HE....The Signs

[MrBumpWR14]

For anybody who suffers with liver disease one of the worst symptons is when the ammonia in your blood gets so high that it starves the brain of oxygen....hepatic encephalopathy is the medical term and if like me you should ever suffer from it, it is a dreadful condition and you should waste no time in getting to hospital whatever time of night or day. Ignore the signs at your peril. Again I am straying away from my sports writing roots to try pass on advice based on personal experience.

Yes there are definite signs which looking back I could and should have dealt with far earlier than I did. So with the benefit of my experience I have put into writing what to watch out for and what to do.

The very first thing to do is try and keep to the same doctor at your local GP surgery. I realise this isn't always easy but over 6 years I have built a strong bond with my chosen doctor and he knows me so well that he can tell instantly something is wrong. Without him I would not be here today frankly.

Secondly read up about the condition and take in what the signs are...write them down if you have to. Now not everybody will suffer from it but better to be prepared in case.

I have learned the hard way to make sure somebody you can trust has a spare set of keys to your home especially if like me you live alone. I was hit by the condition getting up for work one day and after I hadn't turned up for work somebody raised the alarm. Good job too as I had fallen and knocked myself out. It ended with the police having to break into my flat and me been unconscious for around 11 hours...I was lucky. So now my son has a set of keys and a close friend and neighbour makes sure I'm ok every so often if he hasn't seen me around.

So what are the signs? Well, they are quite simple to detect.. ;

1-a changed or disturbed sleep pattern.

2-forgetfulness....are you suddenly forget things?

3-Lethargy gradually getting worse.

4-Sleeping long hours and waking up even more tired.

5-Losing interest in things easily.

Now, I am no doctor but these looking back, are the signs that I had. I didn't do anything about it and just assumed it was the liver condition. Eventually I fell into a virtual state of coma one night and woke up not even knowing my name or where I was. It happened to me four times in a ten week period including when driving.

So to sum up, just make sure you know the signs and take precautions in case. Plus do make sure you try and build a strong bond with your GP. If you sit back and do nothing you may not be as lucky as I am.

As I stated I am not a medical expert and I am speaking from personal experience.

Carl Taylor.

[Hidden]

sorry for your condition and well done for telling others the signs!

[MrBumpWR14 in reply to Hidden]

No worries. As long as keep taking the lactulose should mostly be fine

[Hidden]

What an inspired insight,

I have suffered very similar symptoms and still do, but you just have to fight on and enjoy the good days

Your writing have given me a lift as I thought I was the only one suffering these effects, it amazing how scary a phone can be!

All the best for the future

David

[MrBumpWR14 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you

[Thistle09]

Mr. Bump, thank you so much for listing your HE symptoms. As I have tried to tell others here, HE is nothing to fool around with. I'm afraid I may have used a sledgehammer when perhaps a badminton racket would have served. One constant poster took offense and chided me for being too hard on the original poster. For pete's sake, man! I am not one to ENABLE people who won't take their medicine. They believe there is something called a "mild case of HE." WRONG. A diagnosis of HE is, by the nature of the beast, a SUBJECTIVE measurement. One doctor's idea of "mild" could easily be another doctor's diagnosis of time-to-go-to-the-ER, ASAP. I take all my medicine, with a grateful heart.

Until the last few days I have felt relatively stable. All of a sudden I cannot seem to stay awake. And I often wake up sweating, even in my well air-conditioned bedroom. What is this all about?

Several neighbors have keys to my house, and they can be trusted not to misplace them. After a fiasco last Christmas Eve (2017), I told my siblings that there would be no more running around trying to find keys in an emergency. I now have what is called a "realtor's lock" on my front door. It has a 4-digit combination, and contains a key for the front door and the back door. Where I live, the police actually use a battering ram to enter a house if the occupant cannot open the door! Now the trick is to encourage all to call me frequently...

I note that this post is 4 years old. If I don't hear from you, I shall, somewhat reluctantly, start another post, and possibly use your story as an example of what an ammonia-filled brain can do.

16 June 2018

[Brett11 in reply to Thistle09]

Did you watch the HE video I posted last week Thistle?

Cheers,

Brett

[Gemma68 in reply to Brett11]

I saw that, heck of a documentary, very informative.

[Brett11]

It was. It made me sniffle a bit. Ok ok, I bawled my eyes out. Also, one of my liver doctors said that it is impossible to self diagnose HE as you don’t know that you are in it. Only people who know you and who are educated in the symptoms can diagnose you.

Ta,

Brett