I'm freaking out. I've experienced really uncomfortable pain in my sternum, keeping me up all night, sweating and in the fetal position. I've since had some blood work and my ALT reading is 278 and my GT reading is 378. Both very high. I'm returning to my doctor tomorrow and she will recommend an ultrasound. I'm incredibly anxious and guess I'm looking for reassurance.
I don't drink that much and exercise every day. However, I used to binge drink at the weekends and now feel it's all caught up to me. However, apart from these readings everything else including pancreas was normal.
Any advice.
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Fishermanman
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13 Replies
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Hi man. Welcome
Your fishing? It's work in progress. Only the results of your ongoing tests will hopefully provide the diagnosis and put your mind at rest.
The patient must have patience, which is easy for me to say. Just try and go with the flow.
You appear to be in good hands, your GP is on your case. Chest pain could be something other than the Liver. I'm no expert but all the boxes will be checked.
No I didn’t even assume that you would be drinking that much actually! That’s quite a lot imho if you have “unusual” blood levels. But I am not preaching - because I was a terrible culprit, and we aren’t allowed to give advice - what I was trying to indicate was that from my experience any amount of drink is too much if you (one) have (has) issues. That’s all.
Others would be - and maybe will be - far more forthright than I am.
Yes, those are very high numbers. I once had much higher numbers, and it turned out that I had hepatitis. There could be many other reasons for the elevated levels. Don't make any assumptions on your own. You need to discuss this with your doctor!
Hi Fishermanman
If you are in worsening pain we would suggest to seek out medical assessment as soon as possible, you oculd call NHS 111. Here is the link to the info online:
Thank you for replying. The pain has actually not returned. I've been on a plant based diet for a month and I'm obviously not drinking any alcohol. I return to the dr today and will have further blood work and an ultrasound. Thanks for the support.
Congratulations on making some really good lifestyle choices. Here is a link to our publication 'Liver disease tests explained' that may be useful to read prior to seeing your GP.
Dont fret too much just yet. There are lots of things that can cause what you describe and many are not chronic liver disease related. Lots of infections can have dramatic effects on the liver for a short period if time before returning back to their normal state for you.
Your doc will probably do another set of tests if they haven't done already just to see if there are any changes. That's standard protocol. If they are still high or are not reducing then that may well prompt some further investigation.
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