Raised Gamma GT

[AlexandriaUK]

Hi all hope its a good week for you, its taken me ages to finally locate the site and now I have found it here goes, well I have received my results in a formal report back from the Professor of Gastroentology, who dealt with me, I am now told I have microscopic colitis and conspicuous eosinophil's whatever they are, all blood tests i.e. LFTs were normal but Gamma GT is raised and was 92 so my Dr decided to do another 2 weeks ago, this time test said 180, everything else was fine again ( except Cholesterol was high before Christmas). so has been done again last week with loads more tests, NO I don't drink other than a glass of wine or at most 2 a month, hadn't had any for 14 days and prior to that one glass of wine on the Saturday before last test, CRP was 12 before Christmas but it has now gone to 9 in last test, any ideas, keep thinking the worst as he said liver disease? scared the //// out of me, we all fear the unknown I think.

Any help would be really appreciated.

Started Gym in January and have lost 9% body fat and toned up much LOL so would love to get to the bottom of this.

Thanks for reading

[AlexandriaUK]

Cant find were to edit so added a reply as I read that it helps if you have numbers, so here are the results of last lot taken September last year.

Serum B12 518 (220---700)

serum Folate 16.4 (2.6---17.3)

Serum Ferritin 91 (10--420)

White Cell count 9.1 (4.0---11.0)

Red Blood Count 4.78 (3.90---5.60)

Haemoglobin (new units) 148 (115---165)

Haematocrit0.452 (0.370---0.470)

Mean Cell Volume 95 (80.0---99.0)

Mean Cell Haemoglobin 31.0 (27.0---32.0)

Platelet Count 265 (140---400)

Neutrophil Count 6.55 ( 2.5---7.5)

Total Lymphocyte Count 1.79 (1.0----4.5 )

Monocyte count 0.61 (0.20---0.80)

Eosinophil Count 0.13 (0.04 ---0.40)

Basophil Count 0.03 (0.02---0.10)

Nucleated Red Blood Cells - has funny A with out bar before it laying on its side. 0.20 (0.00-----0.20)

Sodium 140 (133---146)

Potassium 4.1 (3.5---5.3)

Urea 5.8 (2.5---7.8)

Creatinine 73 (60----120)

eGFR (MDRD) 75 (No averages)

Glucose 5.1 (3.3 ----6.00)

Albumin 49 (35---50)

Adjusted Calcium 2.29 (2.2 ---2.6) slightly raised, didn't notice this before

Inorganic Phosphate 1.37 (0.8 ----- 1.5)

Alkaline Phosphate 107 (30----130)

Alanine Transaminase (ALT) 21 (2------53)

Gamma GT (GGT) 92 (2----53) now 180 taken 2 weeks ago

Total Bilirubin 9 (0-----21)

C-Reactive Protein 12 (0----10) now 9 at last test.

Hope this gives all figures

Thanks again

[L4LSarah in reply to AlexandriaUK]

Dear AlexandriaUK,

Many thanks for posting on our community, and for providing me with some background information regarding your current health.

I was sorry to learn that you’ve had cause to seek medical help and have undergone some tests.

Could I ask you please, ‘what’ symptoms you were suffering from which led you to see your GP?

Have you got any symptoms right now?

It’s good that the health professionals requested all of those tests that you’ve listed, and that they are continuing to monitor you. I expect you will receive your results soon from your recent blood test.

With regard to the elevated GGT, as soon as an abnormal result appears, the GP usually asks about alcohol consumption. This is because it can ‘sometimes’ correlate to the amount of alcohol consumed. However, the GGT enzyme can be found in other parts of the body, namely:

•Kidneys

•Heart

•Prostate (obviously, if you’re a female, you can disregard this)

Therefore, it is important for the GP to investigate further to find out what has caused the abnormal GGT, and this is usually determined by a process of elimination using various tests.

I do not know for certain, but can I presume that you are a female?

If so, then I would just like to explain that for some reason, the GGT levels can increase in women as they get older. Also, if you are a smoker, the GGT will be higher.

Can you remember if your bloods were taken on a fasting sample? I only say this because the GGT level can decrease after meals, and therefore give an inaccurate measurement. For GGT testing especially, a fasting test is required.

Also, if you’ve been taking any medications, this will influence and increase the GGT level. labtestsonline.org.uk/under...

Plus, is you have any fat in your liver, this will increase your GGT level. However, if you ‘did’ have a lot of fatty infiltrations in your liver, I would expect to see an elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) result too – this would indicate an inflamed liver. But, from looking at your ALT result, that all looks normal, and not suggesting that your liver is inflamed.

The fact that your CRP labtestsonline.org/understa... was increased to 12, indicates that you had an infection, possibly correlating to the microscopic colitis. crohnsandcolitis.org.uk/Res...

When looking at a raised GGT level, I would also be looking carefully at the alkaline phosphatase result. When this and the GGT are increased, it can sometimes indicate a bile duct obstruction, e.g. a small gallstone could have become lodged in the common bile duct.

When alkaline phosphatase is raised WITHOUT an elevated GGT, this would most likely be correlating to a bone condition.

So, the fact that your alkaline phosphatase is normal, and also taking into account that you don’t consume much alcohol at all, the GGT elevation is more likely to correlate to another organ/part of the body.

The weblink that I’ve inserted above for labtestsonline mentions CHF (congestive heart failure), amongst other conditions, e.g. kidney problems.

However, I would not want to alarm you, but at least you know that the GGT is not always connected to a direct liver problem. Also, just to re-assure you that some of these problems don’t necessarily indicate that there is a permanent problem, and that it could be a temporary/short term condition.

I expect you’ve been asked if there is any family history/ familial trait/predisposition of certain health conditions, so that further investigations can be undertaken if appropriate.

It will be interesting to see what your GGT result is right now, and also what other tests your GP has requested.

You mentioned that your cholesterol had been elevated prior to Christmas, but that this test has now been repeated. I would also check to see if you’ve had a full lipid profile requested, and this should include the triglycerides.

It is really important to know what your triglyceride level is, because some people have a predisposition (similar to familial hypercholesterolaemia) to a high level of triglycerides. bhf.org.uk/heart-matters-ma...

I don’t know when you will hear about your results – do you have to call them, or will they call you?

If you’ve been waiting a long time, then it may be worth ‘chasing’ them, and also whether the GP wants to actually ‘see you’ to discuss your results, depending on the outcome.

I would be very interested to learn what your results are, if you don’t mind sharing them with me, and if you do get chance to sit down with the GP, make sure that they explain everything to you so that you have a clear understanding.

I do hope that the above has been helpful to you, but please don’t hesitate in contacting me again, even if you haven’t got any news about your results. I would be more than happy to reply to an email, or you could call me on the Helpline number 08000 74 34 94. (If you’re unable to get through then please leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can).

You can continue emailing through HealthUnlocked, or please feel free to email me direct at: [e-mail]

I will look forward to hearing further from you, and perhaps you could let me know how you’re feeling right now, and whether you have any specific concerns that I could help you with.

In the meantime, all good wishes to you and kind regards,

Sarah Tattersall

Helpline Manager – Liver4Life.org.uk

[AlexandriaUK]

Hi Sarah thank you so much for replying to my thread, rang you earlier after visit to my Dr, she had my results back from gastroentologists tests, right she said first and foremost she had never seen so many blood tests in one go and most of them she hadn't seen before but they came through with normal levels to compare to, so every result was normal, 4 A4 pages, except gamma gt again but even that wasn't too bad as it's gone down from 180 to 125,.going to retest in 2 months and has asked me not to drink LOL Erm is anybody listening.

He did put in that as it's the only raised result it could be my colitis that's raising it but I'm not sure, you asked about cholesterol, this was my last results from November2014

Cholesterol

November 2014

Total 7.7

Triglycerides 2.18

HDL 1.8

LDL 4.9

Ratio 4.2

Since then am watching diet and going gym twice a week for last 7 weeks and having repeat test Friday.

That's how it stands at the moment, thanks for reading.

PS original reason for test was gastrointestinal problems, I had a flare of UC

Regards Alexandria

[AlexandriaUK in reply to AlexandriaUK]

Ok so not sure if I should update this thread or start a new one but this has infoon so decided to update.

Did wwrite this all out and put what I wanted to say on another thread by mistake, still not brilliant on this thing it doesn't work the same as laptop.

[AlexandriaUK]

I also gave up smoking 5+ years ago

[AlexandriaUK]

Hi sorry for the delay in getting back to you/forum had the results from blood tests and all 4 pages were normal except a rheumatoid factor one, up by 1 from normal, and gamma gt has gone from 92 in September then to 180 6 weeks ago now after 2 weeks from second high one its down to 125 and going for another next week, is this a good sign, I'm hoping so

[itchyandscratchy]

Hi my ggt was in the 1600's three weeks ago. Last week it had improved to 1400's. Have had more blood taken today so I'm really hoping it's on its way down. Feel pretty awful today.

[AlexandriaUK in reply to itchyandscratchy]

Thank you so much for telling me that it really helps to know that I'm not on my own and after speaking to another Dr in our practise he actually said don't worry they get people in all the time with high gamma gt and may never find a reason so try not to worry, have you had blood tests, sorry your not feeling to well get plenty of fluids and rest.

[itchyandscratchy in reply to AlexandriaUK]

Thanks Alexandria, having my blood taken regularly at the mo as they have all deteriorated significantly. Guess that's why I feel unwell. Hope yours settle soon.

[AlexandriaUK in reply to itchyandscratchy]

It's not much fun is it, even when it's going down it's still a worry as we don't know what it is and we all fear the unknown, have they given you any ideas, if some of your other test come back raised then that can give you a clue xx

[itchyandscratchy in reply to AlexandriaUK]

I think its just the nature of the disease, I'm on the transplant list so i guess this is a sign of things to come. Fortunately I have a very good GP who is in contact with the myself and the liver unit regularly. Sorry to hear so many people don't have the same level of care.

[AlexandriaUK in reply to itchyandscratchy]

So sorry you are needing a transplant is there no reason why you need a transplant or do specific health problems cause it, I don't know a great deal about it, had a friend's dad have a transplant before Christmas but until about four years ago he was an alcoholic I am not saying you or any one else is just have never had a reason to look into this body organ, hope you are feeling a bit better and glad your ggt is going down but it's still high

[itchyandscratchy in reply to AlexandriaUK]

Hi

my liver disease is caused by an autoimmune condition called Primary biliary cirrhosis. Its incurable and progressive. There is a treatment to slow it down but i didn't respond to it. Up until this I too assumed alcohol was the cause of cirrhosis and liver disease. Its been a big learning curve!

[AlexandriaUK]

Hi I think it's not a black and white answer to this b problem had my bloods done again today decided that as it went down in too weeks 3 weeks should hopefully show a difference, doesn't seem to go down fast.

So how long before you get transplant is it soon? So is the autoimmune disease you have caused by anything in particular or just bad luck, I have RA and that's an autoimmune disease

[AlexandriaUK]

Hi Itchy hope your feeling a little better, I just got my results and madly its gone back up to 185, bloody stupid as I haven't even had a sip of wine for weeks, Gastroentologists has said for my Dr to either deal with it or refer me to herpetologist ?

Cholesterol has gone up so on strict diet now to try and lower it as she said no statins till we know if it will be bad for liver, I wonder if its a reflection of the high cholesterol causing to raised Gamma Gt

Any thoughts.

I feel a bit ashamed though to be worried when I read some of the threads on here, and especially as yours is so high.

take care.

Alex

[AlexandriaUK]

So I just got my blood results from last week, cholesterol now down to 6.2 am told this is due to exercise and diet change, gamma gt down to 104 I wonder if this raised figure could be due to high cholesterol, at its peak it was 8.3 seeing hepatologist Monday at Leicester royal I'm hoping that after nearly a year I will get some answers as its played on my mind all this time, also sadly lost my FIL this week from liver cancer

Hope everyone else is enjoying the summer so far