Your hospice nurse will probably order you a comfort pack or at least a few comfort medications which will be ordered PRN, or “as needed.” This is likely to include morphine oral concentrate if you do not have an allergy to it.
I have encountered very many patients and families who have a negative connotation regarding the word morphine. People sometimes feel their loved one will die as soon as, or soon after, morphine begins being accepted. I believe this idea can come from having known another person on hospice or possibly dying in a hospital in the past who utilized morphine in his last days or hours. Sometimes a patient or family may not be accepting of morphine until the very last days and people may relate giving that medication as leading to death. In fact, though, death was already approaching and morphine was likely a needed medication for symptom relief, not a “euthanasia drug” or “death drug.”
I once had a walkie-talkie patient use oral morphine, at a low dose, multiple times a day for over a year. I like to tell patients and families that fact when they express worry over feeling that morphine will speed up the dying process. When used correctly, as order by your physician, there is no reason not to take advantage of a medication that can help bring comfort.
Morphine is used for severe pain as well as shortness of breath. It is an opiate and blocks pain signals from the brain and nervous system. The exact mechanism for decreasing shortness of breath is not known, however it is thought to work by reducing messages to the brain which interpret tense muscles around the rib cage when work of breathing is increased.
Morphine should be in the home in case it is needed, though maybe it never will be – depending on your disease process. Signing onto hospice services does not mean you have to start taking morphine. It is only used if needed.
Like any medication, there are side effects of morphine which I will discuss in another post.