HI BRENDA, I AM SORRY FOR THE PAIN YOU MUST FEEL, BUT DONT FEEL GUILTY ABOUT THE HOME SITUATION...I HAVE HAD R.R.M.S. FOR A LITTLE OVER TEN YRS. NOW AND THE PAIN AT TIMES GETS BAD, BUT THAN SOMETIMES I FEEL GOOD. I CAN STILL TAKE CARE OF MYSELF, WALK AND TALK WELL...I HAVE MY DAUGHTER HELP WITH ALL PAPER WORK, AND SHE REMINDS ME OF MEDS. TO TAKE...MY SON DOES THE HEAVY WORK, AND DRIVING ME AROUND.I AM WOUNDERING IF YOUR HUSBAND HAS EVER TAKEN, KADIAN? IT IS MORPHINE BASED AND REALLY WORKS PRETTY WELL FOR ME..20 MG. TWICE A DAY FOR MILD TYPE..IT SOUNDS LIKE HE NEEDS A HIGHER DOSAGE, BUT IT'S A PLACE TO START, WITH THE DOCTOR.....PLUS, XNAX, IS GREAT FOR MY NERVES AND MY BLURRED VISION..ITSEEMS TO CALM DOWN SOME OF THE PAIN ALSO...

I HOPE I HAVE HELPED....PLEASE TAKE CARE AND ALSO, DO SOMETHING FOR YOURSELF ONCE IN AWHILE...YOU HAVE TO TAKE A BREAK FOR YOUR OWN SAKE..I HAVE TOLD MY KIDS, WHEN IT COMES TIME FOR ME TO GO TO A HOME, DON'T HESITATE AND DON'T FEEL QUILTY, YOU CAN'T DO IT ALL.....I WISH YOU THE BEST OF LUCK AND PEACE OF MIND.....TAKE CARE, ELAINE....

toredol com> wrote:

Hi All. It's been a long time since I have written, mostly because Richard has been in a nursing home for a full year now. Actually, he is in his third home, for a number of reasons.

What I am wondering is the average pain most of you experience. This would be based on that scale the doctors use - the one-to-ten scale, with ten being the utmost pain.

Richard seems to be staying at a level Eight on his good days, and full well into a Ten on the bad days. He takes an unbelievable amount of medication, both for the MS (Copaxone and Keppra) as well as Oxycodone, Zanaflex, Remron, Seroquel, Valium, Ambien, Lortab, plus the meds for his COPD and diabetes.

The problem is, he feels like the nursing home is Not meeting his needs in order to keep him comfortable, and I am just wondering, how much pressure do I put on these medical personnel to increase the level and timing of the meds.

I am at a complete loss now. I kept him at home as long as I could still lift him into and off of the bed, as well as toileting, etc. But his weight exceeds 250, mine is in the low 120s. I've had a broken neck and multiple other broken body parts. I simply could not do it alone anymore and nobody was beating down the door wanting to come in and help.

Please, if any of you have time, fill me in on the levels of MS (R/RMS, SPMS or PPMS) you all have And the meds you all are comfortable with. I feel so desperate now, I do Not know what my next step will or Should be.