What You don't Know About Pain in Hospice 

How difficult this must be, but how comforting, too, to know your mom is being looked after. Please know you're not alone and prayers for both you and your mom's peaceful passing, are on their way....

God bless you and your mom 🙏🙏🙏

Sending you love ❤️

🙏🙏🙏

Exactly! My 96 yr old dad was dying and had dementia. About a week before he died he became agitated so unlike my dad….he was in a regular hospital crying and screaming for help. I went to a nurse for sedation and the young nurse said we don’t want him on Xanax because he could become addicted! I should have insisted! We took him home and called Hospice…..the best decision ever! They gave him Xanax and pain meds and a week later with Hospice looking in daily he passed peacefully sleeping…no pain no anxiety! I will forever be grateful for the wonderful Hospice staff! They wrote to each of his kids after he died checking on us! God bless the angels who brought us the meds! 😇

I heard that the amounts of pain meds given and how often, have to do with what state you live in. I believe some states are more restrictive and put limits on how many pain meds you can receive/how often. Does anyone know about this?

@@Nublet67 I take opiods for chronic pain due to arthritis and degenerative disc disease and have taken it for 14 years. I was concerned about addiction and my doctor explained it like this: my body is addicted to opiods but I am not psychologically addicted to opiods… if I was I would be seeking more opiods by buying them on the street, stealing them from friends and family - THAT’S psychological addiction which is what addicts have.

@@DanielKay-ey6uh There's wonder working power in following Kingdom principles on giving and tithing. Hallelujah!

But then, how do you get all that in that period of time? What is it you do please, mind sharing?

It is the digital market. That's been the secret to this wealth transfer. A lot of folks in the US and abroad are getting so much from it, God has been good to my household Thank you Jesus

And thanks to my co-worker (Michael) who suggested Ms Susan Jane Christy

How can I start this digital market, any guidelines and how can I reach out to her?

Used properly pain medicine is helpful. Having a more balanced view vs. pain medicine is evil, hopefully is happening. I appreciate cannabis mentioned for pain medicine. It is helping people with pain. Eating .Sleeping. Calming. Better mood. Quality and purity necessary. Using plant medicine doesn't make you an addict. Comfortable and safe...

Bob, I'm totally with you ! I live in Florida where they don't have " dying with dignity" yet !!! I just keep singing in my mind "One Day At A Time" sweet Jesus !!! It gets me through the raw patches!!!

@bobwinters2885 hi, you may already know this, but it bears repeating: making an Advance Medical Directive is the most important and reliable way to have your wishes followed in case at some point you DON'T have the mental or communicative capacity to advocate for yourself. I am an inpatient hospice nurse (my unit is primarily for dying patients whose symptoms cannot be managed at home). Being located within a Level 1 Trauma hospital, some of our patients are dying from much more sudden/unexpected conditions than most home hospice patients - cardiac arrest, catastrophic strokes, brain bleeds (from trauma or hemorrhagic stroke), severe respiratory failure, overdose, etc. Many of them could be kept technically "alive" for a little while longer with maximum drastic interventions in the ICU, but family has understood the unfortunate reality of their loved one and opted for comfort measures. Families (not to mention the patients!) have a MUCH easier time with this process when they already knew that the wishes of the dying loved one were for comfort care only. "He always said just let him go if xyz...", "She swore she'd come back a haunt us if we let them put that tube down her throat", etc. But having an actual document of the wishes (the Advance Directive) also minimizes fighting between family members and the very difficult task of having to be the loved one to sign a DNR and hospice consents. One last point - if someone is unmarried, has no directives, and has any children age 18+, their child is legally the one who has to sign. That's not so bad if the patient is 80 and their children are 60yrs old, but it's downright traumatic for an 18yr old child of a 37yr old patient (actual situation I had - a middle-aged family member tried to sign so the teen wouldn't have to, but legally the teen had to do it). I'll get off my soapbox now, but if anyone benefits from this info it was worth typing it all out.

Write out what you want! Living will or health directives I think it’s called!

@@vjdalady I already have that to take the pressure off my husband and daughters!

@hobouk3871 Laxitives can be very harsh. I use Miralax. You can use it in anything you drink and it doesn't change the flavor or texture.

You are not addicted in the same sense as a 'drug addict'. You are medically habituated due to having to take narcotics for chronic pain. Very different motivation and psychology. Wishing you well.

There are herbal remedies that help, usually.

@@Rani-gr8yi The herbal kind that starts with C and ends with bis. If you are talking about that kind of herb it is still illegal in the UK. Unfortunately our government will not legalize, regulate or tax it and are to stupid to realize how much money they could make if they did.

My sister had a fentanyl patch and occasional spray of morphine into her mouth. It made her so much more comfortable. She couldn’t get the pain relief she needed without the hospice team.

Yes if that much pain, not enough? Or not right for one. We all know fentanyl has become totally misused recreationally. For dying may be most helpful for some and used as the pain medicine it is. Should pain medicine be discussed also in case can't verbalize at time?

If you are in pain, you may not be able to see your loved ones anyway. You don't have to take so much drugs to turn you into a zombie.

My brother keeps fighting the laxatives. He's post stroke and having trouble cleaning himself. No constipation issues. But they insist on the laxatives. Sometimes he can convince the nurse not to give them, sometimes not. When he is forced to take them, it's like a never ending yogurt machine. Docs can be idiots.

@@Mermare Some people just have slower-moving bowels when they older or in a disabling state due to medical issues. How uncomfortable that must be (also knowing you may mess yourself and the bed) and not being able to get showered immediately.

Gabapentin has never helped any pain I've ever had.

Gabapentin should only be used for nerve pain. It will not work for most other pain!!!!

Same here. Its a joke. I don't even know why they started making it out to be hard drug. Tylenol works better.

Works for me

How sad this must be hard to bear, knowing he doesn't have a lot of time. My prayers are that he doesn't suffer, that the medicines banish his pain and that he passes peacefully when the time is right. Meanwhile, please know you're not alone....

@@4christ-u4h thats what they did with my father.

The team includes a social worker and a chaplain or you have your own pastor and faith community for spiritual support. Some teams have music and art therapy members. Katy retired hospice chaplain Chicago.

There are lots of medications to help you deal with anxiety and fear.

Hi, I'm a hospice nurse too. It is common for dying patients to experience anxiety and fear at some point during their dying process. Thankfully, we have many interventions available to reduce or even eliminate those feelings. Our chaplains, social workers, and volunteers manage most of the non-pharmaceutical interventions. Many patients also need medications specifically for anxiety/agitation at some point - some only once or twice, some on a consistent schedule daily. The meds help tremendously, and the hospice doctors and nurses are always available to help start, increase, or change medications until the patient feels relief. Some of the body's natural dying processes also function to help reduce anxiety - Julie has covered those in other videos but I'm not sure which ones (a Dehydration video might be one of them). If a patient is no longer able to communicate, we look for nonverbal cues of anxiety/agitation. Some of the cues are similar to pain cues, such as restlessness and moaning. Another common sign of end-of-life agitation is pulling at or removing their bedlinens and clothes. It sometimes takes a little bit of educated/thoughtful experimenting to find the right combination of pain meds, anxiety meds, and environmental stimuli to soothe an individual patient. As far as the brain ceasing all function, we don't know the exact moment, and a lot depends on what disease or injury they are dying from and how it is already affecting the brain. But, we do believe (and recent neuro imaging supports) that hearing is basically the last thing to go. This is why we encourage families to speak lovingly to the patient, play their favorite music, and avoid things like arguing at the bedside the whole time the patient is still alive. I hope this helps answer some of your questions! If you or a loved one is facing the end of life, I encourage you to reach out to a local hospice organization sooner than later so they can help address your specific needs and questions.

If the person is dying, who cares? You just want them to be pain free. That's the beautiful thing about hospice. It's all about crossing over pain free and with some dignity.

@@Mermare my concern would be bad actors, perhaps in the family, who see the person at first in some pain and then using that as an excuse to give them overdose in order to accelerate getting the patient to end of life. The patient would be unable to fight back or say anything.

@@stu6097 That's why you have docs and nurses supervising.

You are really talking about illegal street drugs not patients that are dying or cancer patients with cancer pain. Don't mix the illegal street drugs usage with proper use of pain meds. And just because you have not heard about other drugs in your country doesn't mean pain meds don't exist there. Don't be ignorant.

All❤

Sending ❤ to you 🙂‍↔️

So helpful. My dad is in hospice now with dementia and other things. Don’t want him to suffer.

​@@vjdalady...same here for my mom. The waiting is hard!

So true. So much disinformation out there. Those in pain have pain protein molecules in their CNS. When you take opioids those bind to the pain molecules. No euphoria. No addiction. No constipation in most cases. Recreational use who do not have pain molecules the opioid molecules have nothing to bind to. Ergo that may cause loopy. In the vet world, we never withhold opioids because to withhold is INHUMANE. Our pets get better care than humans do. Pets can die from pain. So, let's treat humans as we treat pets.

I call this ' medical habituation'. Way better than trying to go through life grouchy due to chronic pain.

I agree with that. Chronic long-term pain is awful to deal with, sometimes dependance happens, I look on it as a trade-off, end of.

​If I was in a hospice, dying, I would be put on medication to sleep. I have suffered so much with anxiety all my life, and I don't want to die being afride. Thank you so much.

It IS a medicine, and it DOES work. The stigma from recreational use is a real problem.

Sweet story! 😊

​@jimthain8777 It's hard for me to imagine that Marijuana takes away pain. I think the pain is still there, but maybe you just don't care as much?

@@jmsfabrication7821 It is prescribed for nausea & pain especially for cancer patients. Apparently it does help.

@@debbiebrown5586 usually because a stool softener is just not enough. Not all laxatives are harsh. I use miralax.

I think she's saying use the one with the best results.

Maybe try magnesium…

You to

Have you tried Gabapentin or Lyrica?

Marijuana doesn't help the actual pain generally speaking. It works by allowing you to relax enough to manage the pain and deal with it. I personally don't do Marijuana because I am on opiates and they don't allow both. I know several people that do use it medically for pain and not recreational to get "high". I've been told it's much stronger than the stuff in the 1960's and 1970's. I'm sure you can Google it to get good information. There are 2 strains of it, indica and stativa I think. And there are many different types in these 2 strains and they do work differently. One is a up feeling and one is a down feeling.

@@Jomama02 😊 thanks!

@@monicamoore2971 your welcome. Just what I've learned from people that use it medically. Some prefer it in baked goods or gummies as you can't smoke everywhere. And there's a process to use it that way, it's just not throwing some in a recipe.

Sad and unfortunate.