You won’t remember much, there are far worse tests.
And while they will definitely be looking for varices in your esophagus, stomach and other bits, they’ll also be taking a close look at your common bile duct to see what’s up with that bit of anatomy and whether a problem there may be causing or contributing to your condition. Pancreatic duct should get a good inspection too. It’s possible you could end up with stents at some point in those places, if there are strictures there. At times and under certain circumstances, those can improve things greatly and even be almost curative. But IMMV, of course.
Good luck!! I’ve always admired your ability to crimefight using only a guitar; that fortitude will carry you through this!
Actually, I really should have mentioned this previously, but I have been taking Allopurinal at 100mg/day for several years to control gout. Just prior to the start of this mess, I had been advised by my primary care physician that my uric acid levels remained elevated, and she upped the prescription dosage to 200mg/day. The acute phase of my illness began about 4 hours after I took the elevated dosage for the first time. My doctors are aware of this sequence of events and have directed that I stop the Allopurinol completely for the time being.
I suppose the above may mean long-term use caused or enhanced the initial damage and the increased dosage overloaded the already-damaged organ, but I don’t know.
That’s actually a relatively low dose as allopurinol goes, but stopping it is not a bad idea. Sure hope you don’t get any gout attacks in the meantime.
I had an EGD done a while back for reasons unrelated to liver disease. It is nothing to be scared of! I felt totally fine as soon as I got over the effects of the anesthesia right after waking up from it.
Hope you get some answers soon about what caused this and can keep things stable for a long time to come.
Ok, quick followup: during my visit with the gastroenterologist, he handed me a sheet listing dietary restrictions, that while it did not say so on the sheet, turned out to follow the principles of a strict paleo diet: i.e. no dairy products, no legumes of any kind, and no grain-based foods of any kind. I did a brief bit of research tonight but most of what I found is that moderate amounts of the above not only don’t hurt but are beneficial.
If anyone has any useful comments on this, I’m all ears. In particular, I’m concerned about what would appear to be a) much greater required expenses (I’m on a fairly limited income) and b) spending masses of time preparing something halfway palatable each week, since such a diet seems to pretty much 86 nearly all shelf-stable foods?
I see frozen vegetables in your future. Everyone I know who’s been on Paleo has eaten a field’s worth of cauliflowerand spinach. Also onions on everything. I’ve never tried it, but I see Paleo recipes frequently on Imgur.
Meat’s not cheap, I know that. But eggs are, and you could make a fritatta that’s filling or boil up a half dozen for a couple days’ snacks (or save yourself the time and buy them already boiled and peeled at your store’s deli).
I’ve had a total of 3 of those (for other reasons). They sedate you, then you wake up.
After one of the three, I did have a sore throat - I’d been having trouble with a lump-in-the-throat feeling and though I hadn’t developed any true strictures, he did stretch the esophagus a little during that procedure.
Conceivably the sedation itself might be an issue for you, as El Kabong noted - but you’re earlier in the disease and it might not be a problem.
Nooooooo! If the OP likes boiled eggs, invest the money in a pressure cooker or similar gadget that lets you steam the eggs. 5 minutes and you’ve got a dozen easy-to-peel eggs. The cost differential would more than pay for the gadget (which would also speed up cooking other healthy things like beans and meats) - imagine a dozen eggs going for 2.00 and 2 precooked eggs going for 1.50 (or whatever). 12 precooked eggs = 9.00 versus 2.00. The cooker would pay for itself in a couple weeks.
Have they talked to you about your blood sodium levels? Have they placed you on diuretics at all? What about ammonia levels in your body? Did they prescribe a drug (Nadolol) to relieve portal hypertension?
No, no, ammonia’s within normal range, and not yet. For the last one, I believe they’re waiting for the results of the endoscopy before making a recommendation.