liver problem maybe?

[saralogue1]

i had severe pain in my right abdomen and the ct showed my liver was mildly enlarged. so my doctor said "its probably just fatty liver" he didnt even do any other test to make sure it wasnt something else. so i switched doctors when I saw her she said it was only slightly enlarged and she wasnt worried. now im having that pain again, i can feel my own liver, my stool has been yellow, orange, and grey for the last 3 weeks. im sooooo tired my skin is itchy and im nauseous. I have a slight fever as well. I had my gallbladder out a year ago it had no stones. I also recently developed night sweats and prolonged bleeding time. im 20 and otherwise healthy. Does this sound like a liver problem?

[Bolly]

You say you are healthy so can you confirm none of these apply: you have high cholesterol, you are overweight, you smoke, you don't exercise much, your diet includes processed food, sugar and alcohol, you have been checked for diabetes, your BP is fine, you don't have insulin resistance, you don't take any medication. These can cause fatty liver.

[Hidden]

It does sound like you have a Liver problem when the stools turn yellow you have to much fat in you your system your liver cant process it, I had the same problem yellow stools and the rest of those symptoms... my doctor said it was nothing but I knew I was sick and I fired....i got a fibro scan and found out I have severe fatty liver disease... on the scale of 400 my score is 340. when I eat fatty foods I get very ill..... cut down on your fat intake I mean by a lot.... eat green vegetables and you should see your stools change back to a darker color I don't know how long it will take. best regards

[Hidden]

the problem you have is new to most doctors if I didn't find out on my own I might be dead now cut out the fat the booze and drugs.... please....you have a liver disease but it is curable don't eat fat because it burns the intestines and colon for an increased risk of colon cancer.......once more ditch the fat and eat lots of green vegetables Good Luck from Canada.

[susieanna]

Your doctors sound like complete crap; go back and demand a referral to a liver specialist who can do more tests.

[carmik]

You must ask immediately to be referred to a Hepatologist. You have all the signs of liver problems.

Don't be fooled by being told you can't be referred

YOU CAN

The quicker you are seen the better.

Have been there with my hubbie I spoke to PCT who gave me the correct wording to use to the GP, got referred immediately.

[GrittyReads]

The GP should do blood tests to check your liver if you are having stools like that - both liver enzymes and other bloods. There are numerous conditions which can mostly be ruled out by blood tests. If you think they have already done bloods, but have not discussed the results with you, then ask at your GP reception for a copy of all recent test results and any other communications - in the UK it is your right to see your test results (there may be a small charge for photocopying, but my surgery doesn't bother if the results are recent).

Otherwise, either before getting results, or once you've got them so you can discuss the results with someone, I would talk to the advisors at the British Liver Trust (this site). There is a link to their site at the top of this page, and you will find contact email & phone nos there.

I agree about insisting, though, and maybe seeing yet another different doctor. Tell then about the stools, especially the grey. Such things should be properly tested to rule out conditions.

Hope this helps and you get a better response.

[fornels1]

Your statement does not say much regarding any health indicators. Some very useful indicators of good health are: lipid panel (cholesterol (LDL, HDL), and triglycerides; glucose, HA1c, and most importantly your liver function tests (ALT, AST, GGT, Albumins, etc.). The fact that you have pain is an indicator that something seems to bother your liver.

[saralogue1 in reply to fornels1]

my doctor never told me if she ordered any of those tests. im 20 so im kinda new to going to the doctor by myself and I always forget the important stuff.

[fornels1 in reply to saralogue1]

It may give you a good idea if you look at someone's lab results. They usually list a range of acceptable values. Since you experience discomfort in that area you may want to have the CBC (complete blood count) which likely will include the indicators I mentioned. Also make sure you get your LFTs (liver function tests) indicators. Also, I would suggest looking into free testing such as blood pressure, and body mass index. In the states I get mine free at the supermarket. You could also buy urine tests strips to get familiar with some of the concepts. I get mine from Amazon. These quite not as accurate as the ones done in the labs still will educate you on the subject. You have to be inquisitive. I am sure other replies will suggest other lab tests such as Doppler sound, fibro scan, CT scan which are intended to detect malfunctioning of the liver.

[Trust4 British Liver Trust in reply to saralogue1]

Hi saralogue1, check out our publication Liver Disease Tests Explained, available to download for free on this page: britishlivertrust.org.uk/pu.... Call our information line 01425 481320 if you want to talk to us about any of this.

[cazer in reply to saralogue1]

Take a friemd with you and write down what you want to ask .try to give the doc the symptoms explain yoi feel poorly and tell doc yoi are struggling with itch....if they offer to do more blood tests then you can go from there.have they given you any advice? I had normal lfts in my twentys but later in 30s had worse problems and it showed an autoimmune disease of the liver.however until you get any proper answers dont drink any alcohol and look after yoirself.....eat heathily .are yoi a student ..if so perhaps you can see your hometown docs.do the boring stuff of being healthy for a few weeks if it improves theres harm is there....it could be fatty liver as it can give yoi these symptoms.if you try this and feel no better then uou can go back and say i still feel ill and ive been eating better etc.then say you need to know what to do about it ,if they still ignore you i would ask to see a specialist.fatty liver is a real condition and lm no doc but try working with that first as you maybe over thinking it.its a bit like putting on weight with eating too much sugar....then wondering why.try and sort the obvious thing first then look futher if no results.good luck.cazer

[CaptM in reply to fornels1]

but the liver, having no pain receptors isnt the place of the pain. The liver does not feel pain. In theory, the area around it could be inflammed, could be gallbladder, could be muscular, pancreas, bowel. A massive number of other things causing pain, but NOT the liver itself feeling pain.

[saralogue1]

its not to much fat it my diet. I hardly eat fattening foods. I had my gallbladder removed so ever since ive been watching what I eat. no fried, greasy foods in my diet. I cant tolerate anything greasy or fatty so I stay away. ive been eating low fat foods for over a year now same food nothing new and the yellow stool is only recent. My stool is mostly grey and pale but just turned yellow for the past 2 days now back to grey.

[GavBelfast]

Why do a ot of family doctors / GPs not seem to take fatty liver at all seriously? Mine didn't - he said it was entirely to be expected because of occasional heavy binge drinking and would go away if I stopped binged drinking. When I asked him how I would know it was going away or had gone away, he said the liver function tests returning to normal and blood tests like platelets, etc, being normal would prove it.

Complacent?

[saralogue1]

so I ended up in the er a week ago with severe pain again and when I got there my heart rate was 167 and they said my liver went down. The liver tests were fine however my white blood cell count is high and my heart keeps racing. Most of the symptoms cleared however I still have night sweats, bruising extremely easy, decreased blood clotting time, and itchy skin all over my legs. Ive tried a few things for the symptoms but nothing is working. I have to have blood done again to see how high the white blood count is. And now I have to see a cardiologist.