alt ast even higher

[welderman]

I was ready to start treatment did some blood work and my alt an ast were out the roof. Dr had me do some more labs and there even higher.

alt 875  2/14/07
ast 389  

alt 1011   2/22/07
ast 433

I believe the liver damage may have been from taken malorone which is to help prevent malaria on a recent trip to haiti just before first blood test. all blood test last year alt and ast slightly above normal. I don't take herbs or drink lifestyle benn the same.

anbody heard of liver enzymes going this high. I feel the same as I always do a little fatigue.
I'm a little bit freaked out over these numbers. Dr said will take blood test in two weeks. see how they look then. On the test it reads Alert instead of High or above normal.

What can help lower these numbers.

Lynn

[welderman]

I'm not sure Proably got hepc back in early 70's I had no Idea i had it until last year. I was looking into some more life Ins. thats when I found out. I'm geno 2b Liver bx stage 2 grade 2. I hardly ever went to a dr in those thirty years still feel good today. I thought the fatuge thing with me was just my age. Only had the flu one time that put me in bed for a week in 1976. now lookig back maybe that had somthing to do with the hep c and I've been in a holding pattern since then

My liver head thinks will start treatment even if alts and ast still elevated after this next blood test he ruled out any other hepatitis he said it might just be the hepc has everything flared up.


Lynn

[jmjm530]

Ahhh, said the man to his ENT. Actually, my ALT also skyrocketed up to around 800 or so after the Hep B/Herbal thing. Seemed to take forever to normalize, but they finally did, just like my liverhead said they would. As I mentioned earlier, the decision was made not to treat until they normalized and it made sense then. Knowing a bit more now, I wonder what the logic was behind that decision since they often treat acute cases rather successfully. But really beyond my knowledge or personal interest right now.

-- Jim

[GoofyDad]

Sorry if I was confusing. I wasn't drawing a parallel w/ welder's 800+ ALT, but rather with your post Hep B vaccine ALT elevation.

[mremeet]

Also be aware there are other types of hepatitis that are much less common, but exist nonetheless. I know very little about them, but hep E looks like something you could pick up from drinking contaminated water.

http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/aug99/niaid-19.htm

Also, gallstones are especially prevalent in those with long term HCV infections (I was diagnosed with them when I was 31). Sometimes they can cause problems if one of the stones partially or wholly obstructs a bile duct. This can cause pain, especially after eating a greasy meal, and can result in jaundice in severe cases. From what I've heard it can also cause elevations in enzyme levels in some people if the bile is being persistently backed up into the liver. Whether or not it could account for a 1000+ ALT, I don't know about that - but it might be something to ask your doctor about (especially if you do have abdominal pain after meals).

[welderman]

Thanks for the comments it helps alot I had got myself already to do this treatment and now i'm in a holding pattern. The Dr I'm with is a hepatologist he checked on the last blood test, for hep A and hep B and some other things they all came up negative thank goodness.
jimjim my urine has been a little darker noticed that down in Haiti and seems to be lighten up last couple days started drinken more water to help fluss out the old system. Dr says might be hepc flarin it up also.

bill1954 1954 my year also seems like a lot of people on this forum around that age. If thats your birth year.

Hep dr says will check blood in two more weeks

Lynn

[jmjm530]

Curious, how long do you think you've had HCV and when you first got it, did you have an acute reaction (jaundice, dark urine, light stools, sky high enzymes, etc). I had an acute phase over 30 years ago, and a few acute relapses in the five to seven years that followed, before the virus settled down into a holding pattern.

-- Jim

[Forseegood]

thanks to all of you, my friend had his enzymes spike this high, even higher, and although I know some of the possible reasons, these answers have given me something to tell him, because he's naturally freaking, thanks MrMeet, Bill, and Jim....

[GoofyDad]

Ya'know - If you remember - I had an issue with a somewhat elevated ALT on - and after - tx. It had normallized early in tx and then popped up into the highest end of normal range mid tx. That lasted until well after tx was completed. I've had one set of what I would call normal LFTs at 9 mos, and I'm due for another run now. I'm assuming it will be normal.

Well - I also did the A/B twinrix (sp) vaccine series while on tx, and had to get a double dose at the end to reach immunity. I'm now wondering whether that could have caused the elevated LFT's.  

[jmjm530]

Your enzymes were only mildly elevated, if I remember correctly. ALT over 800 is an altogether a different story. Sure it could have been the Hep C vaccine. I'll have a beer now and then post treatment but won't touch the Hep B vaccine at all, thank you :) Good luck with your enzymes and everything else.

-- Jim

[Bill1954]

"anbody heard of liver enzymes going this high". I believe some labs quantify liver enzymes well into the 10,000 range. This apparently occurs frequently with chemically induced insults such as acetaminophen and some solvents like carbon tetrachloride. The numbers you report are certainly elevated and definitely require further evaluation, but in themselves aren't necessarily indicative of fulminant failure. Jim and Mremeet have given you excellent advice above- I

[mremeet]

I know you said you were vaccinated for hepA/B last time, but did you get your followup booster shot 6 months later? Even if you did get all your shots well before going to Haiti, were you checked for either hep A or B just in case after returning? Hep A and/or hep B on top of hep C could easily account for enzyme levels that high. I'd be checked for it just to be sure. Don't know anything about malorone, but I'd look into its toxicity profile. Hope you get to the bottom of it, let us know what you find out.

[jmjm530]

My liver enzymes spiked in a similar fashion at two different junctions in my Hep C cycle.

The first juncture was over 30 years ago, and within five years of being infected. The high liver enzymes were also accompanied by extreme fatigue, dark urine and some jaundice. A mini version of my initial exposure to which I had an acute reaction.

The second junture was around five years ago, shortly after taking some Chinese herbs and the Hep B vaccine. Spiked enzymes, moderate fatigue but no dark urine or jaundice. The liver specialist thinks it may have been the herbs or a combination of the herbs and the hep b vaccine. I do not rule out the hep b vaccine by itself.

Doctor likened it to an acute reaction and decided to postpone treatment until the enzymes normalized. This took around six months if I remember correctly. The rise in enzymes did not correlate with more liver damage as far as I'm aware.

The only thing that helped me was time and the decline in enzymes was slow and gradual. That said, your case may be different. Hopefully, you are being followed by a liver specialist (hepatologist) with enzymes that high. I would imagine they might do some imaging as well as blood work.

BTW there is no significant difference between the two labs you posted. They are both quite high but the second lab doesn't necessarily mean things are getting worse. Again, it took me close to six months for my enzymes to return to their previous baseline which was just slightly elevated. Since then, no more Chinese herbs and no more Hep B shots :)

All the best,

-- Jim