Managing pain is difficult and frequently goes untreated in dementia patients. Often patients are unable to communicate, and they may not even recognize their pain due to language deficits that can occur in the late stage of dementia. In the early and middle stage of dementia, my husband either overreacted to pain or his perception of pain was magnified. He screamed like a little girl… my own little drama queen. Late stage, his pain reaction time was very long, from seconds to as much as a minute. This was a result of the deterioration or atrophy of his brain; in other words, progression. As a prophylactic pain and agitation measure, we administered liquid Tylenol every four to six hours on a daily basis in late-stage dementia. We noticed almost instant pain relief and increased awareness. While administering medication at any stage, be observant.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 22:45:01 +0000
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