Abnormal liver tests results - a little scared (long)

[spyrosmom]

So, I was at work Monday, feeling kinda blah but not awful, the boss noticed and sent me home, and told me to stay home Tues if I was not feeling well also. I got up Tues, felt ok, worked out (one of the Hiits - 30/30 I think) and then felt kinda yick again. Not awful sick or anything, just yick. So I stayed home. I went to work Weds, feeling absolutely fine. Puked in the bathroom about 2pm, then felt ok again. Got sick again about 4, then felt ok again, I figured I would stick it out, since I was leaving at 4:30 anyway, and had already missed most of 2 days of work.

I live about 30 miles/45 mins from work. So I leave and about 5 mins into the drive I break out into a cold sweat, chills, eyes rolling back, shaking awful. I think there is no way in heck I am going to make it home. I had to stop 3 or 4 times just to make sure I wasn't going to pass out. I really should not have been driving, but I was ok when I left. I was about 10 mins from home and had to pull over bc I was going to be sick again. This time, I threw up blood. Yeah, not good. So now on top of feeling crappy, being scared to drive, I am now scared bc my insides are coming to my outsides and landing on the side of the road, where they should not be!

Even though it was after 5, I called my Dr office, trying to get the answering service to page the Dr. They do, and bless his little Dr heart, he calls me back as I am sitting on the side of the road crying. Tells me to stay there, call 911, get an ambulance and go to the ER. Well, shoot, I'm only 10 mins from the hospital anyway. My dumb self (again, I should not have be driving) drives to the ER. I called my husband on the way, who already knew I wasn't feeling well, bc I asked him not to make dinner. So he gets a call from a crying wife telling him she is on the way to the ER. Note - I am NOT a crier, so this is very odd.

I park the car at the hosp, and wobble into the ER as the world continues to tip and sway and swirl about me. They get me in quick, and load up an IV w/ some anti-nausea stuff Better. So they go thru all the routines and checks. Everything physically looks good, but my liver is all out of whack. WTF!!???!?!?!?? No heavy drinking, no drugs, no smokes, no family history?????

Enzyme levels that are supposed to top out at 40 or 50 are coming in at 500 or 600. WTH???? So I was about to be sent home for just possibly a nasty stomach bug, but I end up being admitted. CRAP! So they proceed to draw blood at what feels like 15 minute intervals and try to figure out what is going on. I spent Wed night, all Thurs, and yest morn in the hospital. Pooh. The levels came down to 100-200 but are still higher than what they should be. All the blood work is coming back negative for dif strains of hepatitis and other liver baddies. They did an ultrasound, everything is where is should be and no leftover gallstones from when I had my gallbladder out 5 years ago. Did a GI scope yesterday morning, says my stomach lining looks pretty rough, but that could be bc of the throwing up, there are no ulcers or anything still bleeding.

My blood counts stayed normal, so my innards aren't bleeding, they think the bleeding could be caused by throwing up so hard. It happens, but I've never had that happen before. And normally if I have the belly monkeys, my whole body feels like crap for days. After they got the room to quit spinning, I felt pretty hunky-dory. I had to go back this morning for another blood draw so they can do another liver panel, and again in 10 days for another and a Dr f/u. They let me go home even though the numbers were high bc everything else looked ok, and no reason for me to sit there while they try to figure it out. Dr wants me to take prescription Zantac which is $150 that the insurance won't cover. So I will be calling him Monday, b/c Ms Nancy isn't shelling out for that either

I'm concerned about my liver #s though. Wondering where things went wrong. They have my med records from some pre-op blood draws in 2005,2007, and 2008 and everything is normal. Nothing more recent than that. I give blood often, but I'm not sure that is something they screen for. The Dr did say some people run high #s and it is normal for them, but mine are high for even "runs high normal" If I was about to die, which I am sure I'm not, they wouldn't let me go home, so I'm sure it is ok, but I'm still concerned. He said it may have just been a funky stomach bug that spiked my liver #s, but there is cause for concern if they don't go back down to where they should be.

On the upside, my lying in bed, chillin' out heart rate is about 48. I constantly had the Drs, nurses, and CNA's asking if I was ok and if that was normal. And my BP runs about 108/70 I assured them that I was fine in that dept, if I'm up walking around my HR is only about 60. My ticker is fine, thanks Cathe!

Sorry this is so long, just had to prattle on a bit, needed someone to listen. And I'm going to kill my husband if he doesn't stop patting, and tucking, and are-you-ok'ing me and should-you-be-doing-that, and babysitting me. Back off man!

ETA: when I was looking up detail on the tests, the great interwebz (bc we know everything on the net is true) said that obvious causes are drinking and drugs, but several reliable sources also cited herbal toxicity. I quit the Diet Coke about 2 1/2-3 weeks ago, and have been drinking herbal tea. Today I Googled "herbal tea liver toxicity" and several standard ingredients in herbal tea, including Valerian, which is in several of the blends sitting on my counter top. I wonder...... Will have to ask the Dr when I go back. In the meantime, I'm going to Google or Wiki the ingredients that come up in several of the teas and see what I find. Knew I shouldn't have given up the Coke. Damn!


Nan

 

[buckeyegirl]

I am so sorry - that stuff is scary. It's not fair when you take care of yourself - exercise and watch what you eat, d/c diet coke, and shit still happens to you, doesn't it? The good news is that it sounds like they did a pretty thorough liver workup and have ruled out a lot of bad things. I really wonder if it could be the valerian? Go back to diet coke right away It is amazing how innocuous we all think herbal things are but they can have some serious side effects. I'm hoping that's all it is - please keep us posted. Try not to worry...easy for me to say. I've got an esophageal ulcer that was biopsied and was neg for bad things but they have no idea why i have it and I want it to go away! That and I just slipped a lumbar disc. It's not fair!! I bet if I smoked, drank, and didn't exercise I wouldn't have any of these problems.

Sorry about the rant - just saying I know how you feel

Heidi

 

[wendy loo]

Wow, Nan. Scary! I'm so sorry to hear of your ordeal...
How much herbal tea have you been drinking? I would wonder about the possibility of a connection, too, if I were in your shoes. I'm sending good vibes your way.

Heidi, I'm sorry about your esophageal ulcer... I know what you mean, too. I've been sick on and off for the past several months, yet I'm eating and drinking so many of the right things--and none of the terrible stuff! My husband, on the other hand, eats and drinks whatever he wants and rarely gets even a sniffle. Argh!

Hope you're both feeling better soon!

Wendy

 

[buffettgirl]

((Nan)) Wow, scary stuff! I work in a lab, but unfortunately, not in the chemistry department. Are there viruses other then hepatitis that could affect your liver? How much of the herbal tea were you drinking? I hope all the numbers go back to where they belong and you feel good, gooder, goodest soon!

 

[spyrosmom]

Not like I'm pounding back the herbal tea, but its the only change I can think of. Our drinking glasses at home are pint glasses, and on a weekend we use the iced teas maker and probably go thru a gallon and a half of tea between the two of us. During the week, I normally just make it by the glass full and will have one or 2 (big) glasses. And if its chilly outside a cup of hot tea before bedtime or during a bath. But its a mix between herbal, green, black, white, and red. Switch it up depending on what I feel like. I get tired of water, b/c that's all I drink all day at work, so I drink tea at home. Better than 2 or 3 cans of Diet Coke. I used to be able to put down a 2 liter on a weekend day by myself.

Like I said, its the only change I can think of, but its mixed in with plenty of other beverages. Maybe it was just a funky virus.

Nan

 

[buckeyegirl]

I don't know, Nan, that sounds like a lot of tea - how much of all of that is actually valerian containing tea? I did a quick search on the internet and it does look like a possibility - did you tell them this at the hospital or was it an after thought after you'd gotten home?
Really curious what your dr. will have to say on Monday about it.

Heidi

 

[spyrosmom]

I don't know, Nan, that sounds like a lot of tea - how much of all of that is actually valerian containing tea? I did a quick search on the internet and it does look like a possibility - did you tell them this at the hospital or was it an after thought after you'd gotten home?
Really curious what your dr. will have to say on Monday about it.

Heidi

Most of it doesn't have any valerian, just one or 2 of the boxes we have. I know the Sleepy Time (and a Yogi version called Bedtime) and one of the Yogi teas - can't recall which one. And like I said, not like I'm schlepping back the same thing all the time. It came as an afterthought while I was puttering around in the kitchen today. I will for sure ask the Doc though. I was just trying to figure out what's different. The thing is, I don't think I've had any of that recently. I normally only drink Sleepy Time at bedtime, and that's only once or twice a week. I know the pitcher we were drinking most recently was Tzao Spicy Ginger, and prior to that was Tzao Apple Cinnamon. They both have roobios and the ginger has licorice. Apparently - according to the web - licorice can also have some bad mojo w/ the liver. However, it seems to be in heavy amts. In blended tea, it just doesn't seem like there would be all that much. I dunno....def going to ask the Doc though.

Thing is, I am like a crazy beverage drinker. I can't stand having a dry mouth - I talk on the phone all day at work. And I like to have things with flavor. Drinking keeps me from eating all day. Otherwise I'd walk around with a refrigerator stuck to my head. I chew pens and my fingernails too. Ew, I know. I have to have something in my mouth. So I drink. Make a lot of trips to the ladies room, too

ETA: As I keep reading, I also see that skullcap (sounds deathly, doesn't it?) can cause liver issues. I know I've seen that on the ingredient list on a box or 2. Thing is, all of it is from real companies - not some back alley joe mixer upper. Although, just bc its sold at the store, doesn't mean its good for everybody. Anywho, I am done obsessing for the night. Sent DH to the DQ for a hot fudge sundae, so I am gonna go sit on my tushie and eat some ice cream. Yum!

Nan

 

[hiitdogs]

Doesn't sound excessive to me. I probably drink that amount of tea by myself

I doubt that the tea is the culprit, especially since you vary that much. Sometimes valerian is mixed with kava kava which can cause liver problems, or contaminants in the tea but Yogi tea and Tazo are pretty reputable companies.

I know there are some viruses that can throw the liver out of whack for a while. Did your doctor's sound concerned about it? Didn't sound like it if they only recommend Zantac. Isn't that for ulcers and that kind of stuff?

I hope you feel better soon!!!! (((((Nan))))

 

[Stephanie0523]

Nan, I am so sorry you are going through this. Wow, that drive home must have been SO scary!! I hope you get answers soon and those numbers return to normal! I had no idea about herbal tea toxicity, but I looked it up (because I drink about 6 to 7 tea bags worth of tea per day), and the stuff online made it sound extremely rare. It said most teas, unless you buy medicinal quality tea, just use herbs for fragrance/flavor. I'd still mention it to the doc. Are they going to do a follow up test?

Feel better soon!! ((hugs))

 

[spyrosmom]

My bad, it wasn't Zantac, its Nexium, which costs an arm and a leg. It was more for my stomach being torn to heck and back than for the liver issues. The stomach is an easy fix.

Nan

 

[jgarr44460]

My high liver enzyme story

I am not a Doctor nor am I suggesting this is what you have - I am just sharing my liver enzyme story for you to think about in relation to yours. Last February I started feeling achy and run down. This progressed within 24 hours to major headache, body aches, & fever. It was bad enough (103.4 fever and my head was exploding) to send me to the ER. The short version of this is that after days of blood tests and meds for nausea, pain, what they thought was a form of Lyme (erhicliosis sp.?), elevated liver enzymes etc. I had MONO. I was having blood work done every 2 days. Now the weirdest thing about all of this is that I am 50 years old. Adults my age are supposed to have immunities to this. I fell into the 10% or so who don't. They thought the first positive Mono test was a false positive due to my age. It was horrible at the time because adults manifest symptoms way different than younger people.
As for the liver enzymes -they were messed up due to the mono and made worse by the pain meds they were having me take. I stopped the Tylenol and started drinking lemon water to flush out my liver. Good news - after doing this and the natural progression of the Mono (rest and out of work for a month) - the liver enzymes returned to normal. BTW - I am not a drinker either.
I understand your fear - I was very scared myself. The things they checked me for due to the elevated liver levels were: Hepatitis, Erhicliosis and Mono. Just ideas.
Good luck & keep us posted on how you are doing.
JenG