Several medications can treat cirrhosis. Your doctor will choose the right one for you depending on your overall health, any allergies, and other important factors.
Cirrhosis is a liver condition that develops when there’s serious scarring on your liver. It can result from several other conditions that affect the liver.
There aren’t specific treatments to reverse scarring to your liver or cure cirrhosis. However, some medications can help slow down the progression of cirrhosis and might prevent severe complications, such as liver failure.
The medications your doctor prescribes for cirrhosis will depend on the underlying cause of your condition. Common options include:
- Ademetionine: Some people use ademetionine to treat
liver conditions and help improve bile flow. - Metadoxine: Metadoxine can help treat fatty liver disease.
- Ursodeoxycholic acid: Ursodeoxycholic acid helps your bile ducts and liver. It can prevent the formation of gallstones.
- Entecavir: Entecavir is an antiviral medication for treating hepatitis B.
- Lamivudine: Lamivudine is a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, a type of antiviral medication. It can treat hepatitis B and HIV.
- Telbivudine: Telbivudine is another option for the treatment of hepatitis B.
- Glecaprevir and pibrentasvir: Glecaprevir and pibrentasvir are antiviral medications used together as a treatment for hepatitis C.
- Sofosbuvir, velpatasvir, and voxilaprevir: Sofosbuvir, velpatasvir, and voxilaprevir are three additional antiviral medications that, when taken together, can treat chronic hepatitis C.
- Methionine: Methionine is an amino acid that can help prevent further damage to your liver.
- Interferon: Interferon can help build the immune system to treat the hepatitis virus.
Which medication is best for cirrhosis?
The best medication for cirrhosis depends on factors such as the condition that caused it and your overall health.
For instance, the best medication for someone with cirrhosis with an underlying cause of a genetic bile duct condition would likely not benefit from an antiviral medication that could help someone with cirrhosis resulting from hepatitis B.
Your doctor can pinpoint the best medication for your cirrhosis.
Before prescribing any medication, your doctor will consider the contraindications, or reasons that you may not be able to take certain medications. The contradictions for cirrhosis medications depend on any other medications you take, any other conditions you may have, and many other factors.
Contraindications for common cirrhosis medications include:
- Ademetionine: Doctors don’t recommend ademetionine for people with bipolar disorder, Parkinson’s disease, or diabetes.
- Metadoxine: Metadoxine isn’t safe if you’re pregnant or nursing.
- Ursodeoxycholic acid: Doctors don’t recommend ursodeoxycholic acid for people with complete bile duct obstructions.
- Entecavir: Caution is advised for people who’ve had a liver transplant, kidney transplant, or diagnosis of HIV.
- Lamivudine:
Lamivudine is safe for anyone who doesn’t have a known sensitivity to the drug. - Telbivudine: Telbivudine isn’t safe during pregnancy or while nursing.
- Glecaprevir and pibrentasvir: Combination glecaprevir and pibrentasvir medications aren’t intended for people with liver failure.
- Sofosbuvir, velpatasvir, and voxilaprevir: This combination treatment isn’t safe for people with hemoglobin blood cell disorder, kidney disease, or autoimmune hepatitis. Additionally, it’s not safe to take during pregnancy or while your sexual partner is pregnant.
- Methionine: Doctors don’t recommend methionine for people with severe liver disease.
- Interferon: Doctors don’t recommend interferon for people with severe depression.
Any medication can also interact with the medications you already take. Before starting any medication for cirrhosis, it’s important to tell your doctor about all medications, including vitamins and supplements, that you’re already taking.
Did you know?
Certain medications, including methotrexate and isoniazid, can also sometimes lead to cirrhosis.
Side effects can also depend on the medication you take. Some side effects of common cirrhosis medications include the following:
- Ademetionine can cause dizziness, diarrhea, constipation, nausea, vomiting, confusion, insomnia, anxiety, heart palpitations, or sweating.
- Metadoxine can cause muscle pain, racing heart, restlessness, dizziness, abdominal pain, diarrhea, or nausea.
- Ursodeoxycholic acid can cause nausea, diarrhea, abdominal pain, or fatigue.
- Entecavir can cause headache, dizziness, nausea, or fatigue.
- Lamivudine can cause muscle pain, weakness, anemia, liver failure, fat redistribution, or pancreatitis.
- Telbivudine can cause joint pain, gastrointestinal problems, fever, sleep trouble, or chest pain.
- Glecaprevir and pibrentasvir can cause headache or fatigue.
- Sofosbuvir, velpatasvir, and voxilaprevir can cause nausea, fever, chills, headache, muscle pain, weakness, anemia, fatigue, or mood changes.
- Methionine can cause nausea, vomiting, dizziness, fatigue, irritability, or low blood pressure.
- Interferon can cause trouble breathing, dizziness, weight changes, or depression.
Several underlying health conditions can lead to cirrhosis. Treatment plans for cirrhosis vary depending on the condition that causes it.
Available medications can help treat the underlying condition to prevent further damage to the liver and more severe complications. However, there isn’t a cure or a way to reverse liver scarring.
Your doctor can identify the best cirrhosis medication for you.