Last Sunday (11/17), mom aspirated on a struedel & ensure, was coughing (but lungs were clear), had a fever for 2 days for which she was given an antibiotic that perhaps killed her appetite. She now only eats small amounts of fruit and will drink an ensure in the morning but refuses anything else all day. She is having pain in her right hand and pinky finger (can't bend the fingers and they're drawing in) and the dr thinks she may be having muscle spasms so yesterday, he put her on Baclopen, 5 mg 3x a day. She had 2 people from hospice that visited yesterday and one woman from our church. She talked incessantly and thought she'd had 66 visitors and 17 were men, all of whom were "very nice". She also wanted to sit in her recliner (hasn't wanted up in 2 weeks) and so when I used the the lift to get her up, she became agitated and said she didn't need the lift and that she could walk. I gave her .25 Lorazepam, to try to calm her, but it didn't help but we got through the day. She refused food at dinner time, but later thought she was eating roast beef and was "acting out the eating process." I gave her .25 Lorazepam again at bedtime as she was still talking and gesturing, and it finally seemed to help. I woke her (although she couldn't open her eyes but she did talk to me) at 11 am to give her meds to her (crushed in pudding). She opened her mouth and I gave her 1/2 teaspoon of the pudding mixture, but she just held it inside her mouth and couldn't swallow it. She couldn't even spit it out and couldn't open her mouth again for me to get it out. Finally, after about 10 minutes, she started drooling and most of it came out. She never opened her eyes and has been sleeping & mumbling all day. I realize now that I shouldn't have tried waking her to give her meds to her but I thought I needed to try to get the new med in her in order for it to help ease the hand pain. But maybe, at this point, sleep is the best thing to relieve the pain! So, have any of you had the issue of muscles shrinking in the hands or muscle spasms causing a lot of pain and if so, has this drug, Baclofen, helped or caused more problems?

You are giving your mother the best possible care! She would be very proud of all you are doing for her.

Muscle spasms and joint contractures can be big problems. They can cause pain. Baclofen helps some. I think it has to be given for a certain amount of time before you can see any benefit. I think you are right: sleep is the best thing for the pain.

Thanks for your speedy response, Robin. I just used a swab to cleanse her mouth and tried to give her a sip of water, but she had difficulty swallowing it so needless to say, I stopped & will forget about trying to give the night meds later. So of course, that means I still won't be able to get the Baclofen in her system. You're right, I did read that it takes a certain amount of time for the med to get into her system before knowing if it will help alleviate pain. This disease just continues to bring new problems! At least she's asleep so she's not experiencing any pain right now.

I agree you are giving your Mom the best of care and your right when sleeping she is peaceful and pain free and thats all we can hope for!