What are the signs that death is near? Someone who is very close to death will likely refuse food and water. Their breathing and heart rates will slow and/or be abnormal and their hands, arms, feet, or legs may be cool to the touch. They may also be agitated, anxious, and confused.
In the hours before death, most people fade as the blood supply to their body declines further. They sleep a lot, their breathing becomes very irregular, and their skin becomes cool to the touch. Those who do not lose consciousness in the days before death usually do so in the hours before.
A conscious dying person can know if they are on the verge of dying. Some feel immense pain for hours before dying, while others die in seconds. This awareness of approaching death is most pronounced in people with terminal conditions such as cancer.
Visions and Hallucinations
Visual or auditory hallucinations are often part of the dying experience. The appearance of family members or loved ones who have died is common. These visions are considered normal. The dying may turn their focus to “another world” and talk to people or see things that others do not see.
Research suggests that even as your body transitions into unconsciousness, it's possible that you'll still be able to feel comforting touches from your loved ones and hear them speaking. Touch and hearing are the last senses to go when we die.
Hospice has a program that says that no one should have to die alone, and yet this hospice nurse is telling me to take a break? Some patients want to die when no one else is there. Hospice professionals know that companionship while dying is a personal preference.
When a person is brain dead, or no longer has brain activity, they are clinically dead. Physiological death may take 72 or fewer hours.
How Long Does the Active Stage of Dying Last? The active stage of dying generally only lasts for about 3 days. The active stage is preceded by an approximately 3-week period of the pre-active dying stage.
End of life care should begin when you need it and may last a few days or months, or sometimes more than a year. People in lots of different situations can benefit from end of life care. Some of them may be expected to die within the next few hours or days. Others receive end of life care over many months.
“First hunger and then thirst are lost. Speech is lost next, followed by vision. The last senses to go are usually hearing and touch.”
He said, “When the soul leaves the body, it can take a long time or it can happen very quickly. No matter how, it is painful. It is painful for the one who is dying, and it is painful for those who are left behind. The separation of the soul from the body, that is the ending of life.
Seriously ill patients encountered by hospice and palliative care clinicians are at risk for thirst due to dehydration, electrolyte disturbances, hypotension, xerostomia, and immobility which can impede access to water.
Dropping body temperature
This means very little blood is still flowing to their hands, feet, or legs. Reduced circulation means a dying person's skin will be cold to the touch. Their skin may also look pale or mottled with blue and purple patches. The person who is dying may not feel cold themselves.
Pulse and heartbeat are irregular or hard to feel or hear. Body temperature drops. Skin on their knees, feet, and hands turns a mottled bluish-purple (often in the last 24 hours) Breathing is interrupted by gasping and slows until it stops entirely.
Some common symptoms of many types of organ failure include: Weakness, faintness or fatigue. Drowsiness or loss of consciousness. Difficulty concentrating, confusion.
Your loved one may sleep more and might be more difficult to awaken. Hearing and vision may decrease. There may be a gradual decrease in the need for food and drink. Your loved one will say he or she doesn't have an appetite or isn't hungry.
Transitioning is the first stage of dying. It describes a patient's decline as they get closer to actively dying. Generally, when one is transitioning, they likely have days — or even weeks — to live. I have seen some patients completely skip the transitioning phase and some stay in it for weeks.
The emotional discomfort and interpersonal conflicts go hand in hand in causing suffering at the end of life. Financial instability, marital discord, conflicts with family members, and an inability to get one's affairs in order before death are common causes of total pain.
The first organ system to “close down” is the digestive system. Digestion is a lot of work! In the last few weeks, there is really no need to process food to build new cells. That energy needs to go elsewhere.
Decompensation progresses over a period of minutes even after the pulse is lost. Even when vascular collapse is the primary event, brain and lung functions stops next. The heart is the last organ to fail.
For the first few minutes of the postmortem period, brain cells may survive. The heart can keep beating without its blood supply. A healthy liver continues breaking down alcohol. And if a technician strikes your thigh above the kneecap, your leg likely kicks, just as it did at your last reflex test with a physician.
Just as a woman in labor knows a baby is coming, a dying person may instinctively know death is near. Even if your loved one doesn't discuss their death, they most likely know it is coming. In some cases, the person comes from a culture or a family in which death is simply not discussed.
Go Ahead and Cry
When a loved one cries in front of a dying person, that person then gains the permission and confidence to also be candid about emotions. It opens a pathway to a conversation that could be once in a lifetime. Additionally, the loved one who's dying knows others are sad.
Let them sleep and wake on their own. Talk to your loved one. Your loved one can likely hear you, even if they look to be asleep. They may be able to hear you up until the moment of death.