Very high liver enzymes

[Wheatwacked]

648, I have to ask; with so many autoimmune diseases, has anyone tested you for deficient vitamin D? 

If you look at almost every disease, not caused by injury or infections, they all, including just getting old, have one thing in common: low vitamin D and a common associated disease is osteoporosis and tooth decay.  Since the industrial revolution started us all working and playing indoors and fear of cancer we avoid sunlight and fat.

"Extremely low levels (less than 10 ng/ml) were often seen in patients with autoimmune disorders like Sjögren’s and lupus. Pharmacogenetics relate to inherited tendency to these extremely low vitamin D levels and to family histories of connective tissue and other autoimmune diseases. " https://sjogrens.org/blog/2020/vitamin-d-sjogrens-and-the-coronavirus#:~:text=Extremely low levels (less than,tissue and other autoimmune diseases.

Quote

 After supplementation with vitamin D3, the increment in plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D was positively associated with monounsaturated fatty acids, and negatively associated with polyunsaturated fatty acids.   https://www.nature.com/articles/nrendo.2011.150

 

[Wheatwacked]

On 4/6/2023 at 11:41 PM, Havnsumfn said:

We are always assumed by our doctors to be alcoholics, or sometimes, just overweight and eating too much fat, not enough exercise.

Anything to continue believing that wheat is an essential nutrient.  It is addictive and disease promoting and essential to the western economy, not western health.

Edited May 30, 2023 by Wheatwacked

[Guest 648]

On 5/29/2023 at 4:33 PM, trents said:

I suppose we could quibble over terminology but one way to understand DH is that it is an epidermal expression of celiac disease in addition to or in place of (in a small percentage of cases) the gut manifestation. So, what I am saying is that the dermatologist's understanding of celiac disease may be too narrow. In other words, a small percentage of people with celiac disease have no gut manifestation but they still have celiac disease. But the more important question in your case is, is the DH in response to gluten ingestion? Also, don't be surprised if the biopsy shows damage to your small bowel villi even though you seem to be asymptomatic.

I know what you mean about the dermatologist.  I don't know how to determine if my DH is due to gluten because I eat is everyday but do not have DH all the time.  I recall having 3 DH rashes.  The first 2 I brushed off as being SCLE.  The 3rd was on 03/07/23.  It lasted about 12-14 days.  I have not had a DH flare since(fingers crossed).  I won't be surprised if I have villous atrophy.  In fact I am expecting it.

[Guest 648]

8 hours ago, Wheatwacked said:

648, I have to ask; with so many autoimmune diseases, has anyone tested you for deficient vitamin D? 

If you look at almost every disease, not caused by injury or infections, they all, including just getting old, have one thing in common: low vitamin D and a common associated disease is osteoporosis and tooth decay.  Since the industrial revolution started us all working and playing indoors and fear of cancer we avoid sunlight and fat.

"Extremely low levels (less than 10 ng/ml) were often seen in patients with autoimmune disorders like Sjögren’s and lupus. Pharmacogenetics relate to inherited tendency to these extremely low vitamin D levels and to family histories of connective tissue and other autoimmune diseases. " https://sjogrens.org/blog/2020/vitamin-d-sjogrens-and-the-coronavirus#:~:text=Extremely low levels (less than,tissue and other autoimmune diseases.

 

Yes but way back in 2012.  I think I am going to start taking a supplement.  Since I get sun induce rashes I don't go outside much.  No matter how much of the most potent sunscreen I still get rashes.  Strange thing is I only get them between spring and fall.  I think that may be due to the sun being overhead during those months while the others the is at an angle to  me.  I had to stop doing yard work cuz of the rashes.  I even lined my hat with heavy duty tin foil but it didn't deter anything.  If you have a recommendation as to a Vit D supplement and dose I would be most appreciative.  You seem to be a human encyclopedia on vitamins/supplements.

12/10/2012
25-Hydroxy Vit D   

MY VALUE: 21 ng/mL

STANDARD RANGE: 25 to 100 ng/mL

 FLAG:  LOW

 

PS: The only concern my rheumatologist was looking for was a reason for my fatigue.

 

Thanks for the info and link!

[trents]

I'm wondering if hour sensitivity to sunlight and the rash it produces is due to the Lupis. Isn't that one of the classic symptoms of Lupis?

And I second Wheatwacked's suggestion about D3 supplementation. Insufficient D3 levels is likely the cause of many of our health issues. It's turning out to be the master vitamin in some ways. And the RMDA for D3 is woefully inadequate and like many RMDA's is a level only good enough to prevent obvious deficiency disease but it is not an optimum level. It also turns out that the scare over D3 toxicity from supplementation is largely unfounded.

Edited May 30, 2023 by trents

[Guest 648]

13 hours ago, trents said:

I'm wondering if hour sensitivity to sunlight and the rash it produces is due to the Lupis. Isn't that one of the classic symptoms of Lupis?

And I second Wheatwacked's suggestion about D3 supplementation. Insufficient D3 levels is likely the cause of many of our health issues. It's turning out to be the master vitamin in some ways. And the RMDA for D3 is woefully inadequate and like many RMDA's is a level only good enough to prevent obvious deficiency disease but it is not an optimum level. It also turns out that the scare over D3 toxicity from supplementation is largely unfounded.

Rashes are certainly a symptom of lupus.  Especially the malar(butterfly) rash.  But you may  not get a butterfly rash or you'll get other rashes(like discoid lupus).  I don't think I've ever had a rash from systemic lupus but mine are from Subacute Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus(aka SCLE).  In my DH biopsies cutaneous was listed in the differential diagnosis.  One in particular is "bullous lupus erythematosus" which looks very much like DH.

Thanks for the good info regarding D3.

[Maggie12]

Since around 2018 I have elevated liver enzymes but the doctor always just told be to exercise and lose weight. I had an ultra sound they showed non alcoholic fatty liver. In January I had bloodwork done and my liver enzymes remained elevated. I went gluten free in January because it showed I had a high gluten level. Three months later I had bloodwork repeated. My liver enzymes are normal. I thought it was because I lost 25 pounds, ate healthy, and exercised but now I’m wondering if I have celiac disease and cutting out gluten brought my levels to normal. My SGOT was 74 range 17-59 and is now 29. ALT was 75 standard range 0-35 and now is a 25. I do have an endoscopy scheduled in August.

 

[Wheatwacked]

16 hours ago, 648 said:

MY VALUE: 21 ng/mL

Ai yi yi!!  At this level you virtually have no immute system.

Here is what I am taking and it is working well.

250 mcg (10,000 IU). This what I need to maintain a blood plasma level of 80 ng/ml.  If I stop my blood level drops quickly (7 ng/ml in 3 weeks) It took from 2018 to 2021 to raise it from 47 to 80.  In 2015 I started slowly, believing in the almost purposeful misinformation. Each week, starting at 1000 IU, with no obvious change. Eventually I got to 10000 IU and on the fourth morning, my years of depression melted away. I literally looked at the bottle as I opened it and exclaimed, "This stuff is sunshine in a bottle!".  By the way my doctor who tests me 4 times a year for D and PTH says I should not stop. (PTH being a major stimulator of vitamin D synthesis in the kidney while vitamin D exerts negative feedback on PTH secretion.) The first symptom  when I let it drop is that I get annoyed at people calling on the phone.  Then motivation to do anything. When I first started D in 2015 I started carefully, believing that it causes calcification.  That myth is based on a manufactuing error in the 1950s' in the UK where 1000 times the maximum dose for infants was put in infant formula and started an epidemic of infants getting sick and dying.  Since then, I guess all research has been limited to more or less than 21 ng/ml (Rickets cutoff level) and any other studies are dismissed as insufficient evidence.

 

[trents]

26 minutes ago, Maggie12 said:

Since around 2018 I have elevated liver enzymes but the doctor always just told be to exercise and lose weight. I had an ultra sound they showed non alcoholic fatty liver. In January I had bloodwork done and my liver enzymes remained elevated. I went gluten free in January because it showed I had a high gluten level. Three months later I had bloodwork repeated. My liver enzymes are normal. I thought it was because I lost 25 pounds, ate healthy, and exercised but now I’m wondering if I have celiac disease and cutting out gluten brought my levels to normal. My SGOT was 74 range 17-59 and is now 29. ALT was 75 standard range 0-35 and now is a 25. I do have an endoscopy scheduled in August.

 

Maggie12, what do you mean when you say you had high gluten levels? That I know of there is no blood test to measure gluten levels. There are tests to measure antibodies produced by the inflammation in the small bowel lining that celiac disease produces in response to gluten ingestion, however. Can you be more specific about the tests that were actually run?

[Wheatwacked]

For energy:

• 500 mg B1
• 500 mg B3
• 500 mg B5
• 1000 mcg B12
• 1000 mg Taurine
• 840 mg phospatidly choline ( = 500 mg choline) This will have the biggest effect on liver enzymes.)  "

I lost 30 pound of belly fat with no exercise or dieting. It has me going the the energizer bunny.

Oddly enough, Red Bull has almost the same mix. With diabetes one would expect the sugar in red bull to raise my glucose, but three hours later my glusose is lower!?. Starting one day at 181 mg/dl glucose I drank 30 ounces of it (50 g of sugar. An hour later blood sugar was 232 and two hours later blood sugar was down to 109.  It just doen't fit the explanation we are given and I've gotten the same results several times. I think I don't have an insulin resistance-sugar problem but rather a non sugar carb problem.

So I start my day with 2 double espresso, 3 2.5 mg sheets of organic nori (42 mcg iodine per sheet and 8 - 16 ounces of RB.

People with DH have exacerbation of the rash with iodine. I am wondering if it might not be the iodine doing its job and attacking the antibodies in the skin while the vitamin D level is so low it can't control the immune response.

Quote

Choline is an essential component of all cell membranes, and has been considered a required dietary nutrient since 1998 by the US Institute of Medicine's Food and Nutrition Board. Choline is necessary for DNA repair, mediated by its role as a methyl donor. It also serves as the precursor for the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Evidence has accumulated that hepatic steatosis, which occurs during parenteral nutrition therapy, develops as a result of choline deficiency because endogenous production of choline from parenterally infused methionine is deficient. In addition, memory deficits and skeletal muscle abnormalities have been described, and choline deficiency appears to activate cellular apoptosis. Provision of intravenous choline ameliorates hepatic steatosis associated with parenteral nutrition infusion.  The addition of choline to parenteral nutrition

 

[Maggie12]

1 hour ago, trents said:

Maggie12, what do you mean when you say you had high gluten levels? That I know of there is no blood test to measure gluten levels. There are tests to measure antibodies produced by the inflammation in the small bowel lining that celiac disease produces in response to gluten ingestion, however. Can you be more specific about the tests that were actually run?

I’m not sure what this test is called or what it is used for but it was an Allergen Gluten IGG test. My value was 15.0 mcg/mL and the standard range is <2.0 mcg/mL so I had a high flag. Can you help explain this?

[trents]

The IGG is a secondary test for celiac disease. It is less specific than the tTG-IGA or the EMA. Less specific meaning there is more of a chance that it is not indicating celiac disease but some other disorder. Don't take this as definitive truth but my impression is that a positive IGG with negative tTG-IGA and/or negative EMA may point to NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity). Is that addressing your question?

45 minutes ago, Maggie12 said:

I’m not sure what this test is called or what it is used for but it was an Allergen Gluten IGG test. My value was 15.0 mcg/mL and the standard range is <2.0 mcg/mL so I had a high flag. Can you help explain this?

 

[Maggie12]

32 minutes ago, trents said:

The IGG is a secondary test for celiac disease. It is less specific than the tTG-IGA or the EMA. Less specific meaning there is more of a chance that it is not indicating celiac disease but some other disorder. Don't take this as definitive truth but my impression is that a positive IGG with negative tTG-IGA and/or negative EMA may point to NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity). Is that addressing your question?

 

Yes, thank you. That definitely helped.

[Guest 648]

On 5/31/2023 at 11:11 AM, Maggie12 said:

Since around 2018 I have elevated liver enzymes but the doctor always just told be to exercise and lose weight. I had an ultra sound they showed non alcoholic fatty liver. In January I had bloodwork done and my liver enzymes remained elevated. I went gluten free in January because it showed I had a high gluten level. Three months later I had bloodwork repeated. My liver enzymes are normal. I thought it was because I lost 25 pounds, ate healthy, and exercised but now I’m wondering if I have celiac disease and cutting out gluten brought my levels to normal. My SGOT was 74 range 17-59 and is now 29. ALT was 75 standard range 0-35 and now is a 25. I do have an endoscopy scheduled in August.

 

Wow, surely a big difference!  Good for you.   Good luck with the endoscopy.  Mine in July.

[Guest 648]

On 5/31/2023 at 11:41 AM, Wheatwacked said:

Ai yi yi!!  At this level you virtually have no immute system.

Here is what I am taking and it is working well.

250 mcg (10,000 IU). This what I need to maintain a blood plasma level of 80 ng/ml.  If I stop my blood level drops quickly (7 ng/ml in 3 weeks) It took from 2018 to 2021 to raise it from 47 to 80.  In 2015 I started slowly, believing in the almost purposeful misinformation. Each week, starting at 1000 IU, with no obvious change. Eventually I got to 10000 IU and on the fourth morning, my years of depression melted away. I literally looked at the bottle as I opened it and exclaimed, "This stuff is sunshine in a bottle!".  By the way my doctor who tests me 4 times a year for D and PTH says I should not stop. (PTH being a major stimulator of vitamin D synthesis in the kidney while vitamin D exerts negative feedback on PTH secretion.) The first symptom  when I let it drop is that I get annoyed at people calling on the phone.  Then motivation to do anything. When I first started D in 2015 I started carefully, believing that it causes calcification.  That myth is based on a manufactuing error in the 1950s' in the UK where 1000 times the maximum dose for infants was put in infant formula and started an epidemic of infants getting sick and dying.  Since then, I guess all research has been limited to more or less than 21 ng/ml (Rickets cutoff level) and any other studies are dismissed as insufficient evidence.

 

Thanks for the info WW.  I am going to have a discussion with my rheumatologist at my next appointment regarding this.

[Wheatwacked]

Isn't it odd that doctors have such a say about vitamins, yet recieve vitually no education on the subject?  

Sorry to be so evangelistic on the subject, but after GFD vitamin D gave me hope back. 

   Ever wonder why there is so much tooth decay in the rest of the world?  "...legislation was instituted in Great Britain forbidding the fortification of any food or any product with vitamin D. This concern for vitamin D toxicity in children led to most of the world (including countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and South America) banning vitamin D fortification of milk"  see reference below:  Risk of Toxicity in Pediatrics

Quote

 

     Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Vitamin D Is Not as Toxic as Was Once Thought  

     Ekwaru et al recently reported on more than 17,000 healthy adult volunteers participating in a preventative health program and taking varying doses of vitamin D up to 20,000 IU/d. These patients did not demonstrate any toxicity, and the blood level of 25(OH)D in those taking even 20,000 IU/d was less than 100 ng/mL

    Physicians are now routinely treating patients with 50,000 IU of vitamin D2 as recommended by the Endocrine Society’s practice guidelines.

     Despite this concern, there is no credible scientific literature suggesting that such vitamin D intake increases the risk for kidney stones. Similarly, data are weak regarding the association between vitamin D intake and cardiovascular calcifications. To the contrary, current evidence suggests that improvement in vitamin D status reduces the risk for hypertension, stroke, and myocardial infarction.

     In Great Britain in the early 1950s, several cases of infants with facial abnormalities, supravalvular aortic stenosis, mental retardation, and hypercalcemia were reported...Although the Royal Academy of Physicians admitted that it did not have any direct evidence for this conclusion, it based its conclusion on the literature...The British Pediatric Association documented hypercalcemia but only in a relatively few infants who had approximate intakes of 1500 to 1725 IU/d of vitamin D. As a result, legislation was instituted in Great Britain forbidding the fortification of any food or any product with vitamin D. This concern for vitamin D toxicity in children led to most of the world (including countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and South America) banning vitamin D fortification of milk. Only the United States, Canada, and a few European countries continued to permit milk to be fortified with vitamin D. However, in retrospect, it is likely that these infants were suffering either from the rare genetic disorder William syndrome.

 

Quote

   Vitamin D Supplementation and Risk of Toxicity in Pediatrics: A Review of Current Literature   Reports on vitamin D intoxication in infants and young children typically describe cases that received extremely large doses, in the range of 240 000 to 500 000 IU, or approximately 40 000 to 560 000 IU/kg. This intake resulted in serum 25OHD levels in the range of 250–670 ng/mL...   Pediatric reports include an outbreak of hypercalciuria in the United Kingdom during the 1950s attributed to overfortification of infant formula....Recent cases of intoxication relate to errors in manufacturing, formulation, or prescription; involve high total intake in the range of 240 000 to 4 500 000 IU;...Over the last decade, a number of infants with suspected rickets who were prescribed high vitamin D doses without prior measurement of 25OHD concentrations presented with severe life-threatening hypercalcemia.

 

[RMJ]

On 5/31/2023 at 10:04 AM, Maggie12 said:

I’m not sure what this test is called or what it is used for but it was an Allergen Gluten IGG test. My value was 15.0 mcg/mL and the standard range is <2.0 mcg/mL so I had a high flag. Can you help explain this?

This is not one of the standard tests for celiac disease.  This tests looks for antibodies against gluten.  The celiac tests look for antibodies against either deamidated gliadin peptides or tissue transglutaminase. 

Here is some information about your test: 

IgG gluten test

[Guest 648]

On 5/31/2023 at 11:41 AM, Wheatwacked said:

Ai yi yi!!  At this level you virtually have no immute system.

Here is what I am taking and it is working well.

250 mcg (10,000 IU). This what I need to maintain a blood plasma level of 80 ng/ml.  If I stop my blood level drops quickly (7 ng/ml in 3 weeks) It took from 2018 to 2021 to raise it from 47 to 80.  In 2015 I started slowly, believing in the almost purposeful misinformation. Each week, starting at 1000 IU, with no obvious change. Eventually I got to 10000 IU and on the fourth morning, my years of depression melted away. I literally looked at the bottle as I opened it and exclaimed, "This stuff is sunshine in a bottle!".  By the way my doctor who tests me 4 times a year for D and PTH says I should not stop. (PTH being a major stimulator of vitamin D synthesis in the kidney while vitamin D exerts negative feedback on PTH secretion.) The first symptom  when I let it drop is that I get annoyed at people calling on the phone.  Then motivation to do anything. When I first started D in 2015 I started carefully, believing that it causes calcification.  That myth is based on a manufactuing error in the 1950s' in the UK where 1000 times the maximum dose for infants was put in infant formula and started an epidemic of infants getting sick and dying.  Since then, I guess all research has been limited to more or less than 21 ng/ml (Rickets cutoff level) and any other studies are dismissed as insufficient evidence.

Is it best to use a D-3 that also has vitamin K?

 

[Wheatwacked]

11 hours ago, 648 said:

D-3 that also has vitamin K

10 grams of fresh parsley fulfills the RDA of vitamin K. Leafy greens, cheese and eggs have K.

I prefer to take each separately, though it is a pain.  This way I can adjust one without affecting the others depending on what I get from diet.

I also think you pay more for the combos. It is the "added value" concept of marketing so they can charge more than each individual ingredient.

[Guest 648]

13 hours ago, Wheatwacked said:

10 grams of fresh parsley fulfills the RDA of vitamin K. Leafy greens, cheese and eggs have K.

I prefer to take each separately, though it is a pain.  This way I can adjust one without affecting the others depending on what I get from diet.

I also think you pay more for the combos. It is the "added value" concept of marketing so they can charge more than each individual ingredient.

Thanks for that info WW.  Taking each separately seems like the best way for the reason you cited.

[knitty kitty]

Hi, all!  Thought you would be interested in this article about the connection between NAFLD and high fructose corn syrup.  

I gave up high fructose corn syrup in gluten free facsimile products and soda pop and my NAFLD cleared up.  Amazed my doctors, though they had no explanation for it.  😸  

How high fructose intake may trigger fatty liver disease

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/how-high-fructose-intake-may-trigger-fatty-liver-disease

 

[Wheatwacked]

The way I heard the story of High fructose corn syrup and this is hearsay.

There was a man working for the Sugar industry as a congressional lobbyist in 1970s to raise the import taxes on sugar to protect the US sugar industry. Once that was in place he bought the rights from a Japanese company to produce HFCS at a much lower price than sugar.