Bilirubin levels

[Gidget234]

I have been diagnosed with Hepatitis C, Genotype 1b.  I prefer not having a liver biopsy at this time so I asked my doctor to monitor my condition through blood tests. My most recent blood test came back as follows: AST: 50, down from 62, ALT: 58, down from 84, albumin: 4.7, up from 4.5. globulin: 3.3, down from 3.6.
Total bilirubin results came back as 0.6, up from 0.4, direct bilirubin was 0.2, up from 0.1 and indirect bilirubin was 0.4, up from 0.3. My platelet count was 274,000 and white blood cell count 7.3.  My main question: are the bilirubin numbers going up slightly something to be worried about?
An answer would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

[louisep]

Hey there!
Been wondering where you were....I posted to you last time you were here.....seems like ages ago?  It took me a while to remember who you were.
What made you decide not to have the biopsy????  I don't mean to pry....If I remember correctly, you were gonna have one after me which was Oct 2003??  I posted to let you know that it wasn't so bad....quite painless....it's the build up that was scary....but it gave me peace of mind and hope.
I started TX Dec 1st...doing my 3rd shot Mon.
Hope you're doing ok...I was worried about you...
Best of luck to you
Louise

[dannydan]

Hi
  I too elected not to have the biopsy.I`m 1b
Your "bilubrin" count is normal. 0.1 to 1.0 is normal.
My liver specuialist told me that if there was fibrosis or cirrohsis there would have been an abnormal echo on the ultrasound results.Also the important numbers are your platelet count. anything over 200(thou.)is good and "alk phosphate"(40-136)is good.
He told me everyone has virus` in there blood and sometimes hep.c virus doesn`t touch the liver cause of our immune system.
I`v had it for 30 plus yrs. and don`t think i ever had a symptom
except for the initial infection of extreme flu like symptoms.
He told me my liver looks fine and my blood work is fine(low viral count)anything under a million is in the low category.
He told me to see him in a year for blood work again.
important numbers are:total bilubrin,alk phosphate,platelet,and iron levels.if your iron was high you would have liver spots. if too low you would be anemic.if there was no abnormal echo`s on your ultrasound your fine

[Steve']

Hi there I would have a biopsy if I were you, these blood tests <b>Do Not</b> give you the real picture!!! for instance you could have advanced liver damage & have normal range blood results.... I used to think the way you do until by chance I met a great talking hep-c patient in a pharmacy cue, long story short he turned my thoughts around so fast I absolutely charged to my liver specialist & he booked me in for a Bx (biopsy)<b>Result:</b> I have stage 2 fibrosis & believe me that my blood test were <b>always</b> in the very slightly above normal range (ALT 50) (No Biggy I Thought) a few months later I started Interferon Treatment, I'm doing #19 shot tonight of 24 ... please get a Bx for your own sake.</font>
<br><hr><P><marquee direction="right"><Font face="Brush Script MT"size=+3<b>Steve</b></font></marquee><br>

[TravelGrl]

All of these numbers can fluctuate up and down.  Bilirubin can change from day to day.  As long as it is in the normal limits I wouldn't be too concerned.  If albumim, platelets, bili or wbc drop below normal that could be significant...Otherwise your numbers look pretty good to me...
JodI