This is a good question for your health care professional.
None of us in any of the forums are doctors and maybe just a handful of medical professionals.
Mostly we are a community of patients and their care givers coming together in mutual support in dealing with our medical conditions and treatments.
Good luck
patra, thanks or the help, I'm new to this tech.
Hi, Allen, Welcome to the Forum. Are you a Hepatitis C patient? This is the Hepatitis C Community.
I looked at your home page and saw no reference to hepc.
You might have more success looking in the Blood Disorders Community, where people are more aware of those issues.
This Forum generally only knows about Labs having to do with hepc.
Go to the top of the thread, above the Tree of Helping Hands, on the blue band. Select 'Communities'. When the drop down box arrives read down the list to find blood disorders (or any topic) and touch that and there you will be.
IF this IS Hep C related, I suggest you go to the top of the page, under the Tree of Helping Hands, select the green 'Ask a question' button, and list you question there to get more exposure. This is a very old thread, not even used since Jan 2008.
Whichever way you go, good luck and good treating.
Hi, I'm a 53 year old male and my ammonia blood test just came back at 89 umol/L. I bellieve the normal range is 10-45. I'm also taking Valproic Acid (2500 mg/ day), Lamictal (300 mg/ day) and Dilantin (500 mg/day) for seizures. All my other blood tests are in range. Can anyone tell me if this is a dangerously high level, i.e., liver or kidney damaging?
Hi, I'm a 53 year old male and my ammonia blood test just came back at 89 umol/L. I bellieve the normal range is 10-45. I'm also taking Valproic Acid (2500 mg/ day), Lamictal (300 mg/ day) and Dilantin (500 mg/day) for seizures. All my other blood tests are in range. Can anyone tell me if this is a dangerously high level, i.e., liver or kidney damaging?
Ahhh, didn't know the varices and elevated ammonia went hand in hand. I'm a stage 3-4, genotype 1a. So did you have any problem with the treatment because of the varices? Any bleeding at all? I'm still having a problem getting a handle on all of this. We're figuring I could have had this since about 1969 when I had blood transfusions following a car accident and this is the first time any of my labs have been other than normal. No signs of this at all.
I know everyone is different but do most docs just treat symptoms as they appear or do they treat before the problems start? I'm being hounded by my sister who wants to know what's going on and she just can't seem to understand that I can't give her answers and at this point I don't want to discuss it every time I talk to her. I guess she wants to know if she should start preparing for the worst. Does the disease progress really fast once your labs start to change, meaning other things are becoming involved? I'm just clueless about all of this.
Thanks for the input.
by the time I realized the symptoms of hepatic encepholopathy (elevated ammonia). I already had varices, which is what they'll be looking for when you have your endoscopy. I also had ascites, both of which are early signs of severe liver disease. Have you recently had a biopsy or some type of imaging to determine your grade/stage of inflamation and fibrosis?
by the way lactulose is the solution to lower your ammonia level.
kcmike