Liver failure

[Lisad52]

hello my daughter is in hospital with liver failure she’s been in 6 days her liver function has halved but her bilirubin has double to 420 is this a good sign that the liver function has halved

[AyrshireK]

This would be something you'd need to discuss with your daughters doctors if she'll permit you to be included in discussions. If some results have become more normal that might be a good sign but with bilirubin that high it shows she is very poorly.

Doctors will do all they can to stabilize her and hopefully she will recover - at least to some degree.

Katie

[Lisad52 in reply to AyrshireK]

okay thank you I’m praying she will be okay

[Smegmer]

No. Bilirubin rising is bad! Its the Liver is struggling to clear it from the blood, more in the bloods means a worse performing Liver.

[Lisad52 in reply to Smegmer]

oh right not good then do you know what they can do to bring it down or just it just go down on it’s own hers is through alcohol

[Smegmer in reply to Lisad52]

What are the AST, ALT, and GGT showing? Those are the inflammation markers; they show how swollen the Liver is. A swollen Liver can't function properly, and that will cause Bilirubin to rise. For context, the normal range for Bilirubin is 0–21 umol/L

With a high reading like she has (assuming you've heard the correct number), she could have Acute Alcoholic Hepatitis, Cirrhosis, or even both at the same time. If she is lucky, it's only Hepatitis, which people can fully recover from if they stop drinking, but it depends on how bad it is; they can also die from it. So, you want to see AST, GGT, and ALT dropping, which would mean Hepatitis is subsiding and then Bilirubin starting to drop as the Liver starts to work better.

In the case of Acute Alcoholic Hepatitis, they will likely give her steroids and perhaps Liberium to manage withdrawals. But it's known as a "self-limiting"; in other words, it will do what it will do; you just have to see where the chips land, unfortunately. If she has Cirrhosis then she is at an advanced stage, but again vast improvements can be made by not drinking and functions can return to normal, but the scarring remains.

[Lisad52 in reply to Smegmer]

Thanks you so much I’m not sure on the other blood I’ll ask tomorrow they have started her on steroids to reduce the liver inflammation because she’s struggling to breath so hopefully that will work

[lonmallin50]

When l was in hospital my bilirubin was 500 after a few months it had come down to 120 but never went below that l had to have transplant in the end

[J4ck1369]

in was admitted to hospital in May 2022 with severe alcoholic hepatitis. I was very sick and basically my family were told it was likely I would die. My bilirubin was 825 at one point (not a typo). I didn’t realise at the time (I was too poorly) but have since requested my medical records. Anyway, I was in hospital for 6 weeks and in a very poorly state). To cut a long story short, since that time I have not touched alcohol and my fibroscan result was F0-F1. I try to lead a healthy lifestyle through diet and exercise but most importantly NO ALCOHOL! The only medication I am on is one tab a day for mild portal hypertension which was picked up on my last endoscopy a few weeks ago. My point is, it is possible for your daughter to make a good recovery like me but she must give up alcohol. Hopefully the whole experience of being so ill will put her off the stuff forever like it did me. Good luck xx

[Lisad52 in reply to J4ck1369]

Wow that’s amazing that gives me hope thank you x