natbick
09-16-2004, 11:58 PM
I am a recovering alcoholic ( 6 weeks sober! ) and after 10 years of fairly heavy drinking I finally decided to get myself checked out at the drs. Reason being is that I have been getting stomach pains, and what I thought was a dull pain in my liver. Anyway after reading up about the various liver diseases one can get from chronic alcohol abuse I came to the conclusion that I may have the beginning of a liver disease. For a few months now I have had a tingling / itching sensation all over my body which comes aand goes, and have been developing tiny red spots ( they look like blood spots ) on my arms. So off to the dr I went, I was very honest with him about my history so amongst many other blood tests he did a liver function test. I was sure it would come back with something wrong. It didn't. He said it is completly normal.
So what I was wondering is if you can have a normal liver function test and still have something wrong? I suggested to my dr that I see a specialist but he seemed to think there was nothing wrong and dismissed me. So I don't know what to do. Aside from the symptoms I mentioned above I feel fine. No yellowing of the skin, no nausa, no fatigue. Even the pain I feel in my liver I honestly can't say for sure if it even is coming from my liver. My dr felt all around my stomach and said that my liver felt fine, not enlarged.
Maybe I'm being paranoid, but the last thing I want is an advanced stage of liver disease because I didn't get it diognosed early enough.
What do you guys think I should do?
So what I was wondering is if you can have a normal liver function test and still have something wrong? I suggested to my dr that I see a specialist but he seemed to think there was nothing wrong and dismissed me. So I don't know what to do. Aside from the symptoms I mentioned above I feel fine. No yellowing of the skin, no nausa, no fatigue. Even the pain I feel in my liver I honestly can't say for sure if it even is coming from my liver. My dr felt all around my stomach and said that my liver felt fine, not enlarged.
Maybe I'm being paranoid, but the last thing I want is an advanced stage of liver disease because I didn't get it diognosed early enough.
What do you guys think I should do?
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crisma
09-17-2004, 01:52 PM
Congratulations on your 6 weeks of sobriety!!!! I have recently had some liver problems myself and everytime I have went to the doc or the hospital, the first thing they ask me is if I have been itching. I don't know exactly why they ask this, but to be on the safe side I would try to get your doc to send you to a gi doc. Good Luck!
actudan
09-17-2004, 11:51 PM
Standard liver tests can be normal and mean nothing. High liver tests can mean nothing wrong with the live but is due to another problem putting strain on the liver indirectly. If you think that you may have a liver problem, there are plenty of other tests that can be performed from bllod work to liver biopsy. Pursue all your options until you are sastified. Good luck!
paborn
09-23-2004, 10:59 PM
Sounds like you may have done the sober thing for a reason. Being sober is a choice. If you like it, then enjoy it. If you would rather go back and enjoy alcohol, go for it and enjoy. You only get one life on earth. So enjoy yourself.
Phlox
10-20-2004, 06:41 AM
I have seen two instances where the blood tests from the Liver Function tests were normal, but when they did an UltraSound on the Liver--it revealed damage to the Liver. Maybe you could tell him youre concerned and want the Ultrasound, if that comes back normal, then youve eliminated the Liver as the source of your problem.
feelbad
10-20-2004, 10:01 AM
I have always had completely normal liver labs,and found out when my son got sick that i have polycystic kidney diesease with liver involvement.If you look at my ultrasounds there are some very large and very numerous cysts on and in both my kidneys(kidneys also have had bleeding into the cysts) and my liver but all of my labs have been within completely normal ranges so far,but eventually,when the damge gets to a certain point, all of that will change.you can have very extensive organ damage with totally normal labs.It isn't until the damage gets to a more critical point that you start seeing the lab changes.My son was actually down to only 20% of his liver function left when he was actually Dxed with the PKD,and hepatic fibrosis,but up to that day he started vomiting blood and was Dxed, honest to god, he never really seemed sick! the only way to REALLY know what is going on inside you is to actually take a look in there.if you want the answers get a picture of it not blood work only.good luck to you,Marcia