Greetings- I just found your site. I've pulled my Mom back from death twice since December. Her back has scoliosis - arthritis and a pain that comes into her groin - hurts when she up - settles down when she sits down. Dozens of doctors - more tests than you can imagine - really can't define what the pain is. My brother keeps taking her to a dr every 4 weeks - they keep increasing the pain medication - over dosing her twice. But no one gets it - the medicine is NOT taking the pain away. Now they want to implant a morophine pump. In 3 months she gone from being able to live on her own to pnemonia and having to have someone with her 24 X 7. Am I wrong to think the pump is the wrong way to go? My thinking is - if I can get her to sit down and relax with 2 tylenol and get better - why take more medicine. Thanks for any ideas.
the pump is often a last resort, as most people have no problem responding to oral medications. But for those people who seem to not respond to any medications, the pump can often be a godsend. The pump allows medication to be pumped straight into your spinal cord, allowing the use of smaller doses, and raising the bioavailibility to 100%. Your mom will notice a great difference, and most likely get her life back.
The good thing is they do a trial of the pump before doing the implant. I've had a pump for almost 3 years now and the biggest difference is the decreased side efects and clear head from the lower doage used. I went from 600 mgs of oral morphine a day to 12 mgs of intratheal morphine and got much beter relief with much fewer side efects. The negative aspect is it may take several adjustments the first few months which means a trip to the doc every week to have this done. They increase in tiny increments particluarly if she's very sensetive to the effects of pain meds.. They can also add numbing agents, baclofen for spasm and clonidine for increased effectiveness.
If a couple tylenol would work I would think they would have tried that befoe using potent opiates. It doesn't make sense to skip milder meds and go right to meds that cause physcial dependence, respirtory supression and many other side efects if tylenol or motrin could do the job.
Actually increasing the dose would depend on the type of pump she has, Some are elctronic and programable and can deliver higher doses at worse times of the days and some deliver a dose based on the conentration of medication and run at one set rate.Medtronics makes the more advanced unit and also makes a unit that isn't progrmabale like the Codman pump. They will have her do a trial and deliver meds with an external pump or simply use a single injection into the intrathecal space to see how she reponds before they do an implant.
Good luck, This really doesn't sound unusual because the elderly tend to be much more sensetive to the effects of most meds.
Take care, Dave
84 Mother drugs for pain 
My thinking is - if I can get her to sit down and relax with 2 tylenol and get better - why take more medicine. Thanks for any ideas.
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