Hepatic encephalopathy

I've been been diagnosed with fatty liver after CT and 2 ultrasounds and normal bloods but I itch all the time and get confused and really scared I get muscle cramps and stomach cramps chest pain my stomach looks like a football and I've put on 8lb with in 2 weeks I also have spider veins on my chest and feet. I'm sure I've been misdiagnosed

[AyrshireK]

You are forgetting all your other health conditions which may well be contributing to these additional symptoms - you have fibromyalgia which can account for prickly skin sensations, brain fog, aches, pains, cramps, plus bowel issues and you also supposedly have a hiatus hernia if I remember correctly which can also be causing issues.

Not a few days ago you were satisfied with your liver diagnosis as it is and were going to take steps to do what you can with regards to reducing the fatty liver.

I would be most unlikely to have decompensated liver disease symptoms with normal bloods - itching is often associated with rises in bilirubin, ascites with lowered albumin and HE is the result of raised levels of toxins (ammonia) in your blood stream all of which you don't have if you are returning in range blood results.

You really need to see what can be done for your other health conditions, your results from a liver point of view indicate the fatty liver and nothing more serious at this time.

Katie

[Hidden in reply to AyrshireK]

My albumin is 41 g/L bilirubin 6 umol/L alp 50 iu/L and ast 22 iu/L gtt 67 iu/L my stomach has ballooned, the confusion could be lack of sleep due to the pain I just feel ill all the time I'm not sleeping enough

[golly123]

Hi. That is a lot of weight to gain in 2 weeks. I would get this double checked if it were me. I have had hepatic encephalopathy - however I tested positive for Covid and hepatic consultant thinks Covid played a part. I remember nothing as I went into a coma for nearly 5 weeks. Apparently I swelled up like a balloon, went bright yellow, had ascitrs which was drained and nearly died of liver failure, kidney failure and I caught pneumonia twice. I went into A & E with a femur fracture, had no idea I had Covid. I had a damaged liver (not that serious before this unwanted long sojourn in hospital) and my body (my liver) couldn't cope with major surgery on my leg, covid etc. I have never had any alcohol and went from decompensated cihrossis in August 2021 to compensated cihrossis 3 months later. A speedy recovery. I still have cihrossis but compensated nearly 2 years later. I'm a female aged 60. A heavy drinker but I didn't drink every day and had times when I was teetotal. At that time I was not dependant on alcohol and had just had a month off the booze. If you had hepatic encephalopathy, you would know I think. You'd probably be fairly incoherent. I'd get it checked out with you gp. Saves you worrying. I don't think I've been very helpful. I do try to help others as I've been there and survived to tell the tale. A pretty awful experience but one of which I don't remember much at all.

I do hope you are OK. Best wishes Golly x

[Hidden]

The medication I'm on does give you an appetite

[Fibro2021]

Hello. What prevents your doctors from checking the level of ammonia in your blood? It's only a thought.

[Hidden in reply to Fibro2021]

My doctor thinks I'm a hypochondriac

[Fibro2021 in reply to Hidden]

In my opinion, this looks like a somewhat strange reason for not testing for ammonia.

[Hidden in reply to Fibro2021]

When I've talked to the doctor and told him about memory problems not mentioning HE because I hadn't even heard of it till lately he told me told me that's a psychiatric problem so speak to the psychiatric team but they never answer the phone and when they do they tell me to speak to my doctor about my physical health and haven't got an appointment till mid June they keep passing me to the other

[AyrshireK in reply to Hidden]

Fibro fog ?? In the absence of cirrhosis but presence of fibromyalgia maybe you are looking in the wrong direction re. the HE?? symptoms.

Have you forgotten where you put your keys again? Having trouble remembering what you were supposed to do this afternoon? Do you have difficulty finding the right words to use to express yourself? If you are experiencing some or all of these memory problems you may be suffering from fibrofog.

Fibrofog refers to a variety of cognitive impairments that fibromyalgia sufferers experience with the disorder. Fibrofog can be one of the most stressful and upsetting fibromyalgia symptoms. If you know someone with fibromyalgia syndrome or if you are suffering from the illness, keep an eye out for the indicators of fibrofog.

What is Fibrofog?

Fibrofog is a term given to the variety of cognitive problems that many fibromyalgia sufferers face during their illness. Fibrofog encompasses memory loss, difficulties using language, and difficulties with learning. These symptoms tend to descend in a haze or “fog,” around the sufferer. This can occur at any time and can vary in intensity when they do occur and tend to be at their most severe during flare ups in pain.

Fibrofog refers to a variety of cognitive impairments that fibromyalgia sufferers experience with the disorder. Fibrofog can be one of the most stressful and upsetting fibromyalgia symptoms. If you know someone with fibromyalgia syndrome or if you are suffering from the illness, keep an eye out for the indicators of fibrofog.

Fibrofog affects about both women and men who have fibromyalgia pain, though it tends to hit women more often. Women between the ages of 30 and 50 are most likely to be affected. Episodes typically last only a few days, though sometimes severe can last for weeks or even months.

Symptoms of Fibrofog

Fibrofog is one of the most common yet unrecognized symptoms of fibromyalgia. If you have fibromyalgia signs and symptoms it is important to be aware of it so that you can seek appropriate treatment and manage your illness more effectively.

short term memory loss

difficulty remembering where you put things

difficulty remembering plans

difficulty with language, including trouble holding conversations, understanding conversations, and expressing thoughts

difficulty finding the “right” word to use in conversation

trouble remembering simple numbers

transposing letters and numbers

trouble concentrating and focusing

trouble retaining new information

[Hidden in reply to AyrshireK]

Thanks for that Katie

[Hidden in reply to AyrshireK]

It really scares me, I see someone on the TV I know their name then suddenly can't remember who they are

[Hidden in reply to Fibro2021]

My serum blood urea is 5.1mmol/L does that measure ammonia

[Fibro2021 in reply to Hidden]

Ammonia is ammonia. Sometimes this can be associated with low urea levels, but sometimes it is not. I don't have cirrhosis, I have another non-cirrhotic liver disease. My ammonia level is consistently high, but my urea is in the reference range. The statement that high ammonia levels are exclusively due to cirrhosis is erroneous and misleading. In any diffuse liver disease, hepatic encephalopathy should be ruled out if there are signs of mental health disorders and my personal experience tells me that this is true. But l do not claim that this is the case for you.

[Hidden in reply to Fibro2021]

Thanks for the reply

[Hidden in reply to Fibro2021]

I've told 2 psychiatric nurses I'm having problems with my memory and have to double check things and sometimes have trouble making a cup of tea or coffee one of them just said they will talk to the other nurse about it I've been asking for an endoscopy for the 2 years and got nowhere.

[Hidden in reply to Fibro2021]

I also get pain in all my joints and especially in the right shoulder and right elbow and also broke out in psoriasis again