Liver Function Test results approx 100 - not sure what tests
Posted , 17 users are following.
Hello all,
Apologies for starting a new thread (and thanks to those who contributed to the last one I created).
To repeat briefly: I have been suffering from depression, anxiety and insomnia for the past two years.
Since last August, I have been drinking heavily intermittently - though hardly at all from November 2014 to March this year.
I then re-started drining heavily on-and-off from April, but my drinking was particularly heavy in the last week of July this year - I drank three 1.5 litre bottles of vodka that week.
I had liver function test done on 4 August (just over a week ago). Subsequent to that, I got a letter from my doctor's surgery asking me to come back and have the tests repeated in a few weeks' time.
Yesterday, I had a regular appointment with my doctor. He went through the liver function test results with me.
I cannot remember the names of the specific tests, all I can remember is that they were both about 100, the doctor said the upper figure for normal for both was 61, he said one was more importnat than the other, I need to reduce my drinking to within the recomened limits and to come back and have the tests repeated in a few weeks' time (as per the letter).
Since the binge in the last week of July, I have not been feeling well. I am sweating very easily, feel achy, lacking energy, insomnia has got worse, and my appetite is not so good. However, I have not lost any weight.
How concerned should I be (even if I reduce my alcohol intake)? I have done so - I didn't drink any alcohol for a week, and have only drank wine since, and my alcohol intake is much, much lower than it had been in July.
Thanks in advance of replies.
Gavin.
2 likes, 119 replies
gav44887
Posted
I have really felt unwell today. I have very achy joints, have felt a bit nauseaus and had one bad bout of diarrhoea.
I bought some high strength Vitamin B and other supplements.
I am really worried that I have seriously harmed my liver and / or other organs.
My drinking in the weeks upto the end of July really was horrendously excessive. I was drinking something like two 2.25 litre boxes of red wine per week, then had the three 1.5 litre bottles of vodka in the last week in July.
So, I would estimate I was averaging something like 70 units per week in June and most of July, then double that in the last week in July.
When I had the liver function test done in mid-June, the result was on the higher side of normal (high 40s)..
But, when I had the bloods taken again on 4 August, the result was approx 100, so it had more than doubled in under two months.
I am scared stiff.
PaulJTurner1964 gav44887
Posted
What you are suffering is the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. Keep going and they will disappear.
gav44887 PaulJTurner1964
Posted
It's just that I feel really unwell and I cannot understand these awful joint pains and severe burning and discomfort in my palms of hands and soles of feet.
I have started taking the high strength Vitamin B, and also some Imodium for the diarrhoea, but painkillers are not having any effect on these pains.
I am also still getting these awful sweats and my skin feels constantly clammy.
I am trying my best to listen to and take notice of your reassurance but, short of a bad flu many years ago, I have never felt as unwell as this with such vague, unpleasant symptoms.
Thanks again, Paul.
PaulJTurner1964 gav44887
Posted
pmcg21 gav44887
Posted
gav44887 pmcg21
Posted
I suppose my concern is that we all react differently to alcohol.
I know I have only been drinking heavily - and occasionally very heavily last October and this July - for one year, and before that it was social drinking and only very occasionally intoxicated on 'special' occasions.
As I've said to Paul, I'm trying to take notice of his helpful advice and reassurance, but I can't stop thinking that I am just unlucky (though self-inflicted).
All because of a stupid exposure to an STI and fear that I had caught HIV from the encounter ....
PaulJTurner1964 gav44887
Posted
gav44887 PaulJTurner1964
Posted
That said, if I didn't have these weird, very unpleasant symptoms, I would simply have taken what my GP (and you!) told me about the test result, cut-out the alcohol, and got another test done in a few weeks.
I'm really not a hypochondriac, but the HIV scare was caused by catching an STI and then having very suspicious symptoms for early HIV infection.
The strange symptoms I have now just seem suspicious to me because of the serious bingeing I did.
If I could get rid of the unpleasant symptoms, I would be much more content.
PaulJTurner1964 gav44887
Posted
Many people scare themselves to death by Googling symptoms they have. What they should realise is that a headache can be anything from a brain tumour to a tension headache. The reason we go to medically trained people is that the whole combination of symptoms needs to be looked at and investigations completed to establish what we have wrong, which could be anything from nothing to terminal.
If you read a symptom on Google, you will invariably find that it COULD be a symptom of some fatal disease. In the vast majority of cases it isn't at all.
Heavy alcohol consumption can also cause anxiety, which I believe is one of the reasons that you are worrying that symptoms you have are a sign of a serious illness.
gav44887 PaulJTurner1964
Posted
I feel a little better so far today, thought still with achy joints.
Would simple pain-killers help at all?
I also feel very down due to a number of negative life events. I daresay the very heavy recent alcohol intake won't have helped.
PaulJTurner1964 gav44887
Posted
gav44887 PaulJTurner1964
Posted
Unfortunately, as today has progressed, I have gradually felt more unwell again.
In particular, strange sensations in my hands and feet, pain in the limbs and joints, occasional sweating, some indigestion and mild stomach discomfort. I've taken some Paracetamol, but it hasn't eased these symptoms.
I also seem to be dehydrated, in spite of drinking quite a lot of water and pure apple juice. My urine has also turned a deep yellow colour.
I am terrified that, while my own fault, I am unlucky and have developed advanced liver disease after the past year of very heavy drinking on and off.
:-(
PaulJTurner1964 gav44887
Posted
Sweating - Alcohol withdrawal.
Indigestion and stomach discomfort - Alcohol withdrawal
Pain in limbs and joints - Could be hundreds of things, most of which are not serious. Paracetamol doesn't really work for me either, try Ibuprofen, but not on an empty stomach.
Deep yellow urine - Caused by vitamin B supplements and is totally harmless.
If you had advanced liver disease, your doctor would have seen it from your liver results.
You worry way too much![smile](https://patient.azureedge.net/forums/emoticons/smile.gif)
gav44887 PaulJTurner1964
Posted
I probably do worry way too much, and there's probably a lot of regret in there too.
But I wouldn't be so worried if I didn't actually feel ill.
I plan to give the GP's surgery a call in the morning and talk to either the duty doctor or nurse, not least because I want to take an accurate note of what liver function tests I actually had and the precise numbers.
Nite-nite.
gav44887
Posted
I spoke to the duty GP a little while ago and we discussed symptoms and the liver function test results from 4 August. The results that were above normal are actually a bit wore than I remembered.
Gamma GT: 121
AST : 96
She went through a list of other results that were part of the 'panel' and she said they were all normal.
She said that the results were consistent with a pattern of recent heavy / very heavy drinking and, alongside the rest of the test results being normal, do not indicate permanent liver damage.
However, due to some of the symptoms, she has suggested that I visit her later this morning and she will repeat the blood tests and doing a physical exam. She said that, if I have damatically cut-down on the drinking (as I have), the numbers should be heading down.
Like yourself, Paul, she did say that she felt I had a tendancy to worry too much, that this has scared me (which is not a bad thing) and I should not ruminate about it too much.
I'll let you know how I get on.
Thanks again, Paul.
Gavin.
Richardt gav44887
Posted