Morphine and breathing October 1, 2008 In hospice medicine we
use it all the time for both and it is one of the standards for
the treatment of shortness of breath. If someone is allergic or
for whatever reason cannot take morphine, there are other drugs
in this same category to try. There is the thought in the
medical community (outside of hospice) that morphine causes
respiratory depression and that this phenomenon is always bad. I
have a lot of experience with it and I also read what
pulmonologists, palliative care researchers, oncologists and
other leaders have to say about this too. What I’ve seen over
and over again is that it works. It’s amazing what it does for a
person’s quality of life. But despite the research and what
hospice professionals know, I canâ€™t tell you how many times
I’ve heard â€śâ€¦oh no, we canâ€™t treat shortness of breath
with morphine, it causes respiratory depression…” Respiratory
depression sounds scary, doesn’t it? All it means is that your
respiratory rate (how many breaths yo