Anyone know anything about livers?

[geetey]

Just wondering if anyone here on the DIS knows anything about livers?

Just some background, I have MS and have been under treatment for a couple of years. Based on the medication I take, I get blood work done on a regular basis. (both cholesterol meds and Avonex)

Here's my question.... on a routine check in April, my AST and ALT were both elevated. Since then, my numbers continue to climb despite stopping the cholesterol meds, limiting my diet, removing some pain meds, etc.... Anyone have any insight into what might be wrong? Or on treatment plans?

I have an ultrasound scheduled for Friday. My specialist will be back in town on Monday so he will be able to review these latest numbers (low 200s) and hopefully have some answers or ideas.

In the meantime, I figured I would ask the DIS.

 

[Philagoofy]

Sorry, I don't but I hope it's nothing to worry about. My husband has high liver enzymes and a fatty liver, has had biopsies but they can never find out what the problem is, why his enzymes are high, so since it's not getting worse, they suggest just keeping watch on it. Been like this for about 15-20 years now.

I don't know if this has anything to do with AST & ALT though.

I hope everything turns out ok for you.

 

[geetey]

Thanks for your reply! The AST and ALT are the actual liver enzymes that are elevated. Does your dh take anything for his liver? Have they changed any of his medication?

I am currently off of my cholesterol medication and my pain medication (for MS). Heck, I am even afraid to take an Advil!

Waiting for answers is the hardest part, I think.

 

[Mackey Mouse]

Hi Terry..

Just weighing in here, I do not know anything about the Liver.. Do they think it is because of cholesterol medicine??? I take it too and check my liver periodically, I thought that it was one of the side effects of the medication that liver numbers can escalate..

 

[Philagoofy]

Hi Terry,
My husband is on about 8-10 medications for various things. I don't think any of them are for his liver. I believe he does take something for cholestrol & as you both mentioned, you do have to monitor your liver. My husband sees several different types of doctors & I think he has gotten conflicting reports as to what to stay away from, it may have been Advil but as I said, he's had this problem for maybe 20 years & just had a biopsy a few months ago & it showed no significant changes so they didn't really adjust anything.

Anyway, hopefully by now you have some answers & I hope it's good news. Take care.

 

[geetey]

Thanks for the replies. The doctors thought the elevated numbers were being caused by my cholesterol meds, but also said it wouldn't be typical since I had been on my lipitor over 1 year. It seems elevation typically occurs within 3-6 months of a new medication.

What's really weird with me is the change of my numbers since I have been taken off my medication. The numbers continue to climb higher and higher. I have had my levels checked every 2 weeks since April.

Of course Avonex (my MS medication) also causes side effects with the liver but no one wants to change that one. There just aren't many medication options in the MS world.

Here's hoping the ultrasound on Friday will answer some questions! Thanks for your support!

 

[jann1033]

ok can i ask you a really indelicate question ..are you having any other symptoms?
i ask mainly for myself since well just say Number 2 is canary yellow and i was wondering if that could somehow be connected with liver ( thinking jaundice = yellow, don't know what else is "yellow" except that ). last i went in my liver was "better" than a while back but not sure what did that( not sure what made it bad or better, diabetes, cholesterol or bp med ) i am changing drs right now and am going to have to brave it out and ask him but the appointment is not till next month. just wonder if anyone ever heard of such a thing since i can't seem to find it online(googled under "odd" & "yellow" dukky" but got "no results" )
i amaze myself about what i will ask due to online anonymity

 

[geetey]

LOL, jann! Nope - nothing out of the ordinary there. I was told to watch for a strong yellow color in my urine, as well as yellow eyes. I drink a lot of water so things are clear for me.

I did find this on the web....
Yellow: One condition that can cause yellow poop is an infection known as giardia, a dangerous infection that can spread to others. Another cause of yellow poop may be a condition known as Gilbert's syndrome. See your doctor if you are consistently seeing yellow poop

I hope your new doctor can get you back to a normal color.

 

[katelynsmommy2001]

My grandma just went through a liver transplant on Thursday due to a inherited disease called NASH's syndrome. Basically it is non-acoholic cirrosis of the liver. The docs said everything was successful & she will make a full recovery. She has lost a grandmother,her mother, & 2 sisters to this disease. And 2 sisters and her brothers still fighting it!!

Somethings she had were, dark very strong urine, light almost white BM's,at the latter stages disorientation,constant sleeping,very weak, her sodium levels were whacked out, & high ammonia levels in her blood!! She also did have a slight yellow tint to her skin (it worsened when she was sicker) and a slight yelow tinit to her eyes!!

Watch out for all of those signs & have those enzymes tested regularly!!

Pixie dust & Hugs!!

 

[jann1033]

thanks i'll check those 2 out.

 

[geetey]

My grandma just went through a liver transplant on Thursday due to a inherited disease called NASH's syndrome. Basically it is non-acoholic cirrosis of the liver. The docs said everything was successful & she will make a full recovery. She has lost a grandmother,her mother, & 2 sisters to this disease. And 2 sisters and her brothers still fighting it!!

Somethings she had were, dark very strong urine, light almost white BM's,at the latter stages disorientation,constant sleeping,very weak, her sodium levels were whacked out, & high ammonia levels in her blood!! She also did have a slight yellow tint to her skin (it worsened when she was sicker) and a slight yelow tinit to her eyes!!

Watch out for all of those signs & have those enzymes tested regularly!!

Pixie dust & Hugs!!

Yikes a mama!! Thanks for the heads up, Carrie. He did mention NASH as a possible reason but I had no idea it could be so serious. I had my ultrasound done on Friday but they said the results won't get to the doctor's office until Monday. I hope I get a call on Monday with some results and the next step in this liver journey.

So far, no yellow tints for me and normal urine color. Fatigue is always an issue with MS so maybe I get a double whammy of that. I hate the 'wait and see' mode.

 

[CDoobee]

Hi,

I've had elevated liver enzymes for a few years now. Had a hepatitis blood test a couple of times, which was always negative. The enzymes were never real high, so my doctor didn't worry about it.

About February-May of last year, I started with symptoms of decreased appetite, vomiting, hair loss, rash, etc. At the time I was going through a lot of stress due to my DD being critically ill. My enzymes got higher and higher, and I felt worse and worse. My urine had blood in it all the time, I ran fevers, had extreme fatigue. An ultrasound showed fatty liver. I had a skin bilpsy that showed 3 possibilities, one being lupus. In July, I had a liver biopsy which showed "bridging fibrosis", which is scarring and a step above cirrhosis. The pathologist at SLU (where they sent the specimen, not me) had my liver doc question me about my drinking habits since he said my liver looked like that of a heavy drinker! I've never been much of a drinker at all, maybe a frou-frou frozen daiquiri every month or two! I haven't had any alcohol at all since Feb. of '06 when this all started.

I STILL don't have a definitive diagnosis. They have been thinking lupus, autoimmune hepatitis, some other form of vasculitis, possibly NASH, they just don't know. I was put on Prednisone last July and felt better for a while (other than the side effects). I was taken off of it in October (I think?) and eventually started losing my appetite, vomiting, rash got worse, etc. I was started back on it in January and have now been weaned down to a low daily dose, and am doing okay except for the fatigue, shortness of breath. My kidneys have cleared up on their own! I'm seeing a specialist at SLU next month, where they will HOPEFULLY give me a diagnosis!

Here's hoping you have better luck than me in getting a diagnosis!! Keep us informed!

 

[jann1033]

Yikes a mama!! Thanks for the heads up, Carrie. He did mention NASH as a possible reason but I had no idea it could be so serious. I had my ultrasound done on Friday but they said the results won't get to the doctor's office until Monday. I hope I get a call on Monday with some results and the next step in this liver journey.

So far, no yellow tints for me and normal urine color. Fatigue is always an issue with MS so maybe I get a double whammy of that. I hate the 'wait and see' mode.

i have cfs( so disabling fatigue and i go way back, i wouldn't call us friends but we are way to close acquaintances imo ) and when i developed diabetes the fatigue was of a different kind layered on top of the cfs fatigue...don't know if that would be the same with ms and liver fatigue or not but i could tell a difference, not just more fatigued but it felt different as well and it came from different things, cfs it gets worse but is always there, diabetes it'd notice i was out of breath when i went up stairs etc...very weird, i thought something had damaged my heart cause my mom gets that with cardiac problems but once the diabetes is treated it's ditched me while the cfs exhaustion remains "loyal"

 

[CDoobee]

Any news, Terry?? Inquiring minds want to know!!

 

[geetey]

No news on this front. I guess I will have to call the doctor tomorrow since I haven't heard from them.

Debbie, I just heard that SLU has a #1 liver center. Is that where you will be going? My gast. doc is based at St John's. My MS doc is down at Big Barnes (yikes - the traffic!). I was hoping this might be a quick fix thing that could be handled close to home, but I don't know if that will work out.

Do you mind sharing what your liver numbers are? My AST is 205; my ALT is 195. I was in the 120s back in April. Previously my numbers were always 40 for both - stayed like that for numerous years.

 

[CDoobee]

No news on this front. I guess I will have to call the doctor tomorrow since I haven't heard from them.

Debbie, I just heard that SLU has a #1 liver center. Is that where you will be
going? My gast. doc is based at St John's. My MS doc is down at Big Barnes (yikes - the traffic!). I was hoping this might be a quick fix thing that could be handled close to home, but I don't know if that will work out.

Do you mind sharing what your liver numbers are? My AST is 205; my ALT is 195. I was in the 120s back in April. Previously my numbers were always 40 for both - stayed like that for numerous years.

PM on its way!

 

[geetey]

Still no news today but now I know why. The lady in charge of the test results is out of the office until tomorrow. I left a message in reply and should get a call back tomorrow.

 

[katelynsmommy2001]

I didn't even realize when I posted that you are from the STL area. My grandma is at barnes!! She is recovering slowly, but recovering just the same!! Hopefully you will get good results back!!

 

[TruBlu]

Hi everyone! I am very glad to have found this thread. I am dealing with the same problem right now. I've been having undiagnosed problems since last October. A couple of months ago my liver enzymes started to creep up. They continue to rise, but are still not considered really high (sorry I can't remember the numbers). Now my anti-smooth muscle is up, so my docs are suspecting something autoimmune. The worst part for me is that I have a lot of burning pain in the left upper quadrant, pain in my chest, and pain behind my left shoulder blade. I am really worried about pancreas, but so far nothing has shown up. I also have swollen lymph nodes. Anyone else have that problem?

 

[jann1033]

Hi everyone! I am very glad to have found this thread. I am dealing with the same problem right now. I've been having undiagnosed problems since last October. A couple of months ago my liver enzymes started to creep up. They continue to rise, but are still not considered really high (sorry I can't remember the numbers). Now my anti-smooth muscle is up, so my docs are suspecting something autoimmune. The worst part for me is that I have a lot of burning pain in the left upper quadrant, pain in my chest, and pain behind my left shoulder blade. I am really worried about pancreas, but so far nothing has shown up. I also have swollen lymph nodes. Anyone else have that problem?

wondered what happened with you, sorry you still are up in the air about this.my lymph nodes are always swollen but that's the cfs.

have they successfully ruled anything out?