything for pain so she had to start on weaker pain medication and go from there. I really appreciate the great responses and Renee, nothing would make me more happy than to have my mom home right to the end... I'm sorry you have lost your husband.

Hello again. I am happy to post that my mom is doing much better. My Dad started giving her a lesser dose of the methadone, and giving it to her further apart and she is back to herself again. No more crazy visions or being terrified. The nurse from hospice will be out on Tuesday and we're going to see what else can be given to her for pain (we haven't been able to reach her doctor). She's not in alot of pain today, it's been so nice just having her awake and clear in her thoughts. Thanks again for the replies. Ann :)

mimirea- Glad to hear Mom (and family) had a good day. I hope there will be many more!

Renee