I have been caring for 97 year old mom and she is now very weak,bed confined. She takes medication for blood pressure and congenital heart failure. I was wondering at what point do one stop taking medications?
I don't know what we would have done without hospice. And what kills me is that the Dr. at the NH refused to sign off on hospice until my dad was too far gone to appreciate the services but they were of great comfort to me and my brother and when my dad got to the place where he had trouble swallowing hospice asked me how I felt about discontinuing his meds and I said "Yes, discontinue them." His emotional and mental distress was being medicated as was his pain and that was all.
You sound hesitant to stop the medications. If your mom can still swallow and it makes you feel better give her her medications. They won't hurt anything. But if you think it's time to stop giving her medications I think that's ok too. At age 97 and bedbound she's not going to recover.
Sure you can manage, and you can probably manage until the very end. But it is just easier with the support of people who understand what is going on in the end stage. The hospice nurse noticed things that could be made more comfortable for my husband (that I would never have thought of), and then she made the improvements happen, with no red tape and no doctor visits. Too soon is better than not soon enough, in my opinion.
I have consulted Hospice but feel I can manage at this point. I monitor mom's blood pressure daily and she is comfortable. I also worry about strokes and added heart problems if pills are removed. It's also hard to make her take the pills when she hardly eats or drinks anything.. I really struggle with making a decision on withdrawing the pills. Thanks
For me it is a matter of prolonging life vs maintaining quality of life. At 97 and bed bound, I'd drop any life-prolonging drugs, but continue with those that control pain or other immediate symptoms.
Sometimes it is not so clear-cut which drugs fall into which category. I'd be inclined to continue the blood pressure med -- the symptoms can be uncomfortable and also having a stroke would greatly impact quality of life for the remainder of her life. I feel the same way about treating CHF.
Would you consider hospice care for your mother at this time? The hospice staff helped me make decisions about my husband's many drugs. As I saw the results of dropping them I added a few back in because they really were keeping symptoms at bay. (That was fine with hospice, and they learned something from that experience.)
I hope that you can keep your mother comfortable and free from anxiety. Best wishes to you.
You sound hesitant to stop the medications. If your mom can still swallow and it makes you feel better give her her medications. They won't hurt anything. But if you think it's time to stop giving her medications I think that's ok too. At age 97 and bedbound she's not going to recover.
It's a very good question.
Sometimes it is not so clear-cut which drugs fall into which category. I'd be inclined to continue the blood pressure med -- the symptoms can be uncomfortable and also having a stroke would greatly impact quality of life for the remainder of her life. I feel the same way about treating CHF.
Would you consider hospice care for your mother at this time? The hospice staff helped me make decisions about my husband's many drugs. As I saw the results of dropping them I added a few back in because they really were keeping symptoms at bay. (That was fine with hospice, and they learned something from that experience.)
I hope that you can keep your mother comfortable and free from anxiety. Best wishes to you.