Re: liver function going haywirer again !!

[Guest guest]

,

Wow, that is very high! Be very careful, I would think you would need

to be hospitalized. I know my liver enzymes are always high, but not

that much. You can take the Enbrel without taking the mtx. I know it

suppose to help more along with it, but you need to take something. I

took Humira alone for quite awhile, because of the enzyme problem.

Please, be careful taking anything that would cause liver problems.

Take care, and please be safe, Tawny

[Guest guest]

Michele...my daughter went thru this. She was taking antibiotics and

tylenol for tooth pain. She never went over the normal dosage and a

matter of fact ... took less...but she was on both of these for a

long time. They have no dental and she has a couple of teeth that

have given her problems. Her liver enzymes were about 950 and 1060

when she first saw the liver specialist. They ran all kinds of tests

on her.....ct scan, ultrasound, looked at her gallbladder cause they

were sure that was it. Nothing showed anything bad except she had an

enlarged spleen but they said that could be because she has an

enlarged liver. They did all kinds of bloodwork...hepatitis, hiv,

mononucleosis...I forget what else and nothing came up abnormal. He

said to stop the antibiotics and tylenol for sure. She stopped both

and her liver enzymes went steadily down. They are now down to

between 100-150 but she still has stomach pain. The dr is going to

schedule her for a liver biopsy next week or the following week to

see what may be going on. She has the upset stomach and has a hard

time going to the bathroom. She has started taking Miralax...very

good otc for this. Her stools have been the lighter cooler but are

back to normal now. I know that tylenol is otc but it is very hard

on the liver. I'm sure that that's not your problem though.

I also had liver enzymes elevated but only about 2-3 fold...and we

dropped the mtx. That stopped the elevation. I am now on prednisone

5 mg, arava 10 mg and enbrel and so far, so good. Enbrel is a

miracle drug for me.

I hope you can get some answers. You sound like you're going thru

exactly what my daughter did. Also, she is not a drinker at all and

the drs said to her..if only you were a drinker, this would be easy

to figure out. Sorry..she's not.

There are 5 things it can be when the enzymes are over 1000....

drug toxicity, common bile duct, ischemia (rare) autoimmune

hepatitis, viral hepatitis.

I know you're ready to pull your hair out... was too.

Hang in there...hope you feel better. Her dr took her off the meds

and they started dropping. I also had to stop mtx when my enzymes

went up.

Hugs..a

Canton Oh

In , " michellefollet " <michellefollet@...>

wrote:

>

> Hi, group, I have not been sending posts for a while as I have been

> feeling really lousy. My pain is so bad that I am not doing much

at

> all. Went to doctors yesterday to ask if there was anything he

> could suggest to help !! I had been to hospital in the morning to

> get my blood tests done for next weeks appointment with

> Rheumatologist.

>

> Anyway I told the doctor I was feeling lousy and was finding it

hard

> getting up to to to toilet and that I was going so frequently!!!

> Urine was a funny dark colour again. So he was going to send off a

> speciman and told me to come back on Sunday to see him. He

> suggested I try taking asprin as sometimes this can help with the

> pain.

>

> Well I had been home a few hours when he rang me to say the

hospital

> had rang him as my liver function tests had sky rocketed again.

> Supposed to be 34 was nearly 1000!!!

>

> Told me to stop the methotrexiate again. I had only been on it for

> four weeks at 2.5mg once a week. Omg this is what happened last

> time and the Professor I saw thought that the plaquenil may have

> been the cause, I knew it was the methotrexiate as my liver

function

> went hay wirer when I increased it. Anyway he wanted to see if I

> could tolerate it to see if enbrel would help me, but that has to

go

> with methotrexiate !!!

>

>

[Guest guest]

Methotrexate does not have to taken with Enbrel. I can't take mtx

because it lowers my white blood cell count too low. I've been on

Enbrel for over five years, with no mtx. My rheumy told me that

Remicade had to be taken with mtx, but I think someone here is taking

it without the mtx.

Sue

On Saturday, August 23, 2008, at 12:22 AM, michellefollet wrote:

> Anyway he wanted to see if I

> could tolerate it to see if enbrel would help me, but that has to go

> with methotrexiate !!!

[Guest guest]

>

> Hi, group, I have not been sending posts for a while as I have been

> feeling really lousy. My pain is so bad that I am not doing much

at

> all. Went to doctors yesterday to ask if there was anything he

> could suggest to help !! I had been to hospital in the morning to

> get my blood tests done for next weeks appointment with

> Rheumatologist.

>

> Anyway I told the doctor I was feeling lousy and was finding it

hard

> getting up to to to toilet and that I was going so frequently!!!

> Urine was a funny dark colour again. So he was going to send off a

> speciman and told me to come back on Sunday to see him. He

> suggested I try taking asprin as sometimes this can help with the

> pain.

>

> Well I had been home a few hours when he rang me to say the

hospital

> had rang him as my liver function tests had sky rocketed again.

> Supposed to be 34 was nearly 1000!!!

>

> Told me to stop the methotrexiate again. I had only been on it for

> four weeks at 2.5mg once a week. Omg this is what happened last

> time and the Professor I saw thought that the plaquenil may have

> been the cause, I knew it was the methotrexiate as my liver

function

> went hay wirer when I increased it. Anyway he wanted to see if I

> could tolerate it to see if enbrel would help me, but that has to

go

> with methotrexiate !!!

>

> I feel like now I am a real geniue pig. I am getting fed up being

> on all these medications and nothing is helping me.

>

> Would love to hear from the group and if anyone has had this

problem?

>

Hang in there as it takes sometime to get just the right combination

of meds to assist you. I have had great luck with Enbrel for 5 years

and it has made a big difference for me. Although after 5 years I may

have to try another med as this can happen after a long time I was

told. Has your Dr advised on any anti-inflammatories for you? Short

term of Prednisone? You should not be in so much pain when there are

a lot of meds out there-although with your liver enzymes high that

may be why your meds are limited. It will get better!! Sometimes when

you feel so sick you forget that you will get better.

[Guest guest]

>

> > Anyway he wanted to see if I

> > could tolerate it to see if enbrel would help me, but that has to go

> > with methotrexiate !!!

>

I have been told that it is the insurance companies that want a trial

of Plaquenal and Methotreaxate given prior to the Enbrel etc..Needless

to say the ins co's do not want to pay the huge $$ for the meds so I

hope since you have already tried Methtrexate you can move ahead to teh

Enbrel.

[Guest guest]

> >

> > Hi, group, I have not been sending posts for a while as I have

been

> > feeling really lousy. My pain is so bad that I am not doing

much

> at

> > all. Went to doctors yesterday to ask if there was anything he

> > could suggest to help !! I had been to hospital in the morning

to

> > get my blood tests done for next weeks appointment with

> > Rheumatologist.

> >

> > Anyway I told the doctor I was feeling lousy and was finding it

> hard

> > getting up to to to toilet and that I was going so

frequently!!!

> > Urine was a funny dark colour again. So he was going to send

off a

> > speciman and told me to come back on Sunday to see him. He

> > suggested I try taking asprin as sometimes this can help with

the

> > pain.

> >

> > Well I had been home a few hours when he rang me to say the

> hospital

> > had rang him as my liver function tests had sky rocketed again.

> > Supposed to be 34 was nearly 1000!!!

> >

> > Told me to stop the methotrexiate again. I had only been on it

for

> > four weeks at 2.5mg once a week. Omg this is what happened last

> > time and the Professor I saw thought that the plaquenil may have

> > been the cause, I knew it was the methotrexiate as my liver

> function

> > went hay wirer when I increased it. Anyway he wanted to see if

I

> > could tolerate it to see if enbrel would help me, but that has

to

> go

> > with methotrexiate !!!

> >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

>

> > Anyway he wanted to see if I

> > could tolerate it to see if enbrel would help me, but that has

to go

> > with methotrexiate !!!

>

[Guest guest]

>Hi, Tawny,

Thanks for your post. Last time this happened it just keep going up

even though I was no longer taking the methotrexiate. It went up to

nearly 2.000. I had to go to the hospital.

Apparently the methotrexiate stays a long time in your system that is

why it was still reacting !!

My doctor wants me to get another blood test tommorrow and he said I

may need to go to hospital and get my liver flushed out !!

I asked him if this could damage my liver and he said if it keeps

happening it could !! It is scary stuff when I am only doing what

the doctors tell me to do and this happens !!

take care, .

> ,

>

> Wow, that is very high! Be very careful, I would think you would

need

> to be hospitalized. I know my liver enzymes are always high, but

not

> that much. You can take the Enbrel without taking the mtx. I know

it

> suppose to help more along with it, but you need to take something.

I

> took Humira alone for quite awhile, because of the enzyme problem.

> Please, be careful taking anything that would cause liver problems.

> Take care, and please be safe, Tawny

>

[Guest guest]

> >

> > > Anyway he wanted to see if I

> > > could tolerate it to see if enbrel would help me, but that has

to go

> > > with methotrexiate !!!

> >

>

> I have been told that it is the insurance companies that want a

trial

> of Plaquenal and Methotreaxate given prior to the Enbrel

etc..Needless

> to say the ins co's do not want to pay the huge $$ for the meds so

I

> hope since you have already tried Methtrexate you can move ahead

to teh

> Enbrel.

>

[Guest guest]

Sue,

That's true. Enbrel can be used without methotrexate; however, there

is evidence that Enbrel plus MTX is more effective.

In general, for any of the anti-TNF biologics, concomitant MTX may

give better results and may extend the length of time the biologic is

effective.

It's recommended that Remicade be taken with MTX, but it is not required.

Also, some physicians prescribe other DMARDs along with the biologics

if MTX is not an option.

Not an MD

On Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 3:01 PM, Sue <marysue@...> wrote:

> Methotrexate does not have to taken with Enbrel. I can't take mtx

> because it lowers my white blood cell count too low. I've been on

> Enbrel for over five years, with no mtx. My rheumy told me that

> Remicade had to be taken with mtx, but I think someone here is taking

> it without the mtx.

>

> Sue

[Guest guest]

I hope so, too, Sue!

Not an MD

On Mon, Aug 25, 2008 at 10:50 PM, Sue <marysue@...> wrote:

> I'm lucky that Enbrel by itself works very effectively for me. I do

> hope that it continues to be effective for many, many years. So far

> it's been working for over five years.

>

> Sue

[Guest guest]

I'm lucky that Enbrel by itself works very effectively for me. I do

hope that it continues to be effective for many, many years. So far

it's been working for over five years.

Sue

On Monday, August 25, 2008, at 11:15 PM, wrote:

> Sue,

>

> That's true. Enbrel can be used without methotrexate; however, there

> is evidence that Enbrel plus MTX is more effective.

>

> In general, for any of the anti-TNF biologics, concomitant MTX may

> give better results and may extend the length of time the biologic is

> effective.