I see a lot of people wondering about their liver numbers being elevated. I had a liver transplant and have seen my numbers go from very high to normal to high again. My transplant doctors have told me for years, as I obsessed about the numbers, that if they pulled 100 people off the street and did liver function tests that 90 of them would have abnormal numbers.

AST and ALT can be elevated because of liver, bone, heart or muscle problems. These numbers are not solely for the liver, although they are the ones tested most frequently for liver in blood tests. To see the whole picture, you need AST, ALT ALK Phos. Albumin, Total Bilirubin, Direct Bilirubin, and LD. These numbers together will tell you more about the functioning of the liver that just AST and ALT.

Also, if you are overweight and fairly inactive you will probably have elevated numbers. I lost 50 lbs and my numbers dropped to normal. The transplant docs, said I probably had some fatty liver disease. Fatty liver can happen if you are overweight.

Don't panic if you numbers are a little high. If you were seriously ill from a liver disease, where you could die, your numbers would be really high, like 800 for AST and ALT. You would also itch like crazy, and be very tired ( sleeping 18 hours a day) And you would have pain in the Right upper side under the ribs- pain that would send you to the ER because you wouldn't be able to sit upright or lay down without extreme pain.

Overall listen to your doctor, and if you are really worried ask for a referral to a liver specialist.

Hi 99,i see your from the twin cities area,did you have your Tx at the u of m?Dr humar?just wondering what caused your eventual liver failure?how long ago was your Tx?my son had his in 2000,at the U.Marcia

Yes, Dr Humar did my transplant in 1999 at the U. I had Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis. A disease that blocks and obstructs the bile ducts. They have no idea how you get it or how to cure it other that transplant, and that doesn't always work. I seems to have worked for me. They say if you make it past 3 yrs without reoccurance you are cured.:angel:

Isn't dr humar the MOST wonderful guy ever?honestly,he was not at all what i actually expected in a transplant surgeon at all.he definitely was also ment to work with children.he was sooo wonderful to our son and would just pop in from time to time and sit and actually watch movies with him.really amazing guy.when our son was really going downhill extremely quckly right before the transplant,doc H would actually come in on his days off just to check up on him.
my son also eventually ended up being reDxed with PSC too.he started out with congenital hepatic fibrosis which i guess had actually started forming while still in utero.he was actually born with his liver basically dying and never ever even appeared sick til he just vomited up blood one day at school,two months into his seventh grade year.he was only 12 at the time.that was just the beginning of a year long nightmare from hell.

somewhere along the way,they don't know if it was because he had developed pancreatitis or if this just re created itself but about four days before he actually got the transplant only because he was so bad that day before that they shot him to status one over night,he was re diagnosed as having PSC.when we were told that this was actually worse than wht the original Dx was,honestly,i didn't think i could take that bit of news since things were already to the point where i honestly thought the only thing worse would be if he actually died.god he was soo incredibly sick and since that PSC was so much more destructive than the other Dx,my husband,who had been completely checked out and was a match for our son and was goig to actually donate part of his liver to him,was told that this type of transplant was no longer an option and he would need a cadaver liver.we were just devistated to hear tha as waiting on that list,i felt was a definite death sentence since he really did not have any more time left,or not much.they had done like five seperate IR procedures on him just to actually try and get any sort of tube into his liver to try and drain his bile ducts but as one IR said after procedure number three,it was like trying to shove a straw into a rock.he just had such a horrid infection going on in those bile ducts that would not respond to even the strongest of the big gun type anti Bs.

amazingly,that night they decided to shoot him up to status one,which as you probably know,you go to the top of the list and are listed at a national vs regional level to give you the best possible chances of getting that organ,a huge miracle happened.honestly,within onlyfive hours at status one,a liver became availiable from somewhere wayyy out of our region.my son actually called that morning to ask us when we were coming up there to see him because he wasn't sure,but it sounded like they had found him a liver.geez i almost passed out.he was transplanted in june of 2000 and has been doing amazingly well with his liver.i never expected thingsto be going this smoothly,you know?i figured it was going to be like efore the transplant with the constant running back and forth to the U with some sort of new problem but things have(thank god and knock on wood)been so almost perfect that i am afraid even saying how well things are with his liver might jinx it,you know?he has been thru alot,my son.but thru it all despite his other medical problems,that liver,as Dr Humar stated,was a perfect match for him.he told us he couldn't have hand picked a better match for our son.it also started making great looking healthy bile the minute they took the clamps off,he said that was an excellent sign.god i just loved doc humar.i really miss seeing him.i am sure you also have a very high opinion of him.he truely is a wonderful human being.

i hope your transplant has been going good with no complications of any sort.i just wish there wasn't so many flippin meds that my son has to take.do you know they are actually doing liver transplants now and the recipients are only taking just strictly prograf,with no other meds and are able to actually hold off rejection?geez,thats truley amazing considering the pile o meds my son takes.its too bad that once you are started on all of the other meds you cannot just drop them and stay with just the prograf.or at leastthat was what i was told anyway.i know my son can never actully go off of the prednisone which really sucks,when they tried to ween him off completely his liver got really pissed off so he had to go back on,but thankfully it is only 5mgs and not the 35mgs he started on.

well i hope you and your new liver have a very very long healthy life together.Marcia

I don't get it.. my mom had liver pain but I could have sworen it was in the left side of her not the right, and she died as her liver exploded, it was sooo gross, she was itchy and rashed on her chest, her stomach was the size of a 9 month pregnate woman, she didn't drink much at all.

at the end of her life they said she had spost on her liver then went in and tested it and it was cancer. but they never tested anything her whole life even thought her stomach always extended, she was always just considered fat. even though the rest of her was not fat.

before she died, the the liquid that was leaking from her organs was in to her tummy started in her legs, they got so big... her pee was brown, then she turned yellow, then a week later she died.

it was the worst thing to watch, and I see alot of this now in me, I'm scared...

oh wait... sorry, it was her right side :confused:

Thank you liver99 for that information. It was very helpful in understanding liver issues.

A thank you from me as well.

I have an ultasound tomorrow, and have been living in a state of panic ever since my doctor requested me to have one.
I have panicked so much that even my poor husband now is worrying himself about it.
I have already convinced myself they are going to give me the worst possible news when I have it done.
I have taken a little comfort from your post and keep my fingers crossed.

MNW

MNW,just how did things go or don't you know anything yet??please let us know,K?i hope all is well.Marcia

Hi Marcia

Thanks for enquiring.

Well, what I thought was the ultrasound just turned out to be a consultation.
I have had to have further blood tests now to screen for hep b & C and now wait for the ultrasound date.
Doctor said he thinks it points to fatty liver because I have high cholesterol and
I am also glucose impaired, but of course he wont commit until all others have been shown as clear.
Still a worrying time now re the hep tests :(

MNW