Hi I am new to this board and am looking for some information. I have RA for about two years. I am not on any aggresive drugs at this time but I am being closly monited by my Rhem. I had a complete blood work up done about two weeks ago and it came back with a elevated liver and calcuim. I had more blood work done and that came back high. I have had a ultrasound of my heart, and a ultrasound of my liver...I have read that RA can attack my organs..Does any one have any information on this at this time I a waiting for the results but my docotor is very concerned he has called me at least twice a week to see how I am doing.
How are you feeling? What medications do you take for RA? You said not any aggressive drugs, but many can affect the liver...but then again you can have problems with your liver that are totally unrelated to RA.
I'd think that it's unlikely that RA has attacked your vital organs if at this point you have not even been prescribed more aggressive treatment to control it. That would indicate you have a milder case? Just a guess though...I'm not a doctor.
Don't automaticlly assume that RA is the cause....although it certainly could be. It sounds as if your doctor is concerned and on top of things, that's a good thing. I feel certain he'll refer you to a specialtist asap if he feels it's nessesary.
Welcome to AI. I hope you'll stick around....and I hope that things settle down for you soon. Lots of people have elevated liver results on a regular basis. It's not too unusal, but it could indicate a problem for sure. Definately keep your eye on it.
Best of luck...and keep us updated.
Lovie
Hi Marcia,
Just curious..was it the bilirubin levels that were high? My son was told his was high after a routine physical exam. He then had to repeat the blood test and still it was high...so then had to have an ultra sound done on his liver. Turned out that his liver was fine, but they still can't find out why the bilirubin was higher than it should be. Sorry..no help here...I was just curious.
Kelly
kelly - that's freaky - i was just about to ask that - i had bloods done 2 years ago - just a check and my billirubin was elevated. the bloods i had done a couple of weeks ago told me that it was elevated again - doc said not to worry - they always say that - wonder what the point in tests are if, when they come back positive they tell you to ignore it. Marcia, god, sorry, Hello, welcome here it's good to hear from you, stick around and let us know what happens, and get back about the billirubin thing, plus, how come you're not on meds?Julie,
My sons doctor seemed concerned about his. She asked him if he had a drink before coming in for his app't since alcohol can increase the levels. He told her no...that he has maybe 2 drinks a year...if that. No other tests were done after the ultra sound showed that his liver was fine. His doctor didn't have him do any other tests..so..who knows..maybe it's just the way he is.
I am on mtx and my liver results just came back elevated so the doctor took me off of it and said i need to get the blood rechecked in two weeks. If it's okay she said that I can go back on mtx but work myself up again.
I don't think that RA would be responsible for yuor liver problem if you don't even have to take other drugs. I think that RA can only affect your other organs in more severe cases and if you're not on drugs, then at this stage, the doctor probably thinks that it's not as severe. It could be in relation to medications though. I have no idea which other ones cause liver problems besides mtx, but the website I always go to to check up on my drugs is www.rx.com
It may be of some use to you to check out the drugs you're on and see what their side effects can be.
brit
Brit is exactly right.
Even early on when I was on some of the weaker DMARDS like sulfersalazine and plaquinel I still had to have blood work done on a regualr basis to check my liver and kidney function. That's pretty routine even with your just on strong antiiflamatories.
Even good old over the counter Tylenol/acetaminophen can affect your liver tests. Could be any thing.