Elevated liver levels

Well before I had surgery last year I had my gallbladder checked with ultrasound (No visible stones), and a HIDA scan (functioning at 58%). So I underwent WLS with my gallbladder being untouched.

At both my 3 month and 6 month check ups, my liver tested elevated. Today I saw my pcp for the 1st time since I had RNY, and had my thyroid and liver tested. Thyroid is lower, and my liver is more elevated since tested in April.

She wants me to recheck both my thyroid and liver in one month... My question is, "what the heck?" Is my gallbladder finally gonna konk? I am not having pain. I just am concerned about what it could be?

She asked me if I drink alcohol or take tylenol. And the answer is "no". I have always avoided otc remedies. I experienced lowgrade headaches early on, and just delt with them. They eventually subsided. I seldom drink alcohol. Just trying to gear up for what the problem might be?

On a footnote, she was impressed with how good I look, and how successful my weightloss is, and with how great I feel...

Rapid weight loss causes your liver enzymes to become elevated. Unless they are double or triple the high end of the range, not much to worry about. You can take milk thistle to help bring them down. Milk thistle brought my AST back into range but my ALT is still slightly elevated. My surgeon said ALT isn't one to get overly worried about.

--gina

How elevated are they? Some doctors do not worry about elevated enzymes but you are wise to pay attention. If they are double or more it needs to be looked into. Yes you can take milk thistle however taking SamE with milk thistle gives you a bimodal effect on your liver. Do not buy junk..it needs to be enteric coated so that it will pass thru the stomach and breakdown in the liver. Good luck and keep us posted.

Mine went way up about 6 months ago and I had my gallbladder out i*****  I started the Milk Thistle like Gina recommended and mine have come down some.  Still not normal, but a lot lower than they were.  I had the Ultra sound, and a lot of blood test for Hepatitus and other things and all were negative. 
Good luck.  I hope you can get them back down.
Linda 

Thanks girls. Where do I buy milk thistle? And how long do I take it? I never thought to ask "how" elevated. Jeez, I gotta get with the program!

You can get it in capsules at VitaminShoppe, and GNC probably has it. i usually just order mine from Vitalady when I place my vitamin and protein order. You might start with 300mg capsule twice a day. Just add it to your regularly scheduled vites.

--gina

I don't have any advice, but I can sympathize. My liver has tested elevated many times for no apparent reason. Each time, when they went to treat me or do further tests, the levels went back down. 

I've never even heard of milk thistle before. Gonna have to look into it!

Good luck!

Alot of things can cause elevated liver enzymes  - rapid weight loss can be one of them and you  lost 85 pounds in 8 months, so that is definitely a possibility and if that is the case will level off over time.  the other possibilities are like your doctor said, alcohol use and tylenol use but also the use of cholesterol medication and PPI use (nexium, prevacid, protonix, prilosec and aciphex)  These are medications that we all take post op which is a very common cause for our elevated liver enzymes but we have to take the PPI's for a year and many of us need them longer to protect from ulcers and reflux.

You do need to find out how high your levels are.  Normal for ALT and AST are up to approx. 35-40.  My levels were even a little elevated preop because I took cholesterol medication, a PPI, pain medication with tylenol and had been losing weight on my own - up and down.  I tended to run around 50-60 and went up as high as 75.  Post op, I actually went up to 90.  My Endocrinologist had me go see my Gastroenterologist that specializes in liver disorders.  He said he didnt' think it was a problem since my levels weren't over 100 but he would do the testing anyway.  He did all sorts of bloods tests for hepatitis, various viruses and other things that affect the liver and he sent me for a sonogram and CT of the abdomen.  I was fine.  Once my weight stablized for 6 months, my enzymes went down quite a bit.  They still tend to run around 50 or so but I still take a PPI, cholesterol med (for stroke prevention) and pain medication with tylenol in it so I don't think they will ever be normal.