Possible Cirrhosis?

[ronderdonk]

Hi, Im a 22 year old male. I have had a few symptoms lately that correlate with cirrhosis and it's freaking me out. This past summer of 2017 I had a routine physical and my blood tests showed elevated liver enzymes. Alt was 125 and AST was in the 50's. My GP advised me to lay off alcohol for two weeks and he would repeat the test. After two weeks of no drinking my ALT dropped from 125 to 82 and my AST dropped from the 50's to normal range in the 30's. My GP also sent me for an abdominal ultrasound due to stomach pain I have experienced for quite some time now. The ultrasound showed a fatty liver. I should also mention that in December of 2016, I had an upper endoscopy performed by my gastroenterologist because of heartburn and stomach pain. The endoscopy showed acid reflux and an inflammed lower esophagus. I am currently taking dexilant and it has improved heartburn significantly but still get stomach pain frequently. My gastro doctor advised me not to drink alcohol after it was discovered that I had a fatty liver during this past summer. I still drank about 3-4 times per week. I went back to see my gastro doctor in late september for a check up. She tested my liver enzymes again just to check them and my ALT went back up to 127 and AST went back up to the 50's. She called me with concern and said how serious she is about me not drinking for a while. She said the fatty liver is caused by drinking to much alcohol. Im a little confused because i'm not a daily drinker, so I don't know how my fatty liver can be caused by alcohol as I'm only 22 years old have only been drinking for about 5 years. Once this september came when i was running on the treadmill, especially at higher speeds I noticed a pain in my upper right abdomen. The pain would come and go. A few weeks ago I started feeling itchy. There was no exact spot where I was feeling itchy, it seemed to be random and anywhere. The itch isn't terribly unbearable and there is no rash, but exercise and heat makes me feel very itchy. I have been reading about cirrhosis all over the internet and itchy skin and right side abdominal pain are symptoms and its freaking me out. After my gastro doctor called me with the concern of my liver rising the second time I took her drinking advice serious and have only drank once (on thanksgiving) and don't plan on drinking for a while as I now have realized how serious this can be. I just hope there is still hope and I don't have this chronic illness. I just keep convincing myself that I have this disease because of those 2 symptoms. If you guys have any advice or any input on my symptoms let me know thank you.

[jojokarak]

Only advice is to take the warning serious your only young and you have a long and healthy life ahead you don't need alcohol to have a good time. As your results were in normal range when you stopped drinking is a positive sign.... So carry on with that eat healthy and exercise as you are and you will feel better in time. You may have a genetic reason for your results going up also but I am sure they have investigated but it does seem to be alcohol related as bloods returned to normal

[ronderdonk in reply to jojokarak]

Thank you for your reply. I'm just concerned because my bloods returned to normal this past summer in July when I stopped drinking for 2 weeks. In late September when I got my bloods checked again my ALT went back up to 127 and AST went back up to the 50's because I started drinking 3-4 times a week again. But I now have learned and won't be touching a drink for a while. Since I have this constant discomfort/pain on my right side and I'm itchy, especially with heat and exercise, it's making me go crazy. This past week I haven't gone to the gym because of the itchiness. I heard itchy skin with heat and exercise along with pain on right side are symptoms associated with cirrhosis and thats whats freaking me out the most. I'm just completely convinced I already developed cirrhosis because I don't think a fatty liver causes itchy skin or pain and my gastro doctor has emphasized how serious she was about the possibility of this eventually turning into cirrhosis down the road. Part of me feels like it can't be cirrhosis already because the fatty liver was just discovered in July, so I would think it would take years and years of drinking and eating bad for it to progress. I guess what I'm trying to ask here is don't these two symptoms sound like they are related to cirrhosis and not just a fatty liver?

[jojokarak in reply to ronderdonk]

If your alt and other results were above normal then others which cause itching will be high as well and with you not drinking now they will return to normal it's just that some take longer than others to come down so the itching will stop. It couldn't turn from fatty liver to cirrhosis that quickly. Just give yourself a couple of months and everything will settle and just make sure you keep getting your bloods checked. 😀

[ronderdonk in reply to jojokarak]

Thank you for the advice.