Need advice from blood test result.

[Hoover1979]

I saw my Doctor regarding a blood test result and he told my my liver result was high (He said 270) He is concerned enough to schedule monthly blood tests until the condition hopefully improves.

I have had pain under the right side of my ribcage which is why the doc ordered the blood test.

I am addicted to cigarettes and coffee (I was a chain smoker from 1991 to 2011 and now am down to 20-30 per day and drink about 6-10 triple shot coffee's per day and also have been on truck loads of meds for chronic pain (for 19 years on and off after an MVA) and depression and anxeity disorder for many years (since my early teens).  I am not a heavy drinker and eat a balanced diet.

I am concerned with the discomfort and pain in my liver and am due for another blood test in 2 weeks time.  I am wondering if the painkillers, the Nitrazepam/Flunitrazepam or the coffee or cigarettes are the cause of my liver or what course of action I need to discuss with my doctor next time I see him.  these painful episodes from my liver are not helping my anxeity disorder and I am having more sleepless nights and more freak outs wondering what is wrong.

Any advice from any health professionals on this forum would be greatly appreciated.

[rpooo]

Great! Please feel welcome to post any more questions you may have along the way and myself or someone else in the community will do our best to share what we know.

Kind regards,

Randy

[Hoover1979]

Thank you for your assistance.  I have another appointment in a week and will ask if a CT scan can be arranged.

[rpooo]

Hello Hoover and Welcome to MedHelp.

Common blood lab liver function assessment components include but are not limited to are as follows:

Bilirubin- .2 - 1.3 mg/DL
Aspartate amino transferase (AST or SGOT)- 10-59 U/L
Alanine amino transferase (ALT or SGPT)10-40 U/L

These are the normal limits. You mention 270 ? 270 what?

I am not a doctor but I have lived with cirrhosis of the liver for over 5 years and in that time I have learned a bit about it. Let me give you the run down in short of how it works.

Everything we ingest kills liver cells but that’s okay because the liver has this amazing ability to heal itself but when people abuse/develop alcohol, drugs (Illegal, prescription or OTC), Hep C, auto immune disorder (just to name a few) it kills off massive amounts of liver cells in which the liver is not able to heal fast enough so scar tissue is formed. In early stages fatty liver disease develops then fibrosis and eventually cirrhosis.  Complete recovery is possible for those with early stages of fibrosis and/or fatty liver disease.

This is not always the individuals fault but with a number as high as 270 there should be much concern. Steps should be taken to eliminate the cause so the liver can have a chance to recover and no further damage is made. Your doctor should have already discussed a plan with you to attempt to lower this number. What steps are being taken to eliminate the cause? Something has got to change for the irritation to be eradicated.

It sounds like your doctor is on top of this but I would suggest at least an ultra sound be ran and if those results provide adequate reasoning then next a CT scan can be used for a more precise diagnosis.

I hope this helps and I wish you the very best!

Take care,

Randy

[fntn]

Unfortunately the doctors do not generally interact with people in this forum. This is just for those of us (and family/friends) who are dealing with liver disease. However we do know quite a bit just through the constant interaction with our medical teams during the course of our various diseases.

There is another section at this site, "Ask a doctor", where you maybe able to discuss some of the questions you might have. Hope they will respond for you, take care.