pruritas (itching)

[Nibby]

hi from the US. I have cirrhosis diagnosed in 2007. The last two years I have had itching sometimes severe. My doctor put me on colestyramine a powder I mix in juice. It definitely helped me.

[mickeymouse42]

Have you had your serum bile acid levels checked? Too much bile acid in the blood stream can cause itching (pruritus); it's a condition in pregnant women where they can get intra hepatic cholestasis. Itching can also occur in extra hepatic cholestasis where typically you get gallstones in your gallbladder; an ultrasound or MRCP will check whether this is happening to you.

Colysteramine is a bile acid binder typically used to treat bile acid malabsorption (BAM) where bile acid seeps into the colon causing diarrhea. In the UK BAM is diagnosed via a SehCAT scan which measures bile acid retention rates. The SehCAT scan is not used in the US but there is a blood test called the 7ac4 test which is used in the US to check this.

The Mayo clinic do the 7ac4 test:

mayocliniclabs.com/test-cat...

[Snips71]

Hi Nibby. The hubbys doctor in Birmingham uk suggested loratidine so it doesn’t make you drowsy and have an episode of HE. Cooling cream helps a bit. Speak to your docs about the meds though first.