Hello everyone, I am here because I'm frustrated and don't know what to do anymore. I am 35 years old and have been having many odd symptoms since March. Fatigue, dry mouth, body pains, no energy, lightheadness, memory issues and a host of other symptoms. I didn't know liver problems could be a worry until I saw my dermatologist about some things that kept popping up on my skin these last 2 months. I did have a ct scan w/o contrast of my abdomen for another reason early may that said my liver was enlarged at 20cm but it was thought to be something called Riedels lobe verses true hepatomegaly, so I didn't give it a second thought.
I went to the dermatologist because I keep seeing these purplish raised dots on my skin that have several tiny veins going away from the center. They are on my chest and arms. I also noticed on my face tiny veins on my nose, around my nose, mouth and chin. What really freaked me out was one day while driving my hands felt really sore. When i turned them over I saw my palms were red and blotchy (all except the middle). I thought it was a rash but after a week it was still there so finally my appt with dermatologist comes and I point out all these things he calls them "Spider Nevu", "Palmer erythema" and Telangiectasia. He pointed out a few things to me and told me to go back to primary and have some blood work done because these things are seen in liver disease.
Off to my primary I go who tells me he checked my liver in May via blood and it was fine. I then bring up the ct scan report and the fact it was done without contrast and he still isn't impressed. I asked him to please send me off for an ultrasound. He isn't happy with me and says all it's going to say is you have fatty liver. I went and had the ultrasound Tuesday before last and got a call from the nurse 2 days later telling me my ultrasound is normal but I have fatty liver which is likely due to my weight or diet and if I'm still having abdominal pain he will send me to gastro. I accept because I had my gallbladder removed in 2010 and have still had the same pain ever since only not as severe. I decided to go pick up the report the same day for my records for the gastro. The report reads "diffuse increased echogenicity of the liver suggesting hepatocelluar disease likely caused by fatty liver".. okay... what is hepatocelluar disease and why wasn't this mentioned to me? I call back and they have me make an appt. I went today and it was a total waste of time. It seemed like my Dr didn't know himself what was. He told me all it means is that I have fatty liver. They just word it different on the report. Hmm well Maybe but why then does it say "heptocullar disease likely caused by fatty liver? This seems to mean I have a disease that was likely caused by fatty liver but all I got from the Dr was crickets... I ask him about all this skin stuff and why it just would suddenly pop up and again all I got was crickets.
I went to the hospital that did the ultrasound that found my gallstones and the report mentioned I have fatty liver but no one ever told me this. I drank heavily in my 20s, I don't mean a few drinks either, I mean shared 5ths with my husband daily and sometimes more but I quit drinking 7 years ago as I realized i had a problem. I am pretty over weight and my diet not great. I had a mountain dew addiction and drank nothing but that all day everyday. I lost appetite a long time ago due to my pain meds so rarely ate and if I did it wasn't wonderful food, lately I have had a very different loss of appetite though. Putting food in my mouth makes me sick and after just a few bites I'm uncomfortably full and this has been the case since February.
For 6 months I took Advil and Tylenol max amounts daily as my pain meds (narcotics) no longer are effective. I was clueless about the effects Tylenol has on your liver. I also have had high triglycerides my whole life actually just given meds for them last month. My bad cholesterol is good but my good cholesterol is low.
I have threw the Tylenol away and put myself on a diet. I am scared out of my mind. Things like liver failure and liver cancer keep popping up in my mind. It seems my Dr doesn't care and I'm left to ponder. I will see the gastro on August 16th but it's still a while off. Why would these skin symptoms suddenly pop up on me? They don't go away and my dermatologist has told me they won't go away not ever except the Palmer erythema could possibly go away if the underlying cause is treated yet my Dr acts like no big deal..
Please help me, I have 3 kids and it takes everything I have to get out of bed and even cook a meal for them and I'm worried I'm gonna die and leave my kids motherless. Yes as you can tell this is causing me great anxiety which isn't normal for me.
