B1 deficiency

[barbubblie]

My mother has hep c and has been being treated with interferon since last October. She has been drinking alcohol since november while on this treatment. She starves herself and has severe vomiting. She has been "losing her mind" over the last 4 mths. Yesterday her doctor took her off of the interferon because of her alcohol use during treatment. Apparently she had told him she wasn't drinking. She has severe vitamin b1 deficiency, and the doctor has put her on thiamon. My question is, Can the inerferon treatment enhance her b1 deficiency. Also she has been having grand mall epileptic seizures. Can this be caused by the interferon treatment or the b1 deficiency. I am trying to correlate all relative factors of her mental state of being and in looking on the net I am unable to find any articles relating to all of these factors. Any assistance in my questions would be greatly appreciated. With the new privacy laws, I cannot contact her doctor ( I live far away from her) to discuss her situation, so it makes it hard for me to give and get information. Any links you can provide to me for research are greatly appreciated.

sincerely
Kimberly

[barbubblie]

I am aware that the alcohol abuse is causing the b1 deficiency, but I was also curious if the interferon treatment can accelerate the onset of Wernicke-Korsakoff (B1 deficiency) Syndrome. There are so many factors relating to her problems, and she most definately cannot drink anymore, in addition to the fact that she is also addicted to oxycontin. She is also having seizures, so there are alot of issues to deal with. And unfortunately, they all stem from her alcohol and drug use, including her hep c (iv drug user 30 yrs ago). I guess that I'm  just hoping that now that she is on b1 therapy and off the interferon, she will recover sooner from the Wernicke-Korsakoff (B1 deficiency) Syndrome. Thank you so much for your input. She is just so messed up, and I feel so helpless because I know that until she decides to help herself, there isn't anything myself or anyone else can do to help her. It's just frustrating.

Kimberly

[cuteus]

I found this url that has a comprehensive explanation. it seems like a good place to start. the concominant hep c infection coupled with her addictions must be very taxing on her liver. what did her biopsy show?

[MajNeni]

Even with the new privacy laws, you, as concerned daughter, can give info to mom's doc.  So if you think the doc does not know she's drinking, you should give this info.  Mom's in bad shape, and the doc's need to make informed decisions. Maybe you can get your mom to sign off on a release to allow you to get info from your doc, as next of kin.  Good luck.
Maj Neni

[cuteus]

I do mot have a lot of information for you on that, but I am aware that alcohol abuse can and does cause brain cell damage, so I would be more inclined to believe that her symptoms are alcohol related. vit b deficiency can be common in alcohol abusers also. That might be why you can't find a correlation bt interferon and the symptoms she is experiencing. The meds might aggravate certain conditions but the cause probably lies somewhere else.  She needs to face her addiction before she can face her illness. Best of luck with this, keep us updated and in mind when more doubts arise.

[cuteus]

Well! sorry about that, I copied it and forgot to paste...lol. sorry again; "I forgot" has become my mantra lately or should it be foggot? http://tpis.upmc.edu/tpis/dlp/Chap7frame.html
a possible suggestion would be to engage the assistance of Adult protective services to assist in her medical decissions, they can do a mini mental assessment, and take it from there. Your mother has the best asset: you.
GL.

[oldhippiechick67]

I know only too well what you are going thru with your mother, I had somewhat the same experience, my mom drank heavily after my dad died, she didnt have Hep C, but she lost her appetite and would rather drink.  My sister and I were clueless cuz we both lived away from home.  She ended up falling and breaking her hip, when my sister found her it was a day or so later.  Anyways, while she was in the hospital we found all the empty bottles etc, her little secret was <OUT>! Anyways, you should go to Al Anon meetings, they are helpful to those who are related or involved in an alchoholic's life.  Her having seizures is serious also. There has to be some crisis hotlines in your area where you can call and get connected to services that are available to help you.  Your mom needs help and like you said, she has to get it, or her physical condition will worsen.  But you can maybe find the numbers and agencies that can help her, give her a place to start.  Also, a thing I learned at those meetings was "You didnt cause it, you cant cure it, and you arent to blame for any of it"  I think thats how it went!  My mom just didnt want to get well, she went to a treatment center and quit drinking for a little while but she ended up drinking and dying from it.  She just had no reason to live any longer.  I thought seeing her grandkids grow up would be at least some inspiration.  But sometimes people just get tired of living, so you have to accept that.  It (death) comes in God's time, not ours. Her addiction to oxycotin, her nausea and vomiting, starving herself (from the drinking most likely
and being on interferon and ??Was she on ribavirin also??  that is enough to make ya feel like you are losing your mind.  She should have never drank while on the tx, but I have heard that some folks do.  Their chances of clearing the virus/killing the HepC probably decreases.  Docs are often so busy they dont really know their patients very well.  You need to encourage her to tell her doc about her symptoms and issues. Although her B1 deficiency can be a problem, the alcoholism and seizures and malnourishment is far more life threatening.  If she says she is quitting, or hasnt had a drink, tend NOT to believe her, quitting is extremely difficult.  So, best of luck to you and your mom.

[barbubblie]

her liver biop came back normal, unreal huh!? but... my aunt who is an rn says that even though your tests come back as not elevated, when you have all of the problems she has there can be other liver issues that can hidden by other problems?! I think that's what she was saying??, unfortunately I do not understand half of the medical jargain she spiels out.lol. As far as telling her dr. about the drinking, he found that out yesterday, that is why he took her off the interferon. When calling the dr. regarding my mother, they cannot even divulge that she is a patient. Unless I physically go to an appointment with her to express my concerns, they cannot even discuss her with me. And, unfortunately, the B1 deficiency has impaired her mental ability to such a degree, I could not trust that she would sign a release form w/ her dr. so he can discuss her case with me. Basically I'm being told that I have to have a court order declaring her unable to care for herself before they can give me full disclosure of her condition. I'm tellin ya, this whole situation is a huge mess. I am going down to see her @ the end of the week, and I'm hoping that I will be able to get in to see her dr. while I'm there. Ya know it's a terrible thing, but it's so frustrating trying to deal with this situation objectively, knowing that her life choices has caused this entire meltdown. It sucks. I know she's in a bad way right now but I really am trying to look @ this whole situation from a medical stand point before the emotional makes me angry. By the way, I forgot to mention that my mom is only 52. Please don't think I am being heartless where she is concerned. It's just very hard to deal with.

thanks for your help
Kimberly

[barbubblie]

what was that url? it did not come up on the comments.

thanks again
Kimberly

[new-sojourn]

Elevated ammonia levels can be causing the mental problems.  Even sub-clinaical encephalopathy can cuase the depression, mood swings, forgetfulness and deeply impair rational thinking.  Poor grooming.  Defensive behavior.  Out of wack emotions.  Look up heptic encephalopathy.

To bad she is unwilling to quit drinking and take care of herself.  Actually, quitting drinking was incredibly easy when the icu doc said that I would die, literaly, if I didn't quit.  So I did.  Just like that.  And I had gone thru treatment-in patient and out patient for various chemical addictions.  All I was looking for was some releif from the unbearably depression and mental incomprehension.  I was never hyngry, either.

B/the thing was. for me, once I successfully tx'ed the hep c, cl'ing a 25yr+ transfused hep c infection, the depression was gone.  Nothing else in my life had changed, except the virus was gone.  And great parts of my memory came back.  And I'm a 57yr old female w/a liver that failed and esophigal varicies burst and the ammonia levels sent me into a coma before I was even tested for hep c.  So. anything is possible, if the will is strong enuf.