Cirrhosis Symptoms

Cirrhosis symptoms

        No matter the type of liver disease you think you have, the symptoms are somewhat similar to a lot of other conditions out there, making them harder to differentiate and, therefore, more dangerous for your health.

       Cirrhosis symptoms have been classified in many, many categories, based on type of symptom, origin, point of manifestation and order of appearance. The most important classification used by medical doctors is the point of manifestation one. However, that does not say a lot to an unknowledgeable person. Which is why, for regular people, the easiest way to identify cirrhosis symptoms is by order of appearance.

       Firstly, the dreaded fatigue appears. You start to lose track of the time you spend laying down, just wishing you could recuperate your strength. Next, your focus diminishes and your work is affected, which leads to stress and the destruction of your peace of mind.

       Nausea is the following step in the pathology of this disease: you cannot consume anything or just certain things, whatever little you eat makes your stomach turn. The nausea can be sign of a number of other affections: high or low blood pressure, diabetes and even pancreatitis. Of course, fatigue and nausea can appear in the first trimester of pregnancy, so you should have your attending physician check for that as well, if you are a woman, naturally.

       As expected, if you cannot eat or rest, you will soon suffer from general weakness and weight loss. No matter how much you will try, without the proper medication and diagnosis, and sometimes even with it, your loss of appetite, almost permanent stomach upset and general exhaustion will not disappear. Sometimes, associated with the exhaustion is another of the most dreaded cirrhosis symptoms out there: general pain. Breathing, eating, moving and even laying down, everything in your body hurts without any logical explanation.

       However, all these cirrhosis symptoms are simply circumstantial evidence. The real signs show up a little too late most of the times, when your liver is already sick. The first modification you should be aware of is the enlargement of your abdominal cavity. There are multiple reasons for it: ascites (the accumulation of fluid in your peritoneal cavity, between the stomach wall and the abdomen wall), enlarged liver (while this might not be visible for the uninitiated, it will be one of the first things you medical doctor looks for when he or she palpates your abdomen) and an enlarged spleen (this one is painful, not easy to ignore).

       What you have to keep in mind is that cirrhosis is a systemic disease, attacking not only your liver, but everything else connected with it, meaning your entire body. If you suffer from this illness, you will notice your ankles swelling, your skin turning a disturbing shade of yellow (the physicians call it jaundice) and even some unexplained excoriations (abrasions on you skin). In rarer cases, your muscles could undergo some deterioration and you could lose control of the functions associated with those muscles.

       One symptom that could be mistaken for a warning of leukemia is the sudden appearance of bruises. However, if it is accompanied by bleeding easily and in large amounts, it is most certainly cirrhosis and not leukemia.

       Men can notice an enlargement of their breasts, turning from toned and firm into droopy and even flask.

Psychological cirrhosis symptoms

       While all of the above can be determined by specialists and physical tests, there are some symptoms that only a psychiatrist or psychologist can understand: a cirrhosis patient goes through a series of mental transformations that can be unsettling both for the sufferer and those around him. Some persons experience personality changes, from mild to severe, depending on their previous state of mental health. Others display degraded mental functions, neglecting their personal appearance and forgetting essential things.

        Unresponsiveness to stimuli and trouble concentrating are other symptoms that indicate cirrhosis, while a change in sleep patterns can be caused by the medication the patient ingests.