Elevated liver enzymes after sleeve?

[K-Lynn 8]

Hello, before I had my gastric sleeve my liver enzymes and ultrasound were normal. I do not have a gallbladder and had that removed many years ago. I do not drink alcohol. I do not eat a ton of fat. However, it's been 4 months post op and my liver enzymes are elevated. I am very scared. I do take tylenol. since my surgery December 4th I have lost 52 pounds. My Protein is around 80 per day and my carbohydrate levels are around 10 per day. I have read that little carbohydrates can cause liver enzymes to go up as well as very low calorie diets. Just wondering if anyone else has had this issue that also does not have a gall bladder. Thank you in advance

[PMJ 55]

Can not offer any helpful information but would very much appreciate if you would keep us posted. Stay strong. - pmj

[K-Lynn 8]

Thank you, I am trying but it's hard. I had a complete ultrasound of my liver in October or November and it was fine. All liver blood work was fine that was done in August and July. I'm wondering if this could possibly have something to do with a very low calorie diet and if anyone has seen something like this before? I'm wondering if this is sometimes common?

[heftyhoosier 30]

I'd go see a liver doc. Non alcoholic cirrhosis is the number one cause of liver transplants. Not trying to scare you, it could be nothing, just don't ignore this. See a specialist or at least ask your PCP what they think.

[K-Lynn 8]

Thank you. Appt Sat!! :-) Are you a nurse, tell me what you know? :-) how do they know if you're in liver failure can they do a simple test? Could this be nothing? Could it just be the stress of the surgery and low cal eating?

Ultrasound normal. Bloodwork in Aug normal

[heftyhoosier 30]

No, my dad died of non alcoholic cirrhosis which turned into liver cancer and I have fatty tissue liver disease. The sleeve will actually greatly reduce any liver issues so even if there is a problem (which there could be no problem at all and your counts are just off) the surgery will help. My liver doc says I should be good as new in two years. So, not a medical professional, just saw my dad go through it for six years and have had my own personal struggles. Glad you are seeing the doc - I'm sure it's nothing. And, if it is, you just took a great step to making it better by getting the surgery.

[Harleyguy 8]

I have the same problem I have to make appointment to see the GI doc I'm only 1 month post op

[K-Lynn 8]

Heftyhoosier, really sorry about your dad. That really stinks. So sad. Wonder how someone who doesn't drink gets cirrhosis of the liver, sad? I guess if it is something, they caught it very early considering everything was normal a few months ago. I will keep you guys informed and I am on Facebook, Emrald Eyes (Paris). Do you have elevated enzymes? Congratulations on taking your new journey! Ill KIT

[K-Lynn 8]

Hi Harleyguy, does your Doc have any idea why your enzymes would be elevated? Was everything normal before surgery? How much weight have you lost? If you do still have your gallbladder that could be a contributing factor especially if you're losing a lot of weight in a short amount of time? I've read that very quick weight loss can raise liver enzymes.

Honestly I feel in my heart that our bodies have gone through so much and could possibly just be taking time to get "adjusted."

That is what I feel in my heart to be true. I hope I am right.

[Harleyguy 8]

I feel the same way you feel our bodies are trying to adjust. I've lost 38 pounds so far in 5 weeks I still have everything intact liver number were normal before

[Jovie62 135]

Don't be scared. Mine has been elevated before also and then normal. Depending on how elevated or not, it might not even be mentioned by your doctor. Before losing sleep over worry, ask your doctor. Have they gone over the results w you? Unless any of us on these posts know your entire medical history or exactly what level your at and why and are qualified to diagnose, I wouldn't come to any conclusions until talking to your doc. Just call them right away and have some one go over your results with you.

[K-Lynn 8]

Thank you Jovie62.

How I found out was I have slight elevated blood levels for Hashimotos so I went to my endocrinologist to run some blood work. They called me two weeks later, (last Friday afternoon) and told me I needed to go to my primary to discuss my liver enzymes being high and that's all they would say. I cannot get into my doctor for another 2 weeks so I started to look it up on the internet and got stressed because it basically says liver failure blah blah blah, stressed me out.

You are right. It could be anything. I've been taking more tylenol recently and it could also have something to do with that so I laid back on the Tylenol. I know my mother had high liver enzymes and then got them normal and that was because she used to take too much Advil. So maybe Advil and Tylenol are filtered through the liver. I actually took the Tylenol because I thought it was not filtered through the liver.

I definitely will keep in touch and let everyone know what they say. Thank you again. For some reason I feel a lot more calm today about the situation (the internet basically pretty much lets you know you're dying.) Lol

[K-Lynn 8]

Update, :-)

My primary care physician asst. just called to let me know my resubmitted liver enzymes were normal. What I have done is make sure that each meal consist of 6 to 8 total ounces. And instead of eating just chicken I have a little bit of chicken, a little bit of broccoli, little bit of fruit. So it's more of a well balanced meal. The other thing that I did was completely eliminate Tylenol which I think probably led to the elevated liver enzymes initially.

Thanks again Everybody!!!!

[heftyhoosier 30]

Glad to hear it!

[LisaPunkinHead 187]

@@K-Lynn, I have had elevate liver enzymes as well. It depends on whether it is AST or ALT and how far they are elevated. They would have to be insanely elevated to consider a diagnosis of cirrhosis (alcoholic or non-alcoholic). When mine were elevated, my doc just said watch what you eat, get plenty of fluids, and check again in six weeks. Six weeks later it was normal. So don't let just one test tell the whole story.