4 weeks of excruciating pain and raised ALT? - Liver & Pancreas Disorders Message Board

squarah · 03-06-2006, 05:22 AM

I have had this excruciating pain under my right breast for 4 weeks now, originally attributed to a broken rib, xrays ruled this out. (It hurts to cough, sneeze, strain in any way and many mopvements hurt, to the point of me screaming in agony. Having had 3 children I can announce that it is worse than labour pains) Then my GP decided it might be liver related and sent me to the hospital. I had chest and abdomen xrays, NAD and my ALT came back raised at 88. I went to the ER the week before with the same pain and my ALT apparently was also raised then, but is now raised even more in a week. Apparently it's dopuble what it should be. I am on Tramadol, paracetamol (Tylenol) and diclofenac for the pain o.O and it still hurts even with all that. I can't turn in bed, I can't drive and I can't even hug my kids because it hurts so much

My fear is that it is hepatitis or even cancer

I'm waiting for an appointment for an ultrasound.
Please help.

TNT88 · 03-08-2006, 11:36 PM

I just read your post and am having similar pain in my right chest region and sometimes radiates into my back in the same region. My pain was thought to be contributed from a MVA in Sept of last year. The truck I was driving expelled me from the vehicle and then proceeded to land on my chest. I had 8 rib fractures on the L and 5 on the R. I also had a liver laceration. The surgeon also thought i had a fractured sternum but later said that was negative. The pain I had initially has lessened substantially but in the past 2-3 months has started to increase but only in the R chest/sternum/collarbone. My orthopod made me an appt. with the surgeon i saw initially to have them look closer at my liver since this could also cause pain in these areas. Like you, I can only hug my children very easy. It hurts to cough or take a deep breathe like to sigh. Some have thought maybe I could have actually fractured my sternum in the accident after all since it does take a lot longer to heal than ribs. If the pain hadn't increased I wouldnt have started to question the problem and would have just contributed the pain to the rib fractures. I hope to find out something in the next couple of weeks when I have a CT scan. I am very blessed to be alive but it's easy to start getting discouraged when you have pain every day and you don't really know the cause or when and if it will get easier.

Wish you well and thanks for listening.

nobodytotalkto · 03-09-2006, 10:57 AM

Wow, sorry to hear about your stories. I have had two attacks so far, with mild pain sometimes if I stretch a certain way. My ALT levels were higher than they should have been and my doctor and I prepared for the worst - hepatitis, cancer, etc. My blood tests came back negative. She sent me to get an ultra sound done of my liver. I can't tell you how scared I was. I didn't have everyday pain and the woman performing the procedure acted as if I should be screaming in pain as she moved the wand around. She refused to tell me anything and this only added to my nervousness. Two weeks later, I found out that I have gallstones.

My doctor wants me to scedule an appointment with a surgeon to have my gallbladder removed, and as this would seem like heaven to those suffering from daily pain, I opted for another way out. I decided to do a "at home flush", and passed between 500-2,000 small stones myself. I am about to do my second flush soon. I have to admit, I don't know if it has necessarily helped with the occasional discomfort, but it has helped my back pains and lowered my blood pressure.

Just thought that gallstones should be suggested as a possible cause of pain. They are more common than you would think. It's something to at least look into. Best of luck to you.

Lenin · 03-09-2006, 03:46 PM

squarah,

Acetaminophen (paracetamol) will raise your ALT, sometimes a lot...like to readings in the thousands. The difference between the recommended dose and the dangerous dose is small.
If there's any chance of liver involvement it is a drug that should NOT be used...go with aspirin.

squarah · 05-15-2006, 02:25 PM

I have a diagnosis

Autoimmune hepatitis.

http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=391886