Hi all...hope holidays are going well for you.. I've been taking Methotrexate and Salsalate for about 3 years and last month we did a blood test (I'm afraid the blood tests were not arranged often enough...I'm taking some of that blame...I should have researched more and would have known, but doc got sick and his assoc. said "you don't need a blood test"...soI thought first doc was perhaps "a worry wart"...so I disregarded my concern about blood tests...so it turns out it was from Last January, '04 till Nov. 05 between blood tests and now it appears I have a "liver problem".. I'm very, very concerned...doc called and asked "have you ever had Hepatitis?"...well, I never have..and wouldn't it have shown up in all the beginning blood tests (we did them every month or so in the beginning)...I am awaiting an appointment with a "liver specialist" to determine what damage has been done to the liver (my doc says "liver enzymes are UP" and stated I have "chronic liver disease"...)Has anyone had this happen after taking the Meth???He now wants me to take Celebrex and Plaquenil....anybody taking either one of these??? any side effects???I'm so terribly anxious...don't want to take the Celebrex (with all the b ad publicity) and definitely don't want to take Prednisone...(my sister had emphysema and blew up like a balloon and had all kinds of problems with the Pred)...Any info would be helpful.
Thanks so much.
Carol303
Welcome Carol,
Can you try to enlarge your font...I could barely read your post.
I take MTX & Humira; but I've had blood test every 3 month since the onset of RA 12 years ago. It is very important with all of these medications....including antinflamatories.
Lesle's idea for you to come over to RAF is a good one. Lots of good friends there with tons of experience.....Liver experience too. Hope you'll join us.
Hope everything turns out well for you.
Hi Carol,
I've had a couple of liver tests where my liver enzymes were up. In fact my last blood test showed this. It was caused by the amount of medication I have been taking for my arthritis (I don't drink alcohol which is the other usual cause). I expect my next test to be normal as I am not taking as much medication now and giving my liver a rest. The liver is a very resilient organ and given a chance will heal itself except where the damage is so great it is irreparable. I'm not familiar with the medication you have been taking but adding more will make it worse. You need to consult a good specialist and determine exactly what caused the damage, how great it is and only take what you absolutely need to take for your condition to give the liver a rest and see if it can heal itself.
In my case having osteo-arthritis throughout my body means pain is an everyday problem so I take enough medication to reduce the pain to give me quality of life. This means taking Tramal and sometimes anti-inflammatories (like Celebrex) and sometimes Panadeine (called Tylenol in the
Thankfully I've found that Feverfew a herb used to prevent migraines helps my arthritis (you can read my experience with this herb in the alternative therapy section) and I've reduced my intake of medication down to one Tramal a day and so expect the next blood test to show normal liver function. If you are going to continue taking medication try and spread it out so your liver isn't overwhelmed.
If my liver function still proves abnormal next test I'll try to reduce my Tramal intake even further or stop taking it all together and try and get pain relief using less conventional means such as marijuana (however I don’t expect to have to resort to such means in the foreseeable future!).
Good luck dealing with your problem. Given how resilient the liver is there is every chance your liver will recover if you can give it as much of a rest as possible from medications. The problem is that you may need certain medications to give you quality of life as I do.
Edward