Ammonia Level

[Meganmo8912]

Hello! I am writing to ask about ammonia level 104. My family member has cirrhosis and previous Hep C. Currently they are in the hospital due to elevated ammonia levels. When the ammonia level rises it causes extreme impairment and lethargy. Two weeks ago they had scan of liver and it came back nothing has changed and no mention of fluid build up ( I thought this takes weeks to build up ? Is the gastro not telling us the full truth?) How is it that all the sudden this extreme amount of fluid has built up in the abdomen and ammonia is so bad you can’t drive - and now taking it is taking over 48 hours if hospitalization for it to come down? What could this mean for them ? Does this mean he it is the beginning stages of liver failure or does this mean they could go home and continue the lacto drink to make you filter it out then carry on ? This is really scary for us all and we are very very worried that we are missing something when we could be actively looking for a transplant. Although, I am hearing from another family member you can not be a candidate for a transplant if you have other medical issues such as diabetes, lupus, arthritis, and autoimmune.

[Cat1218]

Hi, my Liver disease is auto immune and I also have several other auto immune diseases. I am going for my transplant assessment on 9 August so I am not sure where your family member has got their information from. From what I have seen, problems with the heart, lungs and cancer are the issues of concern when considering transplantation.

[Meganmo8912 in reply to Cat1218]

Thank you so much ! Yes we just left the hospital today. We will see a transplant Dr next week to hear his evaluation. I appreciate your support and response - Wishing you a great appt on Aug 9th. Dr said ammonia levels doesn’t necessarily mean liver failure but we are also going to talk to a transplant dr next week to get more info.