It’s a common cause of distress for people in hospice care and for their family caregivers. The good news is that hospice care includes proven therapies to manage shortness of breath. When families have a plan to anticipate and manage breathing problems, they can focus on patient comfort and improving quality of life.

The most commonly prescribed drugs include acetaminophen, haloperidol, lorazepam, morphine, and prochlorperazine, and atropine typically found in an emergency kit when a patient is admitted into a hospice facility.

End-of-life care and anticipatory prescribing

The medications used for palliative sedation vary, but benzodiazepines and barbiturates are favored agents. Other medications used include the phenothiazine chlorpromazine, the butyrophenonehaloperidol, and the anesthetic agent propofol.

Continuous sedation is always administered in the final stages of life to patients who are dying and are experiencing unbearable suffer- ing. The object of palliative sedation is to relieve suffering; lowering the level of consciousness is the means to that end.

Instead of peacefully floating off, the dying person may cry out and try to get out of bed. Their muscles might twitch or spasm. The body can appear tormented. There are physical causes for terminal agitation like urine retention, shortness of breath, pain and metabolic abnormalities.

Does Palliative Care Mean You are Dying? No, palliative care does not mean death. However, palliative care does serve many people with life-threatening or terminal illnesses. But, palliative care also helps patients stay on track with their health care goals.