Update of liver ALT blood work. Not good.

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Well looks like I am going to have call my doctors and might have to see my GI Doctor in the morning.

My ALT levels are still up. In fact they jumped another 9 points and now sit at 90 U/L.

The tech that I saw yesterday said that anything over 75 is very bad and when she checked my lab, and medical records said that there is a big issue but hoped like my PCP did that It was just an infection.


There is not an option at this point to not get seen tomorrow as this means my liver is in bad shape.

So did not need something else going on with everything else.

 

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Sorry to hear this! Prayers sent!

 

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Wish you the best of luck with this.

 

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90 is high, but not extreme. My ALT was 96 in labs last week, and my GI is not concerned. However, mine are stable and we already know why my liver enzymes are high.

How are your other liver numbers, like AST, alkaline phosphatase, and bilirubin? Are you having any symptoms like itching or jaundice?

My ALT has been high on every blood test since 1990. AST and alk phos didn't start going up until 2012, which is when I started having problems with itching and fatigue. An MRI elastography last year showed that my liver has fibrosis, but not cirrhosis yet. The thing to realize is that ALT (and other enzymes) can be high for lots of reasons, and can be high for a long, long time with no real problems. Some people have elevated ALT for no discernible reason.

It's definitely something to talk with your GI about, but try not to panic. (And yes, I really do know how hard it is to follow that advice!) There are lots of potential causes, many of them minor.

I have to add that I'm shocked that the lab tech would make that kind of comment to you. Running the test and getting the number is the tech's job, but interpreting the results requires a doctor. Telling you that anything over 75 is very bad is incorrect and amounts to practicing medicine without a license. She has worried you needlessly, because you can't simply look at one number and tell anything about the situation or the cause. If the numbers remain high you might need more tests to determine why, but at this point it's not even clear that there's anything truly wrong.

If you have questions about liver stuff, please feel free to ask me, or PM me if you like. I'm not a doctor and can't give you medical advice (and please don't take anything I say as medical advice, but rather as me sharing my own experiences) but I've dealt with liver issues for a very long time.

 

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90 is high, but not extreme. My ALT was 96 in labs last week, and my GI is not concerned. However, mine are stable and we already know why my liver enzymes are high.

How are your other liver numbers, like AST, alkaline phosphatase, and bilirubin? Are you having any symptoms like itching or jaundice?

My ALT has been high on every blood test since 1990. AST and alk phos didn't start going up until 2012, which is when I started having problems with itching and fatigue. An MRI elastography last year showed that my liver has fibrosis, but not cirrhosis yet. The thing to realize is that ALT (and other enzymes) can be high for lots of reasons, and can be high for a long, long time with no real problems. Some people have elevated ALT for no discernible reason.

It's definitely something to talk with your GI about, but try not to panic. (And yes, I really do know how hard it is to follow that advice!) There are lots of potential causes, many of them minor.

I have to add that I'm shocked that the lab tech would make that kind of comment to you. Running the test and getting the number is the tech's job, but interpreting the results requires a doctor. Telling you that anything over 75 is very bad is incorrect and amounts to practicing medicine without a license. She has worried you needlessly, because you can't simply look at one number and tell anything about the situation or the cause. If the numbers remain high you might need more tests to determine why, but at this point it's not even clear that there's anything truly wrong.

If you have questions about liver stuff, please feel free to ask me, or PM me if you like. I'm not a doctor and can't give you medical advice (and please don't take anything I say as medical advice, but rather as me sharing my own experiences) but I've dealt with liver issues for a very long time.

So, none of my other levels are high. The thing is that my ALT has never been over 47 (11/24/19 (47) 8/25/20 (35)) so to jump that high and then go from 81 on 4/12/21 up to 90 on 5/6/21 is not normal for me at all.

I have done some reading as to what could cause it but need to talk to my doctors which will be a pain in the butt because of how the system with my doctor's works but I am very worried.

I have felt like crap for weeks. Shakes, headaches, blurred vision. Felt like I only want to sleep and was not getting answers so Went to the er and now I see that there is an issue but I don't know how bad it is yet.

I do know though from talking to my Pcp that having that high of ALT is not good for me with everything else I have going on.

 

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I hope that you will get to the bottom of this and feel better soon.

My experience with techs is that they do not give the test results nor interpret them. They always say that the doctor will get in touch with me to discuss the results.

 

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Okay so let me clear something up. The tech that did my labs was a PA-C, not just a stick person. She is the tech's lead in that lab so more of a supervisor.

Have not gotten anything from doctors but they tell you that they have 24 hours to get back to you but like I said Monday I am going in unless I get feeling worse than I already do.

 

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Praying for you.

 

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prayers-hope all goes well-life is so short-as though we don't have enough issued in our life.