Bilirubin again!

[kat54]

Hi, my husband was diagnosed with cirrhosis over three years ago and generally has been doing well. He is not drinking alcohol but his fluid intake is not too good. In the last couple of weeks he has become jaundiced and eyes a bit yellow. Does jaundice come and go with cirrhosis, and is the anything we can do to reduce the bilirubin? He doesn't want to go to GP and feels OK apart from tiredness. I'm panicking though. Thanks in advance. X

[AyrshireK]

He really does need to go to the doctors to have a full set of bloods done. If his bilirubin is elevated he could also have changes in other bloods indicating a possible deterioration in his condition.

Has he been having regular monitoring i.e. 6 monthly bloods and a scan every 6 months and is he under a hospital consultant?

This really needs does need checking out. There isn't anything you can do to remove jaundice on it's own but he could also perhaps be dehydrated especially with the recent warm weather. It is very important to stay hydrated with liver disease as having liver disease can also put a strain on your kidneys so you need to keep those healthy too.

Katie

[kat54 in reply to AyrshireK]

Thank you. He had an ultrasound a while ago but not getting bloods or seeing consultant till December! He did have a telephone consultation with her recently and she said she was arranging scan, endoscopy etc in August but no sign yet. His appointments have been cancelled /postponed a few times in the .past

[AyrshireK in reply to kat54]

Appointments are dreadful just now what with covid situation etc. My hubby had his local consultant appointment rescheduled to February 2021 and although he had his endoscopy a couple of weeks ago we still didn't get our annual consultation there. So, we don't know when we'll next see a consultant - he did get bloods done in Edinburgh and had his ultrasound locally just before that. Supposed to be 6 monthly and it ended up being 11 months between scans.

Do try and get hubby to get some bloods done at the GP's for forwarding to his consultant or give consultant's department a ring to let them know hubby is jaundiced. Don't just ignore it.

Katie

[kat54 in reply to AyrshireK]

Thank you. I'm so worried I can't think straight! I'll try to get him to go. Not easy though! I appreciate your advice X

[Hidden in reply to kat54]

Hi Kat, I'd do everything you can to get him to see someone if he's jaundice, don't think its something to leave if that's the case,I hope you get some help with this as what katie said, the appointments are all over the place at present. I've had one phone consultation in June and that's its till today, got an ultrasound next Tuesday and before that not seen or heard from anyone since October 2019. Hope all goes OK. Take care.

Ashley

[kat54 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you. Xx

[purple64 in reply to Hidden]

Same here in Oxfordshire. Telephone appointment in May then he had an appointment for September which has now been changed to October 🙄

[kat54 in reply to purple64]

Really frustrating. I don't think they're that busy. X

[Hidden]

Good afternoon,

Please do get his bloods done as Katie suggests. Your husbands liver is obviously struggling at the moment and the situation could deteriorate quite rapidly, especially in this really hot weather. Better to get the GP involved at this stage than end up with an emergency trip to A and E.

regards

[kat54 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks so much.