DH abnormal liver function, freaking out.

[PassTheAfterEights]

mid 30's, healthy, pretty fit, no weight loss thank God but felt rough enough to complain about it since the weekend; lethargic, fatigued, nauseous, weak, itchy skin with chest pain and v dark wee.

GP ran bloods yesterday and called this morning to say they show liver abnormalities. Referred for full liver screen (Friday) and ultrasound (ASAP but likely week after next due to covid backlog).

We are both terrified and not sure what to say really. Hoping there are - many - things this could be that aren't cancer??

He has twice in the past reacted badly to a long ish afternoon in the pub, not student scale lash or anything (working parents, left that long in the past!) but 7/8 pints over an afternoon with food - been almost unconscious and vomited hard for 24h, ending up in A&E. they said then his liver function was abnormal but they clearly didn't believe he hadn't just been on a mega bender so of course it was. He did a whisky tasting on zoom on sat with mates (eye roll) - maybe 5 whiskies in total plus a glass of red, not a raging lash I admit but definitely not a normal night by standards. Desperately hoping he just has some underlying endocrine imbalance / sensitivity to bigger quantities of alcohol - is this realistic?

Any reassurance would be gratefully received, if it's possible. I know internet doth not equal a doctor but we are struggling to think about anything else right now. TIA anyway x

Gallstones maybe?

......could be a stone stuck in the bile duct. Having said that, the internet is perhaps not the best place for medical advice!

Thank you.

I know - MN has been a refuge in moments of turmoil in the past. Hoped maybe other people had some experience of the same and a simple or low key diagnosis. Any upside that'll help my roiling mind while the time passes!

I had this. It was stones stuck in my bile duct.

Was he drinking ale or lager?

Has he ever been tested for coeliac disease?

Common symptoms of coeliac are fatigue and nausea after eating or drinking gluten. It has an unexplained impact on the liver which can make even non drinkers have LFTs of a heavy drinker if they don't stick to a gluten free diet.

A night out with a steak pie and a sticky toffee pudding and a couple of beers would absolutely destroy my relative for days until he got his coeliac diagnosis

No clue what's wrong with your dh but I've had abnormal liver function results in the past which were probably due to a medication. Once off it, they returned to normal. Just posting that to show that abnormal results can be temporary. Good luck with it all.

Livers can recover well , so fingers crossed.

Hep E can cause extreme LFTs and the symptoms are the same as your husband is experiencing. It is caught from contaminated food and passes through the body in around 4 weeks. It is much more common in the UK now. Unlike other variants of hepatitis there are no lasting effects in the vast majority people and it clears the body naturally. Try not to worry.

It doesn't sound like he's done any damage through alcohol. My friend had a virus which damaged her liver (she went yellow!) but was fine after a few weeks. It's very unlikely to be cancer at his age.

I had a weird virus in November / December which affected my liver function. I had an ultrasound which showed a slightly enlarged spleen but liver looked ok. Liver results eventually went back to normal and recovered fine. No idea what it was. Doctor said it was probably flu and that viruses can affect your liver sometimes.

corona can also affect the liver. has he been tested for it?

hepatitis e is very common. does he like 'raw' meat products? (cold smoked ham/fish, salami, pink meat)

I had a bad liver result once but I’d been out a few times and overdone it with the booze. It absolutely frightened me to death and went back after 6 months for another and it was fine.i know do private liver function tests to keep and eye on it and it’s always been fine since.

No more Alcohol.

My brother-in-law and another friend have both had similar symptoms to your husband at different times,both had investigations,nothing found.

Both recovered and had no further problems.

The liver is excellent at repairing itself.Unless it’s Cirrhosis.

Hope he recovers well.

Everyone - thank you SO much - reading all of this has genuinely made me feel a lot calmer. I was really hoping there might be a range of outcomes from these symptoms but googling them of course (and know I shouldn't) just gave hit after hit for cancer. I realise we know nothing yet but reading the range of possible options is so reassuring. I'm really grateful 🙏 x

That sounds just like me! He may not have it of course but I've got Gilbert's syndrome, where your liver shows a high level of billirubin. You're born with it, but shows up generally during mid 20's early 30's during a routine blood test. I was called in in my 20's with abnormal liver function.
I can't tolerate alcohol, generally fatigued, brain fog can't deal with stress all that well, nauseated frequently , tight chested, exhausted and feel awful after strenuous exercise etc.
Thankfully it's a benign condition. The docs however don't give it the attention it needs.
I hope it isn't that and its just viral or he's just overdone it with the booze and it will pass

there is another condition where the liver stores too much iron.

I hope you get to the bottom of it soon and that it is easily treatable.

Thanks guys for the latest contributions, rang the GP this morning who caught up with all the notes and sent DH straight to hosp for the full works today. Very relieved we will at least have an answer a bit sooner and again so much more hopeful having read about more of the spectrum of possibilities!!!! Just hope it's stones 🤞🙏

fingers crossed!

Fingers crossed. We're finding hospital reports are much quicker at the moment.

Fingers crossed for you both x

I have been in your position with my DH, it is so worrying, in these cases google is not your friend! Cancer is always the worry but there are many more things it could be. My DH ended up being diagnosed with a rare chronic liver disease (PSC) about 5 years ago, Which whilst still serious is not the death sentence google made it out to be!
It sounds like the doctors are on the ball with it so hopefully you will get some news soon. ❤️

I had this and it was a combination of nuclear level antibiotics for a stubborn UTI that had a known risk of causing liver problems (I was told if I went yellow I had to stop taking them and seek medical advice) and gallstones.

I hope he had good news. Abnormal bloods are terrifying.

Fingers crossed for good news

Not relevant to his case, but after a long labour and EMCS, I ended up in HDU partly due to a deranged liver function. A few hours later on my first photos with DS, there is definitely a yellow tinge to me.

It all resolved in a few weeks. Livers are very resiliant (and unglamourous) organs!