Liver disease or gastro-intestinal disease and Gilbert's?
Posted , 4 users are following.
Hi everyone!
I'm male, 22 y/o, Caucasian. Starting three weeks ago, I started feeling very tired. Three days later, abdominal bloating started and another three days later, I started feeling a mild pain in my right upper abdomen. My GP suspects I might have a gastritis and I've got an appointment for a gastroscopy in March. One week later, I noticed that my legs started to hurt and feel somewhat crampy. I started supplementing magnesium, but I'm not sure if the muscle pain has improved since.
Yesterday, I spoke to a colleague and he noticed that my eyes were a bit yellowish. Just a yellow tint, but definitely noticeable. This caused me to have some kind of panic attack. I felt extremely nauseous and so my colleague offered to bring me to the A&E.
In the hospital, they did a blood panel (I've only got a total value for bilirubin). Some of the values:
CRP: 0.03 mg/dl
GPT/ALT: 9 U/l
GGT: 14 U/l
AP: 60 U/l
LDH: 167 U/l
Bilirubin total: 1.9 mg/dl
They also did a sonography and told me the liver is fine. I ate three hours earlier, so my gallbladder was contracted and they didn't have a good look at it. Due to the elevated level of bilirubin, I was told I probably have Gilbert's syndrome as everything other liver-related was fine. I'm quite relieved now that I know I probably don't have a life-threatening condition, but I'm still a bit nervous because this elevated level of bilirubin coincides with other symptoms typical for a liver issue (fatigue and upper right abdomen pain).
Is it possible that Gilbert's occurs in bursts and might also cause the pain? I'm also considering the possibility that I simply have some problem with digestion (causing the abdominal pain) causing a malabsortpion of magnesium (causing the fatigue and muscle pain). However, the gastro-intestinal ailment started after the fatigue set in.
I'm planning a GP visit very soon, but I'm quite obsessive in nature, so I can't stop thinking about what is causing my symptoms. If you've got any ideas, any response is very much appreciated. Thanks! 
0 likes, 3 replies
elizabeth_03284 bernd34346
Posted
I just went through something very similar. I had a routine physical which showed a total bilirubin of 2.1. All of my other levels were within normal range and I was sent to a G.I. doctor. He sent me for an abdominal ultrasound and x-ray both of which were clear so he did an endoscopy and a colonoscopy that came back clear as well. Two days after my colonoscopy we repeated the blood work and my bilirubin was within normal limits. I just recently had repeat bloodwork and my bilirubin is even lower now. They believe it's the Gilberts syndrome and also my G.I. doctor said sometimes the liver just does that with no rhyme or reason
bernd34346 elizabeth_03284
Posted
Hi Elizabeth. Thanks for the response. It is very reassuring to read.
Although the scientific consensus seems to be that Gilbert's syndrome doesn't cause any symptoms other than mild jauncide, there is much anecdotal evidence on the Internet claiming otherwise. After researching for several hours (I should probably rather see a psychiatrist to treat my hypochondria), I found many reports of IBS-like symptoms such as bloating, fatigue and abdominal pain occuring during episodes of Gilbert's.
Without a proper diagnosis, I probably won't have peace of mind, so I'll definitely do the gastroscopy and try to get an appointment for a colonoscopy. However, I anticipate those to come back clear as Gilbert's syndrome explains my symptoms quite well.
elizabeth_03284 bernd34346
Posted
They do the colonoscopy to rule out bleeding in the colon which can elevate bilirubin. Gilbert syndrome is not well understood and it's my opinion that they just give that name to unexplained elevated bilirubin. I would request an abdominal ultrasound if you haven't had one. That can yield a lot of info and rule out a lot of bad things