A new thread for being scared about my liver

[FrannyandZooey]

Quick recap:

have been having pins and needles, lots. Had a blood test on Monday and it has come back that I have elevated liver enzymes. One of the causes of this is liver damage. I am an ex-drinker and am worried this is the problem.

This is the latest bit: when they took the blood my arm went completely bonkers and swelled up, now is covered in BIG purple bruises. It looks like I have bled internally quite a lot where the blood was taken.

MIL who is visiting today, is also alcoholic. Has cirrhosis. Asked me what is wrong with my arm and said "oh when I have to have blood taken I have to tell them about my liver damage, because I would bleed a lot".

I am starting to worry again

i agree with fio don't worry too much, but i feel like i've damaged parts through years of boozing

Glad to hear it Franny

From what you've posted it seems REALLY unlikely that this is anything to do with your liver/drinking.

I am a terrible worrier about physical stuff so I do sympathise - and of course your history is making you paranoid. But I think your clear result 3 yrs ago is what you need to focus on. there is absolutely no reason your liver would have got worse in these last years as you have not been drinking!

It's so much more likely to be something far more minor and easily explained.

where are the pins and needles? i get them sometimes through sitting funny for a long time or leaning on elbows

Yes thank you everyone I think you are right

the pins and needles are almost constant and quite far up my arms and legs

blood thickness - INR i think liver controls part of this. if your blood is slightly too thin then it can lead to a lot of bruising. dh thickness is very controlled due to his LVAD. do you have the blood results sheets? didnt want to scare you.

but to me it just sounds like the blood test was botched.

pins and needles can be a sign of other conditions like thyroid problems or nerve problems.

Have you been taking antibiotics or any other strong medication? I get elevate liver enzymes if I have an allergic reaction to certain medication eg. antibiotics. It resolves when I stop the meidcation.

The arm problems could be to do with a vein bruising/not sealing properly. I get this if the nurse with shaky hands takes my bloods.

Hope you get some answers soon!

Sorry if this seems trivial, but have you tried seeing an osteopath? I often get pins and needles down my left arm because the muscles in my shoulders and neck are so tight, and sometimes my neck and spine are so compressed that the muscles start to compensate for that. The pins and needles are signs of neurological effects of tightening muscles.

This may be nothing to do with your symptoms - but equally, your symptoms may be nothing to do with a drinking history which sounds like it was a long time ago.

Hope you find out what is going on and can manage to relax!

i get alot of p & n but i know they're more slight nerve damage than anything else. it's amazing how a slight bump on a bone can cause pain miles away

I really feel for you worrying but I do kind of think it's a good sign that the doctor only wants you to come back in 8 weeks- he would be referring you like mad if he thought you should be worrying. Good luck- hope all turns out to be well.

yes yes and yes

but I am going to go back and hassle them anyway

you are all very kind you know

not many places you could go and bore a lot of strangers with your random health niggles and get a lot of nice support and sensible suggestions

Not many places where you get such witty and sustained encouragement in making simple but very worthwhile and helpful lifestyle changes either......

I second that Saurkraut

co-incidence IMO

Now, pins and needles are quite a common sign of anxiety. If you are getting stressed about the pins and needles being linked to liver disease and getting more anxious and getting more pins and needles and getting more stressed about your liver you are in a vicious circle.

Are you anixous? If not dismiss this but it explained a great deal for me at one stage in my life.

Oh, no, honestly I am not

I am really not anxious

BORED perhaps

is pins and needles a sign of being bored??

and SK and Overrun

no I don't think pins and needles come from being bored. Hope it works out fine - has been a long time since you stopped so would be odd for it to surface now since earlier tests have been clear.

congrats on giving up the drink - lots don't make it to this point.

Oh thank you

it has transformed my life actually

[sloppy Pollyanna type emoticon]