I've been feeling unwell for the past few months with abdominal pain on the upper right hand side just under the rib cage, I've also had unexplained weight loss of up to 11lbs overnight, recently it's only been of 5-7lbs per day and I don't really do anything to cause myself to lose that much weight. My other symptoms are vomiting after I've eaten and drank, feeling weak and tired all the time, I have rang 111, seen my GP and been to the Urgent Care Centre which all seem to assume that I have symptoms of gastroenteritis even though I don't have any of the following symptoms: diarrhea, fever, muscle aches, headaches. I only vomit after eating and drinking which has been going on for the past 4 days, I've been given medication for gastroenteritis which I've thrown up and I told them that would happen.
The doctor in the urgent care centre told me that I've never had a fatty liver but I told him that I was diagnosed with it but he wouldn't listen, he also said that the pains I've been having are just pains. I also mentioned that my ALT liver function was at 70 on the blood tests I had done and he said that was fine then discharged me with the medication for gastroenteritis.
I don't know what to believe now, my GP or the doctor at the hospital. I'm having another blood test done in 2 weeks time, hopefully my ALT has dropped back down to normal but if not then I'll ask if I can have another ultrasound done just to confirm if my GP is correct or not, if my GP is correct then the doctor at the Urgent Care Centre can't do his job. I'm going to try to keep down most of what I eat and drink even though my weight is still dropping which is good in a way but bad in the long run.
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AndyC89
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Hi. I can't think what is wrong. But clearly such huge weight loss means it could be something serious. Losing that much overnight is crazy. I suggest you go and see another doctor as a matter of urgency. I think you need more tests done urgently. This is not right. Sorry I can't be of more help. X
The paramedic that 111 sent out advised me to make a double appointment to see my GP and not let them rush me out, I just told him that it's very unlikely to get double appointments but I can go in at 8:00am and book an appointment to get seen that day. Rapid weight loss can be a sign of cancer but can also be linked to other things such as depression & eating disorders but losing 11lbs overnight while I've eaten and drank throughout the day is a mystery. The hospital should've done blood tests from what information I had given them rather than just jumping to the conclusion of gastroenteritis. I guess waiting 2 weeks for the appointment to have a blood test done wouldn't do any harm, I'll also stick to asking for another ultrasound referral by the new GP that I saw yesterday.
Doctors do occasionally make mistakes like the time I was diagnosed with a twisted testicle while I was 11 years old but I knew that it was an inguinal hernia and not a twisted testicle, they stuck to the diagnoses of a twisted testicle and performed surgery, I should've sued the NHS as soon as I was 18 but I doubt I can now. I had the inguinal hernia diagnosed back in 2013 and had the surgery in 2014, I've also been suffering with nerve pain from that since it starts in the lower left abdomen then spreads down my leg, the nerve pain is slightly worse than the pain where my liver is, hip/pelvic pain can be just as painful as nerve pain as well since it spreads into the groin.
Thats bad re the hernia! I hope you get this sorted out soon; its diabolical how you have been treated, or should i say, not treated! Good luck; if weight continues to drop, go back to GP/ A & E; 2 weeks for a blood test in this case is not acceptable at all in my view; best of luck to you. xx
The nerve pain comes and goes, I use to get sharp pains around the area for a few seconds but that hasn't happened for over a year. My weight is still the same as last night, I drank a number of things just to boost my sugar level slightly as well as drank water since I felt faint and dehydrated. I should've told the person on the desk that my blood test was urgent. I should've had my blood taken on Monday while I at hospital for a heamotology appointment, I didn't feel that a blood test was necessary since my ultrasound shown my spleen as being normal and felt my blood sugar level was low so I was discharged. Thanks.
Haven't been going to the toilet much but my urine is a dark yellow-brown color.
I've had the abdominal pain for a few months which they know about, even the heamotologist who I saw for an enlarged spleen knows but he couldn't feel anything during the physical examination. I do have patches on my liver that shown up on both ultrasounds but the person who did the recent one said my liver is normal. I will do and they can't keep saying it's gastro related after a certain amount of days so they would need to look at it as a serious thing. Thanks.
I would go back to a &e and insist that you get another ultrasound. This sounds like gallbladder problems like infection of the bile ducts. I had similar pains like you and was in hospital for 2 days because my gallbladder was infected and I had gallstones and a polyp on my gallbladder. I've had it removed now but still cannot eat greasy food and drink fizzy drinks. Hope you get sorted. If you don't go to PALS and tell them what you are going through.
My gallbladder shown up as being normal on both ultrasounds that I had done but the recent one was done about 3-4 weeks ago but I didn't have vomiting then, I have been getting pelvic pain recently as well which spreads into the groin, not sure if that's related to anything though. Me too, I had to contact PALS once before for something else.
Hi has your diet gone back to normal yet and can you tolerate fats now? I'm 3 months post op and improving but the first 2 months I had a very bland diet, thanks.
I probably will do, not sure how much it'll cost to see one though. I'll see what my GP says after I've had my bloods done unless I make an excuse up that requires them to take blood, that would probably be abusing the health care system though. I'll rule out anything gastro until I have another opinion from the other GP I'm seeing at my surgery. The heamotologist who I saw on Monday has even made my GP aware of my weight loss of 1 stone in a short period of time, I guess that's why he wanted me to do a blood test but he didn't tell me that.
I saw a consultant privately after I was diagnosed with cirrhosis nearly 2 years ago and it cost £150 which is not too bad. The blood tests he suggested I had done were really expensive though at almost £850.
I would strongly recommend you see someone privately just don't agree to any scans or blood tests units they are done on the NHS.
That's probably cheaper than what American hospitals charge as well. The best blood tests will always cost a fortune, people who pay for treatment do get seen to very quickly as well but would take months or even years on the NHS.
I've been challenging doctors opinions, I'm going to challenge the ultrasound results when I see my GP next by saying that they were rushed and the guy left the room immediately after doing it. I'll even ask to see both ultrasound scans and have the doctor compare them to see if there's any inconsistencies in the results.
Thanks
Hi
You definitely need to complain to pals the way you've been treated.
I was diagnosed with nafld last year and then Nash in January. A consultant a couple of years ago said it was muscular which it obviously wasn't!! Please take care xx
I probably will do after having the blood tests done and getting the results, I'll also let my GP know about what the doctor at the Urgent Care Centre said, the second ultrasound I had done felt like it wasn't done properly and it was done quicker than the previous one that I had done in June. Hopefully I can get another ultrasound done and if it matches the first then I'd also make a complaint about how the second ultrasound was done. The worse type of medical negligence is being misdiagnosed with something then having surgery done which has happened to me in the past when I was 11 years old, they diagnosed me with a twisted testicle when it was actually an inguinal hernia. Thanks.
Hope you start to feel a little better soon. Take care
Hi has anybody said to you that the pain you are getting under your rib cage on the right could possibly be you having gallstones in your gallbladder. I am saying this as this is what happened to me after however I was diagnosed with AIH.
I was asked by my GP and the doctor at the hospital, they didn't detect anything wrong with it on the ultrasound but my liver had white patches on it but was marked as normal by the radiologist.
One of my friends had gallstones before, she was back and forth from hospital due to the pain and vomiting blood, she eventually had it removed. Same here, it's always best to get a number of opinions from different doctors since doctors aren't always correct. Thanks, you too.
Not yet but I got a letter through the post today regarding sleep apnea, I've read online that it can cause liver problems but there's a lot of false information online. I'll be having my blood test on Tuesday and I'll hopefully get the results 3 days after.
I had vomiting and diarrhoea in the run up to developing jaundice, was diagnosed with Autoimmune hepatitis. I kept throwing up after eating and getting diarrhoea too.
Have you had a blood test in the last 4 days? If not 2 weeks is a long time to wait for your blood test.
I went into A&E & got blood test and results the same day, it was a lot quicker than waiting for a GP appointment.
Though I did have jaundice at that point.
The last test I had was about four years before then and my ALT was slightly out around 65, but in hopspital it was 1900!
Hope you find out what is wrong and get better soon.
I have the vomiting but no diarrhea unless I have something that upsets my stomach like coffee but I haven't had anything with caffeine in since last year.
Last blood test I had done was about 2 months ago, a non-urgent blood test is usually done in 1-2 weeks, I should've told the receptionist at my surgery that it's urgent. That's why I went to the Urgent Care Centre but the doctor discharged me after looking at an ultrasound scan that wasn't done properly.
My skin hasn't turned yellow as of yet so I guess it's not anything serious. I have sleep apnea and I've read that it can be linked to liver problems but that information could possibly be false.
I don't have much faith in doctors since I was diagnosed with a twisted testicle when I was a child but I knew it was an inguinal hernia, I tried telling the doctors but they wouldn't listen and performed surgery anyway, I then saw my GP in 2013 about it and was diagnosed with inguinal hernia and had the correct surgery done. I now challenge every doctor's opinion which seems to offend them in a way.
hope you find out what is wrong soon. Have you checked what you are eating to see if anything seems to make it worse?
I have found really bland easy to digest food helps when my stomach thinks eating is a crime. No fat or salad ( not that not eating salad is a major hardship to me) cooked veg seems to help me more, but again ones that are easy to digest . I also cut out the spices. I have to make the drinks bland as well. No tea or coffee, just boiled cooled down water or sometimes the occasional warm milk (not full fat). I eat very small amounts at a time, giving about 2-3 hours between each meal. Very boring, but it helps me. Obviously not a long-term diet, especially without medical guidance. I just did it until my stomach settled. It still kicks off if I overdo the rich food, sugar or spices so I then go back to simple food.
Obviously, it depends on what the trigger is for what might work for you.
Thanks. It's everything I eat but greasy food makes me vomit more as well as giving me headaches which is a symptom when fat isn't digested properly, it then probably ends up in the liver but I'm not too sure.
I've cut right down on the bad stuff but my sugar intake is still high due to the sort of fruit I eat, an apple, banana and orange has around 32g of sugar in total. I drink tea since coffee makes me empty my bowels a lot, I don't add any sugar to it and I buy skimmed milk, tea is suppose to be good for you but more than 3 cups a day is bad I guess. I usually eat once or twice a day but I won't eat anything if I feel sick.
Just hope my ALT has dropped since I'm not doing anything that will make it increase, to my knowledge it would be unexplained elevated ALT levels which the doctors can't just leave since it's their job to investigate the reason why they're elevated.
It sounds really uncomfortable for you. Have you kept a food and drink diary to show your doctor or specialist? It might help them to answer your questions. I know when I feel really rough, I tend to keep more to a variety of vegetables and watch my fruit intake. I can't cope with citrus fruit very well. I know that makes vit c a bit more of a problem, but it is keeping to what stays down that I work on first.
Best of luck. I know it isn't easy and it is really unpleasant.
Haven't really thought of that, I can usually eat almost anything without wanting to vomit. Food like marmite and wispa bars make me want to vomit just by the taste of them. Certain medications such as anti-depressants causes me to have chronic side effects such as acid reflux so I don't take them, my GP even agreed that the medication isn't for me if it's making me even more unwell. Those types of medication can cause liver and neural problems.
Sometimes it helps to think about the now and not what is usual. I'm not keen but boiled water allowed to cool as long as it is covered while cooling properly also helps me. I do have to keep praising myself though. I also know when my stomach is demanding a rest I can't drink tea. I drink decaffeinated tea or reduced caffeine to be more accurate, but sometimes it just doesn't want to know. That's the time I become very crabby as I love my tea.
Chocolate is another no, no at this time. How can a woman live without chocolate, the answer is by having none in the house or I struggle.
I personally don't go in for these detox diets, I just try really hard to see what seems to get my stomach in a tizzy and try for plain and simple until it seems ok.
I clearly haven't behaved all the time, as I have fatty liver and cirrhosis, but I only found out about the cirrhosis in August and the fatty liver in April. I can't walk much due to a spinal cord injury and that is a problem as exercise is a crucial part to a healthy lifestyle.
My good news today was I had an endoscopy and my oesophagus and down to the top of my intestines came back normal.
Best of luck with getting the system back to behaving better
Gosh, you do have my sympathy and understanding. First of all, your GP and the GP in the Urgent Care Centre cannot and will not help you. Believe me, I’m currently going through the same scenario as yourself. Go back to your GP (or another more sympathetic in the Practice) and INSIST you must be referred to a Liver Specialist. Tell that GP of your symptoms and the contradictory advice you have been given. Say that you KNOW GPs do not have the knowledge or skills to diagnose or determine management of liver disease. Tell them also that you have been told you have fatty liver (and by whom) but you need to know whether it is NAFLD or NASH, for your own peace of mind. You also know that only a biopsy can differentiate between the two. An Ultrasound will only tell you that you have fatty liver, not what kind. You also know that, if your problem is NASH, then this is the only one of the two that leads to fibrosis and/or cirrhosis. Tell them you cannot sleep at night for worrying about this whole issue AND the very serious symptoms you are experiencing. Tell him/her that they have a duty of care for you and, if they refuse to refer you, then you will send letters of complaint to all relevant people and more, including the newspapers if necessary until you are cared for properly. Make a real fuss. It is your body, your right, your symptoms, your suffering, not theirs. Be prepared for any eventuality but be determined. I have just lost nearly 3stone with associated health issues of nausea and vomiting and being unable to eat or drink. It’s a hellish situation and I really feel for you. Let us know how you get on.
Have you been tested for liver disease? I have cirrohsis, autoimmune, and heriditary hemachromotosis, I will take spells where I will vomit after eating certain things, sometimes will last for a month or more. I completely avoid red meats, I now can only tolerate certain foods, fish, spinach salads, baked potatoes, no greasy foods at all, oatmeal, yogurts are good too and cheeses. Baked potatoes also help with diarrhea. Also you get bloated after eating? Good luck hope you get the help you need. Chicken and turkey are also good.
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