swelling and water pills

Edema is pretty normal for this disease.

Mike never had ascites, but rather got edema bad in his ankles and legs sometimes up to he knees!

They gave him lasix and sometimes spironolactone (aldactone), which is a potassium sparing diuretic..cause some people get really low potassium.

They varied the lasix dosage depending on Mike’s weight. We had a chart. If it was over x pounds, add a second dose. Under x pounds stick to the regular prescribed dose.

This worked well for Mike until transplant. He doesn’t have that any more. Before transplant it got really bad for a while.

Hope this helps.

Carol

I am thinking something additional just when needed so it does not get bad then it yak a few days to catch up.

I would not say out of control, more annoying and I would like to have it completely or as completely underwraps to prevent it from getting bad.

Thanks for input, and ouch to scrotum swelling.

Syxx, I had bad problems with edema, both before and after transplant. It became really awful after they had to open me up again 5 mos. later. I was swollen everywhere, but particularly bad in abdomen and legs. I couldn't even see my knees, my legs were so swollen. They were about 4 x normal. I developed water and blood blisters and then leg ulcers, which have taken more than 9 months to heal.

After transplant, I was on 60 mg of Lasix once a day and 50 mg of spironolactone (Aldactone) once a day. Several months later, they reduced the Lasix to 40 mg a day and discontinued the Aldactone. It took a lot of time for the swelling to go down, but it finally did. I am still on 40 mg of Lasix, though.

Ask your doctor about taking Aldactone along with the Lasix. And be sure to keep your sodium intake to a minimum.

Hugs,
Connie

It's good that the swelling went down. If you are seeing the hep doc tomorrow, I would wait until then. And ask about Aldactone when you see him/her.

Hugs,
Connie

 I noticed when I had this same issues with swelling it also seemed to go away after I laid down for a long nap or a nights sleep . My thought was that the fluid settled into the rest of my body while laying there , If you think about what the compression socks and laying with feet inclined is actually doing ( Temporary relief ) it makes sense . Your ankles and feet being the weakest link in our bipedal anatomy . Blood and fluid being pumped down and back up ( circulation ) the lower extremities are bound to see the worst effects , Laying down , inclining feet and restricting the area with socks removes the symptom not the problem .

Urination is probably the best resolution to the problem . Frequent trips to the bathroom to the point of having to urinate 15 minutes apart seemed to be the norm for me while taking fluid pills . Although my case involved extreme fluid issues and nothing short of surgery helped . With you that doesn't seem to be the case , but be prepared to pee like you never have before .

I'm glad to see you are slugging through this and hopefully you'll get this inconvenience resolved with the meds . Good luck at the Doc's office .

A. Ziffle  

I had the same problems as you are dealing with. I'd put my legs up, but once I stood up, within an hour or two the swelling was back. Make sure that you take the stockings off every now and then. I too had to find a way to keep my legs elevated when using my computer. Right before my transplant, I bought a laptop, and could keep my legs up on pillows, which helped immensely.

My stockings had a hole for the toes and extended just above the knees.

Please keep us informed!

Hugs,
Connie

Thanks for your input, Barry. You reminded me of what also worked temporarily for me: Starting just above the toes, have someone press their thumbs into the top of the feet, starting just above the toes, and pushing down and up gradually, going all the way up to the knees. This gives a lot of relief, just for a short time, by pushing the fluid upward. I don't think this would work with extreme edema, but it worked for me with moderate edema when it hurt.

Hugs,
Connie

He did change my meds around.

He took me off of the lisinopril.

Lowered my lasix from 60mg down to 20mg.

Aldactone 50mg for now, he said he might increase it to 100mg per day since he watns to keep the lasix down to 20mg. He said he has always seen better results with that, plus my albumin which is the reason for swelling in liver patients is normal which he said is extremely odd.

My tests and results do not match what is happening right now, that is why he thinks there is a blockage. He said yes I have cirrhosis, but it should be have totally different signs. He also finds it odd that I do not have diabetes, he said you almost always have diabetes before you get to the point of where my test scores are if it is fatty liver.

My main thing was, he was INFORMATIVE. The first hep Doc my wife and I saw was HORRIBLE, this guy I was really impressed with. He had diagrams etc, and spent an hour walking me and my wife through EVERYTHING.

Anyways, I will let you all know what they find when I have the MRICP next week.