HE - Definitely!!!!

[Xenom0rph]

So. This place is excellent and scary in equal measures but it’s helping me join the dots.

I mentioned in another post that I’m very light headed and dizzy when I stand up but I was putting it down you blood pressure and general stress. HOWEVER.

Another user mentioned HE, something I’d never heard of before so off I went on my research travels.

Having looked through the symptoms I dismissed it as I wasn't really experiencing any of them at the moment, post discharge from the hospital... then it dawned on me. I thought I was going mental, in another world.

Taking a step back in time before my admission I wasn’t in great fettle at all. Jaundiced, knackered etc. And I remember going to bed swearing that I could hear some random gibberish at the front of the house from what I assumed was some workmen. I was going insane as I couldn’t trace the source.

Then another day I could hear some Scottish folk singing. No music, just words and again in a very low whisper. Couldn’t figure it out.

Went to bed and there was a target bag over the wardrobe door (just returned from the states). That bad boy was becoming sentient. I thought, weird, but blamed jet lag.

The final straw was I decided for some reason to go lie down in another room as it was cooler and just at the corner of my eye there was a dude just standing there, telling me “they” needed their drugs and it was down to me to provide. I REMEMBER ENTERING INTO CONVERSATION WITH THIS THING!

Fine, I said and went and took the pills I was due anyway. That appeased the natives.

Finally as I was still in that room and awoke from a nap I could have sworn I heard my wife come upstairs and talk to the dogs, and I was talking away to her until I realised it wasn’t real. I congratulated whatever dark force for that one as it was the most convincing one yet.

I attributed all of this to sertraline tablets (which by the way are evil) but now the more I research I’m 100% convinced it was an HE episode. I guess i’ll Add this to the list for the GP call tomorrow.

These dizzy spells are confined to only when I stand up, I get a ringing in my ears and dodgy vision for around 20 seconds then all is well but I shall mention it to the docs anyway as it was bizarre. My head is full of enough nonsense; there is no room for anything else.

Peace!

[AyrshireK]

There are various tests which can be run to see if it is indeed HE. Higher than normal levels of ammonia in the blood is one. Hand flapping and hand writing tests and there are others.

[Xenom0rph in reply to AyrshireK]

Thank you. Do you reckon this would have been something they would have checked for with the 19 vials of blood they took when I was in hospital?

[AyrshireK in reply to Xenom0rph]

I would have thought so, they likely took a full liver panel which is a more comprehensive set of bloods than mere LFT's. HE can be episodic though. It happens when the liver isn't detoxing blood properly. Have they put you on treatment for toxins? Usually anyone with cirrhosis is advised to use the loo 3-4 times a day with toxins being removed in partially formed stools. Usual treatment to prevent Hepatic Encephalopathy symptoms would be Lactulose in combination with Rifaximin.

My hubby has mild HE, he was put on lactulose as soon as he was diagnosed with cirrhosis in April 2012. Rifaximin was added at his transplant assessment in 2014 when doctors asked him "Do you ever get confused?" - they had obviously spotted something in blood tests.

Katie

[Xenom0rph in reply to AyrshireK]

Thanks Katie. Strangely I haven’t been given ANY additional meds since discharge. Had a follow up and they have said that regularity is key to detox but it’s not 3-4 times a day. 2 at most. I’ll add this to the list.

[Popel]

No shit!

[Xenom0rph in reply to Popel]

No, that’s fine for now

[Bootandall in reply to Xenom0rph]

Wow, that sounds, strangely, similar to something I've experienced. I finally go to bed when the walls start to crawl with bugs out of the corners of my eyes! This is the way it has been for about a month now, but it could be I'm just tired. I know it's not real, but it is frightening.

[Xenom0rph in reply to Bootandall]

A month!!! I couldn’t deal with that. I thought I was going mad when I was seeing figures out the corner of my eyes.

One of the more amusing experiences was tracer like effects when moving my head. It was like the 90s all over again only much more poorly.

[Bootandall in reply to Xenom0rph]

I had a bit of a traumatizing experience involving a cockroach. about a month ago. And I have been staying up late because my hubby is out of town. Your barely heard conversations, shadow figures and trails sound so much more interesting! 😅

[Xenom0rph in reply to Bootandall]

If by interesting you mean questioning my own sanity then yip! I used to suffer really badly from sleep paralysis. Reminded me of that in many ways.

[Bootandall in reply to Xenom0rph]

Oh you know, a good friend of mine's son has narcolepsy, there are connections to sleep paralysis with that! Maybe we should be pushing our GPS for sleep labs, but my guess is they're inclined to label it all as HE, easier for them and probably accurate 9 out of 10 times.

[jacobsmum24]

I am not an expert at all compared to most on this forum but have been researching quite a lot since I was diagnosed. I have never experienced HE myself but the episode you describe with auditory and visual hallucinations sounds like it could also be Alcohol Hallucinosis ? I am sure someone more experienced than me will have a view but defnitely one for the GP list.

[davianne]

Hi Xenom0rph, my symptoms were very similar to yours. Standing up, then the room swimming, leading to me falling over. I have a type of Tinnitus ( Meniere's disease), so hear noises most of the time, and Migraine attacks, which give visual impairment, but I know when their coming. I also talk to myself sometimes, and bizarrely, answer myself as well, like I didn't know the comment, Me and myself have very similar tastes,(but don't tell the men in the white coats🤣🤣🤣🤣) My attention span is sometimes very short, so I just smile and nod when in conversation. I was given sertraline, and you are right, it is dangerous.

David

[Hidden]

You may find our publication on HE useful to read prior to speaking with your GP;

britishlivertrust.org.uk/li...

Best wishes

Trust1

[Xenom0rph]

Thanks trust. I did read that a few times which led to the memory jog.