View Full Version : liver enzymes. worried.
I went to the doctor today as I've had swollen gland, dizziness, hot flashes and general discomfort in left side of chest / abdomen. I@m a 38 year old male.
The doctor said I have inflammation of the throat and has given me antibiotics. I'm not to worried about that, but the blood test showed my liver enzyme level (AST / SGOT) to be at 63. Normal range is 0 to 37. She says it might be due to my throat infection or something like Hepatitis or other liver disease. She said I have to go have blood test again in 2 or 3 weeks to see the if the level of enzymes has gone down.
Has anyone else had this before?
Did your Dr actually tell you that you may have liver disease?? That was very sensitive of her!
Liver enzyme readings can fluctuate so I'm sure your readings will be fine in a couple of weeks. Unless you drink ten pints of cider everyday.
I have also heard that inflammation of the liver can cause pain in the right side not the left. I could be wrong.
Good luck with the test results.
She said that it can be caused by many things, like alcohol ...but I don't drink alcohol at all. A year ago I had an ultra sound and was told I had fatty liver, but today during the ultrasound I was told it was normal. She spoke about 'diseases'... I live in Vietnam, where English is not their first language, so they're not so 'delicate' with their words... I went in with tachycardia once and was told I had 'heart disease'...my anxiety went though the roof...thankfully, I have a Swiss doctor here who can explain things in great details and always reassures me, but i didn't see him today.
my last routine blood tests (as someone with health anxiety I get my blood works done at least twice a year!) the liver enzymes were normal at 25 units. So like you say, I should not worry and wait for the tests in a couple of weeks.
She said my blood pressure was up a little at 140/80, and it went down to 135/80 about an hour later. I had a similar reading about a month ago... she said eat less salt, which I've been trying to do, maybe it's my anxiety making my pressure go up. I did feel very stressed just before seeing her this morning.
Unless you have family members who died young of heart disease, at your age, your heart should be fine. A blood pressure reading of 140/80 is not very high either and nothing to be concerned about. Anxiety will definitely push up the blood pressure and the heart rate.
All the best.
There is a history of heart disease in my father's side of the family... he had a heart attack at 43 years old. he survived. his brother had a heart attack in his early 50s and another of his brothers died of heart attack in his 50s. it's why it's my main phobia....
I've had countless tests over the last few years on my hear and the docs say all is normal, and that my risk is very low since i don't drink, smoke, i'm not overweight and my cholesterol is normal. I just need to exercise a bit more, which i've started doing.
thanks for your input and advice. :)
Dazza, my liver bloods are out. My alt is 52 and can fluctuate to 65. I was told fatty liver will cause this. I changed my GP and the range for alt is to 50, the old surgery range was to 40. I find it hard to believe that one surgery will say my result is ok and the other, that my result is high. My liver us shows coarse liver which they say is consistent with fatty infiltration. I have also been told that albumin is the main liver test.
Dazza, my liver bloods are out. My alt is 52 and can fluctuate to 65. I was told fatty liver will cause this. I changed my GP and the range for alt is to 50, the old surgery range was to 40. I find it hard to believe that one surgery will say my result is ok and the other, that my result is high. My liver us shows coarse liver which they say is consistent with fatty infiltration. I have also been told that albumin is the main liver test.
I agree....over the past couple of years, when having an ultrasound, i was told you have 'fatty liver' (even though I never drink alcohol)... and yesterday when I had the ultrasound I mentioned this to the person doing the ultrasound, and she said 'no, it's normal now'. I then told this to the doctor who was looking at my results and I said ''last year it was fatty and now I've been told it's not'' and she said ''yes, it just depends on who is doing the test!!!''... surely there is a benchmark for these kinds of things!! It's so confusing, just like when your two doctors surgeries gave different interpretations of your results.
Yesterday my AST result was 63 (I don't know if it's slightly elevated or a lot...according to the doctor it's only a little up), and during the last test in Sept it was 25. So I will cross my fingers for a normal result in two weeks...
nomorepanic
15-01-12, 01:36
Are you overweight ?
Are you overweight ?
No, I'm 75kg for a height of 1m79. My BMI is normal.
Dazza, in 2009 my bloods were fine and I never had an ounce of fat in my liver. When I showed the utrasound lady my scan from 2008 she couldn't believe it was the same liver. I think my problems have arosed after I down the lighter life diet. I have since read that rapid weight loss and vlcd can lead to fatty liver ang gallbladder disease. My gallbladder is okay. I worry constantly that I have fibrosis or cirrohsis. I think you can be rest assured that you are not over weight or drink. Do you work out? I'm told that exercise can increase alt too.
I don't really work out much, just swimming a few times a week. I hadn't really worked out this week though prior to the tests.
I thnk you are right, i should not worry... my previous test was totally normal, and I've read online from a good website, which seems well balanced in terms of info (the MayoCLinic website) that usually liver enzyme elevations are only temporary and go back down, and they more often than not they are not due to a serious or chronic problem.
I will just have to try not to worry until I get my next test result. Let's hope that the ultrasound girl was correct this time, and that there is in fact no fat on my liver now thanks to my losing weight over the past few months. My triglycerides are down, which is good, and may have had a good result in terms of my liver fat that was highlighted a year ago. :)
For people who know about the liver, is there a vitamin you can take to strengthen it? I have been taking a lot of medication for the last 9 months, including an analgesic (motrin > naproxen) and I'm worried that my liver might be effected although I don't think I have any symptoms. I am a 39-yr-old female, not overweight, otherwise healthy.
Try milk thistle and drinking water with fresh lemon.
---------- Post added at 23:44 ---------- Previous post was at 23:42 ----------
Dazza, I'm not sure where you are located but try and get hold of some soya lecithin really good for cholesterol, liver, heart and memory
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