induced coma

[Kri-27]

my brother was put into a coma due to alcohol withdrawal, he was having seizures they put him on a ventilator. Why isn’t he breathing on his own? Is it the medication they put him on to induce the coma or damage to lungs?

[Sepsur]

we are heavily sedated to help us synch with the life support - inc ventilator- otherwise we might be too restless & dsturb vital lines & drains. Is he sedated so much that breathing unaided is precarious?

[Kri-27 in reply to Sepsur]

When they try to lighten the sedation he will breathe and fall back to sleep and stop. They also just told us he has pneumonia

[Sepsur in reply to Kri-27]

so he needs some help at present - the team will guide you through normal practice- please ask us any questions and members will share back their experiences

[ZanderB]

Hi Kri-27. Post-surgery 3 years ago I was put into an induced coma. I'm not entirely sure but it was, obviously, related to the surgery (17 hours). I've been told that whenever the doctors tried to wean me off the heavy/strong medication that was keeping me 'under', I would react violently and try to pull tubes and wires off myself. I also had pneumonia which is, I think, quite common because the risk of infection is high when ventilated. Great that you are using this resource (and ICUsteps' advice/information, I hope?) as this will enable you to help your brother recover once 'awake'. I wish I'd known about it ages ago.