RE: Some more questions...

[Guest guest]

Kate,

An enlarged spleen would suggest portal

hypertension for someone with a history of liver disease, and portal

hypertension would suggest cirrhosis. It sounds like good medical practice to

look for esophageal varices then.

Regards,

Chaim Boermeester, Israel

From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of lavendula9

Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 06:55

To:

Subject: Some more

questions...

Hi all,

We have an appointment with the new doc next Wednesday, about an hour

after the colonoscopy and gastroscopy so hopefully Brad won't be

all 'pepped up on goof pills' (as he puts it) by that time. But as

that is a whole week away, would you mind helping out with a couple of

questions, please?

1. I have been reading about oesophagul varices being a complication of

cirrhosis and as Brad is only newly diagnosed with PSC (and had clean

scans and clean biopsy just a few months ago), the fact they are

seaching for these already is making me fret. His original scans did

show an enlarged spleen so does the doc maybe suspect portal

hypertension? Has anybody else had the doc look for these in them so

early on in the piece?

2. Brad has had some pretty bad muscle cramps in his legs over the last

6-12 months - only about 4 times but he has been screaming, writhing

and crying in pain for their duration. I just read on e-medicine.com

that these are common with cirrhosis. Anyone else know about

this/suffered same?

Once again, thank you all for letting me ask these questions. I am

slowly piecing together what the docs have said to date, what I've

found on the internet and all your advice and it just keeps raising so

many questions.

While Brad is working his butt off to support us, I'm trying to repay

the favour by finding out as much as I can in the hope that it may help

in some way.

Thanks so much

Kate

[Guest guest]

Hi, my husband was experiencing the cramps in his muscles and it got pretty bad. The docs checked his potassium, magnesium and calcium. They were all within normal ranges so they prescribed imipramine (a mild anti-depressant that has been around forever) and for whatever reason it really helped. They told us that if that didn't work there were a couple of other options but he's doing much better with the cramps.

Barbara (wife of , PSC 07)

Hi all,We have an appointment with the new doc next Wednesday, about an hour after the colonoscopy and gastroscopy so hopefully Brad won't be all 'pepped up on goof pills' (as he puts it) by that time. But as that is a whole week away, would you mind helping out with a couple of questions, please?1. I have been reading about oesophagul varices being a complication of cirrhosis and as Brad is only newly diagnosed with PSC (and had clean scans and clean biopsy just a few months ago), the fact they are seaching for these already is making me fret. His original scans did show an enlarged spleen so does the doc maybe suspect portal hypertension? Has anybody else had the doc look for these in them so early on in the piece? 2. Brad has had some pretty bad muscle cramps in his legs over the last 6-12 months - only about 4 times but he has been screaming, writhing and crying in pain for

their duration. I just read on e-medicine.com that these are common with cirrhosis. Anyone else know about this/suffered same?Once again, thank you all for letting me ask these questions. I am slowly piecing together what the docs have said to date, what I've found on the internet and all your advice and it just keeps raising so many questions. While Brad is working his butt off to support us, I'm trying to repay the favour by finding out as much as I can in the hope that it may help in some way.Thanks so much :)Kate

[Guest guest]

Hi, my husband was experiencing the cramps in his muscles and it got pretty bad. The docs checked his potassium, magnesium and calcium. They were all within normal ranges so they prescribed imipramine (a mild anti-depressant that has been around forever) and for whatever reason it really helped. They told us that if that didn't work there were a couple of other options but he's doing much better with the cramps.

Barbara (wife of , PSC 07)

Hi all,We have an appointment with the new doc next Wednesday, about an hour after the colonoscopy and gastroscopy so hopefully Brad won't be all 'pepped up on goof pills' (as he puts it) by that time. But as that is a whole week away, would you mind helping out with a couple of questions, please?1. I have been reading about oesophagul varices being a complication of cirrhosis and as Brad is only newly diagnosed with PSC (and had clean scans and clean biopsy just a few months ago), the fact they are seaching for these already is making me fret. His original scans did show an enlarged spleen so does the doc maybe suspect portal hypertension? Has anybody else had the doc look for these in them so early on in the piece? 2. Brad has had some pretty bad muscle cramps in his legs over the last 6-12 months - only about 4 times but he has been screaming, writhing and crying in pain for

their duration. I just read on e-medicine.com that these are common with cirrhosis. Anyone else know about this/suffered same?Once again, thank you all for letting me ask these questions. I am slowly piecing together what the docs have said to date, what I've found on the internet and all your advice and it just keeps raising so many questions. While Brad is working his butt off to support us, I'm trying to repay the favour by finding out as much as I can in the hope that it may help in some way.Thanks so much :)Kate

[Guest guest]

Hi, my husband was experiencing the cramps in his muscles and it got pretty bad. The docs checked his potassium, magnesium and calcium. They were all within normal ranges so they prescribed imipramine (a mild anti-depressant that has been around forever) and for whatever reason it really helped. They told us that if that didn't work there were a couple of other options but he's doing much better with the cramps.

Barbara (wife of , PSC 07)

Hi all,We have an appointment with the new doc next Wednesday, about an hour after the colonoscopy and gastroscopy so hopefully Brad won't be all 'pepped up on goof pills' (as he puts it) by that time. But as that is a whole week away, would you mind helping out with a couple of questions, please?1. I have been reading about oesophagul varices being a complication of cirrhosis and as Brad is only newly diagnosed with PSC (and had clean scans and clean biopsy just a few months ago), the fact they are seaching for these already is making me fret. His original scans did show an enlarged spleen so does the doc maybe suspect portal hypertension? Has anybody else had the doc look for these in them so early on in the piece? 2. Brad has had some pretty bad muscle cramps in his legs over the last 6-12 months - only about 4 times but he has been screaming, writhing and crying in pain for

their duration. I just read on e-medicine.com that these are common with cirrhosis. Anyone else know about this/suffered same?Once again, thank you all for letting me ask these questions. I am slowly piecing together what the docs have said to date, what I've found on the internet and all your advice and it just keeps raising so many questions. While Brad is working his butt off to support us, I'm trying to repay the favour by finding out as much as I can in the hope that it may help in some way.Thanks so much :)Kate