Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Atenolol - Atenolol is used alone or in combination with other medications to treat high blood pressure. It also is used to prevent angina (chest pain) and treat heart attacks. Atenolol is in a class of medications called beta blockers. It works by slowing the heart rate and relaxing the blood vessels so the heart does not have to pump as hard.

Atropine Sulfate - This medication relaxes muscles in the eye, which causes the pupil to widen (dilate). It is used to treat inflammation of certain parts of the eye (uveal tract).

Enalapril - This medication is used alone or in combination with other medications to treat high blood pressure. It is also used in combination with other medications to treat heart failure. Enalapril is in a class of medications called angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. It works by decreasing certain chemicals that tighten the blood vessels, so blood flows more smoothly and the heart can pump blood more efficiently.

Halodol - This medication is used to treat psychotic disorders and symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, and hostility and to control muscular tics. I gave this on the hospice nurse's direction the day he was admitted to Anderson House. Mom had been up all night with him...trying to get out of the bed and fussing a lot. He also had hallucinations...a guy named Bill was standing by his bed he said.....but he knew it was a hallucination. This medication was discontinued once he was settled in at Anderson House.

Hydrocodone or Vicodin, is a semi-synthetic opioid derived from two of the naturally occurring opiates, codeine and thebaine. Hydrocodone is an orally active narcotic analgesic and antitussive. As a narcotic, hydrocodone relieves pain by binding to opioid receptors in the brain and spinal cord.

Morphine Sulfate- This medication is a strong analgesic (painkiller), to relieve pain. In liquid form, this was put into Dad's mouth the last couple of days of his life.

Prochlorperazine - This is a drug that belongs to the phenothiazine class that is used for the treatment of nausea and vertigo. I don't know if Dad ever got this drug.

These were the drugs my Dad was on...the first and the third were heart medications that he was on before he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

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