Has anyone got any advice on how to deal with cramp with cirrhosis.

My husband has just increased water tablets to get rid of ascites but suffering with more cramps. What about tonic water with quinine?

[Hidden]

Tonic water worked for me.

Mike

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Thanks will get some. Is there a limit as to how much you can have in a day?

[Ruby52 in reply to Hidden]

Are you checking foods etc., for how much salt, if any is in them. Salt can, 1- give you cramps and 2- increases. Good luck x

[Hidden in reply to Ruby52]

Thanks yes we are trying but its a learning curve!

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

My cramp was always in the night so I would have 1 can with dinner. The downside was that it made me wee!

[petershipbrook]

I had terrible cramp in my hands during the day, and my feet at night, for 2 months. It only went through me eating and drinking much more healthily and regularly, but it took time. I hope he hasn't suffered for too long. Maybe I got away with it lightly. Best wishes. Peter

[Hidden]

I tried tonic water for my cramps and hated it the taste and everything, then my Gp put me on quinine tabs and that was it no more cramps just a tablet before bed, and it worked wonders but try and cut the salt out, also don't go buying sports drinks which promise you the earth but rarely deliver....good luck Richard 5 wk post transplant

[Dan68]

I had cirrhosis and also suffered the cramps especially in lower arms,hands and feet. When I spoke to my consultant the only advice I got was to not eat bacon,gammon or anything with high salt content.

My cirrhosis then led to having two tumours on my liver which turned out to be cancerous as often happens with having cirrhosis but luckily I was referred to Birmingham and was given ultrasounds and MRIs which caught it early enough to enable me to have a transplant which I had in April this year. I must add I had hepatitis c prior to cirrhosis and I had all the symptoms of cramps, itching,jaundice etc but now am free from it due to being given the gift of a new liver.

[findasolution]

Hi flowerlady212,

It is my personal view that while Quinine is brilliant at preventing cramps in many people: it is best to be very cautious with the tablet form and about how often you take it and also avoid taking it for a long period of time. There are some documented side effects and one in particular is the possible effect on hearing and it can cause tinnitus which I know to my own cost.

Tonic Water that you buy over the counter probably doesn't contain enough Quinine to cause problems but the tablets are a different consideration.

As I say just a personal view and an expression of caution.

Regards

[carer2709 in reply to findasolution]

Like many of you my husband has terrible cramps when first diagnosed but they did seem to stop once we got really serious with the no salt diet. I also used to rub his legs for 10 minutes before bed with a gel or so made from white chesnuts we got from a health shop. It could of course just be any gel that is rubbed in that helped. I wish you and your husband the very best and stick to the good diet

[angelo212 in reply to findasolution]

How often did you take the tablets and do you remember how long and what doseage? This is for flowerlady212. It didn't go under her comment so I'm mentioning it in a edit.

[Hidden in reply to angelo212]

He hasn't had any quinine tablets, we've just been sticking with the tonic water

[judyt]

My husband has Multiple Myeloma which is a blood cancer not like PBC at all, BUT he used to get serious cramps until he started taking homeopathic Magnesium. He buys it from a Health Food shop and takes one tablet each day and gets total relief from cramps.

[angelo212]

My research shows nothing helps. People "some" people with cirrhosis get cramps in there hands legs and feet. It seems people jump on the bandwagon after researching what helps cramps and of course you hear quanine, magnesium etc. But that is for people without cirrhosis. You really need to eliminate salt. I have cramping without have cirrhosis extremely badly. I want to die actually that's how bad it is ruining my life but I don't have cirrhiosis. My biopsy shows some parts of the liver are grade 2. Please Please watch your salt. Don't watse your money on stuff that don't help. The people that swear by it is just not getting cramps "right now". Research yourselves. I mean real research not forums.

[findasolution in reply to angelo212]

Hi angelo12

That is interesting research you say you have done in your response to the question raise by Flowerlady212.

It seems that the reality is like a doubled edged sword!. If the sodium is reduced and most of us with cirrhosis follow some kind of reduced sodium / salt diet, then it upsets the electrolyte balance in the body and especially sodium potassium and magnesium , the consequence of which include cramps and perhaps dehydration. It is the difficulty we have in getting the balance right that is the real problem for us all . Too little or too much of either one of the electrolytes has consequences and it seems that maintaining the potassium sodium ratio 2:1 is fairly critical in matters of cramp and dehydration. My own experiences with several past hospital and clinic admissions with dehydration and allied cramp (I take diuretics one of which is spironolactone which retains potassium) has been that I have always been put on to a drip to introduce and expand the blood volume with the correct ratios of electrolytes (including sodium/Salt) which has always quickly resolved things.

I do hope you can quickly find something that will work for you and eliminate the torment the cramps seem to be causing you in your own life at the moment.

Best wishes

[Hidden]

Thanks everyone for all your comments. We are on holiday in Spain at the moment and today is not a good day. Just found out there is lots of sodium in bottled water!! It's so hard trying to get things right. He is extremely down at the moment. It's been over a year since he gave up alcohol and about 11 months since he was diagnosed

[Hidden]

Has anyone had pneumonia with cirrhosis? My husband is in the hospital in Majorca with severe pneumonia, partial kidney failure so is on dialysis and his liver is struggling. I am SO scared and at the moment on my own but I have sent out requests for prayers and positive thoughts from everyone I know

[AyrshireK]

So sorry to hear of you and your hubbies predicament. I wish there was something we as a community could do to help you guys but I do have you in my thoughts and am sending hugs and prayers. God bless, hope you and hubby get sorted out enough to get him home to your own medical support. Have you managed to speak to your own specialists or have the Majorca hospital contact them so they know what to do from here on in? All the best, Katie xx

[Hidden in reply to AyrshireK]

To be honest the care he is receiving here is far superior to what he has received at home. The fluid on the lung was picked up a few weeks ago but then another doctor looked at him and said it was secured which had leaked into the chest area and not on the lung. He could have had a chest drain then but they didn't do it because they said it wasn't that and we took their word for it as they are supposedly the experts. Unfortunately he was on an assessment ward so I don't think they knew what to do with him. They forgot to feed bearing in mind with cirrhosis they need to eat regularly, low sodium etc. He came out worse than he went in. When I get back a complaint is going to be made! The pneumonia is responding to treatment but his liver is struggling now. He is suffering from encephalopathy, very confused and not with it. The doctor says we need some good luck, hence the prayers and positive thought requests! Thank you for your concern and thoughts these are all keeping me going!

[Hidden in reply to AyrshireK]

Hi Katie, I was just writing to let you know that my hubby passed way on Thursday 3rd October in Majorca. The pneumonia which started the problems cleared up with no problems, but his liver never recovered. They gave him every treatment possible and I cannot fault the care and treatment over there, but he started bleeding internally because his platelets were low and eventually there was just nothing they could do. He was 41! He has left behind a devastated family, especially an 18 year old daughter. There is some suspicion that he had the lung infection before he went on holiday because he had a chest x-ray at one hospital which said he needed a chest drain, then went to the A&E department at the other hospital in our city which then decided it was ascites which had leaked up in the chest area so put him on furosemide and more spironolactone. I don't even know whether this hospital actually looked at an x-ray. This is something I am going to have to take up with the hospital. But I have lost a kind, caring, annoying and funny man and he will leave a big whole in our lives! Sorry to have to tell you bad news, but as I had been corresponding with you I thought I would let you know. Chris's cirrhosis was due to alcohol and I will do anything I can to stop it happening to anyone else. It is after all a legal drug/. I hope your husband is OK. God bless. Sarah xx

[AyrshireK in reply to Hidden]

Oh Sarah, I am so very sorry to hear your news, i've sent you a PM.

Love from Katie xxx