The other important advantage of medication administration via patch is that the level of medication in bloodstream stays consistent. It also takes a certain amount of time to initially build up to a therapeutic level (I don't remember how long).

My husband needed 150 mcg at end of tx, plus liquid morphine evey 3-4 hrs. Without it he could not have functioned or swallowed at all, as Charm also mentioned. I would not hesitate to use this method, rather than looking for less potent pain meds. Regular use of stool softeners and Miralax worked to avoid major constipation for him. His dosage was stepped down without problems.

* Liquid morphine burns if taken by mouth - I diluted and put it in peg. Geri - you mention crushing pills. Crushing too many pills or adding liquids which are not formulated for peg tubes can cause clogging over time. I know many people do not worry about this and have no complications but it is a risk. I think this is discussed on this site under feeding tube info. We ran into problems with peg while crushing a very hard anti-viral med, after dx with shingles. Lottie