I, Hepatic Porphyrias, primarily affect the nervous system, which can result in: abdominal pain, vomiting, acute neuropathy, seizures, and mental disturbances that include: hallucinations, depression, anxiety, and paranoia. Often times I can be involved in Cardiac arrhythmias and tachycardia as the autonomic nervous system is affected by my presence in the body.
I can be diagnosed through tests on your blood, urine, and stool. The initial test for my presence in your body is through the estimation of porphobilinogen. More extensive testing is done usually done after thsi initial porphobilinogen estimation with spectroscopy and other chemical analyses. I am a rare condition, so normally this testing involves sending samples of blood, stool and urine to a reference laboratory. If the diagnosic suspicion is high, often times, empirical treatment is required.
If diagnosed with me, a high-carbohydrate diet is most commonly recommended. If I have reached you in a sever fashion, a glucose 10% infusion is commenced, which can in most cases help in recovery. If it is drugs that have caused the attack, is is always essential and to my dismay, to discontinue their use. I recommend that you take a look, and quickly, into visiting your local doctor or physician if you suspect that you have been infected with me. Once properly diagnosed they will be able to point you in the right direction for how you will be able to cope with my presence.
