Re: please help

May 5, 2001

Sheila wrote:

> I really need yalls help. I haven't really broke out in a year. I

> use to have acne but then I got rosacea and the acne went away. Now

> over the last two days I have gotton 7 pimples. Whats going on.

Sheila, I don't think anyone here can say positively what has caused you to

break out. You might want to try reverting to your former regimen completely,

for at least a week. Then you might try re-introducing your changed doses,

cleansers, etc., one at a time to see what was the trigger.

I know that with my face, I can also seem to break out due to a temporary

hormone change or in conjunction with stress and insomnia. So the products

you listed may not be the only suspects.

I don't think there is anyone on this list who can emphatically say " this is

what caused your sudden breakouts, " as certainly some topicals and

supplements work for some of us while they bother, or have no effect on,

others. Trial and error seems to be the best plan; try recording what

changes you make, stick with everything at least a week at a time before

making a change, etc.

I recently made a couple of changes at once and my skin's taken a GOOD turn;

now I don't know which of the changes I made helped! Perhaps it's an overall

combination. I guess I'll figure it out if I ever vary my new routine.

Peace,

Ann Carrigan

January 12, 2008

All I can tell you is that I have had a year physical for at least 30

years and this past year was the first time my LFT's were abnormal

and I already had stage 4 PSC and cirrhosis of both lobes of my

liver, and the doc said your biliary tree is pretty well gone! The

doc was suprised I had never had abnormal labs before.

The liver is such an amazing organ and everyone's seems to tolerate

illness differently. Also if your husband had a needle biopsy, they

tissue taken just may have not been from a place that showed the

cirrhosis or higher stage fibrosis.

Congratualtions on the new baby, and I hope you all start getting

some sleep. Lack of sleep makes everything harder to handle.

One day at a time,

PSC 5/07 Listed

>

> Hi, all, sorry I haven't been very vocal lately - we had a new baby

> at the beginning of December and I haven't slept very much since

> then. We've recently had some disturbing developments in my

> husband's health, though, and I was hoping I could get some input

> from others who might have an idea of what is going on.

>

> My husband had his third yearly MRCP earlier this week, and

> the " history " provided to the interpreting radiologist was

> incorrect - it said history of active Hepatitis B and cirrhosis,

> neither of which he has been diagnosed with. The findings of the

> radiologist, however, were hypertrophy of the left lobe, consistent

> with cirrhosis. The biliary tree was visualized as completely

> normal and no " nodules " or other indications of cirrhosis were

> found. I was not concerned and assumed this was a case of tell

> someone what they're looking for and they'll necessarily find it,

> except that we spoke with a friend who's a radiologist and he said

> that hypertrophy of the left lobe and the " mild prominence " of the

> left lobe mentioned in last year's MRCP are BOTH signs of

cirrhosis -

> that the left lobe usually goes first in cirrhosis and one of the

> signs is this appearance in relation to the right lobe.

>

> At his liver biopsy two years ago my husband was found to have

Stage

> II/III fibrosis, but no cirrhosis. Since then, we have brought his

> lab tests into normal ranges with high-dose Urso and a host of

other

> supplements, and he has been entirely asymptomatic. My question

for

> everyone is - is this possible??? Can he have progressed to

> cirrhosis without worsening lab values and with no symptoms and no

> evidence on the MRCP of biliary tree abnormality?? Is it possible

> that he does not have PSC, that it is something else, and if so,

> does anyone have any ideas what it could be? Autoimmune hepatitis,

> Hepatitis A-Z and 's were all ruled out during his initial

> diagnosis, and we have been going on the assumption that, since he

> is AMA-negative and ANCA-positive and his untreated lab values had

a

> cholestatic profile, this was early stage PSC, although I guess it

> never really made sense why his fibrosis would be so advanced with

> early stage PSC. Does anyone have any ideas??? We are of course

> shocked and slightly panicked that a liver transplant may be around

> the corner when we're still getting no sleep with a newborn - we

> thought things were going so well...

>

> Thanks,

>

> Nina in Philly

>

January 14, 2008

Nina,

First things first... don't panic. The one thing we know about PSC

is that it is unpredictable and each case is different. Has your

husband had an ERCP? MRCPs are valuable for baselining and year over

year comparisons, but the gold standard for diagnosis of PSC is an

ERCP. Many GIs/Heps will operate on a " walks like a duck " philosophy

with asymptomatic PSC patients because the ERCP is invasive and

expensive. However, if there is a time to make a definitive

diagnosis, it will be with an ERCP.

For instance, I was treated for PSC for almost three years before I

had my first cholangitis attack and subsequent confirmation of the

diagnosis via ERCP. I'd suggest a consult with your GI/Hep to review

and explain the MRCP findings and the radiologists report... and

don't forget to mention the erroneous diagnosis coding. My last set

of standing lab orders had me listed as suffering from " alcoholic

cirrhosis, " which would've been a problem with the transplant

clinic. ;-)

Congratulations on the new baby!

Peace,

Bill Wise

PSC '00, Listed Tx '04

January 14, 2008

The left area of my liver has been pretty crummy for a long time, but

I did not know it when that started to occur (meaning, there were no

symptoms that accompanied it). So, it is possible to have the left

lobe undergo some damage and still not have any symptoms.

As an encouragement, I've had that left lobe being yucky problem for a

pretty long time, and I'm still here and kicking (I don't qualify for

a liver transplant due to other health problems that I have). So,

don't worry that he's going to end up needing a transplant in the very

near future. The liver can take on quite a bit of damage and still work.

As someone else suggested, I would recommend that you discuss your

concerns with the doctor and see what it says. In the meantime, enjoy

your new baby and don't get overly stressed.