Could it be autoimmune?

[PennieLane]

So went through months of bad, chronic right upper quadrant pain and had every test imaginable ran for liver disease.  Negative Hep A,B,C out about a year past the only time i could have contracted it.  Liver enzymes started out normal, in the teens, and now the ALT continues to increase, was 25 then two months later in the 30s and now in the 50s.  It continues to go up every time it is checked.  My doctor tested an ANA which was negative and she seemed satisfied with that.  Could I have autoimmune hepatitis, I seemed to have ruled out viral hepatitis?  Also ruled out mono and CMV. The right upper quadrant pain is getting worse and so are my ALTs. I don't know what to do, should I go back to my gastroenterologist?

[PennieLane]

Hm you make a good point, i do have mucus in my stools, I had a CT done a few months ago though that was normal, wouldn't that have shown fatty liver?  I'm taking Milk Thistle now, but I will definitely look into the L-Caratine, I do eat a lot of fatty foods....

[zmombomb]

  The Fatty liver is a possibility.  I can't remember if NASH is the same as fatty liver or not.  Nash stands for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.  Steato stands for fatty I  believe.  Hepatitis just means SWOLLEN LIVER.  Which, it shouldn't be without a BAD reason.  Anyway, it means you have an excess amount of fat in your liver, which makes the liver bigger than it should be and causes the pain.  It can be caused from eating too many fatty foods or white carbs that turn into sugar, then fat in your liver.  It can also be caused from your liver not processing fats out properly.  There is a supplement you can take called L-Carnitine that will help process that out.  I buy high doses of it and take two pills per day.  When my liver got sooooo big, the doc finally gave me Lopid, which takes fat out of the blood and liver.  It helped TREMENDOUSLY!!!  I went a couple years with no liver pain.  If I switch my diet to a low fat, no white carb diet, and continue with the L-Carnitine and also take Milk thistle (helps regenerate healthy liver growth), then I do much better.  If I go totally RAW in my diet (only raw fruits and veggies and 12 nuts per day), I will have pain for a while, as it is getting used to spewing fats out of the liver, then no pain once it's back to normal.  

If you cut out the alcohol, tylenol and ibuprofen, cut all MAN MADE carbs out, and high fat foods like beef, that will help.  If you notice, you'll probably find big white globs of mucus looking stuff in your feces.  It is excess fats from your consumption.  

So, this is something you may be able to help.  If you work hard on it.  Good luck!  

[Jody515]

I don't know as I never suffered from pain un upper right quadrant.  My pain developed as upper arthritic.  How about fatty liver? That could come from drinking or not drinking.  I would make another appt with a dr, the only true way to tell if it is a liver problem is with a biopsy, but your dr needs to make a determination if you need it or not.