hypoglycemia and elevated Liver enzymes

I am having episodes of Hypoglycemia and have been trying to maintain it with diet. Some days like today it hits without warning my sugar dropped down to 44. Anyway I know this is one of the problems from Gastric bypass. But I also a couple of weeks ago had my labs drawn and my liver enzymes were high. I went off one medication to see if that was the culprit and had it re-drawn 2 weeks later but the levels were still high. So my question is do these have anything to do with each other??? My gallbladder was removed 13 years ago. And I do know the elevated LFT's could be from stones in the liver but I cant stop thinking that the hypoglycemia is related to the high LFT's. Any help weoul be appreciated. Jen Layman

I have elevated liver enzymes and have for months. I need to go see a gastroenterologist per my PCP. Haven't done that yet. I am not having hypoglycemia but I can say that I have not heard of a relationship between the two things before. Good luck, Kathy

Hi, I too have elevated liver enzymes. My Dr's dont seem to be worried. I know i do take some meds that can cause the elevation. I did go to a gasto Dr and had colonoscopy and the only thing he did find was the bile ducts in the liver were enlarged. I go back to him on tuesday to see what he thinks. I dont think he is going to want to do anything about it tho. I dont have the drop in sugar. But I have had a belly pain which is why I went to the gastro Dr. to start out with. My pcp didnt seem to be concerned about the elevated levels. Best to you Cha

Hypoglycemia is very common with WLS. I do 6 small meals a day to counteract it. As far as the liver enzymes, that is pretty common also. Lots of people take Milk Thistle for it but I would check my the doc. Darlene

I suffer from both problems as well but they are not related. By chance do you take any medication like Tylenol with codeine or percocet? Actually, any narcotic medications with "cet"? A small percentage of people that do not have their gall bladder suffer from a reaction to these medications. They are not able to process them and it causes the liver enzymes to elevate. It can also cause severe pain in the central back coming through the chest wall (this is what sent me to the ER a number of times). I am not a medical doctor and have little to no medical training. But, if by chance you fit in this description, discuss this with your gastro physician. Another possibility is that you may be producing bile stones in the liver and passing them through the common bile duct. You would experience the same pain described above if this is the case. Again, not related to the hypoglycemia, just one of the lucky 5% that continue to produce stones without the gall bladder. The only thing I have been told is that I can have the bile duct sphinctor enlarged (open surgical procedure, no laproscopic option here) and that will allow it to pass more freely. Suzanne

I had been taking Percocet on a regular basis and did wonder if that could be the cause since sometimes I would get a horrible stomach ache like when I would have a gallbladder attack. But I just attributed it to a sensitive stomach and made sure I had something to eat when I took it. But I had been out of my prescription and hadn't gone back to the Dr to have it filled until I had the LFT's drawn. So not sure if that is really it or not. I was taking Ultram instead so went off the Ultram for 2 weeks and repeated the LFT's but one was still high. To try to control my pain without the Ultram my PCP had me take Skelaxin a muscle relaxer. That was another drug that I had been taking on and off besides the Ultram before the initial blood draw so Im thinking it's the Skelaxin. Just about any drug can cause liver problems since it is the liver that filters them out. I think this is all because back in April I had a bad allergic reaction to a different muscle relaxant. Then I believe because of that I had a nasty UTI. Then fast forward to the first of July I couldn't stand the pain anymore and my Dr prescribed the Skelaxin. After seeing the prescribing information I have quit taking it and see if that will resolve this. It may have even caused the drop in blood sugar. I am going to be doing a liver flush and hopefully get normal results soon. And now will be again on the look for a relief for my back pain. Jen Thank you everyone for your answers. Im truely hoping that this has nothing to do with GBS.

Yes, they could be related. Hepatitis (inflamation of the liver from virus, fat in the liver or other causes) can, indeed have an impact on the pancreas and glucose tolerance. A lot of PCP's are not up to speed on issues related to the liver and consequently do not follow up as closley as they might. Perhaps you might ask for a referral to a specialist, either an endocrinologist or a gastroenterologist. A Hepatologist would be the ultimate but they are usually only found at Univerisity hospitals. Absolute normal enzymes are in the teens or low 20's even though the "normal range" is higher. "Normal ranges" were established before we knew that people with undiagnosed liver disease were being averaged in to obtain those "normal" numbers. tee

Thank you tee, See my other response to another poster. If the LFT's dont come down Im not going to mess around I will be getting referral to an endocrinologist. I am suspecting that the skelaxin is the culprit for both. I noticed that it says on the perscribing paper "False-positive Benedict's tests, due to an unknown reducing substance, have been noted." Im not sure what this means but when I did a search the Benedicts test had to do with glucose. Anyone know? Jen