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I got a call from my doctor on Friday and he said that my results from my bloodwork said that my liver enzymes were high again.  This happened once before, but they just had me test a month later and they were fine.  Now they are wanting me to get an ultrasound of my liver and more bloodwork on Monday.  They think it could be due to my medications as I take sulfasalzine, 6mp (mercaptopurine), and imipramine.  I have been on these for at least the past five years and am a little worried that they may take me off some.  Don't get me wrong, I would love to be off of all of them!  However before I started I had really bad flare-ups for three years straight and this finally calmed my systems down!  Has anyone ever been on 6mp specifically or any of these others and had your bloodwork show that something was wrong with your liver?

Love to hear others stories and if they ended up taking you off of the medication.  Did they put you on something else?  I am very concerned about this for the reasons stated above and that my husband and I were hoping to start trying this month to concieve.

Thanks in advance for your replies!  Healthy Blessings to all!

 Reply posted for rax10.

Have you ever been tested for Celiac Disease? Many patients that have UC/IBD are never screened for Celiac Disease and are at higher risk for the disease. There are many symptoms of Celiac Disease and elevated liver enzymes can be a symptom.

I have UC (since 1997) and developed neurological problems (myoclonus/periodic limb movement at sleep onset) 2.5 years ago. I am being monitored by a Celiac Speciialist in Georgia. She believes my neuro problems are a result of gluten ingestion (caused by gluten sensitivity or Celiac Disease). Most doctors are not educated on or comfortable with the complex array of symptoms and health conditions that occur as a result of undiagnosed Celiac Disease. There is a Celiac Blood panel test but it is not even 100% accurate. Some patients have selective IGA deficiency which means they will repeatedly test negative for celiac. My specialist is a GI doctor who is a leader in her field and has several UC patients who are also Celiacs.

Do a search on google for Celiac Disease and elevated liver enzymes, Celiac and UC or Chrone's....you will be astonished.

I hope this helps you and feel free to message me if I can help you :)

Sylvia G

Florida

 Reply posted for ACA11.

ACA111~
Glad to hear you are remission and your levels went back to normal.  That number was way higher then mine!  No wonder they were all calling you!  Went in for my ultrasound today and should here more in the next couple of days.  Fingers are crossed that it is nothing as I am currently in remission with UC and really don't want to deal with anything else new! :)

Thanks again!
~rax10

 Reply posted for gms7593.

gms7593~
Thanks for the heads up!  Sorry to hear that you have had these problems.  I didn't know this was a possibility with UC, but I keep getting diagnosed with new stuff all the time so that shouldn't be a surprise!  Will you have to take this medication forever or will the liver heal itself?  I will do some reading on this since I have something to look up now.  I will not get my results back for a couple of days.  I guess I am a little more worried this time because this is the second time my levels have spiked.  Thanks for the info.

Hope you are feeling well!
rax10

 Reply posted for rax10.

I would be very careful.  There are a couple of associated liver diseases associated with UC.  Primary sclerosing cholangitis is the main one ... which I have.  There is another one called Primary biliary cirrohsis.  I was actually diagnosed with the cholangitis before the UC.  My ALT, AST, and Alk Phos were all extremely high.  The GI docs did a liver biopsy but could not decide between the two until I got fully diagnosed with the UC.  They put me on a medication called Ursodiol 3x a day.  It may be due to the medications but just be careful because there are associated diseases with the UC.  Good luck.

 Reply posted for rax10.

In March of this year, I was put on Azathioprine for Crohn's.  I was on it for five weeks.  My liver enzymes went from 60 to 1700.  I literally had every doctor I've seen calling me, "how are you feeling", or "can you come in today?"  It just so happened that I was scheduled to see my GI doc a few days later.  He ended up taking me off of it as I also developed pancreatitis.  The good news to this is, I am not on meds at the moment as we believe the medicine and my diet put me into remission.  It took me two months, but my liver enzymes, two weeks ago, were at 65. 

Take care and hope your liver heals as mine did.