I am a young looking {well I think so} 71 yr old woman. I have drunk for a lot of years but I am not an alcoholic.
Lately my liver enzymes have been quite high. I know my GGT is 274. I had a scan about 3 yrs ago and it says I have fatty liver. I am not overweight. I taken a lot of tablets, 2 for high blood pressure, 1 citalopram for depression, although the doctor is reducing the dose gradually, 40 mg of atorvastatin. Maybe the tablets are contributing to the increase in ggt. I am cutting down on the alcohol but I do like some as it has become a habit.
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excite
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Alcohol is a depressant, Citalopram is a anti-depressant. The two simply do not mix.
Hi excite, & welcome!
Alcohol and pharmaceuticals are often a bad mix. Did the doctor who put you on citalopram know you drank at all? What did he/she say about this.
Statin meds (atorvastatin) are known to cause liver issues in some patients. Do you know if your enzymes were high before you were put on this med?
40mg atorvastatin/day is the standard initial dose for this med, but depending upon how well your cholesterol responded, this dosage may be able to be adjusted (lower).
Your doctor should be willing to work with you and advise whether you need to go teetotal for life while on these meds.
Hope you can get this sorted out without too much trouble.
in reply to
Well said. More pointedly alcohol and pharmaceuticals especially antidepressents can be down right lethal. Just look at the celebrity world. Number one cocktail to be found in a hotel room beside a body. I know that sounds brash but Excite you really dont want to be mixing those 2 things. As far as your GGT it can be caused by alot of things. One would logically think the meds and the alcohol would play a role for sure but still I'd get the doctor to investigate. Usually for patients on medication the doctors will remove things one at a time to see if they can deduce the culprit. In the mean time if you are a moderate drinker and truly do not have a problem with alcoholism than I dont see that it would likely be a problem for you health wise. Except of course in conjunction with those meds. But a doctor must be the one to clarify all this for certain.
By the way one does not need to be overweight to have a fatty liver. Liver fat is visceral. While yes it can be an issue found in overweight people it happens for alot of reasons even in skinny people. It really has more to do with malnutrition and poor diet than it does with how fat someone is on the outside.
Hi there Excite, welcome to the site it is nice to hear from you. I am a 68 year old female. I think you have come to the right place for lots of support and advice.
You will find lots of really friendly folk here.
Having read your post I would agree that alcohol and tablets don’t mix.
I have not had a drink at all for 10 years. I think for me alcohol free suits me.
So I am not sure if I can say anything more to you. I am sure there are going to be lots of people who will better qualified to advise you. So for now I send welcome hugs. Jaycee
Hi Excite and welcome. I think that if the liver is showing any signs of problems it is best not to drink alcohol at all. I was diagnosed with NASH and I thought that because my liver problem was not caused by alcohol I would be ok continuing to have a couple of glasses of wine with dinner ………. much to my detriment ( like in your case it had become a habit and also a wind down after a hard working day). 2 years after my NASH diagnosis I was diagnosed with cancer of the liver and I gave up alcohol in an instant. I was ignorant of the facts and I didn't realise that there were forums like this. Had I been able to read some of the stories on this forum way back then I am sure that I would have stopped drinking far sooner than I did. The liver can't really improve if it is being fed toxins such as alcohol. After my cancer diagnosis I had 2 sessions of TACE and spent 3 years on a drug trial that made my life pretty dire to say the least. After the trial I entered liver failure and although I had been classed as terminal for the best part of 4 years I was 'lucky' enough to be assessed for transplant, but with only a 30% chance of getting one. Well I am now 5 months post transplant (69 years of age) and consider myself to be one of the luckiest people walking. I'm sorry to be banging on like this but once upon a time I was at the stage that you are at now. If only I had given up alcohol then! Wishing you all the very best and hoping that you make the right decisions. Alf
You said "I am not an alcoholic" you also said "I am cutting down on the alcohol but I do like some as it has become a habit"
Sorry but you cant say both!
Most people with a drink problem do not class themselves as an alcoholic, they are not rolling in the gutter or begging on the street so they cant be addicted to booze.
They are wrong.
If your health is suffering and you cant quit immediatley you have a drink problem.
You dont need a lable to know your drinking is harmfull!
Alcoholic is a nasty term.
You might need to recognize you do have a drink problem and get help addressing it though.
I had to do that, I loved my drink, it was HARD to quit but living a bit longer is more important.
No pharmacodynamic or pharmacokinetic interactions have been demonstrated between citalopram and alcohol. However, the combination of citalopram and alcohol is not advisable.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
What the actual enzymes! 
I am feeling scared.(sorry dont know where to post)
Abnormal liver results 
Alcohol withdrawal symptoms - itchy all over 
HIGH GGT A D NORMAL ULTRASOUND 
