End-Stage Liver Disease physical pain

[joe10jo]

My mother has end-stage liver disease. My question is how much pain goes along with it?  Enough to need a prescription of methadone? The reason I ask is b/c my mother has a history of drug addiction & while her liver specialist isn't prescribing the methadone to her, another physician is.  She recently spent 3 weeks with me and was absolutely fine, which means her ammonia levels were normal, she was sleeping throughout the night, up most of the day, even went shopping a couple of times, - BUT, the minute she went back home and got her prescription filled (she was without methadone the entire time she was with me b/c she forgot to bring her prescription with her) the ammonia level went back up, she's been acting clumsy, slurring her words, foggy state of mind, etc..., etc...  So in my mind, this is all related to the methadone.  While she was staying with me, she complained about some pain; however, she wasn't moaning & groaning, and certainly didn't seem to need anything as strong as methadone.  Also, she wasn't going through withdrawals from anything else, so I know she isn't taking the methadone to treat another addiction.  What's your opinion?

[new-sojourn]

'Meth' is not the same as methadone.  My late mother was in a wheel chair due to medical malpractice and was given a 'pain cocktail' that contained methadone for yrs.  It is common in pain management.

Maybe you should be more aware of the drugs and their use.  "meth' is not methadone.  2 different drugs, two different classes of drugs.  The 'meth' crisis in America is not a methadone problem.

[desrt]

MDs are starting to use methadone on top of morphine for the synergistic effect (i.e. in this case 1+1=3). When a patient develops a tolerance for morphine compounds such that a larger dose might cause respiratory arrest, you can add methadone to the mix. It doesn't have to be a maintenance type thing.

[crsrph]

methadone was once used only for heroin addiction now in common use in pain clinics for severe pain since fda droped the restriction on use a number of years ago

[NYgirl]

ps if she wasn't taking meth to get off of another drug - there is no reason a doctor would prescribe it.

I don't think your mothers is being quite honest with you or herself.

Is it possible for you to call the doctor and ask them directly?  I don't mean any offense (I am an xdrug addict) and this sounds t me like she is using.

I've been on a meth type medication for YEARS and have NONE of the things you mention AT ALL because my body is used to it. Nodding etc. is a sign of heroin use.

Slurring nodding fogginess is using not meth.  None of this makes sense to me really.

I wish you the best either way - it doesn't sound like you have an easy road, at all.

[NYgirl]

It does sound like she is in some heavy duty narcotic to me - not necessarily meth. It wouldn't be good to give her THAT much meth as a painkiller if she wasn't on it - enough to make her like that.

Also - meth isn't typically used as a painkiller. And once youre addicted to THAT it's worse than getting off heroin so I'm not really sure why a doctor would prescribe it over something else.

Are you sure that is what she is onn for real?

If you take meth on a daily basis you CANNOT just stop taking it.  Something is not right here. If she took it for only 3 days she would be heavily addicted to it - it's physical you know.  3 days worth is enough to do it. And it would be HARD not to see signs of withdrawl.

I'm kind of confused about this.

It really makes no sense.