Raised ALT Levels (Liver)

[panicperson1977]

I ended up in hospital on Saturday, after standing up from bed and suffering palpitations of up to 147BPM. Something I’ve never really had before. My heart rate remained significantly raised throughout the day, possibly due to being in a state of panic over the palpitations. I normally have a resting heart rate of only 60bpm, as I’ve done a lot of walking on a daily basis for many years.

I ended up spending most of the day on a hospital trolley. They did a barrage of tests on me. Blood testing, urine testing, blood pressure/ecg, and even a chest x-ray.

2 doctors were dealing with me. The first doctor appeared and suggested that the ‘blood tests’ looked pretty normal. However, later in the day when I specifically asked about my liver results, he said something called transaminase was slightly up due to my drinking habits of the past 2 years. He just said ‘stop the drinking’ and it will go back to normal, and referred me to local alcohol support group.

Is transaminase the same as ALT? I can’t help worrying about it, even though the doctor didn’t seem overly concerned, and then discharged me the same day from the hospital.

[nomorepanic]

Try this:
https://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/articles/lft

You need to trust the doctor's on this one and not us lot though.

[panicperson1977]

Thanks, I was just wondering if anyone on here, had been through a similar experience.

After reading your article, I am guessing that the transaminase the doctor was referring to, was indeed something to with ALT/AST levels. I can only guess/hope that since the doctor didn’t spend much time discussing it, and sent me on my way, it could have only been a bit elevated.

[Flapj]

Thanks, I was just wondering if anyone on here, had been through a similar experience.

After reading your article, I am guessing that the transaminase the doctor was referring to, was indeed something to with ALT/AST levels. I can only guess/hope that since the doctor didn’t spend much time discussing it, and sent me on my way, it could have only been a bit elevated.

No need to worry about occasional slightly elevated ALT/AST. Many things can cause that from infections, to drinking alcohol, to stress. I recently quit drinking and I did notice mine come down a bit although they were always in the normal range.

Glad to hear your heart trouble wasn't something serious to warrant hospital admission. Did they talk to you about POTS? Do you have the COVID vaccine?

[MrLurcher]

I had high ALT a few years ago. Not sure how high, but came back down to normal after 2 weeks.

Never figured out what caused it. I rarely drink alcohol, and eat reasonably well. The only thing I could think of was I did an intense gym session the day prior to the blood tests and I'd been taking ibuprofens for a few days because of a pulled muscle as well.

Edit: Forgot to say that I had been ill with a heavy cold a few days before too, and sometimes viruses can affect blood tests.

[panicperson1977]

Thanks for both the replies. I feel slightly better and am going to see the alcohol counsellor today. @FlapJ, no they didn’t tell me about POTS but after the ECG, deemed my heart to be ‘normal.’ I have not had the vaccine.

@MrLurcher. It’s good your ALT went down after 2 weeks, hopefully after I meet the alcohol advisers, it will be the same for me.