posted
I just got back from having a CAT scan of my liver and pelvic area. As expected, my liver looks good. (My tests always turn out negative which is only showing what I don't have.) I still have elevated liver enzymes but they still don't know why.
Does anyone else have similar symptoms that can enlighten me?
A nurse at the CAT scan told me of someone who has Lyme induced hepatitis and sees a specialist at University of Penn to treat. Any idea who that could be??
Any links to Lyme and liver problems? I know that I am the only one who will research and fight to get treatment...but I'm so tired! I have appts made to see 2 different LLMDs in the next 2 weeks, but I want to have all my research in order before seeing them.
Thank you for any help you can offer. The most difficult part of this disease is not being officially diagnosed and therefore no one believes my symptoms.
Karen
Posts: 154 | From Medford, NJ | Registered: Jun 2006
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Marnie
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 773
posted
Bb needs choline...ours. This ultimately only shows up on a liver ultrasound as a "fatty liver"...not liver enzyme studies.
All spirochetes ferment sugar. One end product (of many) is ethanol. Ethanol is very toxic to our brains, pancreas and liver. Think what happens to alcoholics. This alone can cause the liver enzymes to be off.
The liver is our major "detox" organ. A LOT of Mg-ATP (!) and some B6 is stored there. A days worth of glycogen. It SHOULD be coming to our "rescue", but can't.
An infection with Bb = stuck in the Th1 immune pathway. To fight viruses, we need to switch back to the Th2 pathway. We sometimes, depending on what we have been exposed to, get STUCK in one pathway. The body has to decide...which is the biggest threat? Normally we switch back and forth between these pathways.
So having lyme makes one very vulnerable to viral infections, new ones or old ones re-emerging.
Rebalancing the pathways isn't easy!
ALT elevated?
Vitamin E helps protect the liver from damaging ethanol. Take it with food.
Posts: 9481 | From Sunshine State | Registered: Mar 2001
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posted
I take Milk Thistle for my liver. If I do not take it my liver count goes up. I am not taking any perscription antibiotics that would require milk thistle either.
Posts: 499 | From Western NY | Registered: Dec 2000
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liz28
Unregistered
posted
There's three reasons for elevated liver enzymes that seem to come up over and over:
you are overtaxing your liver with too many antibiotics,
you are using antibiotics that are notorious for elevating enzymes (the usual suspects are omnicef, ketek, mepron, and minocycline),
or you have undiagnosed babesia or bartonella.
So here's some stuff you can start with. Grab yourself some milk thistle and one or two other liver supports, like schizandra, N-acetyl cysteine, phosphatidylcholine, or alpha lipoic acid. If you have problems with energy levels, you've gotta take CoQ10 anyway, and luckily it supports the liver as well.
Then throw in some artemisinin for a week and watch for symptom changes. If it messes with your energy levels, or gives you herx symptoms, you may have some babesia going on.
Or, if your doctor will agree to it, get a week's worth of rifampin and a bag of empty gel capsules from your local health food store. Open up a rifampin capsule, pour a third of the powder into an empty capsule, take it on an empty stomach far away from your other antibiotics and supplements, and keep it up for three days, taking this third-of-a-normal-dose twice a day. If you have bartonella, you should see a noticeable change in your symptoms without going into a huge herx.
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