Elevated Liver Function Tests

[AlexandriaT]

Hi yet again I have raised liver enzymes, GGT 225 ALP 170 in UK and was sent Saturday for a abdominal ultrasound which said in the report no significant abnormalities.

I have today had further bloods, ie celiac, full blood count, AMA, diabetes, cholesterol, I have ulcerative colitis and RA

Just starting to worry at what could be the problem, anyone else having similar results please.

Would love to hear from anyone

[briccolone]

Hi Alex we can't diagnose here but I have elevated ggt also and undergoing further tests but nothing since the Covid thing. What did the full blood count say? My platelets we're low when first tested but have recovered somewhat. I had a history of drinking over a number of years but stopped last October. My GP suggested seeing a gastro specialist when the NHS returns to normality

[AlexandriaT in reply to briccolone]

Hi thanks for your reply, obviously not expecting a diagnosis as I think I have a good idea what's going on and has been since 2014 but it's absolutely great to have some one out there to be able to speak about everything that's going on especially the tests, the other tests I have had done, ie full blood count have mostly come back normal, I February I had excessively high white blood cells but I am not sure how they are now as only liver tests have been mentioned.

I do know for certain that if gamma gt is raised in relation to toxins it can take a while to return to normal again and if you are abstaining then you will hopefully find they have gone down, it's not easy to keep getting dodgy tests is it.

Take care of your self

[Hidden]

Hi,

As you have UC, you may want to also discuss testing for Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis. This is an immune related liver condition which can be associated with inflammatory diseases of the colon.

Please do note, we are NOT diagnosing you at all, but it may be a useful conversation to have with your doctors. Here is our general information on PSC:

britishlivertrust.org.uk/in...

Best wishes and keep us posted

Trust1

[AlexandriaT in reply to Hidden]

Hi thanks so much for your time, I am thinking that PBC is a big possibility and the reason I have asked for the AMA test because that seems to be a fairly strong indicator of it.

I'm really hoping it's negative and it is just the colitis that is triggering the ALP and GGT to be raised, shame we can't get instant results, I have not taken any of my meds since March except my mesalamine which I have now been told to stop as that could be causing the Chronic D

I want know for a while but touch wood it does seem a little better today

Hope I haven't jinxed myself 😂

Are you doing OK especially in this heat and lock down

[Hidden in reply to AlexandriaT]

Keep us all posted, you will find a lot of support here.

If you are UK based you can also give myself or Kirsty a call on the nurse helpline 10am to 3pm on 0800 652 7330 Monday to Friday.

Warm wishes

[AlexandriaT in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for that, I will definitely keep the phone number to hand

[Kristian]

Hi Alexandria,

It can be a tricky thing to diagnose and there are numerous possibilities particularly as you say you also have RA and UC.

I suppose it doesn't take too much of a google search either when you put in raised ALP and UC for a result of Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis to come back in the search. The associations there are well documented. However it could be any number of things, it may even just be down to the meds you are taking for your UC or RA.

I think the key thing here is they are investigating you quite thoroughly. You've got two immune system related conditions already so having another is a possibility and it looks like they've included some tests for that too.

The good thing though is your ultrasound hasn't picked anything up. So whatever it may be, assuming it's not just down to your meds, could be in the relative early stages and gives the chance for all the various monitoring protocols and treatments to get put into place.

Try not to worry too much, although I appreciate that can be difficult. We often assume the worse and in most cases it ends up being something much more straightforward. Hopefully that will be the case for you too.

[AlexandriaT in reply to Kristian]

Hi Kristian I'm absolutely thrilled to actually get replies, it's great to know that someone is listening, yes it's not always as easy to diagnose the liver, my GP thinks it's the hardest organ in the body to get to grips with, it can look absolutely normal in the scan so it's good they are not just taking that for granted

My cholesterol has also been raised and that's not being treated at the moment but I'm hoping they will put me back on statins, not that I want to be on them it's just that diet doesn't seem to help at all in fact I lose weight but cholesterol just goes up and its not familial so there confused with that as well, I think since I stopped smoking my body is rebelling 😂

Are you managing OK and have great medical people round you

[briccolone in reply to AlexandriaT]

yes cholesterol can increase with with weight loss as I found recently....went from 5.8-6.2 after weight loss of 10 kgs....think the trick is to lose weight gradually and eventually the cholesterol will drop. I'd think hard about statins....

[Kristian]

Hi again Alexandria,

I'm now three years post transplant and doing great. A few niggles here and there but in the grand scheme of things nowt too serious. So, however bad things may seem at times, there are always lights at the end of the tunnel to aim for.

Its a funny thing you mention the cholesterol though. In the very early days i had that anomaly too. I was pretty fit and active at the time too. Not sure if there was a link or not, I had some issues with my kidneys at the same time and was also partial to a bit of a sweet treat rather more often than was probably sensible, so it was difficult to tell really.

Good luck and have fun.

[AlexandriaT]

Hi really not having a good day, just did a good long post and phone crashed grrr

To cut a long story short I received a call from a receptionist at Dr's surgery saying a couple of my blood tests had come back high and because there are others shes waiting for could I call in about 7 days to discuss it with her.

As you probably have noticed I am a bit prone to anxiety and after thinking about it I rang back, the receptionist said no one available to take my call but she did give me the results after me insisting, cholesterol 5.1 which I didn't consider it to be too high especially as I haven't taken statins since March to see if it was the reason for the raised LFTs

The one that's put me into a down ward spiral is my CRP being incredibly high at 25.

The receptionist obviously didn't have any others so I'm now in limbo till the rest turn up, should I be so incredibly panicked

Thank you all for taking the time to answer me it really has helped x