Question:
What does it mean when liver enzymes are rising?
I talked to my doctor yesterday and was told that my liver enzymes are getting higher and need to see a specialist.I don't know what this means.He said since my surgery in March they have continued to rise.Before surgery I was told I had a fatty liver whatever that means.Any info would be greatly appreciated..Thanks — Bobbie D. (posted on September 26, 2003)
September 26, 2003
Here are some things that causes liver enzymes to rise:
*Viral hepatitis
*Excessive alcohol intake/Alcoholic liver disease
*Liver inflammation from medications and certain herbs,
*Auto-immune hepatitis - a condition where a person's immune system
mistakes the liver for an invader and attacks it.
*Fatty liver- fat build -up in liver cells, called *steatohepatitis when
the fatty liver is inflamed
*Inherited liver diseases
*Liver tumors
*Heart failure
I hope this helps... Take Care
— baybekmbrly
September 26, 2003
Hi Bobbie. Check the archives on this question (click on
"Library"). My liver enzymes were normal pre-op and for the
first few months post op. Then, at about 8-10 months post-op, they shot
way up out of the normal range. I read some posts in the AMOS library (and
on yahoo) suggesting that, after WLS, the liver can become overcome by all
the fat being processed through it during our heavy weight-loss period as
post-ops, causing elevated liver enzymes in some post-ops for awhile.
Whether this is true or not, I don't know (I'm not a doctor!). Some of the
posters suggested that the enzymes will regulate themselves back down to
normal over time; others suggested taking milk thistle to help bring the
enzyme levels down.<P>I haven't been able to take milk thistle
consistently yet due to other conflicting (non-WLS) medical treatments, but
I've noticed that in the past few months, my liver enzymes are slowly but
surely heading back down into the normal range without my doing much of
anything about them. Personally, I'm going to wait and see if my liver
enzymes continue to drop on their own, because my gut tells me this *is* a
temporary WLS side effect, not a sign that I have liver disease. *But*
elevated liver enzymes can be indicative of very serious disease, so I
won't wait much longer to see a specialist if my enzymes don't drop to
normal.<P>You have to make your own decisions on this, but for sure,
you should at least ask your docs to check into whether your WLS somehow
might have something to do with your elevated liver enzymes (and if so,
whether it's a temporary condition). Neither my bariatric surgeon nor my
endocronologist had ever heard of this, by the way, though they're both
tracking my enzymes closely at this point. Good luck!
— Suzy C.
September 26, 2003
My liver enzymes were normal for the first 6 mo then at the one year
checkup they were elevated enough that it concerned my PCP. He said to
come back in a month and get them checked again, at which point they had
gone down. I'm inclined to think like Suzy C that this may just be one of
the things that occur to us on our post-op journey. Read up on this in the
library and share the info with any specialist you go to. It may help to
avoid expensive tests during their diagnosis phase.
— Cindy R.
September 27, 2003
Hi, just my 2 cents worth, they found elevated liver enzymes with me, come
to find out I had Hepatitis, got very scared and couldn't figure out where
I could have gotten it. Any how, I read the Doctors Guide a few months ago
and found that MO are apt to get Hep it is called Nash, can be a side
effect for obese just like diabetes can. Don't know alot about it, You
might want to see a liver specialist if it is definite. I was worried it
would stop my surgery, my surgeon said he has operated on alot of people
with Hep and he is good with the liver, he wants to run his own biopsy and
get his own results, so 2 birds with 1 stone I guess. Good luck. Patricia
9-30-03 314/???
— pateblkbrn
September 27, 2003
Ruling out true liver disease, it means to me that you've had a gastric
bypass. I started taking milk thistle (it's an herb, in a pill) about 2 yrs
ago and have had normal LE since. Before doing anything, ask the doc if
he's ok with a trial period on MT. Don't just dump in there, ok?
— vitalady
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