My lovely 95yo Granny is suffering with terrible back pain. She has had a scan and we have been told that its due to wear and tear on her disks and that all that is appropriate is pain management.
She has been taking cocodamol but this caused constipation and impacted stools followed by horrible diarrhea and most importantly has not given her much relief.
She also has moderate dementia (no idea of date, forgets things that have happened that day, forgets to eat) but she is resolute that she wishes to stay at home. Her GP and the NHS gave been brilliant and so far we are all managing to care for her through 3 or 4 daily visits to her at home, except for this terrible back pain.
She can not move without pain and is spending huge amounts of the day lying in bed. Her GP has suggested 'we' consider morphine patches as an alternative to the cocodamol. I say 'we' as the decision has been given to my mum as Granny is not 'sound' enough to weigh up the options according to her GP. However, Granny simply feels she doesn't want to make a fuss, says its just 'old age', she barely complains even though every movement is clearly painful unless she is lying down.
We don't know what to do for the best. Its hard to weigh up the side effects of the painkillers against the chance for her pain to be reduced. To cut to the point- we cannot seem to get a straight answer about how much of her remaining mental capacity and alertness will be taken by morphine patches. I have had morphine myself (not patches, via a pump) and I would say it was a bizarre experience, sorry for the crass description but I truly was in 'lala land'. I am wondering if anyone has had experience of morphine patches themselves or for a family member and can share their experience of what it was / is like.