iluvwv
09-22-2008, 07:55 PM
my hubby has cirrhosis. last night he screamed and when I got to him he was all bundled up, fingers deformed looking and every muscle in his body was cramped. i thought he had a stroke he looked so bad. it lasted about 10 minutes and then came and went all night. he just had labs done thursday so I called his dr thinking his potassium or other electrolytes were low. they said they were not low and this was another great side effect of cirrhosis. they said to start him on 100 mg of zinc a day. just wondering if anyone knew of anything else that I can do that would help. he was in such pain. so far today he has not done this again but his stomach has hurt really bad since I gave him the zinc.
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jayneflop
09-23-2008, 09:14 AM
hi illuvw havnt been on for ages how you doing and more importantly howz ur hubby doing apart from the cramps his he still down for a transplant,mine isnt doing too bad hes looking better and better every day but still has a long way to go i think hes been off the booze 8 months now,hes still filling up with fluid but hes goes into hospital every few weeks to have it taken off this time hes gone 7 weeks,still waiting to see what there guna do he hasnt got to go to hospital until another couple of weeks hope you are both ok hope to speak to you soon jayne
iluvwv
09-23-2008, 04:09 PM
hi jayne... good to hear from you. sounds like your husband and mine are about in the same stage. mine got drained aug 8 and it didn't last but about a week. it really hurt him this last time and now he's scared to go back. they upped his fluid pills last thursday so we hope it will help some. he's still on the transplant list, goes to the transplant clinic every 3 months now and to his gastro doc once a month. wish you all the luck. keep in touch.
jayneflop
09-25-2008, 11:17 AM
hi illuvw yea i think they must be at the same stage,they hurt my husband the time before last but the last time they drained a load off and he has felt great since so tell him not to worry he will be fine,they upped his water tabs too and it does seem to be helping,i hope they put him on the list when he goes next week,does your hubby get bad pains in his stomach and back cuz mine does he seems to take paracetomol like the clappers(soz thats a saying where i come from)means hes always taking them,its great to know they are doing well though aint it even thou its going to take a long time,how are u coping speak to you soon jayne
iluvwv
09-25-2008, 05:28 PM
Jayne, I think paracetemol is like tylenol isn't it? He shouldn't be taking those. Very very bad for the liver. Yes my hubby has bad pain in his stomach and every where. They have him on oxycodone because it doesn't have the tylenol in it.
feelbad
09-26-2008, 11:32 AM
have your hubbys doc check his magnesium level. this was what caused my sons just over the top muscle "contortions' from hell one evening. he had just been Dxed the week before with low potassium so when this bizarre crap occured i just kept thinking it could not be an imbalance of any kind,but i soon found out when we went to the ER that night that his mag was very very low. once we got him on mag ox 400 for a couple days,those horrid contortions just stopped completely. these were not your average every day type of muscle spasms at all,these were all out snappy back and forth movements of his hands and arms that he had absolutely NO real control over,it just did this by itself. just insane to watch let me tell ya. but getting your hubbys mag checked really does need to be done at this point just to see if this isn't the underlying issue. i just could not believe what just having low mag could do to a person. insane really. the one huge thing i found out when my son was going down hill from liver failure,is anything is possible to occur within the body when all of the functions become affected becasue of function loss within the liver itself. just get that mag checked out soon. i do hope this all goes away with the right treatments. please keep us posted. good luck,Marcia
iluvwv
09-26-2008, 05:17 PM
last time he was admitted his magnesium was low. he has been taking 400 mg magox ever since. wonder if i should up that?
feelbad
09-27-2008, 12:29 PM
i would make certain that they do his labs before you attempt to raise it on your own. too much mag can create its own set of issues too. you just really do need to know where that mag is at right now before doing anything at all since it can affect other organs and functions,espescially the kidneys.
magnesium is actually called 'natures muscle relaxer" for a good reason. it just kind of keeps the muscles from over tightening and more relaxed but toned at the same time? mag is actually what epsom salts actually is made of too,just granualized magnesium. works great for a soak when you are having muscle pain/tightness too since it does absorb right into the skin and into those muscles. it wouldn't hurt to just have some salts on hand if this should happen again ya know? it could help alot with another one of those sudden episodes like he just had. just a soak in that tub would help him alot. just a suggestion for you.
just how often does he take that mag? my son is on the 400 three times a day for his issues. if your hubby is only taking this like once a day,since it is getting depleted becasue of his medical condition,it may have not been enough to even start with,you know what i mean? was his mag level ever checked after he started on it just to see if it WAS actually enough to counter that ongoing depletion? i would seriously have his labs done just to know for certain where that mag level actually is in him. after that,you will at least know for sure just what his actual mag needs are and can work with that. just do not raise it unless you call his doc to get his opinion first. but getting the labs done before doing anything would give a much more realistic picture of how his mag was when this event occured. i just have a very strong feeling your hubbys mag is just not enough right now to make up for a depletion that is ongoing. just get the labs and go from there. hopefully you can at least get his labs done on monday. please keep us posted. marcia
magnesium is actually called 'natures muscle relaxer" for a good reason. it just kind of keeps the muscles from over tightening and more relaxed but toned at the same time? mag is actually what epsom salts actually is made of too,just granualized magnesium. works great for a soak when you are having muscle pain/tightness too since it does absorb right into the skin and into those muscles. it wouldn't hurt to just have some salts on hand if this should happen again ya know? it could help alot with another one of those sudden episodes like he just had. just a soak in that tub would help him alot. just a suggestion for you.
just how often does he take that mag? my son is on the 400 three times a day for his issues. if your hubby is only taking this like once a day,since it is getting depleted becasue of his medical condition,it may have not been enough to even start with,you know what i mean? was his mag level ever checked after he started on it just to see if it WAS actually enough to counter that ongoing depletion? i would seriously have his labs done just to know for certain where that mag level actually is in him. after that,you will at least know for sure just what his actual mag needs are and can work with that. just do not raise it unless you call his doc to get his opinion first. but getting the labs done before doing anything would give a much more realistic picture of how his mag was when this event occured. i just have a very strong feeling your hubbys mag is just not enough right now to make up for a depletion that is ongoing. just get the labs and go from there. hopefully you can at least get his labs done on monday. please keep us posted. marcia
iluvwv
09-27-2008, 06:27 PM
they only have him on 400 mg mag a day. he does not want to go monday and have the labs, he has them once a month at the gastro and every 3 months at the transplant clinic. said he feels like a pin cushion as it is. he wants to wait until his next appt in 2 weeks. but i'll make sure they check it then. he hasn't had any more cramps since i started him on the zinc. i have epsom salt here and will try that if he has them again. thank you so much for the info marcia.
feelbad
09-28-2008, 11:34 AM
believe me,watching my son become that human pin cushion really sucked so i do understand completely why your hubby doesn;t want to get an extra lab done. that part is just so nasty. i would kind of let his symptoms be the guide here if he does want to wait,you know what i mean? if he stays okay then he can probably wait,but if it happens again,he really needs that checked out asap. being on only 400 once a day in a person whos being constantly depleted is pretty low. i am sure he is not up to par at this point with that. the muscle contortions/contractions kind of showed that one ya know? just let his labs see whats up and hopefully he will get back on track with his mag. i never ever would have imagined just what having a low mag could do to a person til i saw that bizzarre crap take place in my son. who knew? hope things stay stable for now. please keep us posted. Marcia