could be Sulphasalazine reason for the liver cirrhosis

[Marwan76]

i have uncompensated liver cirrhosis for more than 10 years ( F417 KP ) , for unknown reason , however liver function test is ok and slight increase of bilurubin and GGT , AST in addition splenomegaly for more than 20 years , and on treatment with Ursodeoxycholic acid for more than 8 years and vitamin B12, Silymarin .also has ankylosing spondylitis since for 25 years . Symptoms are mild and i were on Sulphasalazine for 16 years and completely stopped it 9 years ago .

my question does any body here has liver cirrhosis for unknown reasons and could treatment on Sulphasalazine for 16 years is the reasons for the liver cirrhosis ?

[Hidden]

Good afternoon,

Welcome to the forum. As you will see from the Community guidelines it is not a medical forum - ie test results cannot be interpretated/ diagnoses made etc. We are here to support each other by exchange of ideas and experiences. Liver cirrhosis can have many causes and sometimes it is impossible to work out what the underlying cause is - it may be due to many different factors combining and not just one factor. I would hope that your own medical team can shed light on the cause of your cirrhosis and answer your query - it must be frustrating for you not to know the cause of your problem.

regards

[hells456]

If you are on Urso, does that mean you have PBC? If you do have that then we don't yet know what causes it. They have found some risk factors but no cause yet.

[Marwan76 in reply to hells456]

actually , i have no PBC , i did MRCP , and billary duct looks normal , but GGT was high 450 and doctor told me to have URSO , and it reduced GGT to 80 and i have been using it for 7 years

[AyrshireK]

What was the reason for you taking Sulphasalazine? It seems to be a treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis and Ulcerative Colitis. RA & UC are both auto immune conditions and UC is also known to be linked with the liver condition Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis. britishlivertrust.org.uk/in...

When you have one diagnosed autoimmune condition it is no uncommon to have more than just one. Your liver specialist should have tried to identify the cause of your liver disease.

Katie

[Marwan76 in reply to AyrshireK]

thanks for the reply , yes i have Rheumatoid Arthritis -Ankylosing Spondylitis and a slight degree of IBD -crohn's disease but not confirmed ) .

however related to Ankylosing Spondylitis i have been to treatment of Sulphasalazine since 1994 , in 1997 problem of sight elevated of indirect bilirubin and mild splenomegaly found out , all the performed test was ok , ERCP is performed to roll out PBC ,it was negative , liver biopsy was ok , no explanation for splenomegaly found ,

2010 stooped treatment with Sulphasalazine and had treatment on Remicad for 18 Mnoth

then slight elevated in AST, ALT , Bilurubin , and by coincidence for first time i did GGT and it was 450 , and Ultra sound show normal liver ,MRI /MRCP done to roll out PBC , it was ok

billary duct but wavy shaped liver . started treatment on Urso since 2013 on basis that even no diagnose but still is better than nothing , however URSO reduced GGT from 450 to almost 70 to 100 , currently all liver function is normal , slight pain in right side , Fibroscan is 17 KP , still use URSO , milk thistle , Vitamin B12 , OMEGA 3 , recently before two three Month i am on treatment of simvastatin , and SAROGLITAZAR despite that my cholesterol level is perfect but he said recently it has been proofed that it help liver to improve and regenerate , after all these still try to know the reason of my liver cirrhosis but unfortunately not yet , thanks for the reading .

[Laura009]

My husband is on methotrexate for PMR and has to have monthly blood tests to ensure it is not causing damage to his liver. He had to come off it on 1 occasion as it his liver function to drop. After several months its function returned to an acceptable level and could resume taking the methotrexate but injects it now rather than taking orally. His blood tests results since are all coming back normal.

Laura

[Marwan76 in reply to Laura009]

unfortunately i was on treatment of Sulphasalazine for 15 years , but i am not sure if this cause the liver cirrhosis , i stopped it before 10 years

[ballie52 in reply to Marwan76]

Hi Marwan

I read some info a while back that sulphasalazine actually can have a beneficial effect on protecting the liver against scarring!

I was on it for years for ulcerative colitis!

Although it wasn't the cause of my cirrhosis!

[Marwan76 in reply to ballie52]

Hi Ballie , you are right , there is such Medical reference talk about the same related to the protection of the liver against scarring .

however it is absolutely proven that sulphasalazine contribute in damaging the liver in another way , ( accumulate fat in the livery , make inflammation if it is used for long time and then fibrosis ,

do you have PSC ?

[ballie52 in reply to Marwan76]

No I have cirrhosis due to hep c

Contracted from my Egyptian husband that got vaccinated in Egypt many years ago for Bulharzia a parasite found in snails!

The needles contaminated most of Egyptians with Hep C

I'm cleared now after taking medication to clear the virus but still have cirrhosis.

[Liver3]

Yes it's very possible that your meds caused it! I have never been a big drinker, but did have blood transfusions that were bad and later positive for Hep C. Did 2 types of treatments finally cured the hep c. But 60 days later cirrhosis! Many drugs cause cirrhosis I believe I've taken several antacids, doxycycline to name a few. recently tv claims allergy pills can as well. The main thing is trying to stay healthy now! I've had cirrhosis going on 3 yrs. Praying I get through this! Good luck...