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he slept 3 days and nights. is this encephalopathy?

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Posted 12/12/2017 2:03 AM (GMT 0)
Friday he slept several hours at work, came home 10 PM, went straight to bed. Since then he's gotten to the bathroom a couple of times, made it to the kitchen with my walker to eat a couple of times Sat, once Sun and twice today (Mon). I had to take food and snacks to him on the couch and at the bedside a few times also. The rest of the time he's slept on the couch or in bed.

Is this encephalopathy? He's confused a lot of the time, aware and all there for brief periods. But he keeps hanging up on people (from confusion) when they call him and won't let me answer HIS phone. He keeps telling me he's improving, so I have been putting off calling his doctor. He'll yell at me for sure if I call.

It started with what I thought was a minor back strain, trying to lift the plow into position on the tractor for me. I usually do that but had it screwed up some. He blames all this on his pain. If this tiredness is from pain he has something really wrong. I'm a long-time back patient, and none of it gave me fatigue like this - and I had to fix meals, do laundry, take care of the kids ... despite pain. Women don't get a break, except when I was paralyzed for a year from breaking my neck.

Not complaining. I took a vow almost 50 years ago and I meant it. The "in sickness" part is tough though. I need to find out what help I can get. I have to go out for about 3 hours to see my pain doc.
Posted 12/12/2017 11:44 PM (GMT 0)
Hard to say..he is functioning well enough to get to work, and take care of some personal needs. Pain and depression can cause mood swings... it’s difficult to tell. We as caretakers are, always watching them, waiting for the next melt down. At least, in my case. My brother has Medicare, and gets a caretaker for 4 hours most days. She calls me at least once a day and asks me the same question. She calls it the fog.

When he goes too long without lactulose, I definetly know. He can function physically, but has no idea what he is doing or why.

It’s a thankless job Alcie

..
Posted 12/13/2017 12:08 AM (GMT 0)
I talked to a nurse today - day 4 of sleeping all day. She said to try Lactulose very 2 hours. I had relatives and neighbors stop in while I was at MY appointment. (I needed trigger point injections for muscke knots in my back and neck. Am ordering an appliance to work on kneading those.)

He was back in bed when I got back. DAY 4!! The nurse told me to give him lactulose every 2 hours. OK!.
Posted 12/14/2017 1:28 AM (GMT 0)
I went through this sleeping stuff with Mike.

When his ammonia was really high.

I felt I had a decision to make...let him slip into a coma on the couch and let him pass quietly without the ER drama.

Or take him to the ER and see if they could help him some way.

I thought I would "let him go" but then I relented and took him to the ER. I guess I wasn't ready to let him die.

The ER docs found him dehydrated, electrolytes all messed up, his albumin was very low, his ammonia high. They started IV fluids, added all the chemicals that were messed up. And gave him a boat load of lactulose and added Xyfaxin (a miracle drug). They found e coli in his blood and said he was septic, and could die. His kidneys were failing. BUT, all the chemical balancing did the trick, he couldn't escape the lactulose regimen...there the nurses were...dosing him OFTEN. And he lived to fight another day. He qualified for liver transplant down the line a few months. It was a turning point, he decided he wanted to live. For the next 6 months, we were at that ER about once a month for a week...doing the rebalancing the chemicals routine. He is now 6.5 years post transplant and doing quite well.

Your man needs a good work up I think. Will he let you go to the doc with him now?

Mama Lama
Posted 12/14/2017 4:29 AM (GMT 0)
ER today after argument. Diarrhea on the way, but I kept going, fighting to keep his hands off the seat belt.

Doc finally got him to agree to go to the U hospital where his liver specialist works. 6 hours in community ER waiting for a bed to open up finally went to the U hospital anyway after hospitalist agreed to take him, liver doc group to consult. Bed available as we came in.

He only agreed to go because of level 8 pain from compressed L4 from trying to help me lift a plow onto the tractor (6 ft steel blade). Doc used to word broken to him. But he was horribly confused, which is all I was worried about, wanted him to get evaluated by his really good doc.

No liver doc came this evening. sad His ammonia was down because of the diarrhea - he was furious with me for "poisoning " him with the extra dose of lactulose the liver doc's nurse told me to give him. I don't know what ammonia was before, but it was high normal when blood test came back.
How he went to work one day with that pain I don't know. But he was convinced he was tired and sleeping from that, not ammonia. Can't prove either way, but doesn't make sense.

I'm upset he was not being given anything to eat, no pain meds, not giving him his heart med at the U hospital. I pointed out his heart rate was tachy, and he was pretty warm to touch and face red. I didn't get a chance to eat all day either, but I'm not in his condition and have enough pain meds.

I'm exhausted. Horrible drive home through snow.
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