Elevated Liver Enzymes

[hansrothcrew]

My 15 yr old daughter is type 1.  Went to dr because she bloats painfully after eating - have literally watched her abdomen grow 3 inches within an hour.  Negative on gastric emptying test.  Negative on celiac.  Liver enzymes have been high on 2 rounds of testing.  she isn't overweight anywhere but her abdomen which is distended, but dr thinks she has fatty liver?  Help!  Do I need another dr?

[JDRF Volunteer SG]

I am not a doctor, but am a long-time type 1 diabetic. The new format of this website seems to imply that we volunteers who answer questions are doctors, so I want to make sure you understand that on this Juvenile Diabetes forum, NONE of the volunteers are medical professionals.

Has your daughter been tested for food allergies? Wheat allergies and dairy allergies are both pretty common (wheat allergy is different from celiac -- one is an inability to break down wheat products eaten, while the other is an autoimmune response when allergic foods are eaten). I have a brother-in-law who not only has wheat allergies, but also anything with yeast will cause an allergic reaction. Are dairy or wheat products a big part of her diet? You may want to talk to an allergist, and meanwhile, could try removing one suspect ingredient from her diet and watching for a while, then perhaps another, etc. to see if a cause and effect improvement happens.

But the issue of fatty liver, which happens when the body responds to damage in the liver by creating fat deposits on the liver, IS sometimes caused by the same faulty autoimmune system that caused our diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is listed as one of the possible causes of liver damage. But other causes can be medications such as Tylenol. There is some info on the Mayo Clinic website at;
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/elevated-liver-enzymes/HQ01011

A fatty liver problem should not cause her bloating after meals. I really would push to find out why that is happening, and would recommend that you talk to an allergy specialist to rule out that possibility.

[torrem]

I have been diabetic since I was 10yrs. old.  At 12 yrs. I developed what was called then Chronic persistent hepatatis--my liver was distended and was jaundiced, but I was not contagious.  Then at 17 , my liver became distended again.  At that time, I had a biopsy and was determined to have a fatty liver.  Even though the first incident and the second were different, in both cases my liver was not functioning well.  A fatty liver happens when sugars are stored as fat in the liver, hence the name.  I would recommend for you to go to a gastroenterologist...they are the experts.

Take care.

[Kash290]

Why the early am high bg?? I read 200 as soon as I get up.  IS the liver making too much glucose at night?
Kash