That makes sense.  I hope that's the case and I hope Tweed isn't too
miserable.

Its absolutely true.  Part of it is the anxiety of waiting for someone to
bring your pain meds makes you focus on the pain and makes it harder to
tolerate.  If you know you have relief at hand, its much easier not to think
about it.

Jo

Very accurate description. The other important thing is that the basic
dose of pain medication should be taken on a regular basis as long as
there is severe pain, not waiting until it hurts a lot.  Good
prescribing will give a patient both a steady "maintenance" dose, plus
an addition "rescue" drug for pain breakthroughs.

The idea of control is tremendously important. Good nursing staffs
empower it, and where there is a problem, you need either a very
assertive patient or a patient advocate.

Not that it is relevant in this case, but one of the strongest arguments
for control being helpful is the experience in the US state of Oregon,
which is the only US state that has legalized physicians, with
substantial controls, to prescribe lethal medications to patients in
terminal disease.  Now that there is a few years of experience, it turns
out that relatively few of these patients ever use those drugs -- not
due to fear, but knowing that they have the ultimate ability to control
things should pain or other factors make life intolerable.

I had one of those when I had both knees replaced at the same time
I didn't use it that much either, but it was too much for me anyway
when the Physiotherapist {sp?} asked my Daughter 'is your mother always like
this we decided to get rid of it apparenly I was away
with the fairies LOL   Jean.P.

Did you know that they give morphine buttons to 4-yr-olds?  I was
surprised.  My niece had major surgery at that age, and when I
visited, she had one. Of course, my sister had the control, but
still, my niece could ask for it, and did.  Poor baby. It's hard
to see such a little one in that much pain.  She is unfortunately
a hard veteran of hospitals, having spent most of her first year
in there, waiting for a liver transplant. (yes, we found one in time)

Jane
- owned and operated by Princess Rita

Continuous drip, but not necessarily with morphine.

Synthetic and natural opioids -- a more accurate term than opiates or
narcotics, because it refers to anything, including endorphins, that
stimulate certain brain receptors -- are in several chemical classes.
Morphine, heroin, and codeine, for example, all are in the same class,
and get converted by the body into the same actual chemical that causes
pain relief.

It's certainly plausible that one class doesn't work, and there are
times where morphine isn't the drug of choice. For example, you tend to
avoid morphine in gall bladder disease, because it causes spasm of a
particular muscle there.

The class led by meperidine (pethidine in the UK, trade name Demerol) is
OK for short-term use, but it builds up a toxic by-product when used for
long periods. It's also less likely to cause nausea than the morphine
groups, one of the reasons why it's preferred over morphine for migraine
"rescue".

Could the drug have been Toradol (generic name ketorolac)?  That's a
very interesting drug -- it is the only nonsteroidal antiinflammatory
drug (e.g., ibuprofen) that can be injected as well as taken orally, but
is not in any way related to opioids. It can, however, give pain relief
in the same range as morphine.

Another possibility, less likely because it's a weaker drug, is
tramadol.  While tramadol is chemically related to the opioids, there's
no history of addiction.  It's popular for long-term pain control in
arthritis.

Not that I'm splitting hairs or anything, but isn't Tweed's name
ChristinA, not ChristinE?? Not sure if she's as fussy about her name as
I am about mine... :)

Many thanks.

Theresa
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