I'm looking for some advice especially from members with ESLD. My husband had ascities back in April for the first time and was prescribed Spironlactone. Since then he has had urination problems,he goes at least every half and hour and quite often quite get to the toilet in time. This means we have been virtually house bound as he feels uncomfortable going anywhere even if he has pads on. He did mention it to his GP and his specialist but they just reduced his dose from 100mg to 75mg this doesn't appear to have changed anything.
About 2 weeks ago he became constipated and started to become confused, thanks to the information on the British Liver Trust site and looking at some of the communities posts I recognised this as HE. He was taken in last Tuesday to hospital, they said he would only be in for a quick visit to flush him out, however his electrolytes are very low, especially his sodium so they gave him a course of vitamins and didn't start the treatment until Friday. He still appears a bit confused and although the treatment is working to a degree they want to see him open his bowels 3/4 times a day. The nurse today mentioned to me there is a big imbalance as well between his input of fluid (he drinks lots of water, juice and milk) and his output which is far greater. I'm wondering if this is due to the Spironlactone as he has no fluid retention and his kidney function is fine (his prostate is also fine).
If anyone is wondering if he is still drinking, the answer is no, he hasn't had a drink since he was in hospital nearly 3 months ago with a Mallory-Weiss tear and confirmation that he had ESLD.
Any thoughts? I'm especially interested in hearing from people who have had this frequent urination problem and the time it's taking to clear his bowels following the enema treatment. Is it really realistic to expect someone to go 4 times a day (he takes his lactalose every day).
Cheers
JDA69
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JDA69
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HI JDA69. In March to July of 2017, I had ascites and confusion. The ascites was very bad. My first question is: does he still have ascites? If so, the Spironlactone, which is a diuretic, is hopefully helping drain the fluid in the belly. Once I heard that news, I was happy to urinate. I used to HATE lactulose until I heard that it was the medication that was helping get rid of ammonia, which was causing dark, scary thoughts and hallucinations. I started taking more and more lactulose on purpose, knowing that I would have to go the bathroom often--sometimes once per hour. In March, I was told that my ammonia levels were 400+, but, today I can't find record of that. Maybe it was a hallucination. But, I see today that my ammonia levels were 150 and 120 last summer. My ammonia level as of last week was 33! So, tell him that I had no hope last year at this time. I just lay there "waiting to die." It took a lot of pushing by my sister to exercise (like take the dog for a short walk, etc.) Today, I'm a healthy weight, driving around town every day, very energetic. My numbers have improved, my hair grew back, and the average person wouldn't know that I ever had liver disease by looking or talking to me.
He doesn't still have ascities, they've been monitoring that since he was drained in April and it hasn't returned. Glad to hear you are doing well - can't quite see his hair growing back though
I had a Mallory Weiss tear also. The doctor didn’t believe me when I said I wasn’t vomiting before. The only way for a Mallory Weiss tear is to be constantly vomiting. They still don’t know the cause? They said Mallory Weiss had nothing to do with cirrhosis. I pee loads of times a day but am in 80 mg of frusemide a day. I’m not sure if my reply helped any?
Hi JDA, it is an unfortunate side effect that a diseased liver produces excess fluid that needs to be expelled more frequently than the average person. I have only suffered ascites once and they drained 12 litres of fluid from my lung. I am on Spironolactane and Furosemide daily and whilst my urination is frequent I think you eventually start to get used to the routine. I am also on Rifaxamin for HE, although I do not take lactulose as my bowel movements are good plus the taste of the stuff is awful. How old is your husband? I plan taking my tablets depending on what I am doing, if I am going on a journey to work (once a week, and about an hour away) I would take them when I got there. A good tip I heard was always carry an old fashioned rubber hot water bottle (empty obviously) and if you are driving he can relieve the pressure when needed without embarrassment. Encourage him to stay off the drink, and hopefully everything will settle down and some sort of normality will return.
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