Unsure how to proceed

[Mom23dds]

so first , I’m in the US not UK so every single little thing medical is $$$. I’ve had pain in the liver area off and on honestly about 3 years now . More towards the back and it’s not really pain as much as heaviness feeling or fullness idk if that makes sense. The last few months seems like it’s getting worse. I take carvedilol for heart palpitations already and I’ve read elsewhere here that it’s prescribed for portal hypertension? Also when in pain I’ve found if I take an Ativan ( I have a script due to anxiety), it goes away. Would that indicate not liver problems ? My bloods are always good , and about 2 years ago I had an abdominal u/s when I mentioned it (pain) to my then dr , and the liver looked good by that. I guess I wonder if I’m paranoid or if this is something I should push after ( ct scan, mri?) . I also have lately had a gurgling sound /feeling off and on in that area that’s got me afraid if portal hypertension may be presenting ? Any advice welcome -

[Fibro2021]

Hello, In one of your previous posts, you mentioned that you have been drinking alcohol regularly for a decade and a half. As I understand this is probably the main reason that makes you think about liver disease. I had the same experience. Unfortunately, ultrasound is not always and not for all patients informative in the detection of diffuse liver diseases. Also, ultrasound results can be subjective because independent studies have shown that two different operators can interpret the same image differently. Perhaps you ought to do a fibroscan or SWE to determine if you have liver fibrosis or not. Personally, I found the SWE to be more accurate as a follow-up biopsy confirmed the SWE result for me. Also informative for me was the high level of ammonia in the blood.

[Mom23dds in reply to Fibro2021]

hi , I’ve heard of fibroscan because of this board but it seems rare here. What is swe , please ?

[Fibro2021 in reply to Mom23dds]

Shear Wave Elastography (SWE) ultrasound tool is used to indirectly quantify liver fibrosis.

[Chinkoflight]

Hi I'm sorry to hear your problems. I had a stroke and in the course of follow up medication bloods raised bilirubin levels were detected. A referral for an Echoscan found gallstones. I was completely unaware until quizzed about symptoms and what I had thought was indigestion , the same symptoms you are describing was most likely the gallbladder. I had elective surgery this week , supposed to be keyhole, but complications led to a change on the table to open surgery. The reason inflammation and swelling of the gallbladder. Again I was symptomless at the time of admission but the reality was I might well have needed emergency treatment had I not elected for surgery.

BUT massive caution, there are so many things with similar symptoms but it might be worth checking out. Good luck.

[Alibaba80]

I have exactly the same pain usually at the back of the liver...only biopsy detected my liver issue of Nodular Regenerative Hyperplasia

[Fibro2021 in reply to Alibaba80]

You are definitely lucky to have a pathologist who knew NRH. I had to request a second opinion to evaluate the histology as my first pathologist was not very good at it. It seems to me that doctors know little about NRH and dont even include this version in their diagnostic search.

I once read that NRH can sometimes be seen o MRI scans on T1-weighted images, but it was not detected on T2-weighted images. Unfortunately, my MRI did not show anything, or the doctor simply did not have training in this matter.

[CandyCane55]

Im in the US too s i understand the money part...

[CandyCane55 in reply to CandyCane55]

oops wrong post..lol