ammonia was Re: Memory ?

[Guest guest]

I've had my ammonia levels checked a bunch of times, I get CK,

lactate and pyruvate and ammonia checked every six months or so.

I've never had elevated ammonia (luckily, or unluckily if I only have

it during an episode so they don't catch it), but have had high

lactate twice and almost always have a really high (over 100)

lactate/pyruvate ratio.

I've had episodes last for hours, but usually they are at night.

During the day, I might have hundreds of momentary episodes, but

be " okay " otherwise.

Blood tests for ammonia are annoying, they have to put it immediately

on ice, so my local doctor won't draw it, have to go to the hospital.

Today, I was reading something about wine, and I read it and thought

the word one instead (they sound the same sort of), so I really got

lost, lol. I seem to do much better with numbers and calculations

than words and conversation, but I've only blanked on song lyrics

once (mini-stroke, couldn't speak either or untie my shoes). Some of

these things seem funny in retrospect (when not at my worst),

although yesterday I got weak when holding the baby, and had to put

her on the floor and try to be cognizant enough not to let her crawl

down the stairs. Too weak to yell to my husband a few rooms away,

any advice for house intercoms that would have a unit small enough to

carry around?

Take care,

RH

> I have had elevated ammonia levels in my blood. This is due to

liver

> failure. Various liver failures can lead to elevated ammonia due

to hepatic

> dysfunction. Ammonia is a poison that affects the brain. It is

hepatic

> encephalopathy. You can go into a coma and die from it.

Confusion and

> short term memory loss are a symptom, as are other CNS symptoms.

Not

> everyone with mito has elevated ammonia levels and it comes only

from liver

> function.

>

> -

>

> -- Re: Re: Memory ?

>

> In a message dated 1/26/2004 3:50:11 PM Eastern Standard Time,

> rakshasis@e... writes:

> Yes, I have memory problems too. It sounds like most of us have

> short-term memory issues, which I also have. Sometimes I think of

> what I want to say, and I say the wrong word. It might sound the

> same (noodle instead of nimble) or be related or opposite (summer

> instead of winter, now instead of later). Some of my relatives

> say 'So do I, and nothing's wrong with me!', but it happens 100's

of

> times some days. That's enough to impact my work and family life.

> I had a neuro appt yesterday and she said that some mito patients

have

> elevated ammonia levels when their memory problems are acutely

worse. She

> wrote me a script to get this done the next time this is an issue.

I had

> never heard of this before, but thought it was interesting.

> Malisa

>

>

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