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Elevated Liver Enzymes

tabdegner

By tabdegner
in Related Issues & Disorders

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tabdegner Apprentice
tabdegner
Posted

I'm concerned about DH having celiac.

For years and years he has had very very elevated tranaminaise enzymes in his liver. He's had every test done in the book on his liver and no one can find anything wrong with him. The only thing one doctor found was that the enzymes were related to a very high level of "autoimmune antibodies" or something like that he had in his blood. Basically he said he had a very high risk of getting some form of autoimmune disease sometime in his life. (Not surprising, his family is an autoimmune disease factory.)

Fast forward to this week -- his doctor is trying to find out why he has such severe RLS and finds he has a huge ferritin (iron stores) deficiancy. (Which I know can be due to celiac). So now he's on HUGE doses of iron pills.

So I'm reading up on stuff and found quite a few studies online that linked unexplained elevated liver enzymes to silent adult celiac. I had never heard of this before. But it would explain a lot with his iron levels, "brain fog", liver enzymes, and a gallbladder that is only functioning at 25% (no gallstones).

Has anyone else had these elevated enzymes? DH has a strong history of autoimmune diseases in his family, but no celiac. Would a doctor call him crazy for asking for the blood tests based on our "own" research online?

Thanks for your input.

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trents Grand Master
trents
Posted

I'm one of those who had mildly elevated liver enzymes for years and my family doc could not offer an explanation. He did all the hepatitis tests and other tests and they were all negative. I finally went to a gastroenterologist because of the liver enzymes and he tested me right away for celiac disease and, of course, it was positive. Since going gluten-free, my liver enzymes have returned to normal but my albumin and total protein have continued to be moderately depressed. I'm guessing there was some liver damage done by all those years of low grade inflamation. Keep in mind, I had very minimal GI distress so I would never have gotten the celiac disease dx if it were only for that. I was one of those "silent" adult onset celiacs. It was the elevated liver enzyme problem that brought the Celiac dx. Here is a startling fact: at least 18% of Celiacs have elevated liver enzymes; some estimates place it at much higher. Please see the following link:

https://www.celiac.com/st_prod.html?p_prodid=1323

ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted
I'm concerned about DH having celiac.

For years and years he has had very very elevated tranaminaise enzymes in his liver. He's had every test done in the book on his liver and no one can find anything wrong with him. The only thing one doctor found was that the enzymes were related to a very high level of "autoimmune antibodies" or something like that he had in his blood. Basically he said he had a very high risk of getting some form of autoimmune disease sometime in his life. (Not surprising, his family is an autoimmune disease factory.)

Fast forward to this week -- his doctor is trying to find out why he has such severe RLS and finds he has a huge ferritin (iron stores) deficiancy. (Which I know can be due to celiac). So now he's on HUGE doses of iron pills.

So I'm reading up on stuff and found quite a few studies online that linked unexplained elevated liver enzymes to silent adult celiac. I had never heard of this before. But it would explain a lot with his iron levels, "brain fog", liver enzymes, and a gallbladder that is only functioning at 25% (no gallstones).

Has anyone else had these elevated enzymes? DH has a strong history of autoimmune diseases in his family, but no celiac. Would a doctor call him crazy for asking for the blood tests based on our "own" research online?

Thanks for your input.

Boy he sure does not sound like a silent celiac, he may not have constant D but he is not symptomsless. Who cares if his doctor thinks he is crazy he should not ask for the test he should demand it. There is no reason for his doctor not to at least blood test. If he should refuse or you want to go another route you can use Enterolab for stool and gene testing. Many have found them to be very helpful. You could also try eliminating gluten from the diet, you have to be strict about it, and after a couple months he could do a gluten challenge and see if his symptoms return or become worse. Another valid way of diagnosis. Oh and like many others I had my liver numbers return to normal after diagnosis and also had a few autoimmune disorders go into complete remission.

tabdegner Apprentice
tabdegner
Posted
  • Author

Thanks for the replies. You're right, he's definitely not a "silent" celiac or whatever he has. I think he definitely needs to be tested. He's had so many problems the last year. Now he's on antidepressents (which he wants to get off of) due to the "brain fog" and being tired (and tons of stress at his old job), and a pretty high dose of Requip (for RLS), which is not working well. It would be nice if he could get off of all the meds and just be gluten free. We're waiting to hear (hopefully today) if he gets this new job he interviewed for, which would lead to better insurance. But if not, he still needs to be tested. I think he's going to make an appointment w/his primary doctor today. The sleep doctor just said take the iron pills for 1-2 months and then get it retested. But, come on, even if the pills bring his levels up, there's got to be some other issue going on to have iron stores be THAT low.

TestyTommy Rookie
TestyTommy
Posted

Boy, does this thread bring back bad memories. I was sick for years and went from doctor to doctor who told me that there was nothing wrong with me. The only lab test that wasn't normal was elevated liver enzymes. Two doctors refused to test me for celiac because I didn't have D. They all wanted to put me on anti-depressants (which i did for a while, and it made me feel incredibly bad).

Don't wait for a blood test. Get DH off of gluten and see what happens. A gluten-free diet has no side-effects and actually makes most of us eat much healthier than we used to. Also, the celiac bloodtest gives LOTS of false negatives. The only real test for celiac is whether you get better when you go gluten free. Most people start feeling better in a few weeks, though it may take years to heal.

If he's got celiac disease, evey day he eats gluten is another day of life he loses.

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