RA any connection with liver problems

[angel-delight]

yesterday I was told I have a problem with my liver. I don't drink, well only at Christmas and New Year. Tomorrow I am having a ultrasound as my blood test result is 203, I was told normal reading is 4-50. I am on anti-tnf injections. Can I ask if anyone has had the same problem. Rhuemy said it is very rare, about 1 in 1,000. I take 8 co-codamol a day. I appreciate any comments.

[Neonkitty]

Diclofenac made my liver results go up when I was taking max dose for a month when I had a massive flare. As soon as I stopped taking them so regularly it went down back to normal. I wonder if your Co-codamols are making it raised? I don't know about this as I never took them. I have been on Enbrel three months (changing next week to Humira) and mine haven't raised but we can all react differently. Hope it is resolved soon and good luck. x

[angel-delight in reply to Neonkitty]

I was on Humira first but had a bad reaction, Enbrel is working fine and I hope to keep having the injections. I have a lot of things go wrong this year so it could be anything. I was on Diclofenac years ago and my GP took me off it saying it causes strokes, they have since found out it is ok to take. It worked great for me. Thank you for your response to my question. My specalist does monitor my liver and kidney as well as esr etc but they don't do the gamma gt liver test which my gp did as I had a rash on my arms and legs and not sure what it could be. Good luck with taking Humira, it effected my breathing after the second injection and the specialist stopped it right away. Take care, Sue

[Hidden]

Hi Angel delight,

Pain meds always affect your liver and if in those quantities then am almost certain that will raise your levels.

If I may be so bold, is your anti-TNF as effective as it could be...I am so hoping once mine kicks in that I will be taking minimal pain meds if any.

However if your figure of 203 refers to your AST/ALT then I cannot think that the pain meds alone are doing that

I do so hope tis gets dealt with quickly....you must be feeling pretty crap right now

Let us know how you get on

Katie

[angel-delight in reply to Hidden]

Hi Katie, I just don't know what is happening to me this year!!, My anti-tnf has been working really well, I was on Humira first, but only for 2 weeks, as I had areaction, problem breathing after the second injection. I am on Enbrel and it is working great, it is all the other things that are going wrong and I don't think they have anything to do with the injections. I am on warfarin until the end of this month due to a dvt in February, I then had to have a biopsy in case I had cancer of the womb, it came back clear. The sciatica- disc prolapse is causing me the most pain and I have been waiting for surgery to remove the disc, it is now decided i need to have an epidural in September , once I have stopped taking the warfarin. Too many things going wrong all at once. I just keep ticking off boxes as things improve. Fingers crossed the ultrasound for the cyst on my ovaries and the liver test will all come back ok. I a trying to keep positive, keeping working to keep my mind off things. Good luck with the Humira, I really hope it works for you. Take care, Sue x

[Hidden in reply to angel-delight]

Sue I do so hope it works out for you...we are all constantly battling with this disease. I do not take Humira...was offered another anti-TNF which although isn't quite as effective as I would wish at the moment it is giving some sort of normality back

Stay in touch

Katie

[Ronnie63]

Hi

My ALT has been all over the place since I started MTX, ranging from mid-50s on a good week to 123 at it's worst. My rheummy gets concerned when it goes above 70, albeit normal is up to 35 (my old rheummy said 1.5x normal is ok!)

New rheummy is sending me for a liver scan on 19 August as he want s to check if I have fatty liver or something else. Be interested to hear how you get on, I'll let you know what happens with mine. I'm not too concerned as the results fluctuate according to my doses so if I step down a dose or two it rights itself, problem is I need the higher does to dampen the RA activity but can't tolerate it. I'm due a change of meds once my scan result is in. My pain relief is 2x Naproxen per day but I stopped 5 days ago to see what would happen, not sure if they can affect the liver

Let's compare notes again in a couple of weeks? All the best for tomorrow

Ronnie x

[angel-delight in reply to Ronnie63]

.I will get back to you once I get the results. Thank you for your reply. Sue

[Hidden in reply to Ronnie63]

That is pretty high I must say. My GP always used to phone me when liver results were high but this time my alt is 79 and he never phoned. I contacted him about something else and asked and he just said "oh well that's the methotrexate for you" like I was indulging in something gorgeous!

My sister once went into hospital about a very painful neck and upper back and they took bloods and told her that her liver was up at 200. She was very worried but they wrote down (she's deaf) that she should avoid sea food and alcohol and come back in 6 weeks for another test. The next time it was completely normal.

I wish you and Ronnie both good luck with your liver tests. Tilda x

[angel-delight in reply to Hidden]

Thank you everyone for responding to my question. I also, have a stiff neck and pain in my shoulders. I never it could have anything in connection to the liver results. I was told at Rhumey they don't do the gamma GT liver blood test and said it is only 1-1000 as it is rare to be caused by the Enbrel ant-tnf injections. I have good results with the injection, feeling really great last March. I do have a dvt and taking warfarin until the end of this month. I have sciatica a dic prolaspe which they thought I would need surgery, they have now decided to give me the epidural once I have stopped taking warfarin. It just seems I am having one thing after another this year, very unlike me!! I will keep in touch with every one and let you know how I get on. Many thanks to everyone. Sue

[Hidden in reply to angel-delight]

It is horrible when things come one after the other isn't it Sue - I'm sorry you are having such a bad time. I hope things improve for you very soon. Tilda x

[Ronnie63 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks tilda, hope sherbet is behaving x

[Hidden in reply to Ronnie63]

Nope it's not but I'm told I'm "thrashing it to death" now so I'm keeping schtum from henceforth and will probably be found scratching at myself madly (ants everywhere!) in the loony bin over the water shortly!! Tilda xx

[Ronnie63 in reply to Hidden]

Hey tilda, I went off line when this came through and just catching up on other posts. You're not thrashing it to the bone, the site is a facility to express yourself, how you're feeling, what you want to know and check what's going on with you relative to others. Do not hide away and be true to yourself. What I have learnt/observed on this site is that we're all up and down and sometimes a bit of tetchyness creeps in with no real meaning or malice behind it (I did it myself last Saturday and am mortified with myself but over it now and apologised) so today is a new day and as Bruce would say "keep.......posting!!)

Ronnie xxx

[Hidden in reply to Ronnie63]

Thanks Ronnie. I think offloading when we are anxious is an important way of remaining reasonably sane and focused with our families and friends and colleagues and that is one of the great strength of this site. We all snap but some regret and apologise where others just dig their heals in. I think I was off my head with this feeling of my flesh being alive yesterday and snapped a little first. But perhaps those who try to suppress their panics and anxieties - thinking they are being stoical - are then unable to be as kind as I think we all need to be - to ourselves and to others? Maybe psychobabble of course but it's just what I feel. Tilda x

[Neonkitty]

Aww, Sue. Hope you get on alright. It's awful when there is a long list to sort. Keep going and soon there will be less then there was on the list and nearer a procedure free existence. (I've had a full medical appointment diary this year. Lots of taxis Too which drives me mad as they plague me.) Hope you can busy yourself doing some distracting things to keep you going until you are sorted. x

[earthwitch]

8 cocodomol a day contains the maximum daily dose of paracetamol, and paracetamol can be bad for your liver long term. Can you ask your doctor about taking just the straight codeine without the paracetamol? I actually have both - so I can choose whether to take the cocodomol or the straight codeine, and it means I've cut back a lot on how much paracetamol I take, as I also need it four times a day.

[earthwitch in reply to earthwitch]

Just checked my cocodomol package leaflet and it definitely says that it can cause liver damage.

[earthwitch in reply to earthwitch]

Just checked my cocodomol package leaflet and it definitely says that it can cause liver damage.

[angel-delight in reply to earthwitch]

Co-codamol

[angel-delight in reply to earthwitch]

Thank you, I checked the leaflet too, but I thought seeing as rhumey do regular blood test which include liver and kidney for that reason, but this test was done by my gp when I went to see them due to having a rash and they did a different liver test called gamma gt. I called the rhumey clinic and I was told they don't do the gamma gt blood test. I feel it is probably the co-codamol as I don't drink or smoke. Thank you for your response, Sue