Abnormal liver function tests

[Zazzle316]

Hi all,

I had an initial blood test when I went for my 40 year old health check up in the summer. They initially showed my liver results to be abnormal and they told me to drink no alcohol for a month and repeat the test. All other blood test results were fine.

I don’t actually drink alcohol regularly, probably 4 or 5 drinks a month so I was slightly surprised. Anyway, after repeating the blood test last week, the GP surgery rang me to say they were still abnormal and have booked me in for an ultrasound.

I am now extremely worried about this, what are they looking for?

I am in recovery from bulimia and binge eating which I had for many years, but I am not overweight. I am scared I have damaged myself from this.

Has anyone been in a similar situation?

[AyrshireK]

Hi Zazzle, it sounds like your doctor is being very thorough and giving you the necessary follow up to identify if you have a liver issue. There are more causes of liver issues than just alcohol so they need to check why you have now had two sets of bloods that were out of range.

It's possible for bulimia and other eating disorders to affect the liver so they are looking to see if the liver is indeed showing signs of any damage.

Another test that you might seek is called a Fibroscan which will reveal if the liver is more dense than it should be (fibrosity - recorded with a kPa score) and whether there is any fatty build up in the liver (steatosis - identified by a CAP score).

They need to identify why your bloods are out of range and then if ultrasound shows signs of damage then they need to identfy the cause of that damage.

Many liver conditions can be controlled, treated, stopped or indeed reversed if the cause is identified and either treated with medication or through lifestyle changes.

Hopefully, your doctors will get tests done a.s.a.p. and you can address whatever the issue is.

Katie

[Zazzle316 in reply to AyrshireK]

Thank you so much for your informative reply. I have now put down the phone and stopped consulting Dr. Google as this is just making me more anxious!

If it wasn’t for this blood test then I would be none the wiser as I have no obvious symptoms. I didn’t ask her what parts of my test were abnormal either as I know I’d be googling that too.

Hopefully I won’t be waiting too long for my ultrasound so I can get some answers.