extremely elevated liver enzymes. Too much supplements?
Hi everyone. Hope you are all well. I just spent 4 days in the hospital with my liver enzymes 20x greater than normal and still not down yet. They looked at my prescription meds and took me off of Savella, cut my trammadol to 50mg 3xday, cut my celexa to 20mg/day, took me off clonopin and put me on Xanax. Still take lasix 40mg/day, KCL 20meq/day. I'm wondering if I'm getting too much of something in my supplements. This is what I take: Calcium Citrate plus with magnesium 1 dose (2 tabs 4xday) Each serving has D3 250iu, B6 10mg, Ca citrate 500mg, magnesium oxide 80mg, zinc oxide 10mg, copper 1mg, and manganese gluconate 1mg. Fish oil 1400mg 1 x day, Prenatal vitamin 1 x day, Vit. C 1000mg 1xday, ducosate sodium 200mg/day, Vit. B-12 sub lingual 2500 mcg 2 x day. I went to get labs drawn again today due to feeling nauseated and bloated in my upper abdomen. I am not having the stabbing pain that sent me to the er in the first place last friday. Enzymes are still elevated as of Wednesday but were on the way down. At that time I was not taking any Celexa or trammadol. I just started back on them at 1/2 dose yesterday and started the Xanax. Taken off clonopin and sevella completely. Any thoughts or suggestions? Am I taking too many supplements. My eating habits are 2 scoops of protein powder in coffee in am (I use a battery operated frother that mixes the powder without any problem at all) and also one scoop of whey protein powder usually in the evening. I'll eat a protein bar once or twice a day, usually a ham and swiss cheese lunchable with the crackers. Sometimes I eat real chicken or beef about 4 oz. I know it's not a balanced diet and that's probably why I stay so constipated all the time, lol.
I also had elevated liver enzymes.
When my enzyme levels finally go so high that my PCP was worried enough to send me the the specialist (my levels were just 2 - 3 x normal & nowhere near your 20 x normal levels you are having), I immediately started researching everything that could cause elevated liver enzymes to see if I could just stop something I might be doing and get my levels back down to normal without going through a bunch of expensive tests.
I did about 2 months of research before deciding the most likely culprit in my case was either a: my Lexapro or b: Splenda. I stopped both and waited about a month to 6 weeks later to get my labs redrawn. They were still elevated.
I ended up getting all the tests done. I had my liver palpatated, ultrasounded and MRI'd. It feels/looks/etc completely normal on the inside & out. The specialist could not tell me why the enzyme levels were elevated, so they finally decided just to monitor the liver to see if it ever changes or begins to look funny/damaged/etc.
I wasn't satisfied with that. My thinking was and is that a normal healthy liver does not release enzymes into the blood at higher than normal levels for no reason. The liver ALWAYS releases enzymes into the blood - but it does so at certain levels. If the liver releases MORE than it is supposed to, logic dictates that there IS a reason. I was determined to find it.
I did about 2 months of research on my own regarding elevated liver enzymes. (Y'all know my motto. Be proactive about your own health or no one else will.) I discovered many interesting things tha may interest you.
1. Elevated liver enzymes immediately following WLS (or any abdominal surgery) is common since often times the surgeons move the liver out of the way and "clamp" it to the side while they work on whatever it is they are in your abdomen to do. The elevated enzymes typically go back down to normal within 48 hours or so. No worries.
2. Elevated liver enzymes farther out from WLS are not COMMON, but they do occur. The bad thing (and the good thing) about elevated liver enyzmes in WLS post-ops it that, most of the time, doctors/specialists can find no reason for the enzymes to be elevated. This is bad because something is causing the elevated liver enzymes. But this is good because the liver is usually always normal despite the enzyme levels.
3. Vitamins can cause elevated liver enzymes, but typically not when taken at normal levels. If I'm reading the doses right above, they shouldn't be the culprit.
4. Medications can definitely cause elevated liver enzymes. …PAUSE HERE FOR A MOMENT SO I CAN TELL YOU FRIGHTENING DRUG INFO… Savella can cause elevated liver enzymes. (see http://www.drugs.com/pro/savella.html)
Tramadol (Ultram) can cause elevated liver enzymes.
(see http://opioids.com/tramadol/prescribe.html) Clonopin can cause elevated liver enzymes. (see http://www.drugs.com/ppa/clonazepam.html) Lasix can cause elevated liver enzymes. (see http://www.drugs.com/sfx/lasix-side-effects.html) I honestly cannot believe the audacity of your DR to put you on all those at the same time. Most of those meds should NOT be taken together! WTF was he thinking? I’m sorry but he could have killed you which those drug combinations. I suspect that the nausea, bloated feeling and stabbing pain in your abdomen that sent you to the ER had NOTHING to do w/ the elevated liver enzymes and EVERYTHING to do with the pharmacological nightmare you have been subjected to. Holy crap honey! I’m surprised you’re still with us. Is he/she still your DR? I hope not! Unless there is no other choice and you & your DR have carefully weighed the risks and decided that the risk of NOT taking them together outweighs the risk of taking them together, you should never combine: Tramadol & Celexa (or any SSRI), OR Tramadol & Savella (or any SSRI, SSNI, etc) OR Celexa & Savella (two or more agents that impact serotonin, etc). It is also not recommended if there is a suitable alternative, to do the following combinations: Klonopin & Tramadol, OR Klonopin & Celexa. Please read this: http://www.drugs.com/interactions-check.php?drug_list=2221-0 ,679-335,703-357,3101-13615 Not only do you have all the combination issues that may have caused your abdominal distress, but all that medicine is probably overloading your liver. The liver is what detoxes all the medicines (and any alcohol) your body consumes and your DR had you on all that? Wow. Just wow. You need to see a DR who can detox your body ASAP. If it was me, I would honestly go see a DR and ask if you can go off ALL meds for a while if they believe you’ll be safe off all of them, then slowly add back just the ones they really think you NEED after monitoring you for a few months. That may not CURE whatever is ailing your liver, but it CERTAINLY can’t hurt it. …MOVING BACK ON TO… 5. Splenda is made by taking a sugar molecule, removing the carbon portion of the atom and inserting chlorine in its place. Splenda has been shown to cause elevated liver enzymes in some people – especially in larger doses. So if you do a lot of sugar free stuff, it could contribute (not likely to CAUSE all by itself, but could contribute to) elevated liver enzymes. 6. I whole-heartedly believe (and my research supports) that too much protein can cause elevated liver enzymes. There have been no studies done on WLS post-ops in regards to elevated liver enzymes in relation to increase protein intake. When I asked my specialist about decreasing my protein intake to “solve" my elevated liver enzymes, he had no clue what I was talking about. But by then, I had probably done more research on the subject than he had… who knows. I found lots of research online where BODY BUILDERS frequently get elevated liver enzymes with no physical manifestation of liver abnormality or damage AND no physiological reason for the elevation (no sickness/disease causing it). The body builders are often advised to decrease or stop their protein supplements AND THE LIVER ENZYMES GO BACK TO NORMAL. There is also the China Study to consider. (The China Study is the only study ever done on human starvation.) The China Study showed that humans who consumed higher animal protein intake had increased incidences of liver cancer than those humans who consumed lower animal protein. (Increased intake of vegetable protein does not produce the same results.) So something happens to our liver when we eat high protein diets. Maybe it makes it work harder. Or maybe animal proteins are just harder to filter toxins from than vegetable proteins. The reason(s) for the increased incidences of liver cancer was not given (probably because they didn’t know). But the fact remains that there is that increased risk. There is also the simple fact that the body must put the liver to work whenever it gets protein simply because of the processes our bodies must go through when we ingest protein. When we eat food, the body has to break apart that food into the good stuff it can use and the “waste". Most of us remember that from biology, etc. There are 2 forms of protein waste – those that contain nitrogen and those that do not. 80 % of the nitrogen-containing portion of this waste is urea. Urea is made in the liver (then excreted via the kidneys obviously). So the more protein you eat, the harder your liver has to work making urea so it can pass it on to the kidneys to get rid of it. So when you look at the facts: Higher animal protein intake has been proven to lead to a higher probability of liver cancer. Body builders who take protein supplements often develop increased liver enzymes. These increased levels fall back to normal after cessation of the protein supplements. Protein must be digested whi*****ludes getting rid of the waste – the majority of which much be formed in the liver. It’s obvious that a higher protein intake definitely CAN lead to elevated liver enzymes. My elevated liver enzymes really worried me. I didn’t want to sit back & wait for the liver to become damaged to take further action on finding out what was causing the levels. (The liver is the biggest organ in the human body. I didn’t want to mess around with this!) My liver enzymes are now normal. This is what I did to get mine back to normal. 1. I cut out most of the Splenda from my diet. I don’t eat it at all anymore unless I’m chewing sugar free gum that happens to have it in it. I don’t eat hardly any sugar free candy, sweets, etc in an attempt to keep my Splenda intake to a bare minimum. 2. I went off Lexapro. Although rare, it can cause increase liver enzymes. I am currently not on any anxiety medication even though I probably need to be. When I go to the doctor for my next check-up, I may go back on something – but it will be something different that I have researched completely and has been shown to have no impact on liver enzymes. (It will be hard but not impossible to find one.) 3. I decreased my protein intake down about 20 grams per day. As far out as we are, there is really no need to supplement at all – especially more than once a day. (Two scoops of protein in your morning drink then protein bars a time or two later in the day plus meat is a LOT more protein than you need.) Dr. Baker recommends 20 – 30 % calories from fat. He used to recommend 60 grams of protein per day, but I heard he recommends 80 grams per day now. The body simply starts shutting down without enough carbs, so you need carbs too. I eat about 1550 calories per day. I usually stay around 45 grams of fat, about 170 – 180 carbs and about 120 grams of protein. Those are approximations. I’ve done that for 6 months. My levels have returned to normal. Good luck. I miss you all. Wen
When my enzyme levels finally go so high that my PCP was worried enough to send me the the specialist (my levels were just 2 - 3 x normal & nowhere near your 20 x normal levels you are having), I immediately started researching everything that could cause elevated liver enzymes to see if I could just stop something I might be doing and get my levels back down to normal without going through a bunch of expensive tests.
I did about 2 months of research before deciding the most likely culprit in my case was either a: my Lexapro or b: Splenda. I stopped both and waited about a month to 6 weeks later to get my labs redrawn. They were still elevated.
I ended up getting all the tests done. I had my liver palpatated, ultrasounded and MRI'd. It feels/looks/etc completely normal on the inside & out. The specialist could not tell me why the enzyme levels were elevated, so they finally decided just to monitor the liver to see if it ever changes or begins to look funny/damaged/etc.
I wasn't satisfied with that. My thinking was and is that a normal healthy liver does not release enzymes into the blood at higher than normal levels for no reason. The liver ALWAYS releases enzymes into the blood - but it does so at certain levels. If the liver releases MORE than it is supposed to, logic dictates that there IS a reason. I was determined to find it.
I did about 2 months of research on my own regarding elevated liver enzymes. (Y'all know my motto. Be proactive about your own health or no one else will.) I discovered many interesting things tha may interest you.
1. Elevated liver enzymes immediately following WLS (or any abdominal surgery) is common since often times the surgeons move the liver out of the way and "clamp" it to the side while they work on whatever it is they are in your abdomen to do. The elevated enzymes typically go back down to normal within 48 hours or so. No worries.
2. Elevated liver enzymes farther out from WLS are not COMMON, but they do occur. The bad thing (and the good thing) about elevated liver enyzmes in WLS post-ops it that, most of the time, doctors/specialists can find no reason for the enzymes to be elevated. This is bad because something is causing the elevated liver enzymes. But this is good because the liver is usually always normal despite the enzyme levels.
3. Vitamins can cause elevated liver enzymes, but typically not when taken at normal levels. If I'm reading the doses right above, they shouldn't be the culprit.
4. Medications can definitely cause elevated liver enzymes. …PAUSE HERE FOR A MOMENT SO I CAN TELL YOU FRIGHTENING DRUG INFO… Savella can cause elevated liver enzymes. (see http://www.drugs.com/pro/savella.html)
Tramadol (Ultram) can cause elevated liver enzymes.
(see http://opioids.com/tramadol/prescribe.html) Clonopin can cause elevated liver enzymes. (see http://www.drugs.com/ppa/clonazepam.html) Lasix can cause elevated liver enzymes. (see http://www.drugs.com/sfx/lasix-side-effects.html) I honestly cannot believe the audacity of your DR to put you on all those at the same time. Most of those meds should NOT be taken together! WTF was he thinking? I’m sorry but he could have killed you which those drug combinations. I suspect that the nausea, bloated feeling and stabbing pain in your abdomen that sent you to the ER had NOTHING to do w/ the elevated liver enzymes and EVERYTHING to do with the pharmacological nightmare you have been subjected to. Holy crap honey! I’m surprised you’re still with us. Is he/she still your DR? I hope not! Unless there is no other choice and you & your DR have carefully weighed the risks and decided that the risk of NOT taking them together outweighs the risk of taking them together, you should never combine: Tramadol & Celexa (or any SSRI), OR Tramadol & Savella (or any SSRI, SSNI, etc) OR Celexa & Savella (two or more agents that impact serotonin, etc). It is also not recommended if there is a suitable alternative, to do the following combinations: Klonopin & Tramadol, OR Klonopin & Celexa. Please read this: http://www.drugs.com/interactions-check.php?drug_list=2221-0 ,679-335,703-357,3101-13615 Not only do you have all the combination issues that may have caused your abdominal distress, but all that medicine is probably overloading your liver. The liver is what detoxes all the medicines (and any alcohol) your body consumes and your DR had you on all that? Wow. Just wow. You need to see a DR who can detox your body ASAP. If it was me, I would honestly go see a DR and ask if you can go off ALL meds for a while if they believe you’ll be safe off all of them, then slowly add back just the ones they really think you NEED after monitoring you for a few months. That may not CURE whatever is ailing your liver, but it CERTAINLY can’t hurt it. …MOVING BACK ON TO… 5. Splenda is made by taking a sugar molecule, removing the carbon portion of the atom and inserting chlorine in its place. Splenda has been shown to cause elevated liver enzymes in some people – especially in larger doses. So if you do a lot of sugar free stuff, it could contribute (not likely to CAUSE all by itself, but could contribute to) elevated liver enzymes. 6. I whole-heartedly believe (and my research supports) that too much protein can cause elevated liver enzymes. There have been no studies done on WLS post-ops in regards to elevated liver enzymes in relation to increase protein intake. When I asked my specialist about decreasing my protein intake to “solve" my elevated liver enzymes, he had no clue what I was talking about. But by then, I had probably done more research on the subject than he had… who knows. I found lots of research online where BODY BUILDERS frequently get elevated liver enzymes with no physical manifestation of liver abnormality or damage AND no physiological reason for the elevation (no sickness/disease causing it). The body builders are often advised to decrease or stop their protein supplements AND THE LIVER ENZYMES GO BACK TO NORMAL. There is also the China Study to consider. (The China Study is the only study ever done on human starvation.) The China Study showed that humans who consumed higher animal protein intake had increased incidences of liver cancer than those humans who consumed lower animal protein. (Increased intake of vegetable protein does not produce the same results.) So something happens to our liver when we eat high protein diets. Maybe it makes it work harder. Or maybe animal proteins are just harder to filter toxins from than vegetable proteins. The reason(s) for the increased incidences of liver cancer was not given (probably because they didn’t know). But the fact remains that there is that increased risk. There is also the simple fact that the body must put the liver to work whenever it gets protein simply because of the processes our bodies must go through when we ingest protein. When we eat food, the body has to break apart that food into the good stuff it can use and the “waste". Most of us remember that from biology, etc. There are 2 forms of protein waste – those that contain nitrogen and those that do not. 80 % of the nitrogen-containing portion of this waste is urea. Urea is made in the liver (then excreted via the kidneys obviously). So the more protein you eat, the harder your liver has to work making urea so it can pass it on to the kidneys to get rid of it. So when you look at the facts: Higher animal protein intake has been proven to lead to a higher probability of liver cancer. Body builders who take protein supplements often develop increased liver enzymes. These increased levels fall back to normal after cessation of the protein supplements. Protein must be digested whi*****ludes getting rid of the waste – the majority of which much be formed in the liver. It’s obvious that a higher protein intake definitely CAN lead to elevated liver enzymes. My elevated liver enzymes really worried me. I didn’t want to sit back & wait for the liver to become damaged to take further action on finding out what was causing the levels. (The liver is the biggest organ in the human body. I didn’t want to mess around with this!) My liver enzymes are now normal. This is what I did to get mine back to normal. 1. I cut out most of the Splenda from my diet. I don’t eat it at all anymore unless I’m chewing sugar free gum that happens to have it in it. I don’t eat hardly any sugar free candy, sweets, etc in an attempt to keep my Splenda intake to a bare minimum. 2. I went off Lexapro. Although rare, it can cause increase liver enzymes. I am currently not on any anxiety medication even though I probably need to be. When I go to the doctor for my next check-up, I may go back on something – but it will be something different that I have researched completely and has been shown to have no impact on liver enzymes. (It will be hard but not impossible to find one.) 3. I decreased my protein intake down about 20 grams per day. As far out as we are, there is really no need to supplement at all – especially more than once a day. (Two scoops of protein in your morning drink then protein bars a time or two later in the day plus meat is a LOT more protein than you need.) Dr. Baker recommends 20 – 30 % calories from fat. He used to recommend 60 grams of protein per day, but I heard he recommends 80 grams per day now. The body simply starts shutting down without enough carbs, so you need carbs too. I eat about 1550 calories per day. I usually stay around 45 grams of fat, about 170 – 180 carbs and about 120 grams of protein. Those are approximations. I’ve done that for 6 months. My levels have returned to normal. Good luck. I miss you all. Wen
Thanks Wendy. I've been all over the internet and came up with all the same stuff. My doctor is aware that most of what I take is processed by the liver but we don't have any other options. I saw her yesterday and she told me that they have come to the consensus that it was a virus that attacked my liver. She told me she had several other cases just like mine. My enzymes are now completely normal again which surprised them. I will go from weekly to monthly checks now for a while to make sure. I just got my hospital bill for 4 days, ugg!!! On a side note, they had changed my clonopin to xanax and I had a horrible reaction to it, I became extremely manic for days. It was a nightmare, lol. I'll never touch that stuff again. Good to hear from you.
Hi
I was looking at some of the supplements that you are taking. The magnesium oxide is a poor choice of magnesium. I'd recommend magnesium citrate which is much more absorbable. The calcium ratio should be more like 1 to 1 calcium to magnesium. Read Dr. Carolyn Dean's book, " The Magnesium Miracle. Be careful with copper. Before taking this supplement, get a test for copper deficiency. Too much can cause liver enzyme imbalances.
Ask your doctor for a Complete Thyroid Panel. Most doctors will say your thyroid tsh test is normal even if it is 4.5. The normal range is wrongly considered at .5 to 4.5. But, functional medicine doctors would like to see the tsh at about .8 to 1.8. This would be the optimal in thete opinion.
Have you doctor check for a Candida over growth. Candida will cause an imbalance in the intestines and can wreak havoc on the thyroid, metabolism and cravings of sweets and carbs.
The best advice is to see a Functional Medicine Doctor. He will treat the root cause and not the symptoms
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