Mine called me yesterday to say my liver level was slightly raised (2 points). He then proceeded to ask me if I had night sweats, was losing weight, any bone pain. When I asked him why he said it could point to blood cancer. He then said it’s very rare and he’s not concerned so not to worry about it.
Well, thanks for that as I’m now worrying myself sick. Although I know in reality 2 points is nothing, his words are in my head now and having recently lost my closest friend to liver cancer, I’m in meltdown. I do have an awful lot of stress on my plate so my behaviour is probably disproportionate I know.
Anyone else had this suggested to them? Or do I have an ultra vigilant GP?
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HappykindaGal
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extra vigilent GP! Who maybe forgot that you are on drugs that can make your liver enzymes skip and jump sometimes randomly? Anyway 2 points is nothing and could relate to the way the lab processed test.
Only worry if continues to rise over next 6 months. And remember your liver is the one organ that has remarkable ability to heal itself.
Honestly, I went into a spiral. He did add that as my inflammation levels were considerably raised (seeing rheumy next week), it was probably down to that.
You poor thing ! Please try not to worry too much, my liver went up 477 points and they just took me off that particular med. We women do get night sweats sometimes and my joints hurt cos of the RA. So there’s lots of diff reasons for things. My GP sent me for a scan a cple of years ago to check re ovarian cancer ! Keep your chin up. xx
Gosh, was he a trainee? As his bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired! Did he arrange another blood test?
I really feel for you and am sorry about your friend. Those symptoms sound more like the change of life as well as a bug. I don’t know what else one can say but try not to worry to much and that’s really hard and get another blood test next month. So sorry you’ve had the fright put on by the GP you think they’d know better. Even if it was more sinister then you’d expect a bit more care to be expressed. Xx
He wasn't someone I'd come across before. I think he realised what he'd said as he did repeat a number of times that he wasn't worried. My head was going into overdrive by then though and I'd stopped listening xx
Sounds like he’s over zealous and overlooked the fact your on immunosuppressants, and that is the most likely reason. I have a gp who is similar, she phoned me out of the blue twice, first to inform me I had an enlarged heart, and the second to tell me I had pulmonary fibrosis. I was at home alone on both occasions the second call left me upset, considering the seriousness of the condition. Why she didn’t order an urgent face to face I’ll never know. Try not to worry, hopefully if he was concerned, he arranged to repeat the blood test. 🤗
I have fatty liver disease due to Crohn's but also have leukaemia and prostate cancer along with osteoarthritis, gallstones etc etc.My oncologist often says about the raised levels.
I had this in 2020. I’d lost a bit of weight and my bowel movements were variable. No f2f appointments, but on hearing these symptoms, a dr from my surgery told me over the phone that I may have bowel cancer and she would refer me on the two week pathway to a bowel cancer specialist. I worried myself sick while waiting for the appointment. Turned out the dr was being over cautious and I didn’t have all the symptoms of bowel cancer, and whatever caused them sorted themselves out.
As someone who has MPN(blood cancer) your FBC would be effected first.So raised red,white or platlets.Your liver plays up normally due to the meds your given.Your GP seems to have been over zealous !!unless your Reaumtology team ring you about this pesky liver don't worry!!.
I am seeing rheumatology as my inflammation levels have increased and joints playing up and they're considering changing my meds. When I spoke to them, the liver bit wasn't mentioned.
I also had a call about my liver levels this week. Unfortunately it was my rheumatologist who phoned!!She told me to stop my methotrexate for a couple of weeks and to have another blood test in 2 weeks. It’s now 2.30am and I wish I knew how to stop worrying at this time of night particularly as I lost my husband 2 years ago after 50 years of marriage and still miss having someone to share the worry with.
Mine have done this on a couple of occasions with2 of the enzymes deranging.Coming off mtx and hydroxy chloroquine for the 2 weeks storted it.Just make sure you drink plenty of water, no alcohol and try to keep the sweet tooth under!! control.
The worry thing is difficult but your levels will more than definitely be because of the meds.
It’s easy to say try not to worry isn’t it. Do you have any friends you can talk to? This whole thread has reassured me as it seems raised levels are pretty usual.
So I had the same they stopped it. Restarted a few weeks later and stopped again my liver definitely did not like methotrexate and I was never to have it again. Move one next one was great for quite a few years no pain no issues. Please don't worry that's why they monitor your bloods so they can deal with issues immediately. 💛
Hi thelmar. Sending you a hug this morning too. Hope you managed to get back to sleep and get some rest. Please keep coming on here and share your worries with us, that’s what we are here for 🤗
Not sure what your GP means saying it's slightly raised by 2 points, I'm assuming he's talking about an alt result. Ive just checked in my mtx booklet and it states it should normally be under 50. I was told by my specialist nurse that due to mtx they don't do anything until it's over 70. In 2012 my alt reached 267, I had to come off all my drugs and wait until I had had two consecutive blood tests within the normal range. Happy to report it went down straight away, I had my mtx reduced from 20mg to 17.5 and it's been fine ever since. I was told at the time they start to get worried when it's in the 600's.
I spent three months waiting for some highfalutin blood tests to decide if I had got blood cancer ….which the haematologist kept on saying “oh I’m sure it’s not,”……but still went on with the very expensive blood test which turned out to be negative.
I had a huge wobble as as you know, life isn't too easy at the minute. A lot of stress!! I have no idea why he mentioned it at all. I definitely feel reassured by everyone now x
yes! In Feb 23 combined with CA125 in bloods and it led to lots of tests all negative so far to rule out liver or ovarian cancer. See my bio for more. Still not well though. I suspect stills flare caused by joint Covid and flu vac Nov 22 led to raised levels
Ovarian cancer! I’m panicking more now. Eeeek! Although he didn’t mention that one, just this blood thing which apparently isn’t cancer but comes under the umbrella whatever that means and is managed with yet more meds (that put yet more pressure on the liver). It’s a vicious circle in the end and I sometimes wonder if stopping all meds is the answer and what would happen if I did.
perhaps it's a case of brain not engaged before opening mouth. Therein lies the problem with phone calls from GPs. Bit more training needed for this one. 😎😎
Stress can affect your liver (your body produces more cortisol) and with everything else you have going on I'd suggest this is affecting your liver more than anything else. It sounds like you're GP has looked at only your blood result and was double checking.
If you can ring them on Monday, explain you are concerned and speak to him or another GP.
I'm lucky so Ive gotten to know the GPs in my small practice. There are two who I trust and one who I wouldn't listen to if he told me anything like this. Although last year the latter one said I was likely menopausal because I was 46 and it does get to you.
Today put negative thoughts to bed as you can't do anything until tomorrow.
That’s a good point. My stress is very high. Loss of dear friend that has made me feel rudderless, potential house move, ex manager in my company in litigation for theft, 12 ex clients in litigation for non payment as ex manager stole them. That’s dragged on for 14 months now too. Plus the delightful HMRC as we couldn’t pay VAT as said clients never paid us and it was a choice between payroll or VAT. It’s been a bit painful to say the least.
For the first few years on Methotrexate my liver function tests were poor so I decided to lower the amount to 15mg per week instead of 20 and since then have had no dodgy results
Funnily enough, my levels have always been fine on either 20mg or 15mg. Rheumatologist is considering increasing mtx back to 20mg and she has the same test results as the GP. I think he was just a bit over enthusiastic (hyper vigilant?)
Two points! Mine soared much higher than that on MTX and the rheumy nurse and consultant ended up having a chat in front of me about what to move me on to. My rheumy almost didn’t want to swap me to something else. Suspect your own rheumatologist would have sounded the alarm if it was super serious. Sounds like your GP needed to think before dialling. What a ninny!
Funnily enough, my rheumatologist has made me an appointment. Not because of that, but because we had a conversation about my raised inflammation levels and my poorly knee. She never mentioned the liver thing at all.
I do have a rare NHL blood cancer, my liver level was never up. It took three visits to my GP before they took me seriously, I had weight loss, drenching night sweats, fatigue, itching but it wasn’t till a lump appeared on my neck something was done. My haematologist checks all round my neck, under my arm and groin area every time I see her. I wouldn’t worry, you would have to have all the B symptoms before they would do treatment if it was. I had chemo and the lump came back a month later, I have now been on watch and wait for five years now. Your GP is just being very cautious.
Oh heck. That sounds horrible and I’m sorry you’re going through this. I definitely haven’t lost weight (although that’s not a positive!), nor have night sweats or itching. I do hope yours is now under control and doesn’t make a return.
Sounds like an over zealous reaction from your GP to be honest HKG, but I can well imagine with all the other things you have going on currently, how it could have been the straw that broke the camels back for your poor overworked brain. Sending you a big hug and hope you can take some time out today to be kind to yourself, you deserve it. 🤗
I was told this some years ago and was also told by my team that fir me its completely normal and not to worry. Has he just looked at one test or has he compared it with past ones. It maybe that it's normal for you.
hi, all I can add is be very thankful for an extra vigilant GP, one that would obviously spot a potential problem before it could become anything more as they are very rare these days. Please don’t worry this is so common and can have many things causing it and now it has been spotted he/she will keep an eye on it x
That’s an extreme reaction, I had raised liver enzymes but they were in the hundreds! It lead to a diagnosis of autoimmune liver disease but I think to jump to cancer over a couple of points is awful. I do think the doctors and consultants don’t realise this is our life, we have to deal so much and an off the cuff comment without proper investigation can really affect us. Please don’t worry, they are doing their due diligence and it will get sorted but they definitely need to improve their bedside manner.
That is terrible to be told that! I got told my liver function was raised but I was in a flare at the time and my CRP was high, rheum nurse did say inflammatory markers can affect liver function test but they are writing to GP to monitor it.
Please don’t worry. Sounds like it was a very inexperienced GP who phoned you, and perhaps does not have many patients on drugs like methotrexate. As others on here have said 2 points would not be relevant. I had to stop methotrexate due to raised liver function tests several years ago but at that point they were about 2- 3 times the normal level not 2 points above normal! Your rheumatologist might repeat them at your appointment to reassure you and to help him/her to decide how best to manage your current joint symptoms. If there is a continual trend upwards in your liver function tests the methotrexate may ultimately have to be stopped but if that happens there are many other medications available.
My GP is very vigilant and has often rung me with abnormal blood results, but to speak to you like that is very insensitive. Please try not to worry, as it's only two points like you say, and these medications we take can play havoc with our blood results. Ground yourself knowing it is very unlikely to be anything untoward. Take care xx
Not quite the same my GP phonecme to say my cholesterol was very high and I was in danger of having an heart attack, I asked what was a normal level,he said 50 I asked how high was mine the astonishing answer was 51. Maybe not that much in danger then
All I can say is exactly the same as everyone else please try not to worry. Your GP is being well over cautious. Most of us experience a little raise at times hence the monitoring. For me it was Sulphasalazine that caused it but after stopping for 2 weeks all was back to normal. A few points is nothing to worry about. Our livers are very good at healing themselves & quickly too. Hope things go well at your Rheumy appointment. I’m sure your Rheumy team will reassure you too. Sorry about your friend. Sending 🤗
I was called by a senior nurse two months ago saying I had fat on my liver and she referred me to gastroenterology dept. Whereby they told me don’t worry everyone has fat on the liver .
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