When Dan had his heart attack back in 2000 or so, he had no pain. We worked at a hospital, so it was easy to get him to ER, but once they got him to the ER room, they diagnosed him and shifted him to ICU. Never had he had any pain. Over the next few hours, they feed him morphine, though he was not in pain. He became very animated, loved all the nurses and doctors and everybody; very excited. ICU, a couple of hours later, they're feeding him pork chops. All of a sudden he conks out. They ran me out of his room and began life-preserving measures. An hour later, they let me back in.
For the next two hours he was so animated, I couldn't relate to him. I asked the nurses what they were giving him. Morphine. Why? He's not in pain. Well, just a matter of course. I told the docs and nurses to take him OFF the morphine and try something else to settle him down. After all, he was NOT in pain. If they wanted him to settle down, there are other medications.
The next morning, I go in and he's sooooooo dooooscile.... he's just the dream of a patient. Doesn't move, but opens his eyes and smiles, then just drifts off to sleep. I asked the nurse and she said, "We discovered what it is he doesn't need." Morphine.
He recovered remarkably.
Morphine can be an upper or a knocker-outer. Depends on the patient. Always be there to approve or question you loved one's care. Please.
Noodle