RUQ discomfort elevated ALT, AST

Seven years ago I strain a lower stomach muscle and experienced some discomfort in my lower abdomen.  I went in for a physical and everything was fine except some high blood pressure and elevated liver enzymes.  The doctor never told me how high, but the nurse told me it was probably an old case of hepatitis flaring up.  I told her that to my knowledge I had never had hepatitis, whereupon the doctor resumed questioning me about my medications...some pseudophed and occosional advil and that had been it.  The doctor said it was probably just an over sensitive test...not to worry about it. I had been working 3rd shift and by the time I had come into the doctors office for the examination, I had been up for 24 to 36 hours.  I had so much coffee in me I would shake.  For about two months I experienced nausea and stomach discomfort upon rising from bed in the evening.  I chalked up to my odd schedule.  It passed once I went to day shift hours.

A year and a half ago, I had a life insurance physical in which ALP, and ALT were slightly elevateds <1.5 times the upper limit of normal.  I didn't think much about it until I read that slight elevations were a tell-tale sign of Hep C.  Last February I went in for a physical and my ALT and AST were elvated <2 times uln, and my bili was slightly less than 3 although no jaundice seemed present.  The doctor was not even alarmed at this, in fact I had to raise the question upon looking at the results, and I expressed my concerns about Hepatitis.  He asked if I'd ever had a transfusion or used IVD's.  I have had/done neither.  He said it was probably either fatty liver, since I was about 10-12% overweight or muscle strain because I was still a little sore from lifting weights a couple days earlier.  He told me unequivocally that it was not Hep C.  I didn't trust that advice so I had tests run for Hep C and B (just the antibody tests) at the local AnyTest. Both tests came back negative.

I continue to have some mid-back pain from an old work injury.  It seems to radiate around and under my rib-cage.  I have muscle soreness down the right side of my abdomen, which is absent in the morning and present at night.  I get a slight throbbing pain under my rib-cage after eating rich foods (high in protein and fatty). I have none of the other symptoms of liver disease...Just the same as a 34 male with a wife and 3 little boys, the prospects of liver disease or something else unsettles me.  Are these common complaints...how likely is it that the tests were wrong...etc.???

Carp