I am a long time member that has not posted in many, many months. One reason is the great improvement I have had with numerous treatments.
Recently things have declined rapidly. Following a 2-3 week bout of what felt like a stomach bug---nausea, loose stools etc---I was left with devastating fatigue, weakness esp, in upper body and an overall feeling a declining health. I'm very pale and weak. This has now gone on for 5 weeks.
The only thing showing up on my tests is elevated ALT and AST, which are liver enzymes (both <100 but consistently high). I just got back the antibody test for hepatitis C, or HCV, and it was negative but I see that it can be negative in acute cases, so it is not yet ruled out. My symptoms really match HCV.
Early in my treatment of lyme I took heavy IV abx and had my gallbladder removed. After that, I took a much more conservative approach, although I still pulsed abx from time to time along with rife, hbo.
I have taken quite a bit of flagyl over the years. I also took some ketek--maybe a total of 12-18 days worth--but haven't taken any in several months. I know both of these are hard on the liver but wonder if they could be causing current problems. I take no other strong meds and have taken no abx of any sort for over 6 weeks.
I am seeing a GI specialist as soon as I can. Any shared experiences/suggestions greatly appreciated.
Posted by Jill E. (Member # 9121) on :
I had severe liver damage from Ketek, and it damaged my liver so badly that my enzymes continued to rise even after I went off. I have since read or heard that Ketek could cause damage to continue for a while once the medication is discontinued. Yet you've been off it for so long, I can't imagine it's a factor.
I went through all the Hep testing you went through - did they also check autoimmune hepatitis? They did with me. Mine turned out to be medication-induced.
Feel free to PM me if you want any details. I had a liver biopsy and the whole deal.