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Red spots on skin over liver + elevated bilirubin?

by ris410, Jul 26, 2009 06:52PM
4700411?1248652363
I am a 23 year old male. Since last spring I was having slightly red spots on my skin right where my liver would be (just below my right nipple to the bottom of the right ribcage). They aren't raised, and have irregular shapes (but generally rounded) from about an eighth of an inch to a half of an inch long. Some smaller spots extend further to other parts of my torso, but only a few here and there. Sometimes the bottom of my neck flares up with the red spots. They tend to clear up on their own from time to time, but they always reappear. Steroid creams and some herbal blood purifiers like red clover and dandelion tend to speed up the process of it clearing up, but it always comes back. They don't itch or hurt, and they aren't raised or wet or anything. I went to a dermatologist, and he diagnosed it as eczema. However, isn't eczema almost always itchy? These spots have literally no itch to them. The skin at the spots appears to be dryer than my normal skin, and very slightly flaky. Although there was no itch, I decided it might just be eczema after all at the time and ignored it.

However, recently I went to get some blood work done with some odd results. I got a lot of things tested, and I ended up having a vitamin D deficiency (which would probably be from my lack of sunlight as I'm always indoors), as well as elevated bilirubin levels at 2.0 mg/dL. The fact that the skin condition is located right over my liver is causing me concern. I don't know what may be causing this. I don't drink, smoke, or do any drugs except for cannabis. My cannabis use has been approximately 4-5 times per week for the past four years, usually having a month or two break each year. I have had about a dozen or so 2-3 week breaks with cannabis over the past year with no apparent effect on the skin condition, but I am considering it as a possible cause despite the lack of data I'm finding regarding cannabis toxicity (partially could be caused by a lack of journal subscriptions to see study details). I had two other ideas for what may be causing it. Around the time that my skin condition appeared last spring, I began to drink bottled distilled water you get from supermarkets. I have almost exclusively been drinking distilled water over the past year, and I recently stopped because I consider it to be a possibly cause. Also, I went on a short vacation for two weeks without drinking any distilled water and the skin condition cleared up significantly. I have only very recently stopped drinking it (last time was three days ago). Another possibility was that I may have taken some herb that had some toxicity to it. But I haven't been regularly using any herbs except for cannabis, and I feel as though if that were the case I would have felt considerably sick around that time since it would be an acute toxicity. I've had literally no symptoms except for the skin condition (which has no itching or burning, or anything associated with it except for the discoloration) over the past year. Over the past two weeks I feel as though the right side of my torso is cramped, but I feel as though it might be hypochondria because I tend to worry a lot (I've have completely imagined pains in past circumstances prior to seeing a doctor). I run three miles every day along with about half an hour of yoga with no trouble or cramping or anything. I eat very healthy (vegetarian, mostly vegan with a lot of raw fruits and veggies), and I have tried to remove foods from my diet thinking that it might be a food allergy but it doesn't appear as though it is. I haven't noticed any potential external allergens either. I have no history of allergies. I have no trouble digesting any foods, including very heavy foods. Here are the results of the examinations (reference intervals are in parentheses):

Flagged:
Bilirubin, Total: 2.0 mg/dL (0.1-1.2)
Vitamin D, 25-Hydroxy: 18.4 ng/mL (32-100)

Others:
(CBC with Differential/Platelet)
WBC: 6.4 x10E3/uL (4.0-10.5)
RBC: 4.69 x10E6/uL (4.10-5.60)
Hemoglobin: 14.8 g/dL (12.5-17.0)
Hematocrit: 42.9 % (36-50)
MCV: 92 fL (80-98)
MCH: 31.6 pg (27-34)
MCHC: 34.6 g/dL (32-36)
RDW: 12.2 % (11.7-15.0)
Platelets: 277 x10E3/uL (140-415)
Neutrophils: 70% (40-74)
Lymphs: 20% (14-46)
Monocytes: 7% (4-13)
Eos: 2% (0-7)
Basos: 1% (0-3)
Neutrophils (Absolute): 4.5 x10E3/uL (1.8-7.8)
Lymphs (Absolute): 1.3 x10E3/uL (0.7-4.5)
Monocytes (Absolute): 0.4 x10E3/uL (0.1-1.0)
Eos (Absolute): 0.1 x10E3/uL (0.0-0.4)
Baso (Absolute): 0.1 x10E3/uL (0.0-0.2)

(Comp. Metabolic Panel)
Glucose, Serum: 88 mg/dL (65-99)
BUN: 15 mg/dL (5-26)
Creatinine, Serum: 1.02 mg/dL (0.76-1.27)
eGFR: >59 mL/min/1.73 (>59)

(Other, vitamins)
Biotin/B7: 1805.2 pg/mL (221-3004)
Homocysteine, plasma: 7.5 umol/L (0-15)
Folate, serum: 10.3 ng/mL (>5.4)
Methylmalonic acid, serum: 147 nmol/L (73-376)
Vitamin B12: 462 pg/mL (211-911)
Copper, serum: 71 ug/dL (70-155)
Zinc, plasma or serum: 78 ug/dL (70-150)

(Other, liver enzymes)
BUN/Creatinine Ratio: 15 (8-27)
Sodium, serum: 140 mmol/L (135-145)
Potassium, serum: 4.7 mmol/L (3.5-5.2)
Chloride, serum: 102 mmol/L (97-108)
Carbon Dioxide, total: 21 mmol/L (20-32)
Calcium, serum: 9.9 mg/dL (8.5-10.6)
Protein, total, serum: 7.9 g/dL (6.0-8.5)
Albumin, serum: 5.2 g/dL (3.5-5.5)
Globulin, total: 2.7 g/dL (1.5-4.5)
A/G Ratio: 1.9 (1.1-2.5)
Alkaline Phosphatase, S: 76 IU/L (25-150)
AST (SGOT): 19 IU/L (0-40)
ALT (SGPT): 18 IU/L (0-55)

(Lipids)
Cholesterol, Total: 146 mg/dL (100-199)
Triglycerides: 52 mg/dL (0-149)
HDL Cholesterol: 61 mg/dL (>39)
VLDL Cholesterol Cal: 10 mg/dL (5-40)
LDL Cholesterol Calc: 75 mg/dL (0-99)
TSH: 1.589 uIU/mL (0.45-4.5)


The skin condition seems to go away on its own from time to time, and my other liver enzymes look fine so I'm not really sure what's going on. Could this be the beginning of a disease? or could it possibly be genetic (my dad has psoriasis and what appears to be similar looking red spots around his armpits)? I am hoping someone could at least suggest a possibly cause for the skin condition as well as the elevated bilirubin. I understand that I need to see a doctor to get further testing, but unfortunate financial circumstances don't really give me that option right now. I have no health insurance, and I am $1200 dollars in debt right now just for the blood work I did above. I am working a very low-wage job and just barely getting by, with no family or anyone to help me pay for further medical expenses. I would really appreciate it if anyone could suggest a possible cause for my skin condition and elevated bilirubin levels. I understand that any suggested causes isn't a real medical diagnosis, and I will treat it as such. But I would very much appreciate it if someone could offer their ideas as to the causes and possible diagnosis of these conditions.

I have included a picture of the skin condition. The picture was taken just before posting this message.
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