Could ib be cirrhosis????

[lindscourt]

I have had 3 lfts first one all good second elevated bilirubin 1.8 second one done a week later 1.3 with direct being .2. My alt and ast are even under normal range. I have right quadrant pain nausea fatigue and 3 missed periods. 2 ultrasounds show normal liver and spleen. Platelets 259. I have read people having cirrhosis with normal bloods and scans. I'm worried. Drinking 3 years maybe 2 to 3 bottles of vodka a week 33 year old woman.

[lindscourt]

Hi fntn thanks for the response. I had a hidascan which came back good for my gallbladder bile ducts. I have read stories of woman getting alcoholic cirrhosis in a short period of time. I have also read cirrhosis was missed on ultrasounds.

[fntn]

It usually takes decades of alcohol abuse to cause cirrhosis. Certainly heavy drinking can cause alcoholic liver disease (ALD), but this does not cause advanced, end-stage fibrosis early on. So it's very unlikely that you have caused significant, long-term damage to your liver. Especially given your repeatedly normal ultrasound results wrt your liver and spleen - plus having normal platelet levels adds further confidence to these results.

Also, your liver's health can be assessed by it's synthesis and excretory functions. These can be measured by several blood tests: Albumin, Globulin, Bilirubin and INR (PT, PTT). The liver's synthesis functions produce many proteins that include albumin, globulin and coagulation related, etc. The A/G ratio also provides a sensitive marker of your liver's health status. The excretion of bile from your liver does show a small problem, but your numbers aren't alarming, although they do need to be resolved.

So your doctor will know when you've reached an advanced liver disease state. So I'd say that you may have roughed your liver up a bit with your past history, but I think you won't need to worry about any long-term damage, unless the aggressive alcohol consumption continues.

I know you've recently had RUQ pain as well. And you're probably already aware that the liver itself doesn't feel pain. But the bile ducts can become infected or obstructed, which can cause pain and high bilirubin levels, but it's the direct bilirubin that usually elevates in these cases. There are several other biliary based conditions that affect the indirect portion of your bilirubin. Your doctor will be able to rule all of these out quickly via some simple blood testing. Some of these diseases are Gilbert's syndrome and Hemolytic jaundice, there are others.

Hope they get you diagnosed quickly, take care.