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Suggest Treatment For Severe Pain When Diagnosed With Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms
Question: Hello, My mother had an Abdominal aerotic anneurism with extensive surgery (3 weeks ago) She has been extremely painful and uncomfortable since returning home 3 weeks ago. Th physician have her on Tramadol, Tacerone, and Pravastatin. She has continued to have sleep problems and a lot of anxiety causing things like choking at night, biting her tongue , inability to have restful sleep. She is 91 years old and can't walk or get out of bed on her own. Right now my 93-year-old is her only care povider. Can you help us at all? Please
I should have been more clear, my 93-year-old father is her primary caregiver and we all need help keeping my mother alive.
I should have been more clear, my 93-year-old father is her primary caregiver and we all need help keeping my mother alive.
Brief Answer:
I would recommend as follows:
Detailed Answer:
Hello!
Thank you for asking on HCM!
I understand your concern and would explain that this situation is normal in such cases, due to the physical stress (including surgery and the pain) and psychological stress she has been going through.
Sleep disturbances and anxiety are quite common in this situation.
That is why I would recommend taking Xanax 0.25 mg during the day, when she feels anxious and Ativan 1mg or Ambien 5 mg to help her sleep (before sleeping).
Xanax is very helpful to relieve anxiety during the day and has not any sedative effect, which means that it will not make her sleepy.
While Ativan and Ambien, both of the same class (benzodiazepines) have a more sedative effect, helping with sleep.
These drugs have no interaction with her current therapy. They may interact only with tramadol, by increasing sedation, but these are low doses. You can decrease the dose of Ativan to 0.5mg if she becomes very sleepy.
Regarding the choking at night, I would recommend performing a blood gas analysis and respiratory function tests to exclude possible low oxygen levels or obstruction of the airways. Sleep apnea should be taken into consideration too. A multi sleep latency test would help to exclude this possible disorder, which could be the cause of her sleeping problems and chocking during the night. In such case she would need a CPAP device to help her sleep better and also improve her situation.
I would also recommend taking an antiacid or omeprazole before sleep, because gastro-esophageal reflux can cause cough and chocking at night.
You should discuss with her doctor on the above issues.
Hope you will find this answer helpful!
Feel free to ask me again whenever you need!
Kind regards,
Dr. Iliri
I would recommend as follows:
Detailed Answer:
Hello!
Thank you for asking on HCM!
I understand your concern and would explain that this situation is normal in such cases, due to the physical stress (including surgery and the pain) and psychological stress she has been going through.
Sleep disturbances and anxiety are quite common in this situation.
That is why I would recommend taking Xanax 0.25 mg during the day, when she feels anxious and Ativan 1mg or Ambien 5 mg to help her sleep (before sleeping).
Xanax is very helpful to relieve anxiety during the day and has not any sedative effect, which means that it will not make her sleepy.
While Ativan and Ambien, both of the same class (benzodiazepines) have a more sedative effect, helping with sleep.
These drugs have no interaction with her current therapy. They may interact only with tramadol, by increasing sedation, but these are low doses. You can decrease the dose of Ativan to 0.5mg if she becomes very sleepy.
Regarding the choking at night, I would recommend performing a blood gas analysis and respiratory function tests to exclude possible low oxygen levels or obstruction of the airways. Sleep apnea should be taken into consideration too. A multi sleep latency test would help to exclude this possible disorder, which could be the cause of her sleeping problems and chocking during the night. In such case she would need a CPAP device to help her sleep better and also improve her situation.
I would also recommend taking an antiacid or omeprazole before sleep, because gastro-esophageal reflux can cause cough and chocking at night.
You should discuss with her doctor on the above issues.
Hope you will find this answer helpful!
Feel free to ask me again whenever you need!
Kind regards,
Dr. Iliri
Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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