Question:
Why after surgery liver enzimes are 5 x's higher than normal? Surgery related?

I had my surgery almost 5 months ago. Open, transected, GB removel, down 75 pounds and feeling great till sunday morning. Had to go to the hospital b/c I thought I was having a heart attack. Kept me, ran all the tests and NO Heart Attack, Thank God. But during the testing they found I have very High (5 times higher than normal )Liver enzimes. Did blood, ct scan and tread mill test. Was released Monday night and followed up with surgen today and have appt with PCP on Wed. Am having the tests rerun this week. I have read the library and this has happened to some after their sergery but WHY? Before surgery my liver was okay . do you think that this is surgery related? Am I not doing something (eating/drinking) correctly? Any info is greatly appreciated. Also if any of the people in the library can let me know how there liver enzimes are now, it might reasure me I am okay. Thanks in advance.    — sandy W. (posted on October 29, 2002)

October 29, 2002
I can't answer WHY this happens, but it happened to me as well. My PCP or surgeon does not know the WHY'S, but did say it is common after surgery. When I went for my 6-month blood work, the Liver Function Tests were all back to normal. The only explanation seems to be it's the body adjusting to the shock of the surgery. Hope this helped a little.
   — Sandra C.

October 29, 2002
My understanding of why this happens is that as our bodies are losing fat, it filters through the liver which is why the enzymes can register higher than usual. My liver enzyme test results have also been elevated but just this month they have begun to lessen. I am 5 days short of being 6 months post-op.
   — Jennifer A.

October 30, 2002
I have fought with hight liver numbers for over a year now. Before surgery it was usually due to a fatty liver or taking too many Tylenol or medication. All kind of meds can increase your liver function test numbers. Cough syrups, antibiotics, Tylenol, alcohol...I could go on forever. I just had my blood work done (5 months out) and my numbers were double again. But again I had just taken antibiotics and cough syrup for a sinus infection. I was even tested for hepatitis (I did not even know what this was) and it really scared me to death. But now that I have researched it more I have found that some people have fatty livers and their numbers will always be high. Give it another 3 months...stay away from Tylenol and as many meds as possible and then have your test ran again. I take Paxil and it even elevates my liver numbers.
   — Cindy M.