Liver test

meeka · 03-04-2004, 06:17 PM

Anybody have fatty liver diagnosed? Did they do an ultra-sound to determine? My US didn't show anything but my ALT and AST levels are quite high.

My Dr showed me my chart. 2 years ago the numbers were pretty close to normal (right before the miscarriage). Since then they have dramatically climbed.

I haven't had hepatitis C and I don't drink or smoke. I had mono as a kid but my numbers wouldn't start rising now because of that. So really the only reason the numbers (based on what I know) should be high is because of the fatty liver that we can get from having PCOS and IR.

Until this is all cleared up I am not supposed to be taking my Met.

My Dr finally got a hold of me regarding the liver tests I took last week. They were inclusive so he went to a liver expert and now the liver expert wants to meet with me.

Julia2500 · 03-04-2004, 07:00 PM

Hi Meeka.

I also have fatty infiltration of the liver. It was found when I had pre-op tests done for weight loss surgury. It was ultrasound. I am no longer having the surgury due to insurance. I am appealing while I try diet & excercise one more time. Anyhow, my Dr explained to me it is my weight damaging my liver. I know there must be more to it than that. I am being referred to an Endo to diagnose and treat type II diabetes. Hopefully he will be able to shed some light on the fatty liver disease.

Sorry I couldnt be more help.

nobimbo · 03-04-2004, 09:56 PM

Insulin resistance and fatty liver disease often go hand in hand, and Met can help it. Please read this article and thread concerning this from a sticky on the Met forum:

http://www.soulcysters.net/showthrea...threadid=61776

Linda

katmama · 03-05-2004, 02:37 AM

I have been going through the same things. They saw a visceral hemangioma on my lower right lobe of my liver. My AST and ALT are extremely high as well as my bilirubin. I also had a CT scan today with Dye injection to look everything over good. There are many many many other possibilities other than fatty liver. I am not saying that you don't have fatty liver, but, there are many reasons of elevated LFT's. I have done lots of research regarding this lately with my problems and have found a ton of info out there. However, you don't want to scare yourself. Definately find yourself a good Dr. you can trust and let them figure it all out. I hope you get everything under control and the outcome is positive!

SeattleKnitChick · 03-05-2004, 05:47 AM

I was very interested to see this thread because as of today my liver enzymes (AST & ALT) are finally officially NORMAL again!!! yippee! My enzymes were slowly going up and in July 2003 when I finally got up to 2000mg of metformin they went through the roof! My doctors (endo and gasteroenterolgist) didn't believe me that it was the metformin and kept blaming it on my weight.... they were pushing me to do a liver bioposy (didn't sound fun to me) so I got a new Doc (gastroenterologist (sp)). He agreed to let me wait three months and come back for more tests. Today I got the test results and everything was great! Funny thing was that the last gastro had said I had fatty liver based on an ultrasound but this time I had a GGT test which my current doc said is a more sensitive way of testing for fatty liver and it came back fine! Phew! I know that is a lot that I have said... but I am just so happy all is good now! The only thing I did to help is some naturopathic treatments (I can tell you more if you want to know).

Anyway I just know that for me Metformin seemed to cause my elevated liver enzymes..... and I am glad now that they are back to normal!

nomadic_existence · 03-05-2004, 10:07 PM

My mother has fatty liver due to her smoking, obesity and her doctor said her diabetes. I had mine checked too but I don't have one, I'm concerned, I don't smoke, but I am overweight, although not obese. I think with the IR though that may end up making it worse.

I stopped the Glucophage a while ago because it really messed with me, but my doctor is discussing Actos with me, and I see her next week so I'm hoping to get on it. We'll see if our HMO covers it though (THAT is another story!!!!).

Good luck to you.

meeka · 03-10-2004, 12:32 PM

I met with the Liver Specialist and while he is pretty sure that I have fatty liver he wants to make sure so he is going to do a liver biopsy.

katmama · 03-10-2004, 04:26 PM

I just had a CT scan this last week. They said that everything looked okay, and since my LFT were still elevated, that it was very likely that my Progestin was causing it. Have any of you encountered something like this?

SeattleKnitChick · 03-11-2004, 03:28 AM

I was told that the doctor wanted to do a liver bioposy and that this isn't exactally a fun experience (It involves a big needle - yuck) but then we waited and my levels got better. However my doc last week told me that to check for fatty liver the GGT blood test is very sensitive. you might want to try this first!

meeka · 06-01-2004, 05:25 PM

Hi I wanted to update.

I tried many different approaches and I couldn't get out of the liver biopsy even though my levels went back to normal range (I've lost more than 10% of my weight).

No surprise but the tests came back saying that I have fatty liver.

I love that the whole reason that they were checking my liver was so that I could take metformin. Now that I have a diagnosis the solution is to take metformin.

I have been doing the IR diet and getting great results from it. I've never been tested for IR but having fatty liver confirms I have it. At least I don't have to go through that testing!

How is everyone else doing? katmama?

katmama · 06-02-2004, 12:45 AM

Hi! They think I have fatty liver disease too! They have not done my biopsy yet, because my insurance wouldn't cover it without 6 months worth of Liver function test results. So, I have been getting checked monthly to see what my levels do. They are still elevated and my exhaustion has been about the same. THey plan to do my biopsy in July. I will also be getting a laproscopy on July 27th with a possible hysterectomy. Just have to wait and see if they find endometriosis or not. SO, things are still kind of up in the air with me. Glad to hear that they are getting you going on some sort of path with yours though. Let me know how you like the Metformin. My Dr. has mentioned it, so we will see what happens! Good luck!
Kat

meeka · 06-02-2004, 11:34 AM

Sorry to hear about your insurance problems! What a pain.

I really hope that everything goes well with your laproscopy. My fingers are crossed.

I haven't been on met long enough to comment on if it is working. I think it takes a month to see results (or sometimes the dosage needs to be increased).

Nikki128 · 06-02-2004, 11:41 AM

Hi ladies, I too have been going through some testing, my PCP said one of my levels was slightly high and he could not figure out why, so I began researching on my own, and this is what I found:
That there is a strong link between IR and Fatty Liver Disease, and that testing proves that Met actually will clear this condition up. Please read some of the articles that I have found.

http://deptmed.med.som.jhmi.edu/Inte...00/menu06.html[/url]

http://www.jhu.edu/~gazette/2000/oct0200/02liver.html

[url=http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nm/journal/v6/n9/abs/nm0900_998.html]

I was just recently diagnosed (2 weeks ago) w/ IR - now taking 1000mg of Met.

Nikki128 · 06-02-2004, 11:46 AM

Sorry, one of the links did not post correctly.

http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nm/journal/v6/n9/abs/nm0900_998.html

katmama · 06-04-2004, 02:30 AM

Thanks for the links!

Kathy