Mikej2000
07-23-2005, 09:13 PM
Hi, sorry if this topic has been done to death, but I read through the others and could find a good answer. I recently had my annual physical and my blood tests came back with above-normal enzyme levels. Unfortunately I didn't get a copy of my test, but the one liver value with the normal range of 3-60 was like 181 for me and the other one (with lower ranges) I dont remember what it was, but it was below 100 although still above the max. When reading my test, my doc said I don't have liver disease, however the elevated liver enzyme values definitely should be looked into. Everything else on my blood panel came back totally normal.
I am a 40 year old male in otherwise good health, I have very good cholesterol numbers, normal blood pressure, normal weight, etc. Although I used to drink quite a bit when I was younger, I got tired of hangovers and haven't drank much in the last 5 years. In fact the last time I drank was about a year ago. Would the enzymes go back to normal after so long of not drinking?
My doc sent me for a Hep C blood test, because he said he can't really find any other explanation for the high levels. Now I am freaked out, because I don't really have any risk to Hepatitis. Although I do sometimes take regular aspirin due to tension headaches, I don't use drugs, I am not ever exposed to needles and my sex life is pretty boring and non-eventful to say the least. Physically I feel fine, although I do get occassional IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), but I was diagnosed with that about 15 years ago.
My doc feels that assuming the hep test comes back neg (and the numbers are checked again just to rule out a lab error) that he doesn't think this is anything serious. But should I be concerned? He said in his 30 years as a doc he's had patients with elevated liver enzymes with no apparent cause or symptoms who go on to live long and normal lives without incident. But after reading all the stuff on the internet about liver disease, hepatisis, etc., I am very stressed over this. Other than "just relax until you get the tests back", are there any opinions on my case?
I am a 40 year old male in otherwise good health, I have very good cholesterol numbers, normal blood pressure, normal weight, etc. Although I used to drink quite a bit when I was younger, I got tired of hangovers and haven't drank much in the last 5 years. In fact the last time I drank was about a year ago. Would the enzymes go back to normal after so long of not drinking?
My doc sent me for a Hep C blood test, because he said he can't really find any other explanation for the high levels. Now I am freaked out, because I don't really have any risk to Hepatitis. Although I do sometimes take regular aspirin due to tension headaches, I don't use drugs, I am not ever exposed to needles and my sex life is pretty boring and non-eventful to say the least. Physically I feel fine, although I do get occassional IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), but I was diagnosed with that about 15 years ago.
My doc feels that assuming the hep test comes back neg (and the numbers are checked again just to rule out a lab error) that he doesn't think this is anything serious. But should I be concerned? He said in his 30 years as a doc he's had patients with elevated liver enzymes with no apparent cause or symptoms who go on to live long and normal lives without incident. But after reading all the stuff on the internet about liver disease, hepatisis, etc., I am very stressed over this. Other than "just relax until you get the tests back", are there any opinions on my case?
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meatball
07-23-2005, 09:38 PM
Hi Mikej2000,
First off, try to not stress out about your liver functions just yet. Stress alone, along w/ a million other reasons can cause elevated functions. Have you recently been sick? Any virus, cold or flu can send your #'s up along w/ tylenol, antibiotics and various other medications. I know it can be quite alarming when your body is "off" but I would definitely STAY OFF THE INTERNET!! You can drive yourself crazy reading stuff that probably doesn't apply to you anyways. Have your doc do a recheck on your levels and then go from there. You might just have a fatty liver which is raising your enzymes a bit. It's good that you got tested for hep and it sounds like your doc is on top of things... If your levels are still not back to normal or higher, he will probably want to give you an ultrasound just to check everything out.
Stay calm (i know, easier said than done) and keep us posted. There are so many wise people on this board, and we are here to help w/ any questions or concerns you might have.
First off, try to not stress out about your liver functions just yet. Stress alone, along w/ a million other reasons can cause elevated functions. Have you recently been sick? Any virus, cold or flu can send your #'s up along w/ tylenol, antibiotics and various other medications. I know it can be quite alarming when your body is "off" but I would definitely STAY OFF THE INTERNET!! You can drive yourself crazy reading stuff that probably doesn't apply to you anyways. Have your doc do a recheck on your levels and then go from there. You might just have a fatty liver which is raising your enzymes a bit. It's good that you got tested for hep and it sounds like your doc is on top of things... If your levels are still not back to normal or higher, he will probably want to give you an ultrasound just to check everything out.
Stay calm (i know, easier said than done) and keep us posted. There are so many wise people on this board, and we are here to help w/ any questions or concerns you might have.
Mikej2000
07-23-2005, 09:57 PM
Thanks for the reply! Interestingly (that's the other thing I forgot to mention), I haven't been sick in almost 6 years, not even a cold. So I don't seem to have any symptoms of anything.
But now that you mention it...... I thought about it more I do recall the day I made my appointment for my physical I didn't feel too hot. The night before I had eaten something and I distinctly recall having pains on my right side a couple hours later (in the liver area, hehe), and the next morning I had very painful abdominal cramps (in fact I almost went to the hostpital) along with having to run the bathroom three different times. By the end of the day I felt a little better and have been fine since. At the time I had thought I just ate something that didn't agree with me, but now looking back I wonder if I had some type of food illness or poisining? My blood test was about 5 days after this event, so now I really wonder if that was something that actually affected my liver? Well I guess I will find out next week. Thanks for posting back I do feel a little better now :D
But now that you mention it...... I thought about it more I do recall the day I made my appointment for my physical I didn't feel too hot. The night before I had eaten something and I distinctly recall having pains on my right side a couple hours later (in the liver area, hehe), and the next morning I had very painful abdominal cramps (in fact I almost went to the hostpital) along with having to run the bathroom three different times. By the end of the day I felt a little better and have been fine since. At the time I had thought I just ate something that didn't agree with me, but now looking back I wonder if I had some type of food illness or poisining? My blood test was about 5 days after this event, so now I really wonder if that was something that actually affected my liver? Well I guess I will find out next week. Thanks for posting back I do feel a little better now :D
meatball
07-23-2005, 11:35 PM
you know.. it sounds like you might have had a gallbladder attack. Severe right upper quadrant pain is one of the main symptoms, and it would make sense that your liver functions were elevated as well. I would have a gastro could check you for gallstones.
Mikej2000
07-24-2005, 12:05 AM
Hmm, not to sound too ignorant, but what is a gallbadder attack? I didn't even mention this episode to my doc since I have IBS and he's been hearing my complaints from that for years. But this was not a normal IBS attack, the pain on my right side lasted a couple hours then I went to bed and don't recall having any pain. But the next morning after I had been awake a couple hours I starting having the severe abdominal pain/cramps, although this was more in the stomach area as opposed to my right side. This was definitely not normal even for IBS, I have never had cramps like that before and I seriously debated going to the hospital. After I had a couple bowel movements it helped a little but this went on for about 2 hours. So I just figured I hate eaten something that made me physically ill. Anymore info you have would be great, although I will check on the web a little....
meatball
07-25-2005, 05:39 AM
A gallbladder attack is an inflammation of the gallbladder. In most cases the inflammation is caused by gallstones. Since the gallbladder sits right below the liver many people mistake attacks for liver pain. Gallbladder attacks can become so painful that I have gone to the hospital for a shot of demerol before.. not fun. One of the main symptoms is upper right quadrant pain which can be felt in the back or right shoulder, nausea and vomiting. Sometimes the pain can be referred and felt in other areas, in the middle of the chest, left side etc. Do you remember what you ate the night you had the stomach problems? I would definitely mention it to your doctor. The first time I had an attack, I chalked it up to bad food poisoning and a couple months ago when I was having liver problems they found 4 huge gallstones on my ultrasound. So it finally made sense.. Oh and btw, just because an ultrasound doesn't physically show the presence of gallstones does not mean that you still can't have gallbladder problems. There are many people who have severe pain and attacks and have found out that their gallbladders are not functioning properly. A hida scan will be able to tell you the level at which your gallbladder is functioning. I hope this helps you. Defintely worth mentioning to your internist.. living w/ that pain is no fun. I am scheduled to have mine out and I can't wait! Good luck and keep me posted. :)
Mikej2000
07-26-2005, 12:25 AM
Hey thanks for the info....
Well I got my results today, very good news...... I tested neg on all the Hepatitis tests and the enzyme levels came down quite a bit compared to what they were, although they are still slightly above normal. But at least now my doc thinks we've ruled out anything serious, although I did mention to him about the episode I had and he did agree that it sounded suspiciously like a gallbladder attack. In 4 weeks he wants me to come back in for another blood test for the liver counts and see where they are, so I guess we'll talk about it then.
Anyway thanks for your help, if you're not a doctor you probably should be :D
Well I got my results today, very good news...... I tested neg on all the Hepatitis tests and the enzyme levels came down quite a bit compared to what they were, although they are still slightly above normal. But at least now my doc thinks we've ruled out anything serious, although I did mention to him about the episode I had and he did agree that it sounded suspiciously like a gallbladder attack. In 4 weeks he wants me to come back in for another blood test for the liver counts and see where they are, so I guess we'll talk about it then.
Anyway thanks for your help, if you're not a doctor you probably should be :D
meatball
07-26-2005, 06:03 AM
So glad to hear your numbers are down and your hep is negative. You can breathe a sigh of relief!! Chances are if your numbers are going down they will probably keep going down until everything is back to normal. Good luck w/ everything and post back if you have any questions. :wave: