Jellbells,can you post what your lft numbers where? Through all my (bad) experiences with my gallbladder and liver I've learned a little bit about
the LFT numbers, and that sometimes you can narrow down the problems just by which numbers are high and what ratios to each other they are.
For example, in my own case, I had a false positive for Hep B 2 months ago when I started having liver symptoms. My first LFT showed my Alkaline Phosphatase was almost 700. That's a pretty high number considering most Hep B patients (from what I've heard) don't get numbers that high until the damage is pretty severe in terms of necrosis, scarring etc. That value, and the fact that my ALT was about
twice what my AST was, led my dr. to investigate deeper, proving that I in fact did not have Hep B, but did have an obstruction, *somewhere*. How ever all my tests did come back normal, AMA, ANA, ultrasound, etc. At first they suspected fatty liver in me as well, and did a biopsy despite a normal ultrasound.
In your case I would insist on a refferal to a different specialist. It seems likely to me that you are having some kind of autoimmune response in your liver. At the very least, you need a biopsy I think to know anything for sure, whether fatty liver or AIH, and that in my mind should have been on the table from the moment you got your results.
I can tell you from YEARS of experience, that no matter what the doctor says, the liver can and does cause URQ pain. Or perhaps it is as the doctors say and the liver itself cannot actually hurt, and instead it is the tissues around it that get irritated or something. All I know is I have no gallbladder, and when my liver is functioning better (normal LFT) the pain is gone, when it starts acting up (high LFT, high bili) I either get a constant dull ache or stabbing pains over there or a combination of both.
Go get a second opinion. If the dr is not willing to give you a referral, just make an appointment with a new specialist and their office will usually take care of getting the referral and records.
P.S. I forgot to add - don't let them take out your gallbladder if you can help it, especially if it is functioning normally! That in itself can cause a whole host of problems, and is in fact the root of my own liver issues. I feel like stressing the liver by forcing it to take over the functions of the gallbladder would probably exacerbate and existing problem you have.
I hope I have been of some help. I am very new here, but received some wonderful advice from people here on just my first post, so I hope I am paying it forward.
I wish you luck finding your answers and getting healthy. It is very hard to KNOW you are ill and feel like the doctor is ignoring something in front of their face when you are willing to pursue any avenue to get better. Please let us know how things go.
JoBelle
Post Edited (JoBelle) : 5/23/2011 9:27:27 PM (GMT-6)