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Posted 1/29/2011 7:33 AM (GMT 0)
Watch and wait make me weary sometimes. I'm so up and down. Decided to exercise lightly a couple of times this week, and after the latest stint, I ended up feeling like I had sleeping sickness the next day. I was so tired and fuzzy brained it was awful. Then I slept close to 18 hours after that. Been plagued by this sore throat feeling all week and today I woke up with muscle aches and general malaise. Even though I'm trying to protect my liver from anything bad, I was desperate and took one tylenol. [Graphic alert] my stools are acting up again too, but I wonder if it is the enzymes I take when I cannot seem to digest food and get bloated and experience pain? I go back for more blood tests in a couple of weeks. My "liver pain" is still lurking but very tolerable. I miss my more energetic self. Sorry to vent but thanks for letting me :) hana
Posted 1/29/2011 8:14 PM (GMT 0)

It sounds like you may be catching a "bug."  My sure-fire cure for that is 2 Alka Selzer Plus tablets and 1000 mg of vitamin C, repeated every 4 hours (but reducing the vitamin C to 500 mg after the first day.)  If you are able to take AS+, try this.

Everyone with liver disease usually has the fatigue and sleeps a lot.  I know I do.

Hang in there!

Hugs,

Connie

Posted 1/30/2011 4:35 AM (GMT 0)
Hana,

For light exercise that isn't too taxing...just go for a walk.  I, too, think it sounds like a bug.  It's a lot of mind over matter too.  If you constantly worry that something terribly wrong is up, you can induce the symptoms you're most worried about.  And we all know fatigue goes along with stress.

One tylenol or one advil once in a while should be fine.  They say it's worse to deal with pain than take one pain reliever...the dealing is more stressful which wreaks havoc on your body.  What kind of enzymes are you taking?  Probiotics might help more than an enzyme.  Those little bacteria know their stuff!

There are a lot of AIH folks that complain of "liver pain".  I have it and absolutely nothing has come of it and I have an abdominal US annually and I have had my gallbladder flow checked with a HIDA scan.  Sometimes I think it's just gas pressing up in that direction.

Posted 1/30/2011 4:57 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks Dany and Connie. I'm pretty sure this isn't a bug because this is very different than when I usually get a cold or flu, and the feeling is the set of symptoms that have been bothering me on and off since my first bout of acute hep. I don't feel especially stressed or worried, as long as I'm not in major pain or discomfort. However, I do want to be able to function normally. I am only walking - and just a little bit at that a couple of time per week - and I used to be dedicated to regular exercise and even light competition in my sport so I am so far from where I used to be. It's been a gradual decline until the past year when I really notice I'm struggling to maintain normalcy. Maybe it is all in my head; that is certainly what a couple of docs seem to imply. Why would anyone will this stuff on themselves and want to be a shadow of the existence they enjoyed? I have been through a lot medically since a young age and have learned to roll with many things but this change feels different and a there are at least a couple of docs who seem concerned too. I use probiotics but the enzymes - given to me by a doc - are the only thing that helps when I have extreme episodes of fullness, bloating, nausea and pain. Not sure what to believe. I am taking one tylenol if I need it in order to function. Whatever I have is surely mild compared to most but it is interfering with me leading a normal life no matter how hard I try to push through it. hana
Posted 1/30/2011 5:04 AM (GMT 0)
one more thing, to be honest, I am not sure my pain makes sense to be liver pain. it can be so specific and feels like it is in an area where something is trying move through, and sometimes movement of what seems like fluid can ease the pain a bit. no blockage was seen on any test but it sure feels like one. it is really odd. if it weren't for the LFTs and stool symptoms and elevated ANA - which a couple of docs keep connecting to liver problems like AIH - liver disease would not even occur to me. maybe I am just going crazy :) hana
Posted 1/30/2011 3:52 PM (GMT 0)
Hana,

When are you seeing the rheumy?  When are you having your bloods checked next?  I just read a trick on the internet to get a clear reading on LUPUS and that's to make sure you spend an hour in the sun before you have your labs done.  So you want to rule out the LUPUS with having fatigue and elevated ANA.  There are a lot of connective tissue disorders out there with overlapping symptoms so I think the rheumy is your best specialist for right now.  I do think you should try to get in with a hepatologist too since you have had elevated LFTs.  The fact that they keep resolving on their own is really good news that it seems your liver is tough  :-)  

 

Are you taking a multivitamin?  Is it possible you have a vitamin deficiency?

Aside from everything, keep being good to yourself and rest when you need it.  You do need to focus on getting to a specialist that can sleuth it out.

 

Posted 1/30/2011 6:10 PM (GMT 0)
oops, I should clarify, sun exposure before having ANA retested.  I'm sure the rheumy will have them drawn again.
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