Encephalopathy Hepatic

Question: What Type of Low protein diet for my German Shepherd with portosystemic (Liver) Shunt / hepatic encephalopathy? My puppy had surgery for liver abcesses and had a lobe of his liver and his gallbladder removed. He has developed a shunt and I'm looking for the best diet for him. He is almost 6 months old and is taking 2 daily medications but I need the right food too.

Answer: I'm very sorry about your pup! Dog Aware has a section on liver disease. I'd read this great information and then with that go to your vet for some assistance. You do have to remember though that a lot of vets don't have the most up to date information on nutrition. http://www.dogaware.com/specific.html#li…

Question: How long can one live (I want answers in days, weeks or months only) with a decompensated liver cirrhosis? He has had most of the complications in the last year, bleeding varices that were banded last fall, he still drinks, he sleeps most of the time, he has ascites and edema which the Dr. just put him on a diuretic to see if that will reduce the fluid. He has had bouts of Hepatic Encephalopathy also, but no signs of that now. He is a severe alcoholic, 56 years old and cannot/won't quit drinking, although he does go for some days now without alcohol because he is too sick to drink. He is not a candidate for a transplant, so don't mention that to me. I would like to know what the dying process consists of with cirrhosis and if the kidneys always fail first. I want specific days or weeks or months of his likely survival please from someone who may have gone through this. Do they all go into a coma before they die? Since he just started the diuretic Hydrochlorithiazide we don't know if it will relieve the fluid buildup or not, but the Dr. did not recommend paracentesis for him.

Answer: First of all I can really relate to your problem. My husbands brother was an alcoholic, he drank from the moment his foot hit the floor in the morning till he passed out at night. He started bloating and passing blood, that is how they found out he had problems. They would drain the fluid off of him and it would just blow him up again, he would not stop drinking so it was a moot point, it was about 6 months for him, he just started getting tired, slept more and more, kidneys started fail, his scrotum area became swollen, and he was dead within 3 days after that. Good luck.

Question: Approximately how long will I live with Hepatitis C? I am eighteen years old and just found out I have Hepatitis C. It is still in the acute stage, as I have gotten it with in the past 6 months. If I qualify for treatment, I will probably go ahead with that. I will abstain from alcohol consumption, quit smoking cigarettes, and avoid any further use of drugs and tobacco. I will begin to exercise a couple times a week and try to have a healthy diet. Since I am only 18, I am quite young. I am a freshman in college planning to pursue a Ph.D. I am concerned that I may only have like 20 years or so left to live if I develop liver disease and/or liver cancer. I just want an educated estimation of how long I will be alive for and/or the chances of developing cirrhosis, liver disease, cancer, etc. I want to know if it is even worth trying to pursue a doctorate degree because I don't want to die a couple years after I finally finish my education. I want to know this because I might change my future career goals so I can actually try to have a life past my schooling as long as I can. I'm pursuing a degree in Psychology in hopes of becoming a psychotherapist. I want to also know if I will possibly develop some sort of neurological or cognitive impairment (i.e., hepatic encephalopathy) where I will lose brain/memory functioning. I am primarily concerned about three factors: how long I will be alive for, the chances of getting liver disease and/or requiring a liver transplant, and if I will have any impairment on my brain (because my career goal requires a significant amount of intelligence, which I currently have, but I fear that it will decrease and my chances of doing what I want to do will drop). Please give me detailed, and EDUCATED (cite your sources) information. I don't want any 2-sentence answers. If you are not a doctor or do not have accurate and truthful information, do not bother responding to my question. Thank you.

Answer: If you haven't seen a doctor, here is some info.

Question: What could be going wrong with me? Okay, guys, I know I have posted a few times about an issue I have been experiencing but I really need some help because the doctor's office is really hard to get in to. While on spring break, I tripped on dextromethrophan and hated it, I had a panic attack during the trip where I thought I was dying/dead and I cried and it was very traumatic for me. Anyways, when I came home, I learned my dad was going to pass away in the next couple days so I had to say my last goodbyes to him ( I am very close to him) and this was also very, very traumatic for me. Then, after some prayer, by a miracle, my Dad healed and was able to come home a few days later (thank God). He has liver cirrhosis, hepatitis C and hepatic encephalopathy. A couple days later, while reading about schizophrenia in my psychology class, I started to have in depth thoughts about what if I had schizophrenia. I instantly "panicked". I became sweaty, hot, shaky, nervous, biting my nails, and I had to leave class. The thought ruminated on and on for about a week, and I had consistent levels of extrememly high anxiety and panic attacks for that whole week. One of the most panicked times I had, I consulted my Dad. He told me that I wasn't schizophrenic (which I thought I was because I thought these panic attacks were schizophrenia). I calmed down and I actually got these thoughts out of my head. Starting that Monday, for an entire week, I didn't worry about it one time. Anyways, it started back up and ever since, it is all I can think about. These so-called panic attacks I have or high anxiety produce such a weird feeling for me that I am scared that I am developing schizophrenia. Today, after a whole day of nervousness thinking about it, I had 2 severe panic attacks. In one of them, I felt slight numbness in my lip and tongue. Could this be a stroke or a brain tumor's symptoms (my world has been so different for about 2 months now)? Or could I just be a hypochondriac and that's what's causing my panic and anxiety? I'm scared I have either have a brain tumor, potential to have a stroke, or schizophrenia. Also, I am very saddened by what is going on. Could I have PTSD from the bad trip and this bad time of anxiety in my life? I used to be so darn happy. Also, I played in a football game last night and I sweated my butt off, and I didn't think about any of this crap during the game, and I felt great afterwards, I didn't have any worries. I felt like these fears and worries about schizophrenia and what not were just gone, and then I woke up this morning worrying about it again, and I felt great until I worried about it. Then, I felt like a different person for the rest of the day. Could it be just obsessive thought or something wrong with seritonin? Or could it be schizophrenia, a stroke or a brain tumor or something? Also, I saw my pediatrician and he said it was anxiety but it is hard to believe that anxiety causes so much damage to my life recently. He prescribes me to prozac but my aunt, who has an anxiety disorder recommended that I get lexapro instead so he changed the prescription but I haven't started it yet. I also saw a sports psychologist and he thinks it is anxiety and I have another meeting with him in a few days.

Answer: its all in your head. learning about what is going on with your dad is making you upset. it might be depression. you can help yourself by not thinking about it. i helped my friend out of her depression. do positive things to keep you going. talk to your dad and tell him how much you care about him. just talk to all your family and try not to think about it. im sure you will be okay. write about your feelings or talk to someone. makes you it so much easier. hope you feel better. and also i hope i helped. :]]

Question: Eclectus with liver issues? My female eclectus, named Rosie, has hepatic encephalopathy. She is on a medication that binds the extra toxins from her bloodstream and flushes them out. She also completed a 45 day treatment of doxycycline with no improvement. My vet prescribed an additional 45 days of Baytril. Having her on antibiotics for so long worries me. My vet has been wonderful, but can't figure out what's wrong. She expected the tests to show a high level of liver enzymes, but hers were way low. But she is also showing signs of a bacterial infection. We have been working with her for a year now and have spent 2500$ in vet bills. We love her, but seeing her sick all the time is so sad. Has anyone had experience with this problem? Yes, my vet is a very experienced Avian vet. She worked with the vet who oversees the birds at the Houston Zoo for over 30 years. The lactulose is a liquid oral medication. Her previous treatment of doxycycline was in the water, but now the baytril (enrofloxacin) is oral. Her diet is very good. Almost no pellets, only a little seeds. She gets tons of fresh organic fruits and vegetables, home-baked bread, a little pasta, and a bit of boiled egg. Kim, please clarify what you mean by "liver problems". Rosie is not suffering from fatty liver disease, which is worsened by high cholesterol foods. Hepatic encephalopathy is very different. She also gets sprouts and healthy homecooked meals with things like pasta and rice and sometimes a little bit of chicken.

Answer: How are you giving her these treatments? If it's in the water this may be why it isn't working. They have found giving the treatment orally gives them the best results. I'm not 100% familiar with the meds but the doxycycline is usually for treating chlamydiosis in parrots (parrot fever). Don't know about baytril. Also while on these meds what are you feeding her? Liver problems in eclectus parrots are usually from high cholesterol from being on a high fat diet. If she's on seed & pellet or even offered a couple of fatty nuts a week this can bring up her cholesterol. You may need to change her diet. http://eclectusdiets.com