I’ve stumbled across Terry’s nails and now I can’t stop worrying. I had tested positive for covid 7th October 2021 and was feeling a little unwell, I would say symptoms were mild - I had blood tests done after and all came back fine apart from slightly raised enzymes in my liver function test. Doctors and hospital said they weren’t too concerned and were happy for bloods to be re tested 6/8 weeks later. I have had a achy pain in my right side and then noticed my nails were slightly white. I cannot remember if they were like this before of if this is a new thing. I have sever health anxiety and am just so scared it’s something bad! Should I go back to the doctors? I’m 25 years old and back in February I was in hospital with gallstones and had my gallbladder removed due to it blocking my bike duct. I did have blood tests after my surgery and all bloods came back fine. I don’t really know what I’m after, I guess just some advise and reassurance.
Is this Terry’s nails ??? Please help. - British Liver Trust
Is this Terry’s nails ??? Please help.
The slightly raised enzymes could have been due to your gallbladder issue which was later removed. When they remove your gall bladder they will see some your Liver since its attached to it. So I would doubt its about to fail.
What I would do is to get some more tests to be sure the Liver is no longer giving off enzymes.
Hi,
I had my gallbladder removed back in February 2021 of this year. I had bloods done after my operation which all came back okay liver was good again. It wasn’t till after October 2021 I had bloods done again after getting covid and my liver enzymes was slightly raised again.
Thank you for getting back to me so quickly.
enzymes in the Liver will raise during an infection, thats normal, its cleaning your blood etc. Were they raised during or shortly after covid ? Are you on any medications ?
It was shortly after. I’d say about a week after my isolation period ended I had my bloods done. I also got an infection in my ear during this time which caused my ear to perforate. Maybe this infection is what caused the slight enzymes raising? I don’t know much about it all but doctors is almost impossible to get in touch with and when I spoke to the doctor in the hospital he said he wasn’t worried about the slight raise. I just have bad anxiety and it has been non stop on my mind. I’m not on any medication.
Like I said infections and medications can raise those enzymes. When you get the chance get another set of bloods, just as a precaution. I would also stay off Google, you will end up checking every skin blemish and think any ache is a problem and freak yourself out. Given your recent health issues a single set of mildly elevated enzymes doesn't really mean much, its not a red flag
Unfortunately none of us are allowed to comment on photographs as they reproduce badly on screen plus we arn't qualified. It's actually against the forum rules.
I would take up the offer of the repeat blood tests as doctors have said. Covid has been shown to have a knock on effect on the liver so that needs monitoring going forward. Also, you've obviously had gall bladder/liver issues already earlier in the year. Fighting any illness can raise liver bloods so it would be good practise to repeat bloods to see if its a continual pattern or just a blip.
Terry's nails arn't treated as an indicator for liver issues any more as there can be various causes.
Get your repeat tests when they are due and if still out of range then make sure doctors continue to investigate.
Katie
Hi,
As Katie has said, we do not allow photos on the forum. Hopefully your doctor can examine you and have a discussion and plan going forward.