LIVER UPDATE

Well, since my last post didn't get much of a response, I don't know if anyone is reading this or not...at any rate, I have been sufficiently concerned to begin researching liver complications associated with WLS. Here's the first of what I've found: --- a severe side effect is liver failure which doesn't usually show up until about 10 years. postoperative in most patients. http://www.none-the-less.com/index_files/wls.html And you might want to become familiar with this message board: http://obesityhelp.com/forums/complications/postdetail/1584.html?vc=0 Vitamin K is apparently a good source of protection against liver damage (please do your research! Make sure you're getting an adaquate amount of vitamin K in your vitamin supplements and diet - don't just start taking it!) You might ask your PCP to check your vitamin K levels the next time you have blood work done. I am heading back to my PCP - don't want to sit on this and "keep an eye on it" - I want to know what's going on and why. I am going to involve my WLS surgeon as well. Someone HAS to know why my blood work is reading liver damage and what I can do to protect myself from liver failure - I read one story where a woman died from liver failure 10 years after her WLS. Be pro-active in your health care! Fatty Liver Disease could have resulted from many years of super (severe) morbid obesity, which would have injured the liver prior to WLS. The best way to determine the onset of liver complications is to review your blood work prior to surgery; see if there was any indication of liver problems prior to surgery, talk to your doctor. Also, your WLS surgeon should have noted in your file the condition of your liver when he/she opened you up. Should be in your records. Be well. M.

This is some serious stuff, Reenie! I hope that your blood work shows improvement on the next check. Thanks for giving us the heads-up on this. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. Keep us posted on your progress. Joy

I did have Fatty Liver Disease pre-op. The gastroentronologist warned me about developing non-alcoholic cirrhosis (boy did I mangle that one .. ). I've been prone to abnormal liver functions since my 20's. I would imagine that I will be/am a prime candidate for liver issues down the road. Hugs, Mo

Reenie, I'm with you on the research and awareness concerning the liver issues. I do want to caution against putting too much creed in the none-the-less web site. It seems to be biased and I'm not sure how neutral they are in what they publish. They state that 1 in 50 people die within a month of wls and we know that the statistic is more like 1 in 200. We don't know how many people have damaged livers before wls and how many drink. I think some formal studies need to be done and I volunteer to be a lab rat. Having said that, I'm going to do more research along with you. I'm also going to ask my brother to help. He's a biochemist and has access to studies and research that us common folk can't get to. I did talk to him about this the other night and he had a fit when I told him that we are advised to only take acetaminephen (sp). He won't take it himself and says that it is poison to many of the vital organs. He cautions to especially never take it within 24 hours of alcohol. I know that my liver was enlarged prior to surgery, but I don't know the extent of that. I'm going to follow up with my pcp after the holidays and get a baseline liver test done. Then I'm going to cut all fat and what little alcohol there is in my diet and go back for another test in 3 or 4 months to see if there's a difference. Honestly, what bothers me more than the liver is my pancreas. I had a couple of acute attacks of pancreatitis before wls so this is a pre-existing condition, but I don't know if the lack of a duodenum is exascerbating the issue. I've had two attacks in the last month and let me tell you, they are PAINFUL. A normal pancreas is 50 on some scale and mine is 56. That's mild pancreatitis, but I would still think that with my diet that it would be normal. Keep digging and I'll dig along with you. Love, Connie

There was a big story on the news last night about people going into liver failure because of Tylenol. The FDA is pushing for more serious warning labelling. I wonder how much of WLS Liver problems are actually Tylenol problems since that is the only pain relief that is sanctioned. Most of our doctors have blessed virtually unlimited use of this drug because of seeing GI bleeding problems with other analgesics. I would strongly suggest that you ELIMINATE Tylenol (acetiminiphen) if you have any signs of liver abnormality. Also, if you regularly consume alcohol, you are likelier to develop a Tylenol reaction. The gist of the story was that people are accidentally overdosing on acetiminiphen because of mixing multiple medications that contain it. READ LABELS for contents. For chronic pain, we may have to push our doctors for injectable relief to bypass GI issues. Joy