I realize you all are busy, but I would be immensely grateful if you would give a few thoughts regarding some matters of great concern to me.
I have autoimmune hepatitis - 22 YO male. Never drank alcohol, taken drugs, or done anything that would have exposed me to hepatitis C (blood tests confirmed).
Per my biopsy of about 18 months ago, I am in stage 2 bridging fibrosis - although my LFTs have been elevated since then.
About 3 months ago, I started getting a terrible pain in my upper right side. It came on strongest after eating (the more I ate the worse the pain), and would always dissipate as my stomach cleared out. A ultrasound and upper endoscopy came back totally normal (no stones in gallbladder or ducts and no ulcers). The pain went away suddenly about a month ago and only comes back slightly on occasion.
I have recently developed hundreds of tiny pinprick or bigger red dots on my chest and back - cherry angiomas. I've heard these are a side-affect of the imuran and told me doctor, who was unconcerned. However, these are new after 14 months of being on imuran (my CBC values are normal - probably ruling out thrombocytopenia).
Belching has been a chronic issue - hundreds per day. It seems to be triggered by movement, and I've tried eliminating everything supposed to cause aerophagia. I am unsure if this is the beginning of esophageal varices.
When I stand up, I almost always black out and have fainted several times (orthostatic hypotension), despite my RBCs and platelets being almost normal.
This may be unrelated, but I get sharp bursts of pain all over - never last more than a few seconds. The pain is usually enough to lay me on the ground.
Has anyone had similar symptoms?
Am I a candidate for liver transplant?
Does a body who rejects it's own liver have a chance of successful transplant?
I feel I'm getting brushed off by my doctor until I start showing classic symptoms of liver failure (not sure I can blame him).