I was diagnosed with SLE in 1981, I am a 51 yr old female and thank God no internal organs HAD been involved.They started me on 60mg of prednisone, got me down to 4, Then I moved to TN and Saw a new Dr.
They started me on 6 2.5mg of methotrexate once a week.
For the past three months my liver enzymes have been getting higher....Now my Dr is on vacation, the other Dr told me to stop the Lipitor for my cholesterol, stop the Vioxx for my Osteoarthritis and lower the methotrexate by one pill.
The enzymes were SGOT 69 SGPT 91..I am not sleeping and I am so scared. They said they want to retest me in 6 weeks, isnt that too long to wait?
Then if they are still high,they will do a liver biopsy.
I WILL HAVE NO LIVER BIOPSY.
Can someone help me.......Share with me...Calm me down.
They told me not to work myself into a flare, easy for them to say.
God Bless you all. PRAY FOR A CURE
Lupus, Fibro, OsteoAt, Sjogrems, Carpel tunnel, osteoporosis, Got them all.....
I've had my liver functions come back funky too. They have resolved. We stopped the MTX and things went back to normal. I would not panic too much yet!! Lupus can get into an organ and fool around, but can also calm down again too!! Take a deep breath.... exhale.... thinigs will be ok!! Hang in there!! Eat healthy, get some exercise (as much as you can!) - relax and try not to focus on it, there's nothing you can do. You might ask if you should stop the MTX for a while to see what happens. The MTX can mess up the liver function, that is why they check it often while on MTX. Good luck!!
Thanks so much for you thoughts.My own Dr does not come back to town till 6-2 , tonight is methotrexate night and I am tempted to just stop it, but dont want to make the Dr. mad. I will reduce it from 5 to 3 until I talk to her.
I hope that you are doing better.....
You really did help me feel better
God Bless you
Dale
Thanks so much for you thoughts.My own Dr does not come back to town till 6-2 , tonight is methotrexate night and I am tempted to just stop it, but dont want to make the Dr. mad. I will reduce it from 5 to 3 until I talk to her.
I hope that you are doing better.....
You really did help me feel better
God Bless you
Dale
I was diagnosed with SLE in 1981, I am a 51 yr old female and thank God no internal organs HAD been involved.They started me on 60mg of prednisone, got me down to 4, Then I moved to TN and Saw a new Dr.
They started me on 6 2.5mg of methotrexate once a week.
For the past three months my liver enzymes have been getting higher....Now my Dr is on vacation, the other Dr told me to stop the Lipitor for my cholesterol, stop the Vioxx for my Osteoarthritis and lower the methotrexate by one pill.
The enzymes were SGOT 69 SGPT 91..I am not sleeping and I am so scared. They said they want to retest me in 6 weeks, isnt that too long to wait?
Then if they are still high,they will do a liver biopsy.
I WILL HAVE NO LIVER BIOPSY.
Can someone help me.......Share with me...Calm me down.
They told me not to work myself into a flare, easy for them to say.
God Bless you all. PRAY FOR A CURE
Lupus, Fibro, OsteoAt, Sjogrems, Carpel tunnel, osteoporosis, Got them all.....
Hugs
Dale
I'm curious about this myself. I've had abnormal enzymes about 3 diff times but not that high plus bilirubin in my urine. My rheumy has said no big deal, but I've recently started having really bad abdominal pain. Actually, I've had the pain for like a year or more but it has steadily gotten worse & more constant.
I also have Lupus for 5 years now and my liver enzymes are also high. Keep in mind that everything you take in by mouth passes through the liver and Lipitor, and all Cholesterol lowering drugs absolutely interfere with the liver. my doctor has put me on Zetia that is absorbed through the stomach for this reason. At one time my liver enzymes were up over 400, but I'm not sure which ones went that high, but I ended up with Hepatitis. They tested me for Hep. B and C and both came back normal so my doctor figured it was autoimmune. My Rheumatologist really wanted him to do a biopsy but the Gastro. doctor apparently didn't think it was neccessary as he never did it and I wasn't going to ask for it. My levels have since dropped back down but are still high and if I am flaring, even slightly, the liver is one of the first things to show up in my bloodwork, as well as a positive ANA. Just make sure they keep checking it. i have gone off all my medication at their request, with the exception of the Plaquenil, and I just take Tylenol to go to bed on if I am having pain, otherwise I just deal with it. I am on so many other medications for Hypothyroidism, diabetes, depression, high blood pressure, Prevacid, etc., so the pain pills have to take a back seat.
My liver tests just went crazy too. They are sure if it was the MTX (20mg a week) or the fact that I have the shingles but they went from SGOT was 39/now 121 and SGPT was 55/now 331 so it is pretty significant. I have been taken off the MTX but they had to increase the prednisone since I went into a major flare. My face and neck looked like I had poison oak blown on it. Only clear place was my forehead and below my nose. They think the sun might have set it off. I live in Dallas and we just had a pretty warm week followed ofcourse by snow (only in Texas). Also because the area where the sun doesn't hit on my neck (where my head shadows it) is clear. I have to go back next week and retest and keep testing every two weeks. Hopefully it will clear itself up. At least my face is not as bad.
My liver tests just went crazy too. They are sure if it was the MTX (20mg a week) or the fact that I have the shingles but they went from SGOT was 39/now 121 and SGPT was 55/now 331 so it is pretty significant. I have been taken off the MTX but they had to increase the prednisone since I went into a major flare. My face and neck looked like I had poison oak blown on it. Only clear place was my forehead and below my nose. They think the sun might have set it off. I live in Dallas and we just had a pretty warm week followed ofcourse by snow (only in Texas). Also because the area where the sun doesn't hit on my neck (where my head shadows it) is clear. I have to go back next week and retest and keep testing every two weeks. Hopefully it will clear itself up. At least my face is not as bad.
Erin
Dallas TX
Well, I was able to get an appt to see my rheumy on Friday. I hope she orders whatever tests I need to figure this crap out.
SLE and Liver Enzymes 
