Sir

[arnie990]

I've been taking 80 mg simvastatin daily for the last 8 years, will tis be tha cause of an elevated GGT reading of over 350?

[rpooo]

I'll look forward to hearing your progress. Happy holidays to you too Arnie! Take care my friend!

Randy

[arnie990]

Your help was very enlightning ! Being someone who has some nutraceutical formulation experience helped to design a plan. I 'll certainly keep you posted. Happy Hollydays!

[rpooo]

I don't think my help was necessary at all, you got it perfect. In thirty days you should expect to see a significant change and once again be on the right track. Keep a very close eye on your cholesterhol level.

Diet and exercise can be very benificial in many ways for you although I suggest you consult your physcian before begining any cardio vascular exercise and also discuss the side effects of discontinuing any and all medications. Certain medications can become harmful if not discontinued properly.

I think you have a good plan though, I hope you will keep me "posted" ha ha about how you are doing and the progress you are making.

Randy

[arnie990]

We can discard alcohol abuse or otherwise;sames goes for hepatitis test for B & C came negative
No heart failure yet; eco on liver shows no blocked great liver vessels, so cholestasis is ruled out since choleducum isn't blocked either.

Standing culprits: Simvasatin and Zolof for drugs
                          Liver necrosis and/or liver tumor to be ruled out only with scan

In the meantime simvastatin is no longer used as well as Zolof.
Will try to keep cholesterol down with diet and exercise. Will run new tests in 30 ds.Do you agree?

[rpooo]

GGT stands for Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase. I have concern because of how high your results are. The range for GGT testing should be 0-51. I imagine you have some other enzymes that are high also.

The GGT measures the amount of liver cells that found in the blood stream that have died off. The liver can regenerate and replace the cells but it seems that yours are dying off at an alarming rate that may lead to cirrhosis if the cause is not stopped. Yours are dying off much quicker than the liver can replace them which will lead to scaring of the liver. (cirrhosis)

It is critical that your doctor discovers the cause and the medication is adjusted if it is the simvastatin. Here are some other things that may cause the liver to be irritated and the GGT to be elevated.

Greater-than-normal levels of GGT may indicate:
•Alcohol abuse
•Flow from the liver is blocked (cholestasis)
•Heart failure
•Hepatitis
•Liver ischemia (lack of blood flow)
•Liver necrosis
•Liver tumor
•Scarring of the liver (cirrhosis)
•Use of drugs that are toxic to the liver

Once the cause is discovered and stopped your liver can regenerate and you will be just fine but it must be discovered immediately. I can not emphasize this to you enough. So if your doctor isn't moving his butt on this then see another. We got to get you fixed up! Take care.

Randy

[arnie990]

TKS a lot, very helpful. Just another question: What does GGT shows, the extend of the liver abuse, past or prsent? or another pathy?

[rpooo]

This is a very strong dose of simvastatin. I think you need to consult your doctor about other medications you are taking. Your GGT level is quite high and there should be further testing. He is some information I came accross that could maybe help you out.

Please keep in mind MedHelp does not support the information being provided by the site from which this information was obtained.

Restricted Use of 80 mg Simvastatin:  Effective in June 2011 the FDA recommends limiting the dose of simvastatin to a maximum dose of 40 mg, with the exception of patients already taking simvastatin 80 mg daily for a period of greater than 12 months who have not developed any myalgia side effects.  The FDA make this restriction because at the highest dose of simvastatin 80 mg daily the incidence of serious myopathy was higher than using other available statins.  Patients stable on simvastatin 80 mg for longer than a year without myopathy as a side effect may be kept on this dose.  New patients should not be started or increased to simvastatin 80 mg, rather an alternative statin should be used when additional lipid lowering is needed that is not achieved with simvastatin 4omg.