Is there natural pain relief for end-stage congestive heart failure?

A "natural" alternative to the poppy-based drug morphine? What makes morphine "unnatural"? Wouldn't you be trying to find a plant-based herbal concoction to relieve pain? But isn't that what morphine is? I guess I'm not understanding your objection to that drug.

In any case, since she is under your care it is your decision whether to use the morphine or not. Hospice does not force that on you. I did not use the morphine I was given for my husband. He was not in pain or in distress. Each case is different.

Morphine was not used for my mother while she was on hospice, based on previous bad reactions to it.

It sounds like you very much want to keep this dear lady out of pain, and in her home environment. That is very commendable. I hope that you can achieve that using only drugs you approve of. And if you can't achieve it that way, I hope you will be flexible enough to take hospice advice. But remember that you are the person in charge. You make the decisions.

Thank you, JessieBelle. She's actually used the Tylenol with codeine before and it worked well. I had forgotten. I'll ask her doctor to reauthorize her scrip tomorrow.

If the Advil seems to give some relief, maybe you can think about asking for Tylenol III. It has 300 mg Tylenol and 30 mg codeine. It is good for pain of inflammation, e.g. arthritis, and is fairly mild. It isn't so good for circulatory pain -- the type that comes with vascular disease.

I am sorry that you are going through this. I am glad hospice is there with you. I agree with you about putting off the morphine unless the pain becomes bad. Morphine tends to make people nod out, so they lose time with their family. There may be a time when this will be a good thing to ease pain. You will know when that time is.

I don't see any problem with some Ativan if it helps your mother feel more calm. Maybe some tablets would be good if that is a problem. It can also help your mother sleep on those difficult nights, so can be very handy.

I guess what's complicating the whole thing too is that she's making noises of distress but says she's not in pain. The nurse said this morning that some vocalizations are normal and not necessarily a sign of pain. She's enrolled in palliative care but I think I'm going to bring in a nurse to help me with this. It's pretty scary.

Pamstegma, that's good information. Thank you.

Sunnygirl, at this point yeah we're not trying to save her, just to alleviate her pain without risking a fatal dose of morphine, which she is afraid of. I thought of bringing in a natural doctor in addition to her regular MD. I'm rocking this thing alone and it's not a great feeling so I'm just trying to do the right thing by her.

Thank you cwillie, I do have the meds on hand and would use them if she were suffering badly. It's just that I'm looking for something less toxic to deal with her mild pain. Those were good ideas. And I know some of my posts about Hospice haven't been popular but I too feel that their end-stage protocol bears some investigation. They are, at the very least, understating the potentially deadly effects of Morphine - intentionally or not.
I'm going to give the Advil a try - thanks again.

What has she been using for pain up until now? If she feels that all she needs is something like OTC tylenol or advil then use that, creams for sore joints such as myoflex or voltaren are also good. As divisive as the anti hospice thread can be it has brought to light some disturbing trends in hospice care. Hospice staff sometimes seem to want to administer these drugs just because that is the way it is usually done, without bothering to access if there is truly a need or desire for them. But don't reject them completely, keep them on hand if the need arises when she reaches her final days and hours.

Morphine will help with her breathing, not just pain. If there were homeopathic alternatives, I'm sure they would be selling like hotcakes. Articles I have seen written by homeopaths state they can lessen the need for the morphine, but not eliminate it entirely.

What are you trying to achieve? Is your goal to keep her comfortable? Why is the homeopathic route better? Is she alert enough to make her own decisions? Is Hospice involved? At this stage of her illness, I'm not sure I would be in the process of changing doctors. Maybe someone who has gone through this can offer more insight. I haven't dealt with it before.