Met and your Liver

hpotterfan1 · 12-11-2006, 08:59 PM

I was not aware until just last week that Met interacts with your liver. When I told my dr (an infetility specilist) I wanted to get serious about having a baby she refered me to her NP who has 7 years experiance with IVF before coming to my Dr.s office and has had a good results with women with PCOS getting pg. Well I was telling the NP that I was on 1700mg of met and that it doesn't do anything for me. I have no af with it alone, yet no af with anything other than the pill with out it. So I asked about raising the dosage and going on the XR. She told me that she wanted to run a Liver Function Test (LFT) first and if it came back normal then we would. I questioned her on it and she said that met interacts with you liver and she likes to do a LFT every 3 months. The last one I had was before I even started met in October of last year when my Dr. ran all my blood work and dx me with PCOS, and this is the first I have heard of the liver interaction. So we did the LFT and I got a call form the Dr,s office today with the results and the ALTs (live enzymes) are slightly elivated and the NP wants me to see my primary care. Should I be woried? I am scared to death that it is going to be something major and that it is going to interfer with my getting pg. Anyone with advice would be great. Sorry this became so long I got carried away with my frustration and worry over everything.

~Sandra · 12-11-2006, 09:03 PM

Here's my story regarding high liver enzymes:
Saw liver specialist (update to high liver enzymes)

I asked the liver specialist specifically about getting pregnant with high liver enzymes. He said that it would have no affect whatsoever on my liver.

HTH!

bec415 · 12-11-2006, 10:45 PM

I was actually just thinking about met and what effect it would have on the liver. Considering I'll be on this for the rest of my life, I was worried about what kind of effect taking medication for long periods of time has on the liver in general.

JosieFB · 12-12-2006, 01:01 AM

Met can also be hard on your kidneys since it is cleared through the kidneys. You should have a baseline kidney function test before starting Met and then be tested every 6 months to 1 year. My gyn didn't do a baseline kidney before she started me on Met, and about a year later my creatinine levels were elevated in bloodwork my GP did. Looking back, they have shown elevated in the two tests I had over the last year, but the GP apparently didn't notice because they were within the lab range, just at the top end. Finally in my last bloodwork, the GP noticed the creatinine levels were high for someone my age, and I had to do a 24 hour urine test. That test showed slightly reduced kidney function. I'm supposed to avoid NSAIDS like Advil, Aleve and Apirin, drink 36 ounces MORE of water a day, and retest in four months. Trouble is, I have killer cramps, so it's impossible to avoid NSAIDS totally. The gyn put me on Yaz to try to lessen the cramps. I'm terrified of BCP because of the outrageous number of women in my Mom's family, including my Mom, who have had breast cancer. However, my last period was so miserable just taking Tylenol, that I finally broke down and took Aleve and started on the BCP. I asked my gyn to see an Endo to get some feedback about continuing to take Met. My appointment is next Tuesday.

bigbaby24 · 12-12-2006, 01:42 AM

i had blood tests come back stating that 2 of my liver enzymes were mildly elevated. I saw a pcp and she told me that I have a fatty liver. Alot of people that are overweight usually have a fatty liver.But I can help my liver by losing weight. Losing weight usually helps and you dont have serious problems down the line. If you choose to not lose weight then you could have liver damage. I am suppose to have another test done in three months to recheck my liver since my endo added actos to my daily medicines i take. I dont know if you have a fatty liver or not but if you are overweight it could be something to consider. HTH AND GOOD LUCK

ibcnuldu · 12-12-2006, 03:51 AM

My doctor ordered full liver tests before he wanted me to even take one pill. Just on the side of caution.

lachicarubia · 12-12-2006, 05:08 AM

Since the liver is a vital organ that is so important for processing many things including synthetic toxins, it is critical to make sure that the liver is functioning at optimum performance. Toxins in the body increase the risk of cancer. The Mt Sinai School of medicine tested the blood of numerous people and found as many as 95 chemicals in each person's blood.
The average person has 200 different toxic synthetic chemicals stored in the body fat. If you are losing weight, toxins that have been stored in the body fat are released into the bloodstream, and will need to be processed by the liver, and eliminated by the kidneys.
If these 2 organs are not functioning at optimal performance then your risk of cancer could increase.
I read the blog of a lady named Jessica, who had gastric bypass with a ton of complications. She lost a LOT of weight fast, but had to receive TPN, which resulted in liver damage, she then developed cancer, and died.
Jessica's Story (have a tissue handy): http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobe...?N=O1024075523

When I was taking Met, my doctor NEVER told me about potential liver damage, and never did any liver function tests.
Now that I have found out that Met can damage the liver, I am so glad that I only took Met for a short time, and that I found alternatives that work better than Met, so I don't have to take it again. I am in the process of doing a heavy metal detox, so I really need to have my liver and kidneys functioning at optimal performance.

christyz · 12-12-2006, 02:37 PM

The key is to be tested prior to being put on the drug..a lot of overweight women on met have fatty liver and don't know it. So pre-testing is huge.

There is lopts of great info on met/liver/elevated enzymes here: NEW?? Start Here!

Best of luck to you!