Quick! Help! Oramorph reaction

[Icedlatteplease]

Can anyone tell me what it was like for you on oramorph?

So elderly Mums injured, had a serious op and is in hospital recovering. The first 4 days were awful. She was completely incapacitated, hallucinating and an anxious mess but howling with pain whenever anyone went near the op site. They diagnosed post operative delirium. And kept increasing the morphine.

I felt the pain relief wasn't helping after i visited. the doctor halved the dose.

On the whole she's improved dramatically and has periods of being closer to sane mum then spells of back to being completely incapacitated again. But we are all at a distance so it's hard to tell.

I've just got back to her today. She gone from relatively bright and compus mentus, sore but coping to incompacitated mess who wants to die in front of my eyes. Literally 5 mins after the oramorph, the world started spinning and the chair started bouncing up and down.

This isn't normal is it? Obviously it's going back to Mums doctors. I don't want her in pain but I really don't think this is helping either.

I’ve had it a lot in hospital for pelvic pain. I can’t function on it, can’t pee, can’t stay awake and it depresses my breathing - also have hallucinations and nightmares - and I’m only 32. It’s a horrible drug. It works for severe pain, but it’s horrible for side effects. It (and dihydrocodeine) are notorious for pain and delirium - I lose chunks of time when I have it.

I'm starting to want to say I want her off it entirely. I genuinely don't think it's helping

Very distressing.

Can you ask if they have a pain management nurse / specialist?

Had it after my c sec, room began to swim, I was physically incapacitated, threw up, absolutely awful. Bonus- it didn’t help me with the pain one bit!
My dad sensitive to meds, he had Tramadol and it floored him, he was hallucinating, collapsing etc.
The only thing I take is ibuprofen now, I’ll just suck the pain up and use a hot water bottle.

Personally I’d pull the medication and see how she goes OP.

God's honest truth I'm not entirely sure she's actually in vast amounts of pain, or at least not pain she couldnt handle.

Thursday she couldn't process any sensory imput at all Everything was too confused. Now she is describing what's going on much clearer. Is sounds more like vertigo or sea sickness

This is exactly what I'm thinking. Mum threw up recovering from the op but everyone put that down to the anesthesia and the fact she's had to be down much longer than originally planned. I'm wondering now. She asked for a bowl and thought she would throw up

Same here with it following c-section. The room was spinning and I couldn’t stop vomiting for hours.

My 91 year old Dad was prescribed Oramorph, he started having terrible nightmares, hallucinating and became aggressive & unwilling to listen to anything we said, even if it was to protect him from his own dangerous behaviour. Eventually, I asked if he could be taken off the Oramorph completely and prescribed something else, which did happen and he settled down to his usual mild mannered self.

Google it. It's actually not recommended for 60+
My Nan has just had an awful time on it. We decided to take her off it in the end .

Thank you people!! I wish I'd been more determined when I last saw her but I really wasn't sure until I saw her today.
(She was on holiday so quite I long way from us)

What was her injury? If it's a proximal humerus fracture, extremely common in the elderly, then she may be in a lot more pain than you realise. Although it doesn't sound like this medicine is right for her. I had oxynorm, so a much smaller dose than oramorph for a much higher effect.

😵😵😵😵

Agree with a PP, I was given it after my C section and hated it. It made the room fuzzy, I was sweating, vomiting and felt awful on it. However, I've been completely fine when given morphine via IV and muscle injection. Was also fine taking tramadol. Sounds like your mum needs her meds reviewed OP.

How old is she?

If she was previously mentally ok but had as yet unpresenting neural plaques/latent dementia, a general anaesthetic in the elderly can accelerate dementia.

Hospital stays for the elderly can be fairly traumatic so I'd give it a bit of time to settle anyway.

from the op to Friday was awful. But she was almost screaming in pain so they kept uping the medication. She has (very well hidden) anxiety normally but this was out in full force as she was cycling (at speed) through every anxiety from the last 50 odd years. A variety of other proper crazy behaviour.

I felt instinctively the pain meds it weren't helping but she was insisting she was in pain so 🤷‍♀️. They did half the dose. I wondered whether she should be on antipsychotics but the nurses was convinced it would wear off and just a reaction to the general anesthetic. But I had to go home.

The oddity has been in the last 48 or so hours there has been periods where she's fine. Pain levels manageable, talking reasonably normally about stuff, operating her phone (which she hates) because ahe wants to talk to us and fully understanding that we can't be there as much has any off us would like(in fact insisting shes fine and we arent to waste our time on her).sounding like Mum when shes in hospital really. she has been a little more fearful but not impossible.

Then there have been periods where she has a complete personality transplant. Deeply selfish, telling us she's dying and we need to be there immediately, she can't cope with the pain she wants to die. obviously shes been hallucinating and hearing stuff but you do expect that on morphine. But very clear she just wasn't functioning on any level.

It was only when I saw it literally switch in front of my eyes as the medication kicked in I made the connection. I'd be fucking terrified too! Now wearing off and its back to normal (but very tired) mum

They're pulling the pain med and doing a review. Thank you people for helping me being insistant. I've got two days with her now so hopefully we can get her back on track.

She might be better on morphine tablets. I had them with raised pressure and blot clots on my brain. Without it, I was in tolerable pain but with it I had 'vibrant' dreams (brilliant colours), and it certainly made me sleep, but it made a huge difference to the pain.

I also had paracetamol every 4 hours - the doctors and nurses said that that should underpin most pain management and shouldn't be underestimated.

I had a broken pelvis, after 1 dose of oramorph I refused anymore. I prefer codine or paracetamol

Hope she will be ok OP, thank goodness she has you to advocate for her.