Episodes of vomitting bile post transplant

[Mumofani]

Hi there, I have joined to gain some info about post liver transplant care.

My husband had a transplant 5 years ago. He is over all fine except the episodes of spontaneous vomitting that will last for a day or 2. It mostly starts with a headache and tightness in one side of neck and shoulder. The vomitting starts next morning. Food comes out, then as he can't keep anything down, neither water, only bile comes out. Sometimes he has to take vital medicines again as he vomited them out in less than an hour.

Taken him to A&E sometimes and they will give him anti-emetic and drips when needed. Other times he recovers by himself within a day. The liver team has no idea and think it's not related to liver. But mystery is it only started after the transplant.

Not sure has anyone else ever experienced this post transplant and what did they do about it. Thanks

[Richard-Allen]

I'm sorry for the delay in responding to your thread, and I' sorry that your hubby is having these problems. This past week I've been poorly with a touch of gastroenteritis and ended up having to go to the hospital.

I am also coming up for my fourth-year liverversary in October. While I'm most certainly not medically qualified to offer medical advice, I would like to just make a few suggestions.

Getting to the cause of this problem is the first step. I don't believe this is a liver-related issue, but, due to the types of medication we all have to take, may have an impact on the way out bodies behave. Take for example tacrolimus, Prograf can alter the way our livers process sugars, and for some people post-transplant, this can bring about type-2 diabetes. I was just thinking that maybe your husband could have become lactose intolerant, or another condition where his body is no longer able to tolerate certain foodstuffs.

Do you happen to know if certain foodstuffs can trigger a vomiting response?

The other concern would be that this could also be a viral infection. Because of our bodies immune system being lowered post-transplant, Your husband's immune system may be having trouble producing enough macrophages to fight off an infection.

I would most certainly go back to your local GP and ask for some answers, Don’t be frightened to be a little firm. Remain polite, but make sure you put the ball firmly in the doctor's court.

I recently had a word with my wife’s GP as she now has a liver condition and nothing is happening. The GP refers her to the local hospital and they just refer her back to the GP, he makes a second referral and they still refer her back to the GP. I just simply said, that I realise that he has the best interests of his patient to consider, and what does he propose to do now? This very much puts the onus squarely at the doctor's feet, while remaining polite. He has since made a referral for my wife to be seen at the QE.

I wish you both good luck and hope you manage to get to the bottom of this soon.

Best Wishes, Richard