Elevated liver enzymes???

[The Mystery Machine]

Yes...my Dr. is getting hysterical about that with me too. Hurtful words like "obese" are being thrown around . I'm a size 10 - who knew? But like you I've been ordered to drop 25lbs immediately.

I was in real trouble with my ALL test numbers last yr. I had breast cancer and the 33 rads I had to do freaked my body out to the max. I am still recovering.

I had a Mayo Liver specialist show me the FAT on my liver via an MRI. Yea, that was my special moment.

 

[ronandannette]

Fish oil will hit those triglycerides like a rocket. Knowing what I know now, everyone should take fish oil.It is unbelievable how much it can help.

I am on a low dose statin, Lipitor. No issues.

I'm willing to get on that TODAY. Any specific product recommendations?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I'm willing to get on that TODAY. Any recommendations?

One pill a day. My dh is on this. His triglycerides went from 500 to normal range. He is also affected by statins. He had a heart attack and triple bypass in 2012. This is what the lipid clinic at our cardiologist recommended. So I assure you the source is pretty vetted here.

I take a synthetic, called Vascepa, prescribed by my lipid specialists because I cannot swallow that NatureMade pill. It is BIG.

 

[ronandannette]

One pill a day. My dh is on this. His triglycerides went from 500 to normal range. He is also affected by statins. He had a heart attack and triple bypass in 2012. This is what the lipid clinic at our cardiologist recommended. So I assure you the source is pretty vetted here.

I take a synthetic, called Vascepa, prescribed by my lipid specialists because I cannot swallow that NatureMade pill. It is BIG.

Thanks. I think NatureMade products are available here - I'm out to find it after church this morning. Question though: I just need Omega 3, not 3-6-9?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Thanks. I think NatureMade products are available here - I'm out to find it after church this morning. Question though: I just need Omega 3, not 3-6-9?

I have not looked into other supplements really. We are just at step 1 taking what it is prescribed. (LOL)

 

[DawnM]

You have to lose weight. I mean, you have to get skinny. It FREAKING SUCKS.

I am down 12lbs. I have 20 to go. I am getting my blood draw this week, so we will see how much it changed.

My liver ducts are inflamed and my liver is inflamed. I had a CAT and a MRI last yr. That was ugly info for me. I have to get serious about it now.

I have more than 32 pounds to lose. I am afraid to even go have it checked. UGH. But I bet mine is too. I am having all sorts of issues right now.

So, tell me exactly what you are doing? Low carb? Low fat? Low calorie? Taking fish oil. Eating fish? Any other supplements?

UGH!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I have more than 32 pounds to lose. I am afraid to even go have it checked. UGH. But I bet mine is too. I am having all sorts of issues right now.

So, tell me exactly what you are doing? Low carb? Low fat? Low calorie? Taking fish oil. Eating fish? Any other supplements?

UGH!

I started taking synthetic fish oil, Vascepa, 8-9 months ago. Reason I take that is because they are small. I cannot swallow the other fish oil's because the pills are too large for me.

I am taking low dose of Liptor. Low is the way to go with a statin.

The hardest part is diet. I try to eat lean protein, fruits, and veggies everyday as a goal, no matter what happened the night before. (I am a Bread Monster.) I think of it as a "Modified Paleo".

I eat oatmeal or cream of wheat PLAIN every morning. I think of myself as Reese Witherspoon in the movie "Wild" as I eat it. If you have NOT seen that movie, it is a pretty raw emotional movie.

I am trying to tweak my protein to 3 eggs a week.

And that is about the point I am at. I have PT exercises to do as well.

 

[DawnM]

I started taking synthetic fish oil, Vascepa, 8-9 months ago. Reason I take that is because they are small. I cannot swallow the other fish oil's because the pills are too large for me.

I am taking low dose of Liptor. Low is the way to go with a statin.

The hardest part is diet. I try to eat lean protein, fruits, and veggies everyday as a goal, no matter what happened the night before. (I am a Bread Monster.) I think of it as a "Modified Paleo".

I eat oatmeal or cream of wheat PLAIN every morning. I think of myself as Reese Witherspoon in the movie "Wild" as I eat it. If you have NOT seen that movie, it is a pretty raw emotional movie.

I am trying to tweak my protein to 3 eggs a week.

And that is about the point I am at. I have PT exercises to do as well.

What does plain oatmeal mean? No fruit added? No milk? I can have oatmeal with stevia and blueberries, but I usually add milk or almond milk. That should not matter if those things are ok on the eating plan, right?

 

[goofyernmost]

You have to lose weight. I mean, you have to get skinny. It FREAKING SUCKS.

I am down 12lbs. I have 20 to go. I am getting my blood draw this week, so we will see how much it changed.

My liver ducts are inflamed and my liver is inflamed. I had a CAT and a MRI last yr. That was ugly info for me. I have to get serious about it now.

I haven't seen skinny since I was 1 year old. Must be more to it then that.

 

[DawnM]

I haven't seen skinny since I was 1 year old. Must be more to it then that.

I think it is the whole package......eating right AND being thin. I mean, my husband is thin and he has some health concerns as well. Nothing serious, but aging stuff.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

What does plain oatmeal mean? No fruit added? No milk? I can have oatmeal with stevia and blueberries, but I usually add milk or almond milk. That should not matter if those things are ok on the eating plan, right?

Oh yea. I don't add anything because I spend my sugar on my coffee. It is my trade off.

Also adding more means eating more of it, lol.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I haven't seen skinny since I was 1 year old. Must be more to it then that.

Yes of course. There are other components to it. It is very complex, which is why I see a lipid specialist. I have metabolic disorder.

My point I am trying to make is that you have to diet to get the fat off your liver, literally. You have to shrink it. My liver was very fatty and I am not overweight by a ton either. You have to get a CAT scan or MRI to know how fatty your liver is.

The fat on me sits right on top of my liver like a huge blob. The nice doctor pointed it out on my scans that I have to loose 20+lbs to get that fat off my liver. This was from a liver specialist at Mayo Clinic in AZ. This is top dog in the knowledge dept. as far as I am concerned. I am going to take his word for it.

 

[DawnM]

Yes of course. There are other components to it. It is very complex, which is why I see a lipid specialist. I have metabolic disorder.

My point I am trying to make is that you have to diet to get the fat off your liver, literally. You have to shrink it. My liver was very fatty and I am not overweight by a ton either. You have to get a CAT scan or MRI to know how fatty your liver is.

The fat on me sits right on top of my liver like a huge blob. The nice doctor pointed it out on my scans that I have to loose 20+lbs to get that fat off my liver. This was from a liver specialist at Mayo Clinic in AZ. This is top dog in the knowledge dept. as far as I am concerned. I am going to take his word for it.

Interesting. I went to some concierge doctor my husband's work paid for. He said I have metabolic syndrome. Is that the same as a metabolic disorder? Maybe not. He just said, "lose weight" but not much else.

Dh is at Costco right now and I have asked him to pick up some fish oil pills, and several lean meat items and veggies.

Do you use any protein drinks?

 

[DLgal]

Fish oil will hit those triglycerides like a rocket. Knowing what I know now, everyone should take fish oil.It is unbelievable how much it can help.

I am on a low dose statin, Lipitor. No issues.

My husband takes fish oil pills and low dose Lipitor also for years now and has had no side effects and his cholesterol is stable in the normal range.

 

[DLgal]

Yes of course. There are other components to it. It is very complex, which is why I see a lipid specialist. I have metabolic disorder.

My point I am trying to make is that you have to diet to get the fat off your liver, literally. You have to shrink it. My liver was very fatty and I am not overweight by a ton either. You have to get a CAT scan or MRI to know how fatty your liver is.

The fat on me sits right on top of my liver like a huge blob. The nice doctor pointed it out on my scans that I have to loose 20+lbs to get that fat off my liver. This was from a liver specialist at Mayo Clinic in AZ. This is top dog in the knowledge dept. as far as I am concerned. I am going to take his word for it.

I think this may be my issue too. I store all my fat right in my abdomen, like above my belly button . It's awful. I look pregnant but I don't feel that much overweight. I wear a size 10 pants and Medium tops. I weigh 150 at 5'3" but I also have a muscular build.

I have made myself a goal to lose 25lbs. I have been wanting to lose weight but not really had the motivation to do so until now that it seems I probably have a fatty liver. I'm not okay just continuing like that with no action. My kids drive me to be at my very best health and that realization of having bloodwork NOT come back "normal" has been a huge wake up call.

Thanks for your very helpful posts. I have been dieting this past week with good results so far and cutting sugar WAY down hasn't been as hard as I thought.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

Red yeast rice is also a good supplement to help with cholesterol levels.

As for a medication other than statins, the doctor I worked for would prescribe cholestyramine powder. Insurance companies don’t like paying for it but if you have an allergy down in your chart for statins it was usually covered.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

A few years ago I had to take a family member to the Pancreas and Biliary Center at Mass General Hospital for something. I got talking to one of the health team members there about Fatty Liver Disease. They were quite alarmed about it, saying it's become epidemic now that so many people are significantly overweight. The gist of it was that losing weight, as others here have said, is key. I really don't know a ton about it but here are some links if people are interested.

http://www.massgeneral.org/gastroenterology/assets/pdf/Fatty_Liver_NAFLD_info.pdf

http://www.massgeneral.org/gastroenterology/services/fatty_liver_clinic.aspx

This addresses how much weight should be lost in order to reverse some of the inflammation of the liver in NAFLD:

http://www.massgeneral.org/digestive/news/fatty-liver-enewsletter/frequently-asked-questions.aspx

 

[Pea-n-Me]

What might the "something else" be? I've just been through another physical where my Dr. insisted on writing an prescription for Crestor, after I've flat-out told him I won't take it. I've tried Crestor, really tried, 3 times already. Don't know what it did for my cholesterol but within a week every bone in my body aches and within a month I'm so brain-foggy it's intolerable. Both symptoms clear up pretty quickly after I stop. I just simply can't deal with the side effects and I've informed my doctor. Never has an alternate therapy been offered. Google is full of Crestor horror stories but also doesn't turn up any clear alternative, except I've read a bit about niacin.

https://www.uptodate.com/contents/high-cholesterol-treatment-options-beyond-the-basics

 

[Christine]

I've not been too much overweight or had too poor of a diet but as I got into my 40s (now I'm in my 50s), I noticed my naturally low cholesterol had crept up. When I had it done last year it was about 216 (fortunately my ratio was good). I then decided to lose some weight. I weighed about 156 lbs (I'm 5'7"), rapidly approaching 160, and I just felt blubbery, but not necessarily "large" if that makes sense. I was wearing a size 10 which I always have, but in my head I knew it was worse than that because of vanity sizing. It was probably more like a size 14 from back in the day!! So, I didn't do anything fancy, just decided to figure out how much I was eating (well over 2500 calories a day and worse on weekends). I set my goal to 1700 calories a day. I managed to lose 12 lbs. On top of that my cholesterol dropped down to 168! I thought that was a HUGE drop. I was very pleased. I'm now at about 145 lbs. I still am a bit "fatty" and I need to work on that but it's more about strength training now due to my age.

I can't say enough about how much diet will help most people. I do realize that some of the cholesterol numbers for folks can be hereditary and a good diet might not budge them, but I think it's worth a shot to try. The statins can really bother some people. My father is one who gets the terrible joint aches, but in addition to that, I just want to do all I can not to add another lifelong drug to my list. My goodness, I don't need my retirement check going to that!

 

[ronandannette]

One pill a day. My dh is on this. His triglycerides went from 500 to normal range. He is also affected by statins. He had a heart attack and triple bypass in 2012. This is what the lipid clinic at our cardiologist recommended. So I assure you the source is pretty vetted here.

I take a synthetic, called Vascepa, prescribed by my lipid specialists because I cannot swallow that NatureMade pill. It is BIG.

Oh sweet mother of pearl, I'm not sure went wrong here! I stopped and got this product today and took the dose with lunch. Even though they're supposed to be enteric-coated I was refluxing fish oil within 10 minutes and haven't stopped yet! Gross, truly, truly gross (but not as bad as the side-effects of Crestor, to be sure). I'm going to have to experiment with when and how to take them.