mema55

[mema55]

my mother,age 84 has been taking 5mg vicoten for kidney stone pain for years and they only give her 15 a month is this a good idea?

[Weathergirl21]

Hi there...Sorry to hear of your mom's pain.

I am reading your post differently than the previous poster as it seems as if you are worried about her taking any type of opiate? With the term, "is this a good idea" seems like you are worried about the meds. If you could clarify that would be good.

Either way, chronic kidney stones are usually treated non medicinally to keep them from recurring. Many people who are older tend to be more dehydrated which can cause stones to develop. I would hope she has a good Dr. that is actually helping her find ways to not develop these and not just hand out pain meds.

Now..I'm not saying that they shouldn't have meds around for those really bad days which it sounds like this Dr. has done. Given her an amount for those really bad moments.

Any type of opiate to someone who has never taken them is a "strong" med. To someone who has been taken them for years and with major health issues they may think this is a "tiny" dosage.

So it's all relative. After my first major cervical fusion where they took bone from my hip...put it into two levels in my neck...I only used 5mg Percocet for a few weeks and then nothing.

Just sharing this to show that for kidney stones as I mentioned...it is not usual for them to continue to up the dosage and strength of an opiate. Especially with the elderly you have to take into consideration possible depressed respiratory complications.

If she is not getting treated adequately, then I would help her find another that is giving her more modalities to treat and prevent these.

Good luck..

[Aftercancer]

Hi there,first off im so sorry about your moms pain,especially havin it for so long.Now kidney stones r painful depending on size ,idk if hers r small thats why they only give her 5mg,which from my experience doesnt work for really bad pain such as stones and only givin her 15 is unheard of.Maybe it has somethin to do with her age and medical history.Maybe you should talk to the dr.,Good Luck and take care of mom!