enlarged liver- pain - worried

[Jackie020]

Has anyone ever had a totally normal ultrasound report minus hepatomegaly and normal bloodwork? Was it just mild fatty liver? My report says "liver: increased in size measuring up to 19cm" and my bloods were normal, this was in May. I started having bad side pain under ribs into shoulder again and fear its my liver so did another enzyme test this week which was normal. My gallbladder was also normal on ultrasound. Of course my mind goes to the c word and it worries me. Its also possible my shoulder pain is a pulled muscle but I thought I'd see where your shoulders hurt if you did have pain? Mine seems to be back of shoulder up into neck and feels better with massage but comes back.

I am a 31 year old female.

[nash2 Partner]

Hi Jackie

Ultrasound and enzymes are both poor at telling you about liver health. Since yours is enlarged it is wise to get it diagnosed by someone trained in liver disease. The typical doc doesn't. Something you might look at is called a FIB-4 which is a calculator for blood tests. Here is a link to get you started

fattyliverfoundation.org/no...

This does a decent job of telling you if it is wise to get a more thorough examination for NASH which is the first thing to rule out.

Wayne

[Amethyst91]

so my liver measured at 20.9 cm and when I got a ct scan they said I had an extra lobe called a Riedel’s lobe and that was making it seem bigger as well as mild fatty liver. My blood tests are all very good and never show inflammation but I would ask for more tests like a fibroscan and fibrosis blood test. Mine all came back normal still with mild fatty liver and I also suffer from the same pains you do. All my drs say it’s all just due to my liver and keep reassuring me that my liver will be fine as long as I keep taking care of it. Of course I don’t fully believe or trust it since I’m in so much pain but I’ve had everything done besides a biopsy at this point so I guess I don’t really know where to go from here. Just get as many of the tests that they are willing to do for you can watch your diet now. My pain was so bad I could hardly move sometimes on the right side. I started going to a chiropractor and of course the pain is still there but way more manageable than it has been in the last 6 months.

[Amethyst91 in reply to Amethyst91]

And I meant that it’s not all due to my liver.

[Jackie020 in reply to Amethyst91]

I had an episode of bad pain last week and for the first time ever my enzymes were elevated...alk phos 160 alt 150 ast 98 but I didn't find out until days later . It freaked me out so I went to the er and again, all scans normal but showed a slightly enlarged liver, it measured 2 cm smaller than the previous scan 4 months ago. My alk phos went back to normal but alt was 100 and ast was 53, so still elevated. They said its just non alcoholic fatty liver likely. Im terrified its a cancer or something crazy an ultrasound has missed.

[Amethyst91 in reply to Jackie020]

have you just had ultrasounds or a CT as well? After telling my dr enough times in the visits she gave me the CT scan which cleared out possible cancer. Also if your liver is really bad like cancer or scarring I think you platelets would be altered in some way as well, either very low or very high. I’m definitely not an expert and I e never had my bloods show any elevation but I know I’ve read a lot of ppl on here get spikes in bloods with fatty liver because it’s irritated at that time showing inflammation. Sadly the only thing I’ve learned is just diet the best you can and try to work out which is hard for me cuz I’m always busy. My dr told me today that vitamin E was a good one to take but I’d definitely go over that stuff with dr to see if they recommend anything. Some vitamins can be rough on the liver depending on it’s condition do definitely talk that over first.

I wish I could be of some help

I know going through all this with hardly any answers is terrifying. It’s taken me 7 months of drs and hospitals to finally start to get a grip on where I’m at and how to move forward with hope of improvements.

[Jackie020 in reply to Amethyst91]

I have only had ultrasounds, both showing no mass or focal lesions so she wasn't worried about cancer but I fear something is being missed. It really is frustrating to not have any answers. She also had little concern with a one time increase that started to go down. She said we would recheck in 6 months which seems so far away.

[Amethyst91 in reply to Jackie020]

Most drs won’t make it a big deal. I think since I was seeing my dr almost every other week due to being in so much pain she ordered the ct for me just to be sure. I also have a family history with my mom that was completely missed so maybe she felt bad and wanted to be in the safe side this time. All I know is I had to make some real noise and take things into my own hands to get where I’m at now. If I followed the dr I would be told I’m fine with a bit of fat on my liver and no help at all.