liver enzymes up what do I do for pain? - Addiction & Recovery Message Board

j_f_2003 · 04-16-2003, 12:37 AM

Just got some blood test results that indicated my liver enzymes were up. Normal was 0-45 and mine was 47. I have been taking Lortab 10/500 (hydrocodone 10mg to 500mg of tylenol). When the blood work was done, it was taken a few days after my injection. The nurse told me I could take lortab every 4 hours so I did and did this up to the day of the blood draw. I had blood work done back in Sept and everything was fine then. Just saw pain mgt. dr yesterday and he gave me another script for lortab 10/500. I got home saw the results and was concerned. I am afraid to take anymore lortab until i see my pc. Is there any pain meds out there with no tylenol? Thanks

chippie · 04-16-2003, 06:00 AM

Tylenol is acetominophen right? Advil is Ibuprofen but I'm not sure what it does to the liver. I know that I use it for torn rotator cuffs (800mg x 3 per day) and it does wonders. My doc gave me that rather than vicoden because I hated the idea of an addictive drug.

Autumn Angel · 04-16-2003, 06:22 AM

I would be a "little" concerned too. 500mg is alot of tylenol. Even Percocet 5mg/325mg would be better than those. But I would suggest something like Roxicodone it has no tylenol at all. You might be ok with ibuprophen but be careful with it too I can cause stomach bleeds. I was on NSAIDS for 10 years because I too didnt want to take the narcotic route but after various bad episodes with my stomach my doc decided on narcotics first it was ty 3 and the caffiene irritated my stomach then it was percocet for about 6 months and the tylenol became a concern finally Oxycontin which has no tylenol. I would suggest the roxicodone or if your stomach is alright a mild narcotic with ibuprophen instead of tylenol. The enzymes arent up that much so action on your doc's part now would probably lower them. If you decide to go the ibuprophen route take it with food or milk to avoid stomach damage or ask for something like Nexium or Losec to prevent or heal the damage. Good luck.
Autumn.

j_f_2003 · 04-16-2003, 06:28 AM

Yes tylenol is acetaminophen. A family member died from liver cancer but they were an alcoholic. I don't drink. I can't take advil or anti-inflammatories because it's hard on my stomach. Another family member took advil for arthritis and has had bleeding problems from the stomach. This is one reason I was prescribed something without advil and had many injections because I couldn't tolerate anti-inflammatories. Advil is hard on the kidneys.

I haven't filled the new script yet(still have some from the previous bottle). I guess I could get another blood test done since I was on lortab every four hours at the time of blood work. It was done for getting life insurance so my primary care dr. doesn't even know about this unless I tell him. Pain mgt dr. says to notify primary dr. while Hubby says to wait another month and then get blood work re-done and notify dr then.

I was just concerned about taking more or even filling the script knowing that there is an increase of enzymes. I don't want to "grin and bear" the pain because I did that before and ended back to square one with incrased muscle spasms. Can't win either way

j_f_2003 · 04-16-2003, 06:31 AM

Hi Autumn, I guess we posted about the same time. Thanks for the suggestions. I'm calling my primary today before I take anymore Lortab and maybe take the written script back to pain mgt for something with no tylenol.