Right shoulder pain

[Zeus12]

I woke up this morning with right shoulder pain, I googled and it’s showing cirrhosis and liver cancer.... Does anyone has or used to have right shoulder pain ? And what did the person have after they got checked ?

[Fibro2021]

I have had shoulder pain for many years. First, the pain appeared in the right shoulder. This went on for several months. I couldn't even raise my arm above my head. The doctor said that it was humeroscapular arthritis on the background of cervical osteochondrosis. Then the pain appeared in the left shoulder. Sometimes the pain was in both shoulders together. Shoulder pain appeared for several months, then disappeared. Now I already understand that my pain in the shoulders was associated with a diseased liver due to regular drinking. I do not have cirrhosis of the liver, but this is not good news, since I have another severe liver disease, namely non-cirrhotic portal hypertension due to nodular regenerative hyperplasia of the liver. In this cases, the entire liver consists of small nodules, as in micronodular cirrhosis of the liver, but scars and fibrous tissue are absent or minimal. My diagnosis was made only after a liver biopsy and histological examination by a very competent pathologist (this was a "second opinion")

[BritishLiverTrust3 Administrator British Liver Trust]

Dear Zeus12,

If you [are in the UK and] would find it useful to talk things over, our nurse-led helpline is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 3pm on 0800 652 7330 (excluding bank holidays)

Best wishes

British Liver Trust

[AyrshireK]

Whilst it's possible to get referred pain in your right shoulder due to any number of liver issues it is also possible to have muscular skeletal shoulder pain and even shoulder pain when you've laid awkwardly in bed.

Both of your posts seem to have lists of symptoms which you fear may be liver related but you don't give any details as to whether you've actually sought medical help to investigate any of your symptoms. Dr Google will always give you worst case scenarios.

You need to see your doctor and get the ball rolling as regards tests to find out what you may have going on.

Katie

[Zeus12]

thanks I have been to the hospital, I’ve done ultrasound and LFT ...6 months ago my results were ALT 94, AST 41, ALB 2.1 , BIL 2.4mg/dL, protein 5.8 , doctor said it’s probably alcohol, I stopped drinking since then and ever since then everything went back to normal as I kept track every month except for BIL which is always slightly high, Did ultra sound again and doctors keep saying im fine , but my mind keeps saying something is wrong because of the following symptoms, yellow urine ( sometimes white when I’m at home and not doing anything stressful) , itchy skin that comes and go (sometimes of the palms and soles of the feet ) , spat blood once (small amount mixed with my spit ) , pale stool (sometimes normal brown ), white flaky skin on my legs that comes and goes (never jaundiced and no red palms ) these days I keep waking up in the middle of the night and feel drowsy during the day, dr said I have an illness anxiety disorder and needs to stay off google but my mind is worried and sometimes I cry because I have taken lots of alcohol in the past ( not an alcoholic but I drink socially) and I used to smoke cigarettes which I also stopped years ago , so I think I need more investigation in order to regain my peace of mind maybe a CT SCan or Fibro ... Thanks for your concern guys I really appreciate it

[AyrshireK in reply to Zeus12]

It does sound more a classic case of health anxiety. We get lots of members (usually drinkers/ex-drinkers) who know they have drunk far too much and can't believe it when tests clear them of the damage they fear they must have done. This usually leads to focussing on the liver and every little niggle, minute possible symptoms is investigated on Dr Google revealing it MUST be liver related.

None of your 'symptoms' scream liver damage - pee colour can vary all day in all of us - darker in the morning when we're a bit dehydrated through not drinking overnight then becoming spot on normal 'straw coloured' as we hydrate through the day. Itchy skin can occur for all manner of reasons - you'd really know about it if it was genuine liver itch because you'd want to scrape your skin off.

My hubby does have cirrhosis and has zero of the symptoms you feel are indicating an issue.

You've done the right thing in stopping booze, your bloods are being monitored and it like as though you caught things early enough to stop the progression to cirrhosis which you fear.

A fibroscan would be good if you would accept the result - we've had members with health anxiety who have had those then come back still no believing they are ok.

As I said to someone else earlier this week that perhaps request a fibroscan as it will (hopefully) put your mind at rest and let you focus on living your best life.

Can I just pose the question - what would you do if you found out you dud indeed have cirrhosis? Monitoring is all the docs do plus treating serious symptoms as or when they occur.

Patients with cirrhosis tend to just get on living their lives, they don't live on Dr Google investigating every little twinge that may be liver related. My hubby has never been on here, never looked up his condition, symptoms or anything. He gets on with living his best life.

Katie

[Zeus12]

Thanks so much Katie, this has given me lots of peace, thanks for taking your time to explain to me, I pray that God will heal your husband and make him get better amen 🙏🏻

[Kristian]

Hi Zeus, just to put your mind at ease a little, I had cirrhosis for 7 or 8 years and at no point in that time did I have any shoulder pain. Well except for a slight twinge for a few hours after a couple of liver biopsies, lol.

Shoulder pain can be caused by any number of reasons and I'd imagine liver damage would be pretty low down on the list of possibilities. Yes, it can occur, but on its own it wouldn't be diagnostic.

You have had tests done in the past that were a little abnormal. Given that this is a new symptom its probably worth getting an appointment with your gp just to get it checked out and possibly do another blood test to see if there are still any anomalies. That would then indicate whether any further investigations are necessary or whether this is just one of them transient things that we all get that can crop up from time to time.

[Zeus12]

Thanks Kristian .... God bless you

[Smokey001]

To my mind, if the doctor suggests nothing remarkable, then stop worrying.

True story, and old friend of mine suffered from right shoulder pain for 20 years, nobody could identify the root cause. He spent 1000's on specialists etc...

Then one period he noticed it disappeared.

He realised it was due to driving with the window open and the cold air as he always had his window slightly open while driving.

Assuming you are Driving in England , could it be.

The point is use common sense, if doctor's are concerned they will advise. Otherwise as Katie suggested look at posture or other more mundane factors before assuming the worst

Anyway hope you get to the root cause asap.

Best wishes

[Taffypaul]

Hi Zeus I've always been fit as a fiddle in the muscles department, reasonable golfer, flexible no issues until cirrhosis. I was diagnosed in March 2023 with ascites de compensated liver and fibroscan score of 35kpa. I stopped drinking instantly on coming out of hospital.While my liver is now only compensated and a lot better I have suffered 2 frozen shoulders. The first being the left and now the right , very painful. Never before have I suffered any muscle type injury in my life until my liver damage.

So what I am trying to say in my opinion is liver damage can cause muscular issues ( even my legs ache a lot ) but on the other side just because you got shoulder problems does not mean you have liver damage .

So get yourself thoroughly checked out and I hope all will be just fine with you .

Paul

If it helps, with first my first shoulder issue I took a course of shock wave therapy which really worked . look it up.

[Zeus12]

Thanks Smokey .... Means alot

[Zeus12]

thanks .... I surely will