Constitutional Symptoms

Some of these are well known to produce distress but others are not as commonly thought of as symptoms which require palliation. Fatigue is nearly ubiquitous at the end of life and in all serious illness patients. While it may not be as obvious as pain or vomiting, it can be just as debilitating. Anorexia is not usually difficult for the patient but can be very hard for family/caregivers to understand. Hiccoughs are obvious but when intractable or chronic are also very uncomfortable and may predispose to poor oral intake. Ascites causes a host of other symptoms uncluding dyspnea and often requires surgical intervention. Fever and sweating cause discomfort but may also contribute to volume depletion and electrolyte disturbances.