Morphine and lorazepam

[Katrina36]

Hi all, I'm wondering if anyone has been on both these drugs together and how they felt on them if they have?... Katrina x

[Terry]

I would have thought that it would knock you out Kitty;

I have never taken Morphine, how much Lorazipam is he taking?

Love Terry

[Katrina36]

Hi terry, he can have up to 4mg a day, but taking half a tablet at a time, he's only had 1mg and is out off it a bit ... He's to take that as he's been feeling scared and nervous he told the nurse.... Katrina x

[Terry]

Hi Kitty;

They seem to give Lorazipam to relax panic feelings. Although I take it occasionally to relax me and help with sleep. I know only take a half of a mg in bed. I have taken one and tamazipam at night times but I think that is too much.

I think Tamazipam affects my breathing a little.

It is probably both drugs making him sleepy, others know more about the drugs and there affects.

Love Terry

[Katrina36]

Yeh I gave dad a half mg then another half mg later as requested but I think it might be too much for him, will see how he gets on overnight and see what tomorrow brings .... Kitty X

[Davetherave]

Hi Katrina

Morphine is a very powerful opiate, I would imagine that in combination with Lorazepam which is an anti anxiety/relaxant would make Dad very drowsy.

Dave..

[Katrina36]

Ok.. So what is the idea in keeping him sleepy or drowsy, I'm not sure I understand .... Katrina x

[Davetherave]

Don't really know Katrina, It's ok to be like that when you need to sleep at night time but you don't really want to be feeling that way during the day, sorry I can't be anymore help.

Dave..

[Katrina36]

i agree during the night it's good for him to sleep and get peace to do it, but during the day the last 2 weeks he has slept a lot off it but coughed and coughed and keeps waking himself up, she said it should relax all his muscles and let him get the rest he needs, then the lorazepam should stop him from feeling nervous/scared. Which he said to her today he was. He was too scared to go to his bed tonight he told me... So I'm staying up for a few hours yet with him and mum will take over until the morning then il be with him again, we're taking it I turns to stay with him and put on nebuliser, meds etc .... Katrina x

[Ellie]

Hi hun,

Yes, both are widely used in MND to manage breathing and any anxiety he may have in feeling he isn't getting enough air. Please tell him not to worry about taking them.

I'm not clear how much morphine he's taking - 0.5mg or 1.0mg is a very low dose, even w/ Lorazepam.

I'm loath to say this, but morphine constipates so laxatives are essential!!

Love Ellie.

[Ellie]

Forgot to say that morphine might initially give him vivid dreams until he get used to it, but maybe not on a low dose x

[Katrina36]

Hi Ellie, his morphine is a 10mg in 5ml and he is ment to get 1ml as required but hey said to give him it every hour, his lorazepam are 1mg tablets and he can have half a tablet as required, he had 2mg of the lorazepam yest and half a mg today as he could not stop coughing, now he's settled and is sleeping, glad you said that about the dreams as he said he had been dreaming.

There's a full length mirror in his room and he said to me last night, the feet off the mirror look like grans feet (his mum), not sure what he ment by that so i just agreed.... Katrina x

[Ellie]

It'll take him a few days to get used to the new meds but he probably needs to catch up on lots of lost sleep after his very difficult few weeks.
For comparison, I took 10mg morphine a day for pain in my 2nd year of ALS/MND and lived to tell the tale

Look after yourself, xx.

[Katrina36]

Hi Ellie,, thanks for that message, that's put my mind at ease, did you ever hallucinate when you were getting used to it?,, alltho you might not remember. Your right he does have a lot of lost sleep to catch up on, I'm hoping he picks up but only time will tell .... Katrina x

[Ellie]

Not really, but very vivid dreams that felt so real. My dad had hallucinations on it after his knee replacement - saw people in cupboards