What does high ammonia levels mean
Common Questions and Answers about What does high ammonia levels mean
ammonia
My mother has cirrohsis and has ascites and is struggling with high ammonia levels. She is being treated with lactolose and for now it is bringing her levels down. She reached 102 a few days ago and the lactolose has returned her level to 54. I am trying to find out how how and ammonia level can go before it is considered toxic and will cause her to go into a coma? I am also wondering in advanced cirrohsis will the lactolose eventually be uneffective in bringing down the ammonia levels?
While elevated ammonia levels are seen in cirrhotic patients there can be encephalopathy with normal ammonia levels and there can also be no mental impairment in some patients with elevated ammonia levels. Basically, ammonia levels are of limited use for diagnosing cirrhosis or hepatic impairment. I would also think some other results of your blood work would have been out of range if you are cirrhotic or are suffering significant liver impairment.
I have very high blood ammonia levels and have heard the term "flap" in my research, what does it mean and what are the other main symptoms of these high levels?
Thank you for responding back Sir, ok what if they got out of the coma and started doing much better within days, and after three days their ammonia levels started rising, I noticed that she could understand what we were saying but couldn't respond back, did she know what we were saying, I mean, we would ask her questions and she would smile?
They finally diagnosed him yesterday with high ammonia levels. All other tests are clear liver etc are fine. He had been suffering with urine problems and constipation for a few months before this started. My question is how long before he comes back to normal as he still is hallucinating, has no memory, acts very childlike and generally disturbed ( hes usually perfectly healthy other than epilepsy which is controlled with medication.
His condition has been unchanged for 3 weeks. I called and asked what his ammonia levels were last week. The nurse gave me the run around and said they were within normal limits. Without the limits in fornt of me I don't know what they are. My husband went to Utah 2 days after I called, and all of a sudden they were checking ammonia levels and trating him with Lactolose, which I know is the appropriate Tx.
Patients with liver disease are unable to process or detoxify ammonia so that ammonia levels can reach dangerously high levels. This is coupled by increased ammonia production of colonic bacteria, especially if one is constipated or has an irregular bowel movement. High protein intake can also lead to an incresed ammonia production. I suggest you talk about these possibilities with your doctors.
At the age of 36 she had to have a complete gastrectomy(entire stomach removed) due to massive polyps. One year ago she started developing high ammonia levels, range from upper 60's to 110. Massive headaches seem to accompany the elevated levels. She has had liver function tests and biopsies for years now and have determined the problem isn't her liver. They prescribed lactulose and Xifaximim(antibiotic given to liver disease patients, might have the spelling wrong).
Prior to my transplant in 2001 my ammonia levels were very high and I had very bad encephalopathy. I wasn't allowed to be left aloe because of the danger I could hurt myself, try to cook and burn the house down, etc. And of course no driving. My grown children had to come and babysit for me when my husband couldn't be at home to watch me. It was much like having dementia. My reason for postig is that I hope your mother is not left aloe with such high ammonia levels.
We discovered that my husband had an episode of Encephalopathy, which is high ammonia in the blood.
But by the time we had his blood checked his levels were right smack in the middle of the range. Doctor said he was fine. So my question is can this ammonia gone untreated continue to rise and lower on its own. Because he has days that he seems fine and then days when he is not with me completely. He does not eat much as his taste buds are totally out of wack. Most foods taste very salty.
Hello Dragon~ I've never heard of the flavor taste etc. when your ammonia levels are high, you'll get headaches, confusion, anger from chem. imbalance and insomoa etc. as the side-effects of toxic overloads, I guess it might stand to reason that since other senses are effected, even eye-sight, that "taste" could be also...
I am so sorry to hear of your troubles, from what I know, and it isn't much, it takes time for the tx for high ammonia to start working.
Other people can smell when a person has high ammonia levels on their breath. I have never heard of a patient who could. As with other body smells, the patient is accustomed to their own smell and can not smell it.
The smell from ammonia buildup due to advanced liver disease is called "foetor hepaticus". It is the odor of the breath in patients with severe liver disease caused by volatile aromatic substances that accumulate in the blood and urine.
Anyone have elevated ammonia levels? Are you having any symptoms and at what level did your symptoms start? I just had my first ammonia screening done and the level came back 119, with less than 47 being the reference range. I'm not having any symptoms. This seems to be the story of my life. All of my labs are going whacky and I'm still feeling fine. I'm afraid one of these days it's all going to hit and I'll be a mess.
//www.medhelp.
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