Yesterday I was rushed to hospital with severe upper abdominal pain, that seemed to be linked to my having just taken a Tylenol #3. I have had sporadic abdominal pain before, but never this intense. Long story short, they did a bunch of blood tests and discovered that my liver enzymes were hugely elevated; the ultrasound showed ascites around the liver. I don't have a gallbladder, but they checked for stones in the common bile duct -- nada. My diagnosis at this point is "hepatitis", and I'm waiting for the results of blood tests to discover what kind, etc.
Meanwhile, though, I've been thinking. I've been taking Dilantin (phenytoin) for complex partial seizures for about 7.5 years now. About 15 months ago, in the course of another abdominal surgery, a liver biopsy was performed, and showed that I had "moderate to severe fatty liver". However, as I was very overweight at that time, it was attributed to my weight. I have since lost all my excess weight.
In the past few months, I've had several episodes, sometimes lasting several days, in which anything I ate would cause severe cramping, griping pain under my sternum. It would last a couple of hours, then subside gradually. I'm now wondering a) whether my liver problem could be linked to the Dilantin I take, and b) whether this is all part of the same clinical picture -- i.e., gastric distress caused by liver damage. Any ideas?