Due to palliative care conditions or anxiety
Management
Non-drug treatment
- Reassure patient; explore patient’s fears and anxieties; anxiety worsens condition
- Breathing exercises and relaxation techniques; teach patient how to slow down breathing by
pursing their lips and breathe with diaphragm rather than chest - Pulmonary rehabilitation
- Position patient in most comfortable position in bed
- Ensure good ventilation (e.g. open windows, use fans, loosen tight clothing)
- Conserve energy (e.g. encourage exertion to breathlessness)
- Refer if symptoms persist, in airway obstruction, or need for pleurodesis
Medicines
- Oral morphine 2.5-5 mg every 4 hours
- Oxygen if patient is hypoxic
- Diazepam if patient is anxious
- Diazepam 2.5-5 mg orally; once a day if breathlessness is associated with panic attacks