NAFLAD - advice please?

[Physics_and_math]

Ok so they first found I had a fatty liver back in 2009 but my doctor at the time reassured me it was just one of those things and not to worry. Recently I've been very unwell (they suspected gallstones but have found nothing) and I'm concerned it is my liver.

I saw a specialist a few weeks ago who did a fibroscan which gave me a reading of 11.60 kpa and diagnosed me as having moderate fibrosis. However they have put me on regular monitoring as my bloods are all ok.

However, my concern is that my bloods have always been ok, other than when first diagnosed and even then they were only slightly elevated.

I'm not very happy about this as it means my FIB 4 score shows as F0 - F1 but the fibroscan shows me as F3 to F4. I have an appointment with my gp tomorrow and I am going to ask for a second opinion.

I was just wondering if anyone had a similar experience? Any advice anyone has would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks in advance!!

[AyrshireK]

What a great pity your doctor back in 2009 gave you the 'just fatty liver' line and never gave you proper advice to manage your condition. Early fatty liver disease is reversible, however, you are probably correct in your assumption that your latest fibroscan does indeed show a significant worsening of your liver and you could be sitting around F3-F4 based on the Fibroscan Score chart hepcbc.ca/wp-content/upload... .

There are still steps you can take to manage your condition. The British Liver Trust has a page all about Non-Alcohol Related Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) at :- britishlivertrust.org.uk/li... which might provide some guidance on what you can do to look after your liver going forward and even potentially reverse some of the damage.

I note that they are going to continue to regularly monitor you which is really important to make sure things are going in the right direction - you could potentially improve things if you can make any lifestyle changes as indicated on the BLT page.

All the best to you, Katie

[annaserena]

I think blood tests can be misleading sometimes as they won't show any scarring, simply that your liver is functioning ok. And our livers can function ok with a lot of scarring - so you need to ask for another scan that will properly check for fibrosis. When you look up the publication Katie advised - look for Liver Disease Tests Explained too - and then insist on a proper scan.

You're doing the right stuff and asking the right questions - don't let them tell you 'just fat in your liver'. That's not on!