I have two new queries this morning, and I'm wondering if anyone could advise me on either...
First up, I remember reading a host of posts on the Forum about the pains that people were suffering from as a result of Fatty Liver Disease and/or such problems to do with their livers, but I can't seem to find any of them now. Could anyone advise me on any similar pains that they are having, or have had, as I've recently been suffering from these - or what I imagine to be these, and would simply like to know that I'm not alone and, specifically (and to slightly supplement an earlier question in this new post) whether anyone has had these pains or feelings of 'burning' around the liver area when eating.
Also, I read a post quite recently that said blood tests results are a pretty reliable guide to the health of a person's liver , but when I've enquired a little further into that, I've read that you could have perfectly decent LFT results and yet it could be that the liver was simply putting a 'brave face' on things when it was actually in a state of near collapse. With this one again, could anyone advise me, please?
Regards and thanks again
Graham
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Kellan38
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With regard to liver pain, the liver doesn't have any nerves so therefore can't give you pain per se. The liver and spleen are surrounded by a membrane called the Glissons Capsule, and that can, and does in my case, give a lot of pain, when the liver and spleen are enlarged, as with me.
Blood results are good for diagnosis of liver disease, but once a healthy, abstinent lifestyle is adopted, bloods can return to near normal, but unfortunately the nodular damage to a cirrhotic liver is not reversible. Fatty liver damage on the other hand can be reversed with said healthy lifestyle. Blood results will always show if a person has been consuming alcohol, and therefore, make them not eligible for a transplant, should it be necessary.
I hope this makes things a little clearer for you.
Hi Graham, if your talking about esophageal pain, then I don't think so.
I had acid reflux when first diagnosed, but omeprazol has stopped it, and calmed down my varices. I've got a gastroscopy procedure booked for December, so hopefully my varices are behaving themselves, and won't need banding😊😊😊.
I too get terrible pain, mine does seem to be going worse.
I have felt burning under the skin near oesophagus and I've just started having heartburn after having had surgery nearly 6 years ago!! I have realized when reading another post that it seems to happen after my meds at night as though I've lay down too soon. So now, it's Omeprazole, tablets and then sit up for a while. Please take care of yourself Lynne
Thank you so much for that comment, Briccolone. You've no dea how much that has helped me, as I really did feel I was the only one who suffers from that...
no worries-think I'm in the same boat-I was asking the same question a few years back. In my case I think alcoholic fatty liver at the time-after a couple of months of abstinence disappeared. I've just had another bout of this following my sons wedding-back in September. So I don't have a diagnosis yet but suspect early cirrhosis-symptoms as you describe although lessening, joint pain in wrists-occasional muscle pain in legs-pale stools and disturbed sleep patterns. Could still be mild hepatitis from drinking and it may take a long time to recover -many months. Haven't drunk anything at all for 5 weeks but wasn't drinking much prior to that. Only good news is sugar levels and B.P normal but cholesterol high. Have lost about half a stone with diet/abstinence. I'm hoping things will improve-we'll see.
what a difference a week makes...now just over 6 weeks with no alcohol-guess what inflammation noticeably less-stool colour starting to normalize...still a few symptoms and not out of the wood yet but encouraging.....also had a decent nights sleep last night. Blood tests next friday and we'll see what's what?
Moi aussi David - well I also had a lot of pain in right upper quadrant. I found I could get rid of it if I got the beers down me. Shocking but true 🙁. Wally of the year - well 2014 - to Miles. Thank you. Woe was me.....
Bloods Gamma (GGT) normal range 0-52 ISH for males and lower 40 ISH female. Each labs have slightly diff range but everything above that is used as alcohol marker.
1500 before I had a drink and only mild Cirrhosis. Was 999 at one stage (but I didn't ring that one in) Keep saying how lucky? was I. But still too late. Two months abstaining 1500 went down to 267. That was Feb, ain't had one since. Must ask, be interested to know my current GGT. No competition. 👍
Mine's classed as within range now and has been for over a year. I do have very low platelet count of 33 and high MCHC. I Still feel crap most of the time though😢😢😢
I still kick myself often for no pain no gain. Sucks when now we're being good even super so called healthy lifestyle we ain't reaping the benefits, albeit still here to moan. 👎
I wish I'd have been that wise..but no, most definitely was not squash. The 3 days before it was rosè wine, but my preferred poison was Jack Daniels fire. The mind boggles.
I've never heard of CDT. I had ggt, alp, alt, bilirubin, albumin and globulin. For the record I have not been diagnosed with liver issues but
I'm certain. I'm now under investigation for fatigued leg muscles and hair loss which they originally put down to low vit D, which is in range now. Pain in my ribs and side has pretty much gone after giving up alcohol. I always trust my instincts and they have pointed to liver for over a year now. They refuse to send me for a ct or mri based on my bloods.
For the record, I don't drink, purely my choice, and my GGT has been outside the range quoted below, so this alone would not suggest alcohol consumption as far as I can see.
My Consultant told me it was an indicator of abstinence, and my blood results were sent to Kings College Hospital to prove it. He also said CDT was a marker also. Maybe other conditions can cause a raised GGT level?
My GGT is raised when I am having a flare with my AIH, along with other liver blood tests. So yes, other conditions can lead to raised GGT. As far as I know, GGT is a marker of inflammation, so could have multiple causes.
If you have a look at liver tests indicating alcohol usage on the web, it does state CDT is one of the tests they will use as well bilirubin, MCV (size of red blood cells) and ALT. However, from a cursory glance, it seems that the CDT is the one with the highest specificity for alcohol misuse. However, I have no actual knowledge of this subject and this comes from reading of my own.
it's perfectly possible that you misheard as the letters sound similar. Alternatively since it isn't listed on a standard blood panel (I've never seen it on mine- but then they aren't looking for it), maybe the GP didn't do it, but the Consultant did. And then again, maybe they didn't want to openly declare that they were monitoring your alcohol usage.
I honestly don't know since I've never been in this position and therefore I'm just guessing what may have happened- not always the best way at arriving at an answer!!
The 1384 GGT was on my first blood test results ordered by the consultant, when first diagnosed with stage 4 cirrhosis. It is all too easy to mistake CDT for GGT, as a dyslexic with HE.😊😊😊
Yes but when you present with hands up alcohol conditions It's still a marker used by GP to go on. Then they can follow up .Obviously like so many bloods covers other issues as well. My Consultant asked for God knows what bloods as the Nurse filled 9 vials. 🤔
As with many of these blood tests, they are looking for trends. Having lived with my condition, an auto-immune condition, for over 10 years, it is the trends they are looking for. Numbers alone are only an indicator to a vast range of possible conditions, as you said above.
When I was diagnosed, the numbers were all way off, then eventually settled (took about 12 months). New numbers were then the normal. Now that my condition has progressed, the numbers have all increased, again, to a "new normal". This is one of the reasons that the BLT ask members not to post their own results. What could be normal for one person i.e. me, may not be normal for someone else and could lead to misinterpretation. Very often, the results have to be viewed together. Whenever I see new blood results outside the range, I ask "does this mean that I now have......" Guess what- it never does.
I have lots of bloods taken and have been told that sometimes they take two vials for one test in case there is something wrong with one!!
Absolutely, One can see the reasons on posting results but really that should be aimed at newbies innocently asking members to interpret same. Whereas posting to explain or enhance ones thread rather than having a blank ..,........
If you know what I'm trying to say badly. Slightly bending the rules rather than blanket ban.🤔
I'm afraid I take a very black and white view on results posting. I have many reasons for that and not everyone feels the same, so I appreciate that it is helpful for some people. But I have been a user of this board for several years and seen many times that people have been given results that initially worried them; they came on here and became alarmed at what others were telling them and that then caused them untold worry and for some people, incorrect self-diagnosis( who hasn't done that), only for the results to then mean something else or in fact the levels dropped as soon as they went up.
Some tests, such as the fibroscan, have been touted as a very reliable test, but the results are not infallible. I also know from the group I belong to that everyone responds very differently to the meds etc etc blah, blah blah- I think I've said enough on that one.
Grey area. An individual is gona worry no matter what & gona look for answers in all the right or wrong places, unfortunately. Pity the HC profs don't have time or patience to explain to the patient in the1st place. 🤔
GGT levels are sometimes increased with consumption of even small amounts of alcohol. Higher levels are found more commonly in chronic heavy drinkers than in people who consume less than 2 to 3 drinks per day or who only drink heavily on occasion (binge drinkers). The GGT test may be used in evaluating someone for acute or chronic alcohol abuse. 🤔
I have a fatty (or worse) liver and I can confirm all your thoughts.
My blood tests done as part of my annual physical never showed anything, and my PCP always thought my liver concerns were very paranoid and without good reason.
My suspicion was based entirely on what I thought was a change in my stool (oily, light brown / yellow / pale stool). Well, that and knowing that I was drinking too much and had been for a decent amount of time.
I have a cousin however, that is a local ER doctor, and I told him about my concern. He wrote me an ultrasound prescription, and this revealed that my liver is seriously enlarged (18.3 CM), however no signs of cirrhosis yet.
Any, forwarded this to my PCP, and immediately got referred in to a gastroenterologist.
Not drinking and monitoring now.
As far as pain, yes, after eating it’s a burning feeling in the mid to upper right quadrant of my chest cavity (mine has only ever been mild / dull pain, and intermittent / often after eating).
The other pain to watch for is right shoulder blade pain. This pain is often much more consistently present, compared to the post food burning pain, however it is still intermittent.
Hope this helps Graham, and best of luck with your liver journey. Lol.
It certainly does help, Ceande, and as much as I'm sorry that you've also had this, too, it helps me greatly to know that I'm not alone.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write and to share all this with me, and I hope you get someone else wo can help you just as much as your message has helped me.
that is a good question-at present I don't have any recent bloods-will get those in a couple of weeks-however you remind me that I've been here before. A lot of the symptoms of enlarged /inflamed liver are very similar to cirrhosis from what I read. My inflammation is coming down but slowly-not surprising-I'm 64 and have drunk wine all my life with several large gaps in recent years. I've never needed specific treatment or meds so far. All improvement made with abstinence and diet/exercise.
I'm getting a bit twitchy in case I've done serious damage but I notice since I stopped drinking which is just under 6 weeks ago that my blood pressure has certainly dropped plus have normal blood sugar so somethings working. If my cholesterol improves it'll mean some kind of liver function is improving. Early days so far .Let's hope the best-I will keep you posted. Take care
I was told that my liver felt "all soft and lovely" when my GP gave me a physical check up, and my bloods were all unremarkable when he did the tests. I was also told that my liver looked perfectly fine when I had an ultrasound and an x-ray a week or so later.
My GP also requested an x-ray, which I'm still pretty curious about. Does anyone know what the purpose of that might have been, and what would and could have shown up on that - and also, perhaps quite worryingly; what wouldn't?
My remaining problems now are the feelings of 'soreness' around my lover, and the general consensus seems to be that the most likely reason for that is inflammation (around my liver), but my question on that is why it didn't show up or give any indication of itself in any of my tests. Does anyone have any ideas why this might have been?
I have my 5 year follow-up from my initial appointment with the Hepatology clinic next week. This was when I was first diagnosed with a fatty liver, so I'm hoping things are still classed as 'saveable', and I can hope for better days than the recent past.
I definitely had symptoms a few years back with clear U/sound but GGT levels >180-took months to subside....all fatty liver. I've had GGT levels north of that as well >400. Lat time checked was about 90-other levels good. I'm not expecting very good results this time. I've also had some mild gallstones attacks-all related. Anyway-we'll see-blood tests next week-cheers for now
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