OrwellMy father ( 49 yrs old) was diagnosed with Hepatitis C at least five years ago, maybe more and also told that his liver was enlarged. He quit drinking about 3 or 4 years ago. He was a very heavy drinker and drug abuser. Last year he had x-rays done that showed that his liver had lesions (about 6?) and that his liver was enlarged ( I have no idea if it was the same as when he was first treated or if the swelling had increased) He seemed to be sorta okay healthwise for the last few years except for chronic hemorrhoids, very dry looking pale skin and excessive lip smacking (don't know what that is about..) Over the last few weeks he has been extremely fatigued, having sharp pains in his right abdomen every few minutes and last week we noticed that his eyes are VERY yellow..His tongue is very white..Is that a symptom of Hep C or something else? He has some emphysema and I suspect COPD... Is this disease fatal? I mean, I know it can cause liver failure, liver sclerosis, hepatomegaly, etc.. What I dont know is how far advanced his case is. He is not too fond of medical help... I am trying to convince him to see a doctor.... If you have an educated opinion on this disease, please give me some advice/ answers. Is he dying??? If you are going to post things like " make him go to the dr" or " I don't know" or " any other asinine answer, please kindly refrain. I know that this site is not a panel of experts but I am at a loss until I can convince him to let me get help for him. Thank you in advance for your help.
Jacob CityI'm sorry, luv, but the signs and symptoms you describe do indicate a severe worsening of the liver condition. I hesitate to use the term "liver failure" without a lab test to back me up, but that IS what it sounds like. A blood test of liver function (AST/ALT very elevated) could prove that. The yellowing eyes indicate the liver is not performing its task of breakdown of old red blood cells efficiently. The vomiting and diarrhea on top of the other symptoms mean his electrolytes will get skewed and only hospitalization can correct this worsening clinical picture. For example, the body cannot conserve potassium; if his levels get too low he could experience heart problems as well. Other elements (sodium, etc.) are critical as well. He also sounds severely dehydrated.With your additional details, the mental condition is probably from elevated ammonia levels, which causes a kind of encephalopathy-- fancy word for altered brain function (can't think clearly, impaired judgment, etc.). This also needs treatment with an ammonia binder like lactulose.It would probably take too long to have him declared mentally incompetent so that the family can initiate treatment for him, but you could explore this with a social worker. His judgment is definitely impaired at this time. I sincerely hope he will listen to your advice and allow himself to be hospitalized.Best wishes to you.
BrooklynMy brother died about 3 weeks after being yellow. If mental ability is impaired it could be just days.
RiegelsvilleI know a guy with hep c who watched his brother go through the standard treatment for hep c , it is called interferon , he said it made his bro worse and he will not do it for that reason , look up at yahoo how toxic it is .dr berkson md, phd, has saved many a peoples lives who have a sick liver with alpha lipoic acid injections , he was the fda investigator on alpha lipoic acid years ago when it was a drug , now he uses it in his practice , many docs do , dr berkson treated a husband and wife who were hiking years ago and they ate some sort of toxic mushroom that literally shuts down the liver in a matter of days , at that time he was working at a hospital and was told these people were going to die and to take notes , well being a caring person he had some alpha lipoic acid delivered and injected it in them and instead of dying from liver failure they went home in a couple of weeks and are still healthy some 30 years later , the wife even wrote a book about how dr berkson saved her life even though the chiefs at the hospital said they were going to die.here is dr berksons words ,,,...........My supervisors were not impressed and told me that in one case in a million, there is a spontaneous remission, and this time there were two.The next week, another couple with "terminal" liver disease was assigned to my service. They had been poisoned by the most toxic liver destruction agents, Amanita virosa or "Death Cap" mushroom. I was told that I could not use ALA since it had not been sufficiently studied in the U.S. This time, I arrived at the patient's room fully prepared to follow the orders of the senior doctors. But, when I saw how young the patients were, I ordered the ALA and administered it to them. They recovered quickly. Over the past 23 years, I have used ALA to treat liver disease including hepatitis C, diabetes mellitus complications and other serious disorders, with the same extraordinarily good results.Alpha lipoic acid is very effective. Researchers have reported that ALA can inhibit viral replication, prevent cataracts, increase the sensitivity of your cells to both glucose and insulin (reversing "syndrome X" and preventing diabetes) and protect your skin and internal organs from damaging radiation.In 1980, Barter and I published two papers describing our success with ALA for severe liver disease using the NIH protocol and the research was widely accepted in Germany. Today, ALA is an important drug in Europe and is available as a nutritional supplement in the U.S. If you have a condition that you think might be effectively treated with ALA, find a health professional who understands the proper use of this supplement.e mail me if you want more links, bought134@yahoo.com
IngramLet me explain what happens to a person who hasliver cell damage for Hep C or any other cause:When the liver cells become damaged, the immunesystem of the body responds to this and causes theliver to develop inflammation inside of it. This causes the liver to enlarge in size. If the causeis not stopped then it can proceed to where theliver cells start to die off and form scar tissue insidethe liver. The scar tissue blocks the flow of blood through the liver on its way back to the heart andalso blocks the flow of blood to the functioningliver cells, and they can die also. This is thenknown as Cirrhosis of the liver.Your Dad would have to have a liver biopsy done,in order for the doctor to determine how far advancedin this disease he is. Sometimes they try to treat theHepatitis C virus before considering liver transplant and other times, they will do it after a transplant.They use Pegylated Interferon and Ribavirin.However, they are now finding that Telaprevir added to this treatment help improve the outcome of the result.Considering that your Dad has emphysema and COPD...he would have to be checked by the doctors at the transplant hospital to see if this would be a problem because of the long hours of transplant surgery andcompromised lung function. It is still worth checkinginto, though. They decide this on a case by case basis.With diarrhea and vomiting...he could very easily becomedehydrated and his electrolyte balance can be off. Thiscan become quite serious. This may be one of the reasonsfor not being very alert. Especially, since you said dry paleskin and lip smacking. He may need IV fluids and to havehis blood checked to be sure his electrolytes are fine. This can become life threatening in itself. (If he doesdrink Alcohol now, it will make it worse. However, someone with liver disease can develop acondition known as Encephalpathy. Our bodies uses proteinsall the time. When it does, ammonia is produced. The liverusually takes this ammonia and converts it into urea for thebody to dispose of. The liver cells are no longer able to dothis function well, if at all. The ammonia will go into thebrain and cause confusion, disorientation, sleep pattern changes, and tremors. Drugs like Lactulose, Xifaxan canbe use to rid the body of this ammonia. If not, the patientmay go into a coma from the build up of ammonia.Watch very closely for vomit or sputum having blood in it.It would be an emergency situation. You said he has hemmorhoids..If he starts bleeding seriously from this...it is also an emergency. The blood doesn't flow wellthrough the liver anymore and the liver isn't able to makeclotting factors to help the blood to clot. The portal veinis what brings the blood to the liver...the blood now backsup into this vein and causes pressure (Portal Hypertension).It also backs up into smaller vessels that can easily breakopen, known as varies. These varies are located mostlyin the esophagus, belly button, and rectal area. Liverpatients can bleed and bruise very easily. The doctorscan band these to stop the bleeding. Bilirubin is a pigment substance (greenish/brownish color)that is made from our dead red blood cells. The livertakes this bilirubin and converts it into a soluble form tobecome part of the bile. The bile flows through tube likestructures, known as ducts, to the intestines to help emulsify fats we eat so they can be digested. One of two things happen when the liver can no longer dothis: the liver may not be able to convert it into a soluble formor the bile ducts are obstructed or malformed so the biledoesn't flow well...therefore the bilirubin backs up into theliver and goes out in the blood. This is what causes thewhites of the eyes and skin to turn yellow. It can causea darkening of the urine, also. If the bile doesn't reachthe intestines, the stools may become a grayish white incolor. One more thing. Gaining weight fast in the abdominalarea could be fluid building up because the liver isn't ableto make a protein, known as Albumin, that holds fluids inour vessels...this fluid seeps out now and collects inthe abdomen. It is known as Ascites. This can easilybe mistaken for a Beer belly in alcoholics. This fluidcan be drained by a procedure known as Paracentesisthat will give him relief from the pressure this fluid causes.If he does agree to see a doctor, it should be either agastroenterologist or hepatologist. Simple blood testingwill show the doctor if the liver cells are damaged andhow the liver cells are able to do the needed functionsto keep the body well. Considering he has alreadystopped drinking...they may consider him for a transplant.He would have to go through an evaluation process forthis and they would take into consideration his other medical problems he may have also. Only the doctorscan give an educated guess based on all tests resultsand his past medical problem how long he may have yetto live. I hope this information is of some help to you.Here are a few links that you might want to click on:.www.caringinfo.org/stateaddownloa….www.hcvets.com/data/hcv_liver/cir….www.medicinenet.com/cirrhosis/art….www.surgery.usc.edu/divisions/hep….www.transplantliving.org/.www.ustransplant.orgBest of wishes to you and your Dad.
GainesvilleThe RN gave you a very good answer. I would like to add that hep C is the number one reason for needing a liver transplant in the country with alcohol abuse being a close second. It definitely can and has killed many people and continues to do so year after year. So yes, this is a very serious disease. You don't mention if he has had any treatment for his hep C in the past, so I assume he hasn't. A good doctor will keep a check on his viral load with the goal being to keep the count so low that the hep C stays undetectable which can either slow down or possibly even stop the liver damage from progressing. The medication used to treat hep C does not work for everyone, but it certainly does not hurt to try and it might very well be effective. The treatment can be very tough on a person, but well worth it if it does its job. It would be something your father should at least discuss with his doctor. He also needs to find out how much liver damage might already be there. I believe there is a very good chance there is damage since he is jaundiced (yellow).The disease hep C causes is called cirrhosis. Look it up on Wikipedia and you can read all about it. This happens when scar tissue replaces healthy tissue in the liver which can eventually lead to cirrhosis and total liver failure. There is no cure other than a transplant. I would say that your there is good indication that your father could be in the later stages of liver failure if he has hep C, has been a drinker in the past, has jaundice and running high ammonia levels plus having ascites (fluid retention that causes him to bloat). The symptoms will only get worse over time.
