Question About Platelet Count & Liver Disease

[abrawley]

This will probably be kinda long, I apologize.

I am a 29 year old female who was recently diagnosed with Fatty Liver in February of this year. Like most people, I was just told to eat healthier & get more exercise. For the past 6 months, I have been dealing with pain in my upper right abdomen (that seems to get worse whenever I take any kind of pain medicine, Tylenol, Ibuprofen, but especially Tylenol), nausea, intermitten mild pain under my left rib, intermittent itchiness, & constant fatty stools. So far I have had 2 CT scans, 1 ultrasound, & countless blood tests. My LFTs have always been within normal range (although I have noticed an increase compared to my bloodwork from two years ago). My Lipase has been very, very mildly elevated at the times the upper right abdomen pain has been at its worst. &, my WBC & Hemoglobin have been slightly elevated as well. But, all other bloodwork has been well within normal range. My Platelet Count has always been in the 300s. When it was last taken on 5/11 it was 366. But, now on my most recent blood test from 6/1 it was 238. I'm trying not to freak out too much but I'm having difficulty staying calm trying to figure out what could cause this. Everything that I can find related to liver disease & Platelet Count says Cirrhosis. Is it possible for it to drop this much & not be ESLD?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Kristian]

Platelet count can vary from test to test naturally and sometimes they can clump together so the machine that does the reading can't count them properly, so it looks like your count is lower than it normally would be. I've had this a few times and the next test all was back to normal.

A low platelet count, or thrombocytopenia as the medics like to call it, can occur in liver disease. However, it usually relates to results that are lower than the lower limit of normal and not just a reduction in count.

Hope thats a little more reassuring, but by all means do speak to your own medical team about it and I'm sure they'll be happy to explain the rationship much better than I could.

[ballie52]

Your platelet count although has dropped is within the normal range!I wouldn't worry about this at all!

Fatty liver can be reversible by eating a healthy diet and regular exercise!

When you have liver cirrhosis there is a whole lot of symptoms that can pop up and that would reflect on blood work of which yours seems perfectly normal!

Maybe have a chat with your GP for a wee bit of reassurance and that might help you not to worry so much.❤

[WorriedUK01]

I don’t have liver disease from my current tests , my bloods are all fine and my platelet count is always between 230-280 on test going back the past 9 years. I think yours is normal and the counts do fluctuate from what my doctor said.

[abrawley]

Thank you all so much! ♡

I live in a very rural area in the US & unfortunately the medical care is severely lacking. I have seen two different primary care physicians & a surgical specialist. Because of my age & the fact that my bloodwork has been fairly decent, no one wants to do further tests despite my worsening symptoms. They keep trying to diagnose me with Gastritis & Costochondritis, even though what I am experiencing is nothing like either of those conditions. I did finally get them to schedule me for a HIDA scan & they're referring me to a GI, but I'm told it will take months to be seen.

Thank you all, again. You've really helped ease my mind while I wait. ♡

[Hidden]

Hi,Here is our info on Non Alcohol Related Fatty Liver Disease

britishlivertrust.org.uk/in...

NAFLD can have different stages so you are quite right to want to find out more.

NICE (The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) have devised guidelines with the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) that state people diagnosed with NAFLD should have further testing to assess for their risk of fibrosis- stiffening or scarring in the liver.

The specific blood tests are Fib-4 score blood test or an Enhanced Liver Fibrosis (ELF) blood test. A specific scan called a FibroScan also estimates fibrosis.

I've just realised you are actually in the US so I'm afraid i have no experience of the health system there, maybe you could discuss fibrosis testing with your consultant?

Good luck.

[Worrysome1]

Mine was 188 and the day after 319, most recent 325.

[Onesmallstep1969]

There are people on this forum who would jump for joy if they were lucky enough to have plateket numbers as high as yours. You're fine.