Advice please 🥰

[livinglif123]

Morning Everyone I have Cirrosis and I was wondering if this causes a low immune system and if there are any things I would need to avoid and stay away from ? Thank you xx

[AyrshireK]

Yes you can get a little bit of immune system involvement with cirrhosis - potentially a little more at risk of picking up bugs and infections but it needn't impede on anything you do. Obviously during the covid pandemic people with cirrhosis where listed as more at risk and some were listed in the 'shielding list'.

Just be cautious of your food hygiene, hand washing, dentistry and good oral hygiene etc. Do basic things to stop you picking up bugs the best you can. No need to hide yourself away. In the 12 years my hubby has had a cirrhosis diagnosis he's done nothing particulary drastic to avoid infections - he's worked in schools with me (amongst the little germ magnets), petted and cleaned the cat, been out and about on public transport, eaten out etc.

Just transplanted he's been more cautious i.e. more handwashing, good oral hygiene, not cleaning the cats litter tray, wore a mask when we went to a crowded A&E etc.

Katie

[livinglif123 in reply to AyrshireK]

Thank you Katie, I was diagnosed in October 23 Ive lost 4.5 stone since then haven't had any alcoholic drinks at all in over a year and my last Fibroscan numbers went up from 15 - 17 , I just can't get my head around it all to be honest, I just received a letter from the Hepatologist who said I was MELD 7 this means nothing to me but when I looked up numbers it says life expectancy of 2-12 years ? I think the only thing I haven't done is completely cut any fat our of my diet, maybe this is the next step? Kindest regards Theresaxxxx

[AyrshireK in reply to livinglif123]

Don't do anything drastic about changing your diet - a normal healthy diet needs some dietary fat and in cirrhosis the guidance does change as regards what to eat. Maybe see if you can get access to a dietician for proper personalized advice.

The BLT has some wonderful guidance on MASLD/NAFLD at :- britishlivertrust.org.uk/in...

There is also a downloadable leaflet about treating the condition with healthy diet and exercise at:- britishlivertrust.org.uk/do...

As regards your fibroscan score I wouldn't fret that at all - 15/17 makes no odds as both would be in the cirrhosis range for MASLD related liver disease and all you can keep doing is eating healthily and getting to a healthy weight for your height plus including some exercise into your daily life. Seeing as Fibroscan goes up to 75 kPa and for MASLD related conditions is anything 11.5 ish upwards you don't have a scary degree of cirrhosis and can potentially even reverse some of the damage done. Most clinicians wouldn't offer repeat fibroscans once a diagnosis has been reached as it often adds nothing to the picture.

As regards your MELD score it's a tool for medical guidance ONLY it doesn't put any sort of firm 'cut off' on life expectancy so don't fret it. Sometimes it does more harm than good to actually be notified of these scores. They are a gauge for doctors to work out severity or otherwise and any potential need for transplant going forward. (We NEVER got any of these figures, hubby never had a fibroscan and we only knew he had liver disease once he'd ended up in A&E throwing up blood with decompensated cirrhosis symptoms and that was back in April 2012. Once his condition got under control and stabilized he/we concentrated and living our best life possible, we didn't fret any scores and trusted that doctors would let us know if things took a turn for the worst - we kept an eye on symptoms and made sure we advocated for ourselves when things didn't happen, we took notebooks with questions and we made sure we were doing all we could to live life with cirrhosis but not letting it dominate our lives).

You are doing brilliantly on the weight loss front, removing alcohol completely will have helped hugely too. What is important for you to do is to keep up the good lifestyle changes, know about cirrhosis and look out for any symptoms that might indicate any deterioration (hopefully not) as you will be reducing the amount of damage being done by your healthy diet etc.

Keep up the good work, keep living life to the max - you can live a good long life even with cirrhosis. (My hubby was decompensated 2012, listed for t/p in 2014, improved enough to come off the list 2015 and lived life to the fullest from 2015 to 2023 (cycled 400 miles during May 2023 in the Cairngorms on his e-mountain bike), sadly towards the back end of last year deteriorated quickly and ended up being transplanted 12 weeks ago today & recovering well now!).

Don't let the condition dictate your life to you, ride the roller coaster - ups, downs and make the most of good days.

Katie xx

[livinglif123 in reply to AyrshireK]

Thank you so much Katie at last a positive future could be the way forward for me, your right I do need to stop focusing on the numbers and live my life the best way I can for my family , thank you 👌👍🥰 so glad your husband is doing well, he's very lucky to have you by his side xxx

[Whelsh84]

Yes if have damage to you liver there will be some immunity compromise. Just all the normal stuff have flu vaccine every year and stay away from people who have known infections and good hand hygiene.