Hi, I was diagnosed with MASLD, and my LFTs have continued to rise despite over 3 stone weight loss. I am currently on 2 weekly blood tests with GP as I recently started statins for high cholesterol and ended up being sent to A&E as it sent my LFTs crazy. I had the last lot done on Wednesday, and requested a whole check up of other stuff too, my latest LFTs aren’t showing on my NHS app yet but my Vitamin D has come back low - last year 84 now 22. On researching, there seems to be a link between liver disease and low Vitamin D, so was curious to know if anyone else has experienced this?
Thank you
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Bookworm_Belle92
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Hi, low Vitamin D is very common in the UK especially through the winter months. We don't get enough Sun, lol. Liver disease will exacerbate that problem though as its a fat soluble vitamin which a diseased liver can have trouble matabolising. It'll be difficult to tell if the cause is actually your liver disease or just a natural occurrence but it's worth checking with your gp to see if supplementation is worthwhile. Vit D can be bought over the counter now anyway, it's no longer prescribed. If you need it you're now usually told to go buy it from Tesco (or other pharmaceutical product sellers, lol).
Thank you! That all makes a lot of sense. I’m just waiting for the latest LFTs to come back, I’m assuming it’ll be Tuesday at least now due to the Easter bank holiday, and I’ll ask them about supplements and what dosage they’d recommend.
Sorry to hear about your liver disease complications.
With regard to your query asking for experiences with Vit D deficiency and liver disease;
I can share my own experience in that regard, and you can decide if that helps to inform you, and therefore assists you advocate for yourself with your clinicians.
Brief precis:
My 1st cirrhosis decompensated period in Jan 2016 due to alcohol.
There have been many ups and downs as cirrhosis progressed since then, including periods of massive refractory ascites and edema, HE and many deranged LFT's bloods etc.
I was Ist diagnosed with Vit D deficiency in the summer of 2022 (therefore not a sunlight issue).
When I enquired why I had developed the Vit D deficiency at that time, I was given the the following responses from my hepatic team:
"It was down to a combination of the scarring of my liver, meaning it couldn't process the Vit D properly, but also that there was probably some 'malabsorbtion' issues contributing to the low levels as well".
In my case I was prescribed STRIVIT D3-800 IU daily, which I am still on currently.
As an aside, at the same time I was found to have B12 deficiency as well because of the liver scaring.
Following my recent heptology review, I am awaiting a Dexa scan, that measures bone density.
This is because long term vit D deficiency can lead to lower bone mineralisation and complications like osteoporosis.
I understand that your diagnosis currently is for MASLD with no mention of weather this has progressed as far as as cirrhosis (scarring).
Therefore my experiences may well be somewhat different to yourself.
I hope my experience of Vit D deficiency is informative for yourself going forward.
But it goes without saying that we are all individuals, with our very own complications concerning our liver disease journey, that is specific to ourselves.
Your hepatic clinicians should be able to answer questions specific to yourself.
In the meantime, there is always the BLT hepatic nurse lead helpline that is always available.
Thank you so much. That’s interesting re malabsorption too, I’m on B12 injections after being diagnosed with B12 deficiency last year, and I’ve always struggled to maintain ferritin levels. I also had Vit D deficiency back in 2018, was prescribed 3 months supplements, and had gone up from 60 after that, to over 80 last year without any further supplements. Definitely something I will discuss with my GP.
No, I’ve just been told its fatty liver, but I only had one ultrasound last year when first diagnosed, then one last month when I was sent to A&E after statins sent my LFTs crazy. My LFTs have been rising and rising over the last year so I’ve been raising concerns, but so far they’ve refused to even send me for a Fibroscan, let alone a referral to a specialist - the only advice I’m being given is to keep losing weight, even though it’s made no difference even with losing 3 stone. I’m pushing and pushing for a referral though, especially after being sent to A&E, so I’m just going to keep on making a nuisance of myself and keep asking and pushing until someone actually listens to me. It’s exhausting but I know I have to keep on pushing!
Big congratulations on trying to manage your LD by losing some weight.
That is not always easy, well done!
I'm not sure how much you know about MASLD and the associated issues and potential ongoing problems.
Therefore in case you are looking for some more specialist unbiased medically based information, I've taken the liberty and included a link to the British Liver Trust area for MASLD/NAFLD/FATTY LIVER, below. I hope that's alright.
(Over many years, I have found their site to be the most comprehensive with regards liver disease.)
In my 10+ years of LD experience with the medical professionals, the only clinicians who really know about liver disease are those based in the "heptology departments" in hospitals.
The many GPS's and A+E staff I have encountered are all lovely people, but in all honesty they are great "generalists" but not specialists with regard to liver disease, including MASLD/FATTY LIVER disease.
Therefore if possible, I would bare this in mind at all times.
Regarding the statins, they are frequently used with patients with cholesterol issues and MASLD/liver disease.
Infrequently they can cause some elevations in certain liver enzymes, as appears to have occured in your case.
I was initially on Simvastatin for my raised cholesterol, but that caused some extra elevations in my liver enzymes.
Therefore Atorvastatin was substituted, and eventually all was OK.
Everyone is different, so it can be a bit of trial and error with different medications.
I'm not sure if you have been given any "specific dietary advise" apart from the suggestion of loosing weight?
But individuals with MASLD are advised to have a well balanced diet and to be as physically active as possible -
of course you may already have this well in hand.
Depending on severity of your MASLD, alcohol reduction or restriction may be applicable, as alcohol is a toxin and is putting extra stress on your already hard working liver.
Of course that may not apply to you personally.
What you really don't want to happen is for the liver to get to the stage where it is permanently scarred, as in my case, when you move into the 'cirrhosis' zone.
With your Vit D and B12 deficiencies, MASLD diagnosis following the US and the raised LFT's, all in a relative short period of time, despite the weight loss, you would certainly be within your rights in being proactive in advocating for at least further imaging, such as CT or MRI.
The GP may well say a Fibroscan doesn't give much more information than the US, and there are cost implications for CT + MRI that the GP will try and avoid.........but it is your health!
Thank you so much. I have learnt a huge amount more from the lovely people on this forum and the British Liver Trust website, so much more than my GP who never really seems bothered once they’d done the initial ultrasound, and the hepatitis and autoimmune bloods. I’ve had no specialist dietary advice except avoid fatty and fried foods (my diet has always been healthy and balanced - home cooking with as healthy ingredients as we can, and plenty of fruit and veg. Takeaways etc are an extremely rare treat!) and avoid alcohol- I’ve never drunk alcohol. So it’s been really hard to figure out with the lack of support. My weight loss has mainly been down to adopting a regular exercise regime and being even more strict with my diet.
It was Atorvastatin I was put on, I wasn’t too happy because of the associated risks and all the literature says not to take with liver disease, but I knew leaving my cholesterol high and rising despite the weight loss wasn’t an option, but I persuaded my GP to keep a check, she did bloods after 6 weeks and my ALP had doubled, my AST and ALT tripled, my Gamma GP had nearly doubled as had my Bilirubin. I’m currently on 2 weekly bloods still to make sure they are coming down, which they have been although my ALT and AST aren’t yet back to where they were before the statins (triple and double normal range anyway!)
Yes that is my major concern with all of this, I’ve just been watching my bloods get worse with nothing being done, so yes I am going to push and push in the hope it doesn’t get to that stage.
Thank you again for all this information, I’m learning so much and it’s so helpful.
K2 will direct any excess calcium towards bones rather than arteries, but is contraindicated if you have blood clotting issues or are on certain medications such as warfarin.I think yiu have actually returned a level indicating actual Vit D deficiency, so your GP should prescribe a loading dose to bring you up within range. Once there you will need to continue with otc supplementation to prevent this problem occurring again.
Regarding statins, they are known to affect liver function, which is why lfts are regularly carried out for anyone on statins. If liver function deteriorates, then an alternative to statins, not just a different statin, should be prescribed, so I would definitely ask your GP about that.
I tested low on Vitamin D around 15 years ago and after being treated several times with a short prescription large dose my doctor had me take a daily dose of first 1000 IU, then 2000 IU which I take and am now just over the lowest normal range. I live in an area with very long winters. It took awhile to find the correct dose for me. I was diagnosed with MASLD in mid 2024.
That sounds really difficult, especially after putting in the work to lose that much weight—huge respect for that. I don’t have the same diagnosis, but I did deal with ongoing liver issues a while back, and my Vitamin D levels were consistently low too. My GP mentioned that liver function can definitely affect how your body absorbs and stores certain vitamins, including D.
Thank you! It’s been hard trying to get my head around all of this with very little support or information from my GP other than lose weight.
Sorry to hear about you’ve had liver issues too, and that’s very interesting, how the liver works and absorbs and stores vitamins. I didn’t realise just how much the liver does and how vital it is until I was diagnosed.
Hi, I have to take a VitD tablet every day as my level was seriously low on a couple of checks they did, hope you get it sorted, I had to take a high dose for a short time then a small dose each day now
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