Liver discomfort? The experts say we should... - PBC Foundation
Liver discomfort? The experts say we shouldn't have but I have especially, when my LFT's are raised! Anyone else?
I know exactly what you mean. I have had two episodes of severe discomfort in the upper right section, it felt like when I was pregnant and the baby's foot or hand stuck into my ribs and moved across the surface. Horrible, lasted 3 weeks. Gastro consultant said the liver does not cause pain and refused point blank to discuss. I also have gall stones and the Consultant, General Surgeon, said the symptoms were not typical of gall stones. I see an alternative health practitioner who does kinesiology on me and especially the liver. She said one of the pathways was blocked and recommended milk thistle seeds. Pain has subsided. Very puzzling.
Well at present I've no liver discomfort, never had (as yet).
Apparently ache in the liver especially more prevalent at night can be a sympton for patients with PBC or other liver conditions.
I also think that 'experts' in this don't really fully understand as they've not got a condition.
I think too (tho' I've never had one and don't intend to in future regardless), doctors should undertake a liver biopsy if interested in that field and then they'd know exactly how one feels afterwards! It's like having your baby delivered by a midwife who has never gone through pregnancy and had a baby as the one who delivered my first born never had! She didn't kinow exactly how the labour pains were!
Regarding the itch, that is one that I find a bit hard to describe as unless you experience it with PBC you've not really got that full understanding.
I get liver discomfort to the point I find it difficult to bend forward. It feels swollen and hard but goes down again after a few days/weeks. Spoke to consultant about it and he sent me for an ultrasound but liver looked fine on that. Havent followed it up as not one of my most troubling symtoms. Just assumed it was a PBC thing....
My understanding is that the liver can not feel pain. However the sack that surrounds the liver does feel pain when the liver swells and pushes against it. The point is we do feel pain and the doctors should not dismiss us.
That's exactly how it feels like to me. Feels like my liver is swollen and is pressing against my rib cage. At first I thought it was the wire in my bra but when I took my bra off the pain was still there. Nice to know that I am not the only one with this feeling as I got the same response from my specialist....... X
Not had any pain at all in that area yet but have heard that lots of others have.
Yes i have experienced discomfort in this area. So uncomfortable that I had to sleep on my left side. Went away again after a couple of weeks or so. This was very recently and just before my official diagnois. GP examined me but could find nothing to account for it. Found myself apologising for mentioning it!
I get pain around that area but also thought it was my bra so i stopped wearing one in the house. Mojo62 I sometimes feel like you, I tend to feel guilty and in the wronge for saying something.
XX Linda
Hello everyone.
The phrenic nerve is the one that passes down the shoulder and near the liver so that might be why when we have an inflamed liver due to PBC some of us (I don't as yet, maybe never) may feel a liver ache?
Also I believe that a lot of patients feel the shoulder ache due to this nerve during a liver biopsy.
I too get pain in the liver, but have been told the liver has no nerves, and so can't feel pain. But the capsule that encloses the liver does, so when the liver swells, this is where the pain comes from.
Wake up every morning with a pain in the area of my liver. Can persist all day but have also been told that the liver has no nerves and cannot be causing pain! Just another symptom of the wonderful PBC!!
Hi all
If you look at the British Liver Trust Website and look up symptoms of PBC it descibes one of the symptoms as a constant or variable ache or discomfort in the upper right hand side, below your ribs, is this what you suffer from? I find that I have this ache but can't pin point it exactly, somewhere behind my lower ribs on the right side..I haven't been to my doctor I just assumed it was another symptom among so many.
I've had this pain for a few years, mainly at night when in bed, but sometimes get it during the day if I move a certain way. The pain is just under my ribs on the right side, It can be really severe, and yes it does feel like when I was pregnant and the baby moved in a certain way, just as if a foot was sticking in me.
I'm so glad that I am not "imagining" this pain and now I am not even going to mention it to my gastro. Mine is usually in the morning - I tho't maybe I was laying wrong 'cause I usually wake up on my right side. So much for getting rid of it -:(. Oh well. Guess I should keep a note book and record all the different discomforts with this disease. My problem is I don't know which is from PBC, AIH.
Do any of you get a "discomforting pain" on the right side across from the area where one would do CPR? This one is in addition to the one a bit lower. Sheeesh! lol.
i too get frequent liver ache and recently saw the doctor as this had developed into a pain up into my shoulder. if we all are going to our doctors/consultants with this perhaps they will eventually recognise it. having said that my docs took it seriously and gave me a pain relief jab when it spread to my shoulder.
You know how we often suggest that you write down your Q's for your consultant appt? This is exactly the kind of thing to jot down and ask, particularly if you haven't been scanned for a while. What Kosy said is true about the liver not feeling pain but the surrounding membrane doing so.
