Husband with Liver Cirrhosis

[Fishing49]

My husband has cirrhosis for about 5 years now the Dr said a when they first found it he had a mild case he levels where a 8 a year ago he been in the hospital a few times with bleeding Varies and ascites once and once with high toxic in his blood he now takes lactose 45 ml twice a day and he take that pill that starts with a R it 550 mg he takes it twice a day but sometimes I have to argue with him because he doesnt want to take his meds but after I argue with him he will take them he said he doesn't like going to the bathroom so much he's got where he sleeps a lot some days he will stay in bed all day and some days he will only sleep a few hours and now he talking in his sleep but the Dr told him a few months ago he didn't need no banning done that they will check him again in a few months I going to ask his Dr next month to recheck his levels again and see if they went up and they still stable Dr said if your cirrhosis is mild you can live up to 10 to 20 years we will see thanks for listening to me

[vinylcollector]

My consultant and liver specialist nurse say you can recover from the early stages. I don't worry about it. Just follow the instructions. Never google or YouTube this subject. It's complications that can cause problems, they told me. Then it becomes a question of how long is a piece of string. Eat well, and lose weight.

[Roy1955]

I think the aim of lactulose is so he passes soft stool around 3 times a day.

If he is stressed because he is constantly on the toilet ask if his lactulose dose can be reduced.

My Dr said that if I need it it's OK to regulate the dose myself to find my own comfort level but do check with his Dr before trying it.

As for life expectancy, my Dr says that if I do the right things "mild" cirrhosis is not terminal and I have a normal life expectancy.

[Chick_atee]

I take lactalose too. Personally I find it very hard to take it’s so sweet. My consultant told me to take as needed so I must ask again at my next appointment because I also heard that it helps to rid the body of ammonia build up that a damaged liver can’t do. The ammonia build up might affect the brain but I really don’t know until I ask the consultant.

The thing I find most difficult is having to ask her so many questions. So many things are cropping up with me that I would feel a lot less worried and more reassured if I had some idea about what may happen. It’s important for a liver patient not to be stressed and I am stressed at times. At least if I had the information then new symptoms wouldn’t be such a shock whether it was going to happen to me or not. I understand we are all different but a general knowledge about the disease should be discussed with patients. I can’t understand why not, does anyone else feel left in the dark at times! It would certainly stop all the googling and stuff that goes on because it seems none of the professionals will tell you. I feel if they were going through it themselves there would be a very different approach. Think I’m entitled to know about my own disease in fairness.

Wishing everyone the best on your journeys.

[Roy1955 in reply to Chick_atee]

You can learn a lot from the more experienced posters who have personal experience of liver disease here than you learn from your Dr so start your own thread and ask for advice.Note I said personal experience posters though, not the ones who Google everthing