Cirossis stage 4

[Grizz11]

my husband has very bad ascites they drained 9 litres out of him he is now full of ascites again he is very uncomfortable having a hard time breathing and sleeping I noticed he is getting more forgetful and his motor skills are declining he also has bad diarrhea and his urine is very dark his docter up his diuretic pills to see if it will help with the ascites just wondering if there is anything else that could help with these symptoms

[AyrshireK]

Is he on medication for Hepatic Encephalopathy (HE)? - often this is a combination of Lactulose and Rifaximin. If not you need to push for these and it may help with the forgetfulness, issues with motor skills and sleep pattern.

A high protein and carb diet is usually advised now to help with ascites issues and low salt.

Your husband is obviously quite poorly, I take it he is under a liver specialist and is getting seen regularly. Has transplant been explored? Often by the time you get to diuretic resistant ascites some other path is required. If he isn't being treated at one of the main transplant units I would push for a somewhat urgent referral.

Wishing you both the best of luck.

Katie

[Grizz11 in reply to AyrshireK]

we went and seen his docter and they gave him a higher dose of diuretics I’m hoping he will get some relief

[BritishLiverTrust6 Moderator British Liver Trust]

Dear Grizz11,

If you are in the UK and would find it useful to talk things over, our nurse-led helpline is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 3pm on 0800 652 7330 (excluding bank holidays).

Best wishes,

British Liver Trust

[marknash67]

Has he only had one drain? Ive had several and so far ive had 45 litres removerd and more while iv been i intensive care. About another 30 litres. Ask for more drains. They dont like doin them cos of infection but insist. All will be ok .

[Grizz11 in reply to marknash67]

we mentioned to the docter about doing another drain he said the last one they did it to fast and dehydrated his body and his kidneys were going to shut down so for now they upped his dosage of diuretics to see if it will help

[Roy1955]

Only advice I can give is he should be in hospital.

If he is at home call 999

[Cat-B]

I guess you know the no salt, no processed foods, very high protein and calorie diet. He needs to try and stay mobile. This is a horrible stage when nothing seems to work fast enough. I’m guessing he’s under a liver team, always try to go to appointments with him ( as he probably won’t remember much of what’s said lol) even with diarrhoea he needs to take his lactulose, he’s confusion is most likely to be from the build up of toxins. Remind him it’s baby steps, my favorite saying is the tortoise wins the race! I’m 8 years post a 3 week stay in hospital. It can be done but there’s no quick fix ( it took years for his liver to get to this stage!) Good luck I’m here if I can help

[Grizz11 in reply to Cat-B]

Thankyou for replying we had a appotiment with his docter and they upped his medication the diarrhea is under control now his blood count is good his kidney count is good it is just the ascites hoping the new medication will help