Pain in the Liver?

Hi,
I've been HCV+ for over two decades and never had symptoms. I live abstinent, have normal weight, good energy etc. An interferon/ribavirin treatment in 2005 ended in a rare aplastic anemia, after that the virus load gradually increased beyond the 2.3 mio limit. Fibrosis was stage 1 in 2005. I regularly try to check blood and usually GOT and GPT are slightly elevated but not serious; all other parameters are good.
Now I have had for a maybe two weeks or so intermittent pressure in the liver area. It's more worrying than seriously painful and so I would like to ask if anybody can give me a hint. I didn't have this while living in Asia before. Is it possible to relate to diet (too much fat or sugar or so) or the intake of vitamin supplements (if so which vitamins)?
I'm right now as a foreigner in the US without insurance so seeing a doctor is not easily possible.
I'd be very grateful for any suggestions. Thanks, Philipp
  

[brianmo]

Welcome to the sight. I also have had Hep c for 30 years with no symptoms until a few years ago started having pain in RUQ. I also eat great, exercise, etc. Saw 3 different Doctors all telling me they did not know, the liver does not have pain. (I have no gallbladder). So, it comes and goes, worse at night and I can not seem to relate it to how I eat or do not eat. Good luck and if you serch the archives you will find this subject covered over and over again.

[sunshines76]

Philipp, that pressure in the liver area could be anything, only a doctor can determine its cause, I think. I myself had some pressure in the liver area, and was diagnosed with gallstones. In my case - it's nothing really bad, just have to avoid fatty foods and stay well hydrated.

[uncledudeness]

i have been feeling a similar pain; upper right quadrant for almost a year. i was told that the liver is a non-pain feeling organ (something like that) but the outer layer does. also, my liver is inflamed and it is putting pressure on other organs in the adjacent area. i'm not sure but maybe the gallbladder. it's more like a dull pain; almost like gas. i recently had a colonoscopy. and the pain was still there. i am not saying that is what you are experiencing, i am just saying that i felt a similar pain. seeing a DR is the way to go.

an ultrasound will show if the liver is inflamed. i'm sure another, more informed member here will have additional detail; along with the technical descriptions.

[Philipp]

Thanks, both of you. I know that the liver cannot feel pain and that it could be the gallstones because I had a situation like that before. Now, however, the gall bladder has been removed, so that cannot be it. It's not that sensitive or super hard to touch but the pressure is rather persistent.
What I would really like to know is how serious fatty (vegetarian), sugary food could precipitate a real, acute problem. It always seems to me that doctors do not take diet with the type of situation I'm having to be a very serious factor. Would that impression be correct and scientifically corroborated?

[brianmo]

Welcome to the sight. I also have had Hep c for 30 years with no symptoms until a few years ago started having pain in RUQ. I also eat great, exercise, etc. Saw 3 different Doctors all telling me they did not know, the liver does not have pain. (I have no gallbladder). So, it comes and goes, worse at night and I can not seem to relate it to how I eat or do not eat. Good luck and if you serch the archives you will find this subject covered over and over again.

[salvo]

I know what you are talking about and I've had pain from my liver for the last 3 years and yes they will tell you its not from the liver but when you have no gall bladder and taken out by mistake, it can only be the liver and really dont care what they say, I know where its coming from.

[nygirl7]

Please, don't jump the gun and assume it's anything bad about your liver.  In these days of the internet we all are self diagnosing ourselves all of the time and assuming everything has to do with the Hep.  Most oftentimes it is something completely unrelated.

Make an appt. to see your doctor rather than worry.  I had no idea i \had the disease and I was already stage 3 - you would think if it had something to do with fibrosis or liver damage I would have known......but it just doesn't.  

Once you go to the doc you probably will start to feel better just knowing it's something simple like IBS - don't expect the worst.....it's a waste of energy and never really is helpful.

Good luck!

[Philipp]

Thanks, nygirl, for your reply.
Just to clarify: I don't stress out psychologically. If anything, I'm curious. All I want to know whether there is something simple diet-wise or so that should be done.
I know that self- and over-diagnosing are a problem. Interestingly, though, I had also highly specialized and internally respected HCV specialists make really big mistakes or stand clueless for weeks on end, even though the phenomena under discussion are in the literature. And it is interesting to me, how many people here report having that kind of pain, so I doubt it's a gastric situation.  
I come here, as I said, because going to the doc is not a viable option for me - a doc friend didn't know - as long as I'm in the US (any third world country I've lived in would be :) ).
That the pain is a common situation and doesn't seem to require me to do much actually makes me quite happy.
So long

[salvo]

I'm sorry, the way I look at it, the only one's that complain about pain from the liver are only hep patients. I dont know a single person that complains that doesn't have hep, so I would think it is right at least for me that it is pain from the liver.Dont see how it could be anything else after getting my gallbladder out.We ask doctors that dont have hep, and they all say the same but they are just telling you what they have learned, they sure dont feel it.

[printze]

I too have hep [pain upper right quadrant and to the back,  it comes and goes from liver to back. It is annoying and I wish it will stop when I start treatment waiting to do fibroscan next week to find put the state of damage.

[printze]

Me too in March when I was diagnosed I said to my GP is that why I have pain, he said no, itmust be something else. How dumb can thst be, so many of us experience similar pain obviuosly it is associated with our condition if so many of have it . Why can't they just say it is very common to experience pain on hte liver area and also to the back .

[bittersweetcupcakequeen28]

Hey. I've had Hep C since 2002 and I used heroin while i knew i had it, kept shooting up til 2006 when i checked into rehab. strated the treatment and then miraculously the hcv was non detected. went thru hell with the ribofra-whatchitcalled and interferon...but had no signs til then...right now, i am not in abstinence; i do drink, but im fine and i checked my sgpt sopt and psr and everythin was fine...weird, eh? however, i do feel that liver pain u mentioned, i thnk its more paranoia because we will live in fear forever.  but my docs and researches say that there are no symptoms anyway. so im assuming its paaranoia.
i have a question though, this is an on going debate with an answer which never convinces me. is sex with no condoms safe when u hav hep c? i mean my ex was negative and we lasted for a while so we did not use condoms becuz they say if its not a gang bang with blood and gore, lol, then it shud not infect the partner. my partner currently and i dont use either. my mother tells me im being selfish...but i do not like condoms and neither do they adn we have researched and discussed it. it's like a myth however, if i dig deeper. any news about that?

[printze]

That damn liver pain wish it would take a hike.