Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date. Thank you very much for your reply. I have more questions, just to clarify if maybe my question was misunderstood.
When he takes the T20, he feels very sleepy and goes to sleep for almost two hours, at least times that he has taken the T20. Is this not a normal side effect of this medication?
He does not eat well because everything either is bland or too salty, or when he does eat he gets diarhhea. He does not sleep well and, yes, he has lost a considerable amount of weight.
You mentioned "comfort measures". What exactly do you mean? Yes, my friend has thought of stopping all meds, since nothing seems to work. What does this mean in terms of life expectancy and how much worse can it get? Please advise ASAP.
Thank you.
T20 does not make people sleepy - not that I have seen nor has our research nurse. However, I have seen patients who are so very weak and thin that they almost fall asleep while giving the shot. So I suspect that your friend is simply so frail that he drifts off after the shot.
The eating problem is also common for patients on antiviral medications. Food tastes flat or metallic or strange. You just have to keep experimenting until you find foods that seem palatable.
Comfort measures means that medications are given to keep the patient free of discomfort, such as pain medications or fever medications. Comfort measures would not include medications to treat a disease, such as antivirals or antibiotics or chemotherapy. This is all part of the discussion that takes place when a patient has failed all available treatments and continues to decline. Then the side effects and hassles of medications are not worth putting up with, so the patient decides he just wants to made as comfortable as possible and spend his final days in relative peace.
How long the patient lives after he stops his medications depends on many factors. If he is on critical life support medications, say for heart or kidney failure, then he made not live more than a few days or weeks. If however, the patient's organs are still functioning OK and the medications are only to try to slow down a virus, then he may go months.
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