One of the most useful medicines for treating cirrhosis-related problems such as ascites is spironolactone, which unfortunately also promotes gynecomastia.
Frankly, treating the gynecomastia is usually low on the list of things to be addressed in a cirrhotic patient. Successful management of cirrhosis requires a bit of a tightrope walk to begin with, and unless the gynecomastia is significantly disrupting routine functioning and quality of life, it’s best left alone. Therapies directed at gynecomastia can put additional stresses on the liver and associated systems.
Frankly, that tends to be a back-burner issue too. Libido is often suppressed, and ED is fairly common in such patients, and they’re less likely to respond to meds like viagra, etc. And just adding testosterone does not fix the hormones that are already in disarray. Patients with end-stage liver disease who also have ED are encouraged to engage in practices that result in pleasure without the need for an erect penis.
Cirrhosis is a very, very serious condition. Treatment is aimed at reducing symptoms, improving overall function so people can do their ADLs, and prolonging quality survival. When it comes to QOL issues, most of these patients hare happy to stop throwing up blood, overcoming their confusion from hepatic encephalopathy while retaining their ability to control their bowel movements, and being able to go out to dinner, or spend time with friends. Dealing with less critical issues than those is generally deferred. Often permanently.
I don’t know anything about cirrhosis, but I hope you’ve had a good day, FoieGras, and that you’re a little closer to figuring out how you should proceed with all the changes.
FoieGras, don’t let me hijack this; if you’d prefer to focus on your concerns and thoughts, please just let me know, and I’ll stop yammering about the treatment aspects.
It’s all good guys. Another issue that’s cropped up is back pain…as in seriously debilitating back pain, even after my release from the hospital. Went back to the ER yesterday and the doc gave me a shot of dilaudid in my back and it did help, if only for a few hours.
I am seeing the family doctor today to see if there’s anything at all I can get to alleviate this so I can seek employment (my previous employer fired me for my extended hospital stay once they discovered it was alcohol related).
This is why I asked about OTC pain meds, of which I’m not supposed to take any. I had a bowel movement that was solid (yay!) this morning, but promptly felt nausea shortly afterward and vomited, this after just taking my morning regimen of pills too.
I’m 47 and I feel like I’m 80. I have to ask my kids to pick things up off the floor for me. Another thing that I guess is normal is that where they put the drainage catheter/needle the size of the nose of Flash Gordon’s ship that impaled Ming they didn’t suture shut, so it’s been weeping abdominal fluid. I was assured this was normal and would subside in a few days but damn I’m going through some bandaging pretty quickly.
On a side note: why in the fuck are those Ensure/Boost/slim rite, etc drinks so damn expensive? Doc advised me to drink one a day and they are not cheap!
Waving hello, to say “Me, too…” I’m in the early stages, and I anticipate a liver transplant sometime in the future. For what it’s worth, my cirrhosis is collateral damage from a nearly fatal necrotic gall bladder that embedded itself into my liver.
I’d say get your pain relief questions from the doctors but the internet has all sorts of info. (Course discussion boards withstanding-if that is the right word)
I’ve never really added salt to much of anything in this life. It helps to start early but someone who has been using it a long time will find it difficult cutting it cold turkey but you will have to dispose of all of it in the house. Let the kids hide what amount of regular salt you may need for baking needs or maybe the substitutes would work…
True Flavors Python? Yeah I guess you could say that…
Probably depends on how far gone it is. They gave me the diagnosis of non alcoholic cirrhosis…doctor is always monitoring my liver functions. Fun city.
Mine is no where near the OP’s condition.
Yeah, similar diet stuff too. Just keep the poor poorer!
Do you happen to be on disability? Sounds like you should be
Those things can leak longer than you’d expect, especially if the ascites is rebuilding. A foam dressing can help reduce the frequency of dressing changes (I’m assuming they just gave you some gauze or maybe an ABD pad.)
You ain’t kidding! If you have a blender, you can make smoothies out of real food that taste better and are much cheaper, but still easy to consume. Recipes abound on the internet.
If you don’t have a blender, you can make a pretty tasty homemade version of supplement drinks by the jug:
3 cans sweetened condensed milk
1 cup Ovaltine or Carnation Instant Breakfast powder
2 Tablespoons of vanilla
1 Tablespoon olive or coconut oil
About 12 cups of milk
Clean out an empty milk jug with a screw on lid. Pour the sweetened condensed milk, Ovaltine or Carnation Instant Breakfast powder, vanilla and oil into the jug. Screw the lid on tight and shake it well until the powder is mixed in. Add milk to fill the jug, screw the lid back on and shake it again. It will keep in the refrigerator for a few days, or you can freeze it in daily or single portions and thaw it overnight in the fridge as needed.
Will that concoction have the same mineral/vitamin content as the store bought versions? Also, I not only have an Osterizer blender from the 1960’s, I recently inherited a Ninja 1000 from mom when she bought one of those fancy $400 ones that get so hot when they blend they can make…hot soup!
It’s actually slightly higher in most minerals and vitamins, with less sodium and more calcium and potassium, if you make it with the Carnation Instant Breakfast. I haven’t run the numbers for the Ovaltine. I encourage daily vegetable, fruit, and legume intake as well; neither this nor Ensure et al are adequate for total meal replacement. But most of the time, people just need a little, uh, boost.
Awesome! That makes smoothies in no time flat. Then you can customize them for flavor and nutrition even further by deciding what to put in.
I’ve created a smoothie handout for my patients in similar situations. If you PM me your email address, I’d be happy to send it to you. It’s nothing fancy, but it has a nice little chart of ingredient ideas to get the juices flowing, and a few combos to try. You can run it by your doctor or dietician who can help customize it further for you by suggesting how many portions of protein, fat, fiber, etc you should aim for.
Ugh. It’s no wonder life expectancy is declining. How can a person heal with that much sugar as a regular part of their diet? That’s more sugar than I eat in a year. I can’t believe that this is the sort of thing doctors are telling their patients to eat. (not you, specifically, whynot, I understand that this is apparently standard medical advice… I’m just genuinely shocked at the blatant disregard for real food that the body might actually be able to use to heal itself.)
As a chemotherapy patient, I sometimes find myself unable to eat real food, no matter how much I might want to. Ensure (and other liquids) serve as a stopgap during those periods, allowing me to get at least some nutrition and calories into my system. I’ve gone from 220 pounds to 150 in the last six months or so, and I shudder to imagine where I’d be without them. They can be invaluable to people who cannot otherwise consume food.
Sorry to hear about the job. That sucks. (Fellow member of the terminated while disabled club.)
Hang in there and do what the docs tell you to do. Also do as much reading and research on your own as you can stand. Being educated is never a bad thing. Ask questions of your medical team, just like you do here. The more informed you are the better.
