Viral Hepatitis - ongoing upper right ... - British Liver Trust

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Viral Hepatitis - ongoing upper right pain

Jacob88 profile image
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Hi all, I'm trying to find out what parameters of normal I can expect following a prolonged cholestatic phase due to viral hepatitis (unknown virus).

Back in February I had the flu, started to get a little better but then nausea started followed by dark urine then itchiness (horrifically so!) resulting in severe jaundice, clay stools and deranged liver function... Typical hepatitis symptoms. It took a long time for any Dr to really take me seriously, however I eventually was referred to the gastro team at my local hospital and following scans, lots of blood work etc i was prescribed prednisolone and after two months of taking them, the symptoms had subsided.

During the whole time I was jaundiced and suffering from the hepatic symptoms I never really had any pain around my liver, however since the symptoms have subsided and I have been building up activities, I am in a lot of pain. I have been to my GP, however they sent me to the surgical assessment unit and after two days, a clear ultrasound scan and all blood work coming back normal I was sent away with them saying I needed to just take it easy. I have since had a week of taking things very easy however the pain has not subsided at all, it is very intense and even hurts when I breathe. I have booked another appointment with my GP for three weeks time as I can't see how this is ok, however in the meantime I just wanted to see if anyone else has experienced this or something similar after recovering from the symptoms of viral hepatitis?

As I mentioned above, they never found the specific virus which they believe caused the hepatitis however the prednisolone got the symptoms under control and the official diagnosis was a prolonged cholestatic phase due to the viral hepatitis.

Is this something I will experience forever? I was advised by the consultant that I would recover entirely from this, however I feel like I am going backwards not forwards at the moment.

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kurtymac profile image
kurtymac

Did they do a blood test for Hepatitis A, B, C, D antigens? If all clear, you were put on a steroid. Have they ruled out Auto-Immune Hepatitis? Are they sure it was viral? Normally, the steroid is slow down the immune system. Hepatitis just means inflammation of the liver cells. I just find it weird they diagnosed it as viral hepatitis without having a syrum test positive for one of the strands. Whethe it's something you will deal with forever, really comes down to viral load. It seems like a piece of the puzzle is missing. Maybe, I'm missing something. Of labs are normal and so is ultrasound that's a great first step towards recovery. The liver can take up to a full year and a half to heal from a lapse of Hepatitis.

Jacob88 profile image
Jacob88 in reply to kurtymac

Hi, thank you for responding. I'm getting so frustrated with drs not really taking this pain seriously, it's nice to hear from someone else!

All tests for Hep A, B, C, D and E came back clear, as did autoimmune, leptospirosis, Wilson's, HIV... They were very thorough with the blood work under consultant. It was more a process of elimination and the improvement under steroids which gave them the diagnosis of hepatitis due to an unknown virus. They said there were some 200+ viruses which could be the cause!

The consultant outlined he thought it was to do with the transportation system which gets rid of the bile rather than the liver itself hence the cholestatic diagnosis.

It's more that I want to understand if others have experienced the pain and whether it is normal to have pain after hepatitis and if I can go back to work now? I just want to get back to normal!

kurtymac profile image
kurtymac in reply to Jacob88

I had drug induced hepatitis from medication, it was so bad that my abdominal wall tore and my liver enzymes were way above normal. It took me a good year until I really started feeling better. Ebsten Barr Virus is known to cause liver and spleen issues, as with many others. I had the pain when I sick, I didn't know whether I was recovering or not until I had a fibroscan. That was a good six months after the incident. It takes a while that's for sure.

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