Elevated Liver Enzymes...

[Ksmith]

Hey everyone,

Apparently I have elevated liver enzymes. Anyone know what that means? Thanks!

[Electra]

Nope I'm not sure what that means, but I'd be interested in knowing. My dad got rushed to the hospital a while back with chest pain they couldn't diagnose. It apparently WAS NOT a heart attack and they never gave him a diagnosis or reason and his liver enzymes were elevated. I believe my dad has Celiac and am actively trying to get him to go be testes, so it may be related to Celiac!!

I hope others can give you better info here !!

[Looking for answers]

Not sure what it means but I had elevated enzymes when I had mono. It's usually a sign that your body is fighting off an infection/virus, I believe. Hope it's nothing serious . . .

[Ksmith]

I just interent searched for it and apparently there is a link between celiac and elevated liver enzymes. Sadly, I'm gluten free so that would mean either I'm not doing a very good job being gluten free or there is some other underlying issues

[Lisa]

I am not certain about this, but there may be a link with elevated liver emzynes, elevated white blood count with Leaky Gut. Syndrome/Disease.

[gf4life]

There does seem to be a link. A lot of Celiacs also seem to have occasional elevated liver enzymes. I don't think it is an issue unless they stay elevated all the time.

I can tell you this though, I occasionally have severe sharp abdominal pain, mostly in the upper right side, just under the rib cage. Basically where my liver is! When I was a child they just told me it was indigestion, gave me antacids and sent me home. I haven't had too many attacks as an adult, but I have had 2 since going on the gluten-free diet over 4 years ago.

The first one was about 2 years ago. I was in so much pain I couldn't catch my breath. My husband took me to the ER and they gave me an antacid "cocktail", took blood, gave me a pain shot when the antacids didn't help. And then the lovely doctor tells me he doesn't think anything is wrong with me, that he is going to take a nap, and if nothing shows up in my blood then I won't see him again that night. Well he had to wake up and come back when my liver enzymes were elevated. All they did was give me another pain shot (and incidently a nasty strain of staph bacteria too that took months to get rid of!) and send me home. I slept for a few days and then I was okay. Later they checked my enzymes againa nd they were normal. They also did an ultrasound, also normal.

The last time was last summer. This time I just stayed home and took pain pills. I wasn't going back to that ER again!

The pain was similar to how I felt when a gallstone would try to escape my diseased gallbladder. I had it removed over 7 years ago, but I read an article that says most people have liver stones and they don't usually cause problems. I asked the ultrasound tech about liver stones and she didn't think the pain was caused by that, but it is hard to tell unless they dot he untrasound during an attack...

[Ksmith]

  gf4life said:

There does seem to be a link. A lot of Celiacs also seem to have occasional elevated liver enzymes. I don't think it is an issue unless they stay elevated all the time.

I can tell you this though, I occasionally have severe sharp abdominal pain, mostly in the upper right side, just under the rib cage. Basically where my liver is! When I was a child they just told me it was indigestion, gave me antacids and sent me home. I haven't had too many attacks as an adult, but I have had 2 since going on the gluten-free diet over 4 years ago.

The first one was about 2 years ago. I was in so much pain I couldn't catch my breath. My husband took me to the ER and they gave me an antacid "cocktail", took blood, gave me a pain shot when the antacids didn't help. And then the lovely doctor tells me he doesn't think anything is wrong with me, that he is going to take a nap, and if nothing shows up in my blood then I won't see him again that night. Well he had to wake up and come back when my liver enzymes were elevated. All they did was give me another pain shot (and incidently a nasty strain of staph bacteria too that took months to get rid of!) and send me home. I slept for a few days and then I was okay. Later they checked my enzymes againa nd they were normal. They also did an ultrasound, also normal.

The last time was last summer. This time I just stayed home and took pain pills. I wasn't going back to that ER again!

The pain was similar to how I felt when a gallstone would try to escape my diseased gallbladder. I had it removed over 7 years ago, but I read an article that says most people have liver stones and they don't usually cause problems. I asked the ultrasound tech about liver stones and she didn't think the pain was caused by that, but it is hard to tell unless they dot he untrasound during an attack...

That's so interesting because when I get glutened I always have pain on my right side right below my ribs--it would usualy extend up into my right shoulder as well. I always thought it was reflux, but maybe it's my liver!

[dionnek]

I've had elevated liver enzymes for the past 5-6 years prior to my dx - they thought all kinds of things were wrong with me and did all kinds of tests (never thought of celiac though) until I finally went to a GI (my 10th or 11th dr.) and he dx me with celiac. After 6 months on the diet, my enzymes are finally normal, so yes, I think there is definitely a link.

[Guar]

  Ksmith said:

Hey everyone,

Apparently I have elevated liver enzymes. Anyone know what that means? Thanks!

I was diagnosed in 1994 but since 1972 I had elevated liver enzymes especially Alk Phos along with SGOT and SGPT and they tested me for many liver disease as well as bone disorders and found nothing. It wasn't until 1994 when my systems shut down and I was in the hospital that they found the sprue.

I asked my gastro man at the time if this could cause those blood results and he said he never heard that but after I recovered all my tests have been normal.

Hope this helps.

John

[2kids4me]

I have included some text and a link for an article about liver and celiac. A long article from the World Journal of Gastroenterology. ots of medical words - but bascially , yes elevated liver enzymes are not uncommon in celiac sprue and often return to normal after gluten free diet.

hope this helps

  Quote

Open Original Shared Link

Almost 3 decades ago, liver changes in celiac disease were first recognized by Hagander et al[2]. Later, Dickey et al[3] have confirmed these findings in a prospective evaluation of celiac disease patients and extended observations to results of gluten-free diet therapy. In some, these liver test changes are entirely reversible following administration of a gluten-free diet, while in others, clinically significant liver disease is not amenable to diet treatment alone[3]. Now, almost a decade after this report, recognition of celiac disease has been substantively improved, in part, a result of more modern serological assays for screening[4], the detection of tissue transglutaminase (tTG) as an autoantigen in celiac disease[5] and the increasingly widespread serological use of tTG ELISA to screen for celiac disease[6]. As a result of improved recognition of celiac disease, even more precise estimates of the overall disease burden related to hepatobiliary tract and pancreatic disorders will emerge.

[Ksmith]

Thanks everyone! I am already gluten-free, so perhaps it's from something else. We'll see what the doc says--probably that "it's normal" and "some people just get it"--they like to use that one on me. Sorry, I'm a little bitter today :-)

[Yenni]

In the book Dangerous Grains it is mentioned that elevated liver enzymes is connected to Celiac.

(My brother had it for years and they did a bunch of tests and never found the reason why. I think they eventually went down. He isn't diagnosed with Celiac, but he seems to have some symptoms but doesn't wanna have anything to do with it possibly being Celiac. )

Not that this helped much.

I also had elevated liver enzymes for a while when I first started to get bad symptoms from this/my stomach/gluten intolerance. They have been down after that though.

Are you eating any medication at all? That can effect it.

[plantime]

My doctor told me that elevated liver enzymes mean that your liver is being damaged in some way. Since mine were not elevated, the Lipitor I was on couldn't possibly be making me ill.

[lorka150]

Mine were elevated to ridiculous heights (to the point of hospitalization), and I had a liver biopsy done. I'm sure if there is a problem, your doc will recommend the same.

[sillyakchick]

I was diagnosed with Celiac disease 5 years ago and have been strictly gluten-free ever since. About 3 years ago, I started having terrible pain in my right side and under my right shoulder.

I have been seearching for answers to this question for quite some time now. i had my gall bladder out in 2004-no stones, but it was "sluggish" and afterward they told me there were fatty adhesions. The right sided back pain and pain under my rib cage never completely went away.

After I had my baby (and my gastro DESERTED ME WHILE I WAS PREGNANT!!! SAYING NO YOU COULDN"T POSSIBLY HAVE ANYTHING WRONG WITH YOU EXCEPT MAYBE A LITTLE INDIGESTION!!!) I finally had the whole workup and they found nothing but fluctuating liver enzymes. So I saw a specialist in Denver who diagnosed me with Type III (or possibly Type II) Spasm of the Sphincter of Oddi. I had asked my gastro about this almost a whole year prior to this, but me said no, it's too rare. Right.

There is no really good treatment for this. Most pain meds increase the spasming. ERCP is not really a good solution with the type I have. So I finally begged to be sent to a pain management doctor. he prescribed Fentanyl in an absorbable tablet (in case I am vomiting), and medical marijuana. I also see an accupuncturist. She is very iinterested in the connection between this and Celiac. I never thought they could be connected, but now I wonder. Anyway, i am finally at a point now where I do not wish to die, which is a good thing for my two little girls.

I would really welcome anyone's thoughts regarding this or their own experiences. it is a very horrible and frustrating problem!

[Cottage-Soul]

I had high liver enzymes once but had taken a couple Tylenol about a half hour before the blood test.

Acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol and other painkillers can really mess up the liver. Once I was off the Tylenol, my enzymes went back to normal.

[Ksmith]

  sillyakchick said:

I was diagnosed with Celiac disease 5 years ago and have been strictly gluten-free ever since. About 3 years ago, I started having terrible pain in my right side and under my right shoulder.

I have been seearching for answers to this question for quite some time now. i had my gall bladder out in 2004-no stones, but it was "sluggish" and afterward they told me there were fatty adhesions. The right sided back pain and pain under my rib cage never completely went away.

After I had my baby (and my gastro DESERTED ME WHILE I WAS PREGNANT!!! SAYING NO YOU COULDN"T POSSIBLY HAVE ANYTHING WRONG WITH YOU EXCEPT MAYBE A LITTLE INDIGESTION!!!) I finally had the whole workup and they found nothing but fluctuating liver enzymes. So I saw a specialist in Denver who diagnosed me with Type III (or possibly Type II) Spasm of the Sphincter of Oddi. I had asked my gastro about this almost a whole year prior to this, but me said no, it's too rare. Right.

There is no really good treatment for this. Most pain meds increase the spasming. ERCP is not really a good solution with the type I have. So I finally begged to be sent to a pain management doctor. he prescribed Fentanyl in an absorbable tablet (in case I am vomiting), and medical marijuana. I also see an accupuncturist. She is very iinterested in the connection between this and Celiac. I never thought they could be connected, but now I wonder. Anyway, i am finally at a point now where I do not wish to die, which is a good thing for my two little girls.

I would really welcome anyone's thoughts regarding this or their own experiences. it is a very horrible and frustrating problem!

Huh...I (this post starter) definately get that pain on my right side up and into my right shoulder. It's worse for sure when I get glutened, but sometimes I just get the pain when I'm just not feeling well (often times with digestion, acid reflux issues). I'm definately going to look into Spasm of the Sphincter of Oddi. I've never even heard of that. Thanks for the info!