Death Rattle? How long does it last before one passes away?!


Question: My grandpa is in his "final life stages". Today, he started sounding "flem like" and coughing a bit. I was unsure if this was just a conjestion from a cold or a 'death rattle'. I have never heard a death rattle, but the nurse came today and said she thought he was "getting close". His limbs are not turning bluish or cold and his breathing is OK. I just don't know how I am suppose to tell what this breathing condition really is. If it is a "death rattle", is this something that happens weeks, days, or hours before death? He is in his home passing, so there is no doctor to tell us for sure. Thank you anyone that may help.


Answers: My grandpa is in his "final life stages". Today, he started sounding "flem like" and coughing a bit. I was unsure if this was just a conjestion from a cold or a 'death rattle'. I have never heard a death rattle, but the nurse came today and said she thought he was "getting close". His limbs are not turning bluish or cold and his breathing is OK. I just don't know how I am suppose to tell what this breathing condition really is. If it is a "death rattle", is this something that happens weeks, days, or hours before death? He is in his home passing, so there is no doctor to tell us for sure. Thank you anyone that may help.

I work with hospice patients and sometimes what seems to be a death rattle just means they need suctioning. I find the mottling of the lower legs to be far more indicative of pending death. Also their breathing becomes more erratic with spells of deep breathing followed by shallow breathing and then spells of no breathing at all. The no breathing spells, called apnea, will come more frequent and each spell seems to last just a bit longer than the last one.

This site says when the rattle starts, death is a matter of hours-days away and is caused by the pooling of saliva in the throat.

The Death rattle is something that happens with the last few breath's of life.

If your wanting to know then get the nurse to check his blood pressure, O2sat(how much oxygen hisbody is getting)If it's all low then thats he maybe close to Passing. So sorry to hear that your having to go through this...i know and understand how hard it is!! If is blood pressure is good and his O2sat is good then it maybe a cold. Just to be safe check his tempreture as well to see if it's elevated..if it is then thats a good sign he has an infection/cold.
Hope this helped. I'll pray for you, your Grandad and the rest of your family!!





The consumer health information on answer-health.com is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions.
The answer content post by the user, if contains the copyright content please contact us, we will immediately remove it.
Copyright © 2007-2011 answer-health.com -   Terms of Use -   Contact us

Health Categories