Worried about liver

[Tuppence68]

Hi I had my gallbladder out in 2010 had no symptoms but surgeon saw cysts during another procedure so decided to remove it. Since then I have had intermittent pain in urq. I have had two ultra sounds and an mri, all showed nothing untoward. Heptatic flow showed normal, liver and kidney normal size etc. Recent ultrasound showed smooth liver no sign of fatty liver, all bloods ok except ggt was 56 had zero alcohol for 6weeks and retested it had gone up to 90! But I had been sick with a virus. Now still have the pain in right side but no other symptoms. I have been a red wine drinker for most of my adult life couple glasses most nights but always water in between (now 51) but eat med style diet, lots of fresh fruit and vegetables olive oil etc. Should I be worried about this ggt? I’m scared I’ve damaged my liver.

[CarpeDiem11]

GGT is just an indicator of the level of inflammation, which can be caused by any number of things. As you mentioned, you have recently had a virus causing you to be sick and this could easily have caused the raised GGT. It is not specific to the liver as far as I am aware.

Everything in your results suggests your liver is very healthy, all the scans are saying healthy liver, healthy blood supply to the liver and none of the usual enzyme levels suggest liver problems.

Many people experience blips in their GGT, but when they are clear of the infection, the GGT returns to normal levels. It looks as if you have nothing to worry about liver wise or indeed health wise related to this GGT.

I hope you can enjoy the New Year ,but possibly look into the amount of wine you are drinking as I think 2 glasses of wine is probably over the recommended guidelines, although I have no idea what size glass you are using lol😉

[Tuppence68 in reply to CarpeDiem11]

Thank you for taking the time to reply and I that definitely makes me feel less anxious. yes I think I am over doing the vino and will cut it back. Happy new year you too😊

[CarpeDiem11 in reply to Tuppence68]

It is possible that if you have been taking meds, then some of these can elevate the GGT. However, blood results can lag what is going on in the body. Also, docs don't tend to use standalone results, rather they look for patterns. For this reason, it is probably prudent to get the GGT checked again after you are well again, just to fully ease your mind. Your doc will advise on when is appropriate.

On the plus side, the scans read very healthy and they have checked for fatty liver, and none of the other liver enzymes are raised from what you are saying.

So good luck and with cutting back on the vino, then hopefully you will be able to relax.😊

[Tuppence68 in reply to CarpeDiem11]

Thank you, it is odd I’ve the pain in my side constantly now but no other symptoms at all, I am under immense stress and I’m sure that doesn’t help. One doctor thinks it’s scar tissue causing the pain. I plan to try and cut right down and lose a few pounds too. I do not take any Regular medication of any kind but had been taking some over the counter flu and cough suppressant prior to my last blood test. The doctor told me not to drink at all for another month and retest. Will see what happens. Thanks for all the reassurance and info. X

[CarpeDiem11 in reply to Tuppence68]

Ah, I should have made it clear that apparently aspirin and other over the counter meds could raise the GGT, so the flu meds could have done that. Doing some reading, others have suggested that GGT raised could be caused by issues with the bile ducts, but I'm afraid I don't know anything about this. It could be worth your while contacting the British Liver Trust for more info, if you want to know more or look at their info, they have plenty of leaflets. Good luck with everything. As to the pain, I've never experienced it, but many do and it does seem from reading people's posts, that anxiety does seem to make it worse.

Hope you get some answers soon and that the GGT is just a blip😊

[Tuppence68 in reply to CarpeDiem11]

Thank you so much I truly appreciate you taking the time x

[CarpeDiem11 in reply to Tuppence68]

No problem, wish I knew more. It would be good to know how you get on, if you get chance. 😊