NAFLD and Fatigue

Hello! I’m new here and learning so much reading through all of the posts on this forum. I was recently diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (steatosis of the liver I believe is my diagnosis) after blood tests showing elevated liver enzymes and an ultrasound scan. From what my GP says, my risk score or blood test results aren’t high enough for gastroenterology referral or a fibroscan yet.

I have been really struggling with tiredness and fatigue over the past 18 months and I was wondering how much of that is from my liver diagnosis, so was wondering if anyone else has experienced this level of fatigue from NAFLD? If so was there anything that helped? I was diagnosed with iron deficiency anaemia at the beginning of last year, which was treated, and then low vitamin B12 which I’ve had injections for and will be every 3 months, so as you can imagine it’s a bit of a puzzle for me and my GP to work out what is causing what! I’m also under neurology and endocrinology too, and I had Covid back in December 2022 so it’s been a bit of a rough time working through everything, especially with being so exhausted and brain fogged!

At the moment I’ve been told the best course of treatment for my NAFLD is to lose weight and with diet and exercise. I’ve been working really hard on my diet for the last couple of years, not that it was particularly unhealthy beforehand, this was before my NAFLD started showing up on blood tests and I was diagnosed, and exercise is virtually impossible at the moment with how tired and fatigued I am.

Thank you!

[Readlots]

Hi, welcome to the group! I’m sorry to hear you’ve been struggling. Fatigue is really common with any form of liver disease, so it could be that. However, it could be the other things you’ve mentioned too - iron or B12. My fatigue started pre liver diagnosis with an under active thyroid so it might be worth asking your GP to check that if they haven’t already. Long Covid can also cause fatigue. If your GP has ruled out everything else, there might be a Long Covid clinic the could refer you to - nhs.uk/conditions/covid-19/...

If it is your liver, following the lifestyle guidance you’ve been given could turn things around for you. Others on here with NAFLD have reported improvements with diet and excercise and not drinking.

I hope this helps