Amber urine

[Veeru1093]

my urine has been Amber coloured - dark yellow for almost a year now,

I drink a lot of water

on previous post I’ve shared the nhs bloods and ultrasound are clear

I have a lot more symptoms and now my hair is falling in clumps

I’ve never experienced any of these symptoms the 29 years I’ve been in this body

I’ve been readin a lot of posts on here last few months and people have shared that on occasion they’ve got diagnosed despite normal bloods and ultrasound through different tests

So I don’t know what more I can ask gp

Private bloods did show high blood fat, alp, bilirubin and bile acids

I’m a young mum(30) so the orange urine terrifies me

[Smegmer]

A struggling Liver, the colour is like Cola or Tea without milk. Its pretty dark, not amber.

[Veeru1093 in reply to Smegmer]

Okay that’s reassuring, but I’ve seen people say theirs was amber which Lead to diagnosis.

Obviously I hope it’s not liver disease but I know this urine is not normal never seen anything like it

[QuietButBold]

Vitamins,

Medications,

Alcohol and

Certain Diets

...may affect the colour of a person's urine.

The below NHS urine colour chart PDF (for members of the public) visually builds upon the point made by Smegmer (pretty dark urine colour beyond this chart versus "amber"):

google.com/url?sa=t&source=...

(I hope that you already know we are unable to "diagnose" one another via this support group).

You have previously described your various NHS test results as being OK, plus your GP not having expressed concern around your liver health.

I wondered if you had also discussed your recent liver health worries with the Nurse-led British Liver Trust Helpline.

If you were my friend / neighbour / work colleague / relative; and I had bumped into you at the supermarket and then had this type of conversation - that is what I would have suggested to the person worrying about their liver health: contact the BLT Helpline, if they hear something disconcerting and help you with understanding a fresh context - then you ought to arrange a GP appointment to explore that new clinical perspective.

Good luck with everything.

[Veeru1093 in reply to QuietButBold]

Hi, thanks for the great response

Definitely not expecting a diagnosis from anyone just wanted to determine how many others were diagnosed despite normal bloods and ultrasound

And also colour for urine in liver disease

I actually ignored it for 8 months and now that it’s not let up I’m chasing to find the cause as it’s not normal to have such dark urine when drinking a lot of water, dehydration wouldn’t last months

The link for pdf is helpful, thank you

I did speak to the liver nurse, who also suggested if bloods and ultrasound are normal it might not be liver related

And I don’t want to act hung up on something it’s not but also the symptoms aren’t going since a years time and are progressing exactly how I’ve read them to be for liver disease

It’s distressing

[wp69]

If you have high bilirubin , that will affect the colour of your pee

[Veeru1093 in reply to wp69]

Yeah but blood range for bilirubin is normal according to nhs

Private tests show it slight elevated

[wp69 in reply to Veeru1093]

Not a problem then is it

[Kristian]

This is simple. Make an appointment with your GP and take your abnormal blood test results with you. Let them retest and then take it from there. That's what they'd do anyway. If they're still abnormal then they'll probably arrange further follow up.

[Veeru1093 in reply to Kristian]

Hi, thanks for the suggestion,

I did do that, according to their bloods and ultrasound everything is in range

But I’ve seen many posts on this site stating they’ve only found their liver disease through biopsy, endoscopy

So it’s a confusing place to be in, although I completely understand everyone that says bloods and ultrasound is fine so doubt it’s liver disease. But my symptoms are severe and progressing hence the concern

[AIHinSantaCruz]

Amber colored urine is what led me to seek medical guidance... in my case, after many tests including a liver biopsy, it eventually led to a diagnosis of AutoImmune Hepatitis

[Veeru1093 in reply to AIHinSantaCruz]

ahh sorry to hear that,I hope you’re doing well now, can I ask a few questions?

Did your bloods show anything elevated? Like LFT

Did you test positive with Ana, autoimmune testing? Mines come negative

Also aren’t LFT extremely high with autoimmune hep

Did they biopsy solely based on the urine?

Because my bloods and ultrasound is normal they won’t do further testing, but I have many many symptoms of liver disease

And I know this urine colour is not normal plus my other symptoms, my private tests show signs for liver disease but they won’t take it serious

I just want to know what’s going on so I can try treat it or stop progress

[AIHinSantaCruz]

Thanks - I continue to struggle with severe fatigue and hair loss, but otherwise am doing fine. (Fine = I'm okay as long as I don't expect to do more than 20% of my pre-AIH activity level). My liver related blood tests were not fine - very high AST, ALT, etc. A liver problem was clear though an ultrasound showed a healthy liver while the biopsy confirmed the guess that it was AutoImmune and Fibrosis 1-2. I don't know about the Ana test you reference so can't say whether I had those tests with a different name in the US. And though not caused by alcohol, the path forward includes zero alcohol ever (:-() and also no raw fish.

As you wait for more information, avoiding alcohol and processed foods while stepping up your exercise routine is probably a good course of action.

[Veeru1093 in reply to AIHinSantaCruz]

sorry to hear that you’re not back to pre diagnosis but glad to hear you’re managing well

Yeah I thought for autoimmune LFT would be massively elevated mine aren’t,

Although I spoke to another lady on this forum he had autoimmune and only found out because fibroscan, bloods and ultrasound were normal for her

I might try get a fibroscan to see if those results help push for more testing

Yes I’ve never had alcohol, and I am trying to be careful of what I’m taking in food and meds wise

I need to start exercising but scared it will make me drop more weight and I’m already very thin

[AIHinSantaCruz in reply to Veeru1093]

Well I surely wish you well in this journey, and hope that you're able to push for and get additional testing. I had reduced appetite and modest weight loss in the very beginning, but the steroids (?) seemed to be associated with increased interest in snacking and weight gain. I'm a normal, healthy weight but also suspect feeling sorry for myself led to more indulgence

[BritishLiverTrust8 Moderator British Liver Trust]

Dear Veeru1093

If you [are in the UK and] would find it useful to talk things over, our nurse-led helpline is open Monday to Friday 9am to 4pm on 0800 652 7330 excluding bank holidays.

Best wishes

British Liver Trust

[Tygygvfhn]

Hi. You can buy Urine Dipsticks online for around £10. They test for all sorts, including the presence of Bilirubin. Did you report this symptom to your GP as they can test with these sticks in office.