Raised Alkaline phosphate and cholesterol levels.

[Shiloh119]

I received blood test results today that show a sharp rise in Alkaline phosphate levels and my cholesterol has also raised from normal to 6.5. I have never had high cholesterol before and consider myself to have a healthy diet and lifestyle. However, I am more concerned about the raised ALP. I was only diagnosed in January and was'nt expecting any changes quite so soon! I was wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences.

My GP said he is going to alert my specialist and so I will await news as to the next step.

I would greatly appreciate your thoughts, I have to say I Am quite worried.

(I didn't think to ask what the ALP levels had risen to, doh)!

[Hidden]

Hello Shiloh119.

Well my ALP and also the AST are still what is known as abnormal, have been since I started itching early 2010 and was diagnosed with PBC Dec 2010 and started urso.

I know pre-diagnosis it can be normal for cholesterol to be found to be raised due to bile being required to aid digestion of fats, bile that we are compromised with in PBC. I know mine was said to be slightly high during 2010 but nothing has ever been said since. You can apparently have high cholesterol even in PBC as people who are otherwise healthy do too.

I know it is said that there are other factors for progression of PBC and the bilirubin is one of them.

If you look at the PBC Foundations binder that members get sent or you can see it online if you are a member, there is a mention of markers of PBC.

Are you on any new medications currently as certain medications can all alter the LFTs (liver function test).

Unfortunately I've never found out what is considered alarmingly high with regards to certain elements of the LFTs as mine were over double what they are currently were back in 2010.

I expect your consultant might want to run a repeat test of the bloods to make sure that the readings are as your GP received and take things from there. I can't really comment on the readings as in lots of cases other bloods are also pointers for certain things and I expect there are allsorts of reasons why certain readings can go higher.

[Shiloh119 in reply to Hidden]

Thankyou for your reply Peridot,

I do not take any other medication other than Urso, and I'm sure that you are right, there could be a number of reasons why my bloods have changed, it just took me by surprise as I have just got my head around having PBC and thought that with it being a slowly progressive disease I would not see any change for a long time and so having anything 'elevated' has panicked me a little, especially as I have developed a night time itch.

I am so glad that this site is here, it is reassuring to know that other people are out there when I have a wobble.