Dilaudid Lethal Dosage? (Page 3) (Top voted first)

I am a stage IV cancer patient and member of an invitational research and survey type website.

Members primarily consist of other stage IV cancer patients, but in some cases, may be the caregiver of a stage IV patient.

A little over a month ago, a caregiver launched a blog-like diary of sorts. He states his wife has end-stage, metastasized, breast cancer. His postings started with news his wife had to be hospitalized when she began the dying process and indicating shut-down. However, many of his statements do not sound clinically correct or even possible. For example, after she was admitted to the hospice section of the hospital, he stated she emerged from days of a coma-like state to experience what he called a rally. This rally consisted of engaging in conversation with himself and hospital staff...only to sink into another coma-like state after being administered IV anti-biotics for a major infection due to compromised immune system (an extremely low, chemo-caused low white blood count). During this time, he also stated that both kidneys shut down...then...a week later, miraculously regained normal function. In still another posting, he describes she emerged from yet another coma-like state to devour a huge meal, although she had and was still on a PEG feeding tube!!! (All patients I know had to slowly acclimate over a period of several days to oral feeding with jello, puddings, non-spicy soups, etc.) He now states he has moved his wife back home where she can die in the comfort of familiar surroundings. Now at home, he described another coma-like experience, followed by yet another rally of low-level activity as if she had no health issues at all. Today, (July 23) his posting states she was in great pain the night before and her doctor increased her Dilaudid pain medication to 7mg/hour. If you had read between the lines of every post since this person started about 6-weeks ago, you'd quickly get the idea this person has the capacity to cause a faster than normal passing of his wife. For what reason?...so he can start re-establishing his social life! More than one prior comment had this type “social life” focus, though subtle. Far more troublesome are comments I feel would cause any perceptive person to wonder if he is capable of engaging in deliberate acts to cause his wife to expire sooner than later. In hopes a professional monitors this board, I have a quick question: Under her circumstances, does 7MG/hr of Dilaudid seem appropriate and correct...or...is does it sound more like an accumulative, lethal dose? I apologize for the length of this post, but am somewhat bothered by what may be the abuse (or worse) of a person that cannot defend themselves. Thanking you in advance, Nodawgs

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if I were to take 11 50 mg hydromorhophn pill would that constitute a fatal dose

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The so called coma like state may well be caused by 7mg/hr course of dilauded. That is a "death dose". If the size was changed our receptor sites blocked by drug interaction or periodic up regulation ... it's possible the patient may have regained lucidity from time to time. It doesn't sound like she regained any long term or substantial higher thought process or mobility. The body has many mechanisms to counter both body and brain death. Unless other drugs are administered concomitant, respiratory failure is not guaranteed. Neither is any other organ failure that isn't naturally occurring or the patient intentionally euthanized.

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Well, unfortunately, there is no way to provide you with a definitive answer here. While I understand your suspicions, there are many factors at play that determine a person's appropriate dosage.

Such as: How long she has been taking narcotics and how much they have been giving her.

When you take narcotics on a regular basis, for a prolonged period of time, then your body becomes acclimated to them and you will consistenly need higher and higher doses to achieve a comfortable level of pain relief.

For patients who are terminal and in the end stages of their lives, it has been proven that giving them larger narcotic doses to help keep them more comfortable and, perhaps, able to spend a few last moments with their loved ones, without being in dire agony, DOES NOT hasten their deaths.

So, without knowing her medical history and what narcotics she has already been taking and the doses, there is no way to say for certain if 7mgs is or is not an appropriate dosage.

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I sincerely appreciate your responses, re: dialaudid. Quite obviously, I am very naive about these type subjects. The person's wife I was in reference did indeed pass several days after my query about potentially lethal dialuadid dosages. A hospice nurse that was also following the same thread noted that this same person (the husband) was applying his own doctoring as opposed to instructions he claimed were that of her physician. She noted that toward the end (which I missed), he removed all pain medications, causing her to die a horrifically painful death he described in minute detail as a series of Gran Mal seizures...gasping for air, ending with a (as he put it), a toothy smile on her face.

Apparently, a terminal illness in a family can result in a caregiver such as this husband becoming an absolute sicko...having no respect for his wife's privacy...even in her death. I find his acts as being respulsive, presuming he wasn't merely trying to dramatize events that never happened at onset.

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Dilaudid is a seriosly misunderstood drug.It is the most effective pain CYCLE BREAKER I know of,however it is probably the worst maintenance pain killer.It's effectiveness decreases as the tolerance increases faster than any narcotic in the PDR.7mgs per hr is rediculus.168mgs of dilaudid [7mgs/per/hr]is equal to 840mgs of morphine but does not have the staying power of morphine.This just proves to me how stupid some Doctor's are or how much they are in collusion with drug company's.Morphine is the gold standard in pain releiver's and when a person exceeds 1to2 grains[64to128mgs] per day they should be detoxified w Methadone which is also an effective pain killer,then placed back on Morphine.To get back to the woman in pain,it sounds like she's worse off than dead being caught in that cycle of addiction.I'm not religious but I'd like to pray 4 her and the man taking care of her.He's not responsible 4 the massive dose of dilaudid the doctor is.

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