Hello Everyone, I have a few questions.

My father has completed treatment (rad. & 5 rounds of chemo) on November 6th. From an earlier post some us you might recall that he was doing much better about 2-3 weeks after treatment stopped, however since then he has gotten increasingly worse (mouth pain, sleeping constantly, difficulty talking, etc.) We have taken him to all three of his Dr.'s and they do not seem to concerned, but have placed him on an antibiotic in case there is an underlying infection. He goes for follow-up tests on Thurs.

The new problem is... in the past couple days he has been hallucinating and talking to imaginary "people" or talking to us and making absolutely no sense at all. However, sometimes he seems perfectly logical. He is constantly restless, even when he "appears" to be sleeping, he is mumbling, talking, gesturing, etc. He NEVER seems to be peacefully sleeping or resting.

The only medication he is on is morphine and I am wondering if this is causing the problem. He has been on morphine for a couple months now (he can not use the Duragesic Patch because he had a severe reaction to it) so I don't know why a problem would start now?

What is a little scary is that 15 yrs. ago, when he stopped drinking, he acted this exact same way. This behavior is what landed him in re-hab for alcohol. Then he was imagining not only people, but "big bugs and spiders everywhere". I don't know if his body can only take so much of a substance before this happens? Does anyone have any imput or know of a similiar situation?

I called his Dr.this weekend and she said to take him to the emergency room if there was a problem. However, that would be a huge ordeal (he would not go and would fight), so we are taking him in to see her. I am looking for some possible suggestions/questions to ask. In the past, the information I have received on this board has greatly helped me when dealing with the doctors. I feel like if I go in there with some knowledge, they can't minimize what's happening.

Thanks so much!

Diana,

I doubt the morphine is causing the problem. Heather was on massive doses of morphine for 6 months and she did not experience what you are describing. She did have some reaction when her dose was increased too fast, but not hallucinations. As for the restlessness even while he is sleeping, Heather did experience that. She was restless and had facial twitching while asleep. It turned out that she was having focal seizures. I can't explain what they are because I didn't take the time to learn much about them. I would suggest that you ask his doctor if it's a possibility. But I could be way out in left field on this one.

Rainbows & hugs,
Rosie

Hi Pumpkin

I was on a morphene drip for a few days during the first radiation treatment when the pain on my tongue got too bad and had to be hospitalized for nutrition and rehydration.

I don't remember hallucinating, but had some real vivid dreams, I can still remember the dreams and feelings I experienced. Did have a bad case of what I think is called monoclonis,(not sure if I spelled that correctly or if even it's the correct term). The kind of normal twitching one sometimes does right at that period when you drop off to sleep. Except this seemed real severe, like hard tossing and turning.

Everyone reacts to morhpine differently I suspect. Hallucinations could be a side effect, or possibly something else. The doc's didn't think any of the things I was experiencing was caused by the morphine, but day after I quit, the stuff went away.

Bob

Hi, Diana, you didn`t mention your Dad`s age. The older we get the longer it take for us to metabolize drugs. So, they build up in the body. I have seen hallucinations in people from pain meds. Drugs are metabolized by the liver, so depending on his age, it very well may be the drugs..........Prayers, Dee

Thanks everyone for your imput!

Dee- He is 68 yrs. old.

As of right now, my mom is waiting for the Dr. to call her back. I told her to call in another hour, if no one calls her back by then.

The last couple days have been interesting & scary. He seems to get much worse at night. Last night he threw his blanket in the garbage can, flipped over pictures in the living room, asked me "Who was sitting next to me on the couch" (there was no one there)- and he was calling me by my older sister's name, clapping at a blank TV & and empty room, getting ready to go play golf with people he knew 25 yrs. ago, I could go on and on and on...

I'll let you guys know what happens! Thanks Again!

Diana, when it happened to my neighbor, she also saw bugs, so her daughter and I actually had to pretend to catch them........On hallucinations, don`t try to convince your dad that he`s seeing things. As a psych nurse, I have learned to just go along with it and reassure him your looking out for things. Telling him things aren`t there might make matters worse.........Let me know how things work out.....Prayers, dee

Hi, when I was in the hospital in October I had morphine at night time and it gave me very strange "dreams". I use quotes because I was not fully asleep, rather halfway awake (I had difficulty sleeping with the morphine; I did not sleep soundly).

I had to keep opening my eyes just to check that there weren't people or things under and around my bed (I sensed that there were). I also had to keep feeling my face and opening my eyes to make sure that something - a blanket, spiderweb or something- wasn't covering my face since it felt like something was covering my head.

Sounds, images, and colors were all really intense. I imagined bears knocking over trash cans, people playing basketball down the hospital hall, etc. even though I was aware enuogh to know that it wasn't real.

My experience is that morphine can cause some pretty real- feeling hallicinations.

I don't know the dosage I was on. I was hospitalized for 11 days to remove 1/2 my tongue, and lymph nodes on one side of my neck. I know some of the images came from mechanical sounds like the constant blowing of oxygen because I had a trachetomy and pumps on the leg massage/pressure machine.

Other pain meds I think I had that worked better were Adovan (spelling?) (I slept very well with that) and lortab.

good luck!
michelle

My husband hallucinated while on morphine in hospital. However, he was also receiving fenegrin (sp?) for nausea and the doctor said the combination of the 2 could cause hallucinations. The vivid dreams, activity while sleeping, and lesser but still hallucinatory images while awake lasted for almost a week following the end of the morphine/fenegren. It was a wild time in the hospital as he got it in his mind on day 2 that he could go home at 1:00, so would get up at each 1:00 and start packing and complaining that I wouldn't take him home. While I laugh about it, it was stressful at the time. Next trip in for chemo we requested NO fenegren and NO morphine. He managed the nausea with other drugs and the pain he managed on his own (he has a high tolerance, fortunately). So, I certainly agree with Michelle that the morphine can cause this, plus other drugs can factor in to the equation.

I have also wondered about morphine causing hallucinations.

From personal experience, with no prior allergies to anything, I was given a spinal injection when my first son was born by c-section. I immediately broke out in massive hives...inside and out. The recovery nurse walked in, saw me scrubbing my face (and tongue!) with a washcloth for the itching, and instantly gave me an injection to counteract the effects. When I had my second son, also born by c-section, I was told that morphine was NOT an option, and I should consider wearing a bracelet in case I was ever in an accident, and unable to tell the paramedics about my reaction. (Do EMTs still look for these things?)

Anyway, my husband has a known allergy to penicillin and Zithromax. I know they are both antibiotics, and don't really apply to morphine, but he had never been given morphine until his lung lobectomy. About 24 hours post-op he began having hallucinations. At first, he was ripping out IVs, cussing the nurses, "they couldn't tell him that he couldn't use his computer", and he was "getting the hell out of here, and driving home". They had to literally call in security, tie him to the bed, and sedate him. When I came in that afternoon, I saw my husband zonked to vegetablehood. It scared the hell out of our son. Nobody called to warn me of this, and they all knew I was bringing the youngest in for a visit. You can imagine........this baby walked in to see his dad drooling, tied up and looking like he was already dead, and all he wanted to do was give his Dad some magazines that the nurses had told me hours before he would enjoy.

I was then called out into the hall, and questioned about Dennis' alcohol history. Granted, Dennis does drink, but has for 35 years. I've seen him quit cold turkey and never have a reaction like this. Regardless, the doctor tried to say this reaction was totally due to DTs. But, what I can't rectify, is why did the symptoms lessen once the dose of morphine was reduced, and Ativan was added for agitation? Once the morphine was reduced, he became playful. He saw our cat climb the curtains of his room and jump out the window, our dog came in and gave him a kiss, and he would "play" with the bugs on his bedsheets. He would ask the nurses if they saw these things, and they would humor him. Meanwhile, social services is trying to get him into rehab, which he refused once he knew I was able to take him home. Consequently, once home and off the morphine totally, these visions stopped just as suddenly as they appeared. BUT, he continued the Ativan for several more weeks.

My question.......should I inform any future surgeons of his reaction, or take the past doctors at their word and chalk it up to alcohol abuse?

Love,
Mandi

Hey Pumpkin!

Again, I seem to be the minority that gets the side effects you read about but noboy gets! After being on the morphine drip for 4 days, I started hallucinating. I saw animals or something moving around the room and kept talking to the nurse who others claim was nowhere near. I jumped up from the bed and yelled a couple of times. Once they stopped the morphine everything was fine. My coy wife now walks behind me and when they ask if I am allergic to any medications, she whispers m-o-r-p-h-i-n-e to them.

Ed