my grandmother has a mass possibly cancer on her lung, copd and emphysema. She is ambulatory and is on pain medication. Morphine (ms contin) 60mg every 8 hours and 15mg breakthrough every 1-2 hours as needed. She is also on lorazepam .5mg twice a day and 1mg at night. She has a caregiver that wants to overmedicate her so she wont have to deal with her. I want to know what dosages might be too much for my grandma. My grandma is bed ridden, 85 years old and weighs 80lbs. please give me some advice on usage of pain meds and anxiety meds too.
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Q: my grandmother takes lorazepam .5mg during the day and 1mg at night. How often can she take these
Answers (1)
6/10/08 10:14pm
Steffi,
Thank you for your question.
It's difficult to say what the right dose would be for your grandmother. In elderly patients or in patients with liver or kidney disease, some medications may be eliminated from the body slower than in a healthy patient. You say that your grandmother is elderly and weighs only 80 lbs, with other health problems, so I would think she's not very active to begin with. However, if you've noticed that recently she seems more subdued than normal, you may be right to question the caregiver. The morphine and the lorazepam can both cause your grandmother to be sedated. You can find more information about morphine here and lorazepam here. Progression of her disease states could also cause her to be less active than normal. If you're truly concerned about the possibility of overmedication, you (or the family member responsible for her medical care) should talk to your grandmother's doctor.
Best of luck,
Casey
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By Steffi— Last Modified: 10/18/10, First Published: 05/23/08
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