follow up!!! - Liver & Pancreas Disorders Message Board

sassylassy40 · 10-04-2006, 09:07 PM

Hi again not many replys to last post like none lol.But wanted to ask i found out that sept of 2005 my alp was 170 with severe itching exspecially in back of head for some reason.now its severe pain under right rib almost like when i had gallbladder attacks , severe itching but now alp is 183 . i got tuesday he is going to order an ultrasound. should i worry i am already sick with a multitude of problems.
And is ultrasound of the liver like 1 of being pregnant?

danielm · 10-05-2006, 05:26 PM

Hi Sassylassy. Sorry you didn't get any replies before, but I thought I'd pipe in this time and give you some feedback from personal experience.

The pain under the right rib is the region of both your liver and gall bladder. I've had gall bladder attacks before (and since had my gall bladder removed) as well as fatty liver disease (which I am in the process of recovering from now). Both can and do cause pain in that same area.

Gall bladder attacks generally are sharper and often follow eating fatty foods (although not always). Liver problems are usually more dull in the ache, but remain pretty constant with the occasional spike.

The itching you have described may or may not be related, but if it is, it's usually related to liver. If your liver is having some issues, it can bring on many different symptoms (mostly unpleasant). I've had nausea, dizzyness, stomach cramping/constapation, tan coloured stools, dark urine, sleep issues and the occasional headache as well as the odd itch. Yeah, a sick liver can do all that and more!

The Ultrasound is just like the one you get when you're pregnant, except they'll naturally focus on the area in and around your liver. If you still have your gall bladder, this is actually a good first step because they can tell pretty quickly what's causing the problem. As both gall stones and liver inflamation will show up on an ultra sound.

Once your GI has done this, they may need to do an Abdominal CT to confirm any findings and/or an MRI. Depending of course on what they find.

If you can perhaps provide a little more background on your situation and perhaps list more of your symptoms I might be able to give you some more advice?

Cheers and best wishes!

sassylassy40 · 10-05-2006, 09:39 PM

Hi there,

thanks for responding it means alot to me.I have pernicious anemia, hypothyroidsim,pn due to nerve damage, severe pain, arthritis, degerative disc disease, irritable bowel syndrome, now my other vitamins are messing up.
I am on lipitor,loritabs,acephex,synthroid,albut erol. I quit smoking a year ago.
Last oct my alp was 170 next time 168 then now it was 183.
I am so tired of being sick, i dont want to give up but its getting bad, i have enlarged heart.on left side .Gall bladder is gone, appendix ,hysterectomy.god bless ya. its nice to talk went your nervous.

kmacdona · 10-05-2006, 10:55 PM

Are you sure the lab test done was ALP or was it ALT? ALP is Alkaline Phosphatase. If you meant ALT it could be raised because of the enlarged heart.

gudewan · 10-06-2006, 10:21 AM

Hi, just wanted to say my husband has high ALP too, along with ALT and AST. Luckliy no others symptoms, but when he was recovering from his unknown illness, he did go through an itchy phase. Are you jaudice at all? His itchy-ness diminshed with the jaudice.

He was on Crestor right before he was ill, and has been off of it since. I am concerned that you maybe giving your liver and galbladder alot to deal with, making your syptoms worse. These have to process the cholesterol and fats you eat, even more so with the cholesterol meds, so the less of these things you take in, the less your body has to work on - and more engery can go into healing. Eating lots of fats and cholesterol and expecting your organs and meds to "just deal" with it AND heal is spreading your body pretty thin.

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