I’m curious as to how others with cirrhosis feel throughout the day. Are you sick all day or do you have times when you feel normal?
I feel really bad early in the day (foggy head, nauseous, no appetite, fatigue) and better in the afternoon and evening (clear head, more energy and hungry). It’s very difficult to plan anything before 3:00 pm because I know I’ll feel crappy. Seems like it should be the other way around.
Do you have good days and bad ones or mostly good or bad? What are your symptoms each day?
Thanks for any help you can give me with this as I’m wondering if this is common. I realize everyone is different but just curious.
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FlippinOut
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Really good , working 6-8 hours a day on a building project , always hungry , just tire more easily and in bed for 9 at night , sleep then till 7 in the morning and repeat.
That’s great, glad you’re feeling so good. I need 10 hours of sleep now where before I was fine with 6. It’s a hard adjustment. Hope you continue to do well.
I work 4 days a week from 8am to 6pm. I need to make sure I eat breakfast and lunch and I’m then fine. If I skip meals I struggle a bit more. I feel great…get a bit more tired if I’ve over done it. Not sure if that’s the cirrhosis or my age! I feel better than I have in years…no alcohol, an improved diet and exercise seem to have made me much healthier.
Good to hear you’re doing well. I’m having a hard time adjusting to the fatigue. I’m 73 but was very active before diagnosis. Continued good health to you!
Hi 👋, Well I'm similar to yourself really, I can never plan anything as I never know how I'm going to feel on a daily basis or should I say hourly!
I've been diagnosed 15 yrs now with cirrhosis, one day I feel I can move mountains, the next I'm so fatigued I'm not fit for anything.
I did go back to work within 3 months of me discharged from hospital in 2008, I never had any issues as I was in bed by 10pm and up at 6am no problem, I had a good diet etc and absolutely no alcohol.
I'm not sure if it's my liver finally struggling or just me getting older lol I don't call myself old at 61 as I'm very young at heart
I do have chronic pain issues along with neuropathy in both legs that in itself gives me issues along with insomnia some nights.
Thanks for your input, I’m 73 so some of my symptoms may be from age BUT up until my diagnosis in April I was able to move 40 lb bags of mulch from the car to the garden, I moved into a new house and painted every room myself. So this has really taken a toll on me as some days I can barely move around the house without feeling exhausted.
Wishing you many more good days and restful nights. I have the insomnia too 😠 which doesn’t help.
Hi Anita ,So you were quite able to do a lot of physical work then !.
I myself put it down to the liver to be honest ,my dad god rest his soul passed away aged 78 due to secondary cancer. Up until his diagnosis he was as fit as a fiddle!
So maybe what I'm trying to say is take each day as it comes , is it what it is as no matter how I try I can't do what my body won't allow lol , so I just go with the flow and enjoy the days I'm feeling more energetic really .
Cirrhosis can bring with it a multitude of side effects
Generally feel very good most days on compensated side. After CoVid 2021 vaccines felt like ASS for a year and had most insane symptoms. I actually worry more about the spikes than I do about my liver. Studies show liver heart & brain gets hit hard by the spikes & no one knows the full extent of their ability to replicate over time. I just pray every day that my health holds. I think my nutrition & lifestyle has everything to do with my ability to function. As my liver specialists say, it’s doing everything it needs to do right now in spite of fibroscan of 15.6.
Had my transplant 6 years ago, only symptom of liver disease I had was vomiting up blood twice, felt fine otherwise, when transplant was first mentioned I told the consultant not to be so stupid I wasn't ill.
I am glad I am not the only one who suffers this. I have also recently started falling over which I am not sure this is one of the symptoms to do with Cirrhosis of the liver.
I've had it for many years my meld score just went up after no change for years! Scares me, what has happened, I had a gallbladder attack which was horrible I really felt like I was going to die!!!Obviously I made it w/o removing the Gallbladder!
Daily life is pretty normal I have bad insomnia so early a.m. is difficult at times, deal with constipation often, otherwise I feel fine!
So don't freak-out we still have lots of life to live.
Keep diet pretty clean will be a long time! Take care
Heyup Flippinout, I hope you well even as a stranger! LolI suppose I'm up and down all the time, since quitting alcohol for 8month. I feel alot ov discomfort at times waiting for the next drain, which in turn gets on me nerves!! Also due to not drinking anymore I have never felt so alone and poorly. Try n keep positive everyday, and seek like minded people to keep you anchored n strong. It's been especially bad for a couple ov month as my sports team Manchester United are playing shite😁 keep smiling me duck.
I feel better than ever. I sleep well, have a lot of energy and my digestion system is a fine tuned machine.
I don’t get how it it’s not normal. I look better than I have since I was in my 20’s. If I didn’t know my ultrasound still showed mild cirrhosis I would have absolutely no idea. It kind of pisses me off that I know. 😥
Glad to hear you’re feeling so well. I read some of your posts and see you’ve done a lot to improve your diet and have tried probiotics etc. What would you say has helped the most? I started taking probiotics and digestive enzymes a couple of weeks ago and my digestion is much improved. Also taking Milk Thistle, vitamin E, NAC and Quercetin. Do you take supplements?
I also should mention that I was on a low dose of Lipitor (atorvastatin) and coreg (carvedilol) for about 9 months as recommended by my liver doc. I don’t have high cholesterol or blood pressure. The Lipitor is supposed to be antifibrotic, decrease the possibility of portal hypertension and chance of cancer. I think the Lipitor helped.
I’m not taking it now but may reconsider. It can be hard on digestion and affect platelets. I plan to continue to re-evaluate it.
Just an FYI regarding statins and bp meds. I’ve been on both plus metformin for metabolic syndrome for probably 15 years now and got cirrhosis anyway. There’s a lot of controversy about all these meds and the liver. My pharmacist actually told me he thinks the medication is what caused my cirrhosis. So trying to fix one problem caused another. But I don’t think anyone knows for sure. Im trying to get off all meds. Thanks for all the info and stay well.
I think abstinence and yoga/exercise have helped the most. Most recently the probiotic and prebiotic foods (kefir and avocado) have helped a lot. I have been focusing on protein and dark greens/citrus. I occasionally have a wheatgrass drink that consists of wheatgrass, kale, spinach, pineapple- high in similar vitamins (c, k, b vitamins). That’s about it for supplements - only through food.
Vitamin e can affect platelets. I’m staying away from that. My platelets are slightly low. Besides that everything is normal besides the ultrasound.
I should be thankful things are as good as they are and I am. I just wish ultrasounds weren’t subjective. You hit a plateau of improvement and some positive measurable results would increase motivation 😄
I’m increasing my exercise frequency and intensity and getting very strong. 😁
Sounds like you’re doing all you can do. It is frustrating though to not get the validation through a scan or something. But your bloodwork is good and you feel good so that’s awesome. Do you have any idea why your platelets are low?
Because of my liver I guess. I don’t know what they were before all of this. 🤷♀️
They are in the 140’s but have dipped down. The thing is that some of the things that are supposed to be good for your liver can also decrease platelets. So it is a juggling game For me at least. I’m not sure what is helping what sometimes or if I’m doing this for nothing. I would like to think that the efforts I make are helping.
That is how I came up with my current strategy. 😂 diet. the dark greens, kefir, avocado, citrus and protein can’t hurt. Only help. Same with the exercise.
It took several months for me to feel better but for the last year I have felt better than I did before being told I had cirrhosis. I found out at 38 and 40 now. I’m sure not drinking since I was told is a large part of that. I work 9-10 hour days (at a desk) and do body weight excercises throughout the day. The one thing that I do struggle with is sleeping. So I often find myself tired about half way throughout the day. That’s where a lot of coffee and unsweetened Japenese sencha comes in. Lol.
Mornings are the worst for me. Most mornings I feel very nauseous and like yourself it seems to get better during evening time. I get very tired and lethargic and find myself being on edge or catastrophising about mundane things. It feels like my mind is foggy.
Exactly how I feel. I’ve always been a night owl but this is ridiculous now. Some days I can’t fall asleep until 3:00-4:00 a.m. and I sleep till noon. Then for hours I mope around with no energy, feel nauseous, no appetite, foggy head. By 5:00 p.m. I’m ready to take on the world, starving, energized, clear headed. It’s crazy but I’m thankful to have at least part of the day where I can get things done and feel almost human.
Do you think this has something to do with hepatic encephalopathy?
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