Fatty Liver? - Liver & Pancreas Disorders Message Board

chriscwharris · 10-21-2003, 07:47 AM

I've been on a few boards here for various problems but never thought I would have liver problems.

Here's my situation, Male, 33, hardly tough a drink, don't smoke. Healthy but not exactly as fit as I could be! Probably a little above my ideal weight but not a lot.

I've had various anxiety problems and as a result I seem to have occassional IBS problems.

Back in February I had a major episode, severe pains in back and stomach. The Doc thought it might be kidney stones and eventually decided it was probably IBS.

I saw a specialist who checked my stomach and thought it looked OK but wanted me to have my kidneys scanned anyway.

Finally the appointment for the scan arrives after a few months and I went today. I had to drink a couple of pints of water before hand to help the scan (I was desperate for the toilet!)

Anyway, the sonographer did the scan and checked out my liver aswell. At the end he said your kidneys look OK but your liver looks slightly enlarged and possibly fatty!

Not the sort of thing you tell someone with anxiety and panic problems! Anyway I left feeling pretty upset and now I'm very worried. I have no idea if fatty liver is dangerous, I have no idea if I definately have it or why I would since I don't drink.

Of course now I'm just thinking about my children and wife, all those "what if..." questions. I almost lost my wife 5 years ago with a brain tumour and I really hoped our luck was changing.

So, should I be worrying? I had nothing to indicate I had a liver problem before today.

Any thoughts or advice would be welcome.

kimberp · 10-21-2003, 01:52 PM

Chris, Just want to say first of all don't panic. If you read here on the boards you are certainly not alone and nothing I read here or have heard from my doctor implies that it is life threatening or something that cannot potentially be reversed.

I was told the same thing about my liver last week. I am 35 years old, have about one drink every 6 months and can stand to loose maybe 20 lbs or so. I went on the Atkins diet back in July 03(high protein, high fat, low carb) and now being told that the high fat diet can be the cause of this 'fatty liver.' I had my sonogram this past Friday and the radiologist said I had a 'borderline fatty liver.' My doctor has since taken me off the Atkins diet and put me on a lowfat diet for the next few weeks, only to take blood again to see if my ALT and AST levels are dropping at all in November (mine 2 weeks ago were AST 52 ALT 161!)

I was fine with normal blood tests until I started the Atkins diet ... maybe your diet can be doing the same?

Before you panic, read more on this board .. it helped me feel better and gave me some ideas (for example, Vitamin E) that hopefully will help, or at least some questions I can ask my doctor about.

Good luck, I certainly know what you are going through

chriscwharris · 10-22-2003, 03:12 AM

thanks for your reply, I'm glad to hear that it's not necessarily a big issue and hopefully can be resolved.

At times like this I just worry about my family and what the worst scenarios would be.

Anyway, I spoke briefly with a doctor who checked my most recent blood tests. It seems the ones I had in June all appear pretty normal apart from one which indicates a possible inflamation somewhere (although she said that test could mean almost anything and would probably be run again to test it still is a problem)

I don't think I have any typical liver related symptoms but I could be wrong. I do feel tired a lot but always put that down to my anxiety issues.

I've now got to wait and see if the specialist is in contact this week, *sigh*