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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Arthritis / April 2005Liver Enzymes
Well it's me again. Posting my latest....I have been taking MTX now since April 5th, and I had my bloodwork done this past friday. The results came back monday, and they are elevated. My AST is 82 and the ALT is 181. If I understand correctly, the 181 is 4.5 times higher than the allowable 0-40, and twice high on the AST, which within normal limits is also 0-40. The derm moved my appointment up to May 2nd to see him, this means I will have one more round of MTX before I go back. His nurse told me that they will probably discontinue the MTX. She didn't say what they would try next, although last Friday he explained to me about Enbrel and how it works. I know alot about it from reading here and on the net for the last 7 years. My question is, what have other people's levels been? Did they take you off the medication immediately? I read that with my dosage, usually there isn't a problem with the enyme levels. I guess I am just lucky. I am ready to come off of the MTX, I really get sick for a day or so after taking it, and after three weeks, there has been no improvement. As a matter of fact, I am still breaking out in new places, and they are slowly growing in size, just like all the others did. Sorry I am rambling, I am just tired and confused. Should I contact my rheumatologist with all that has been going on? Or just let my derm handle everything? I still have joint swelling also, the mtx hasn't done anything for that either. Thanks for listening, D > Well it's me again. Posting my latest....I have been taking MTX now > since April 5th, and I had my bloodwork done this past friday. The [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > Thanks for listening, > D Talk to your RD. No offense, but I wouldn't be real keen on a derm (atologist?) dealing with my arthritis. Do you have PA? I've got RA, so the rest of this post may be meaningless to you. I was taken off Arava quickly when my levels went up (IMO, Arava is by far the worst "liver eater" of the RA drugs). Have you tried Milk Thistle? I have used it for at least two years, and only had the one "high" test (and I think that was due to alcohol usage more than anything else). I was not, and have not been, taken off MTX, it's been a constant used in conjunction with other drugs. Talk to your RD or the nurse (my RD told me about Milk Thistle to help normalize liver functions) to see how they feel about it, then try it. I have had no adverse effect from it, and have not heard from anyone who has (except the friend that is allergic to all herbs). You know, I used to say that Arava wasn't working, right up to the time they took me off of it. It was working, and apparently quite well. I now use Enbrel (for two weeks), I had immediate improvement the day after my first shot, but haven't had a drastic change this time. Probably because I forget that being able to use my hands doesn't mean I can go on a cleaning binge (stupid, stupid, stupid me). Feel free to rant away and ramble away and just talk away. If these "guys" will tolerate my whiney butt, then you will have not trouble with 'em. Smokie Darling (Annie) Thanks for your reply, Annie. I was being treated for RA beginning back in '98 when I was having joint pain and swelling. I couldn't walk for very long because of the pain in my hips. I do have degeneration in knees, wrists, hips and shoulders. The RD never did state it was definately RA, but prescribed Plaquenil, Arthrotec, and 10mg of Pred to control the symptoms. After about 2 years I went into "remission". At that time I did have maybe two spots of psoriasis, but I didn't worry about them, they were small and didn't bother me. I believe now that was the beginning of all this and that I do also have PA, as I still have joint pain, stiffness, and it of course hurts more with activity. Actually I am very careful with my hands as they are really sensitive. I went back to my RD when I had a plaque come up on my lower leg, it was about the size of a quarter and was flaking/scaling. I believe you are right and maybe I should check in with my RD just to keep him in the loop, at least. My psoriasis is way more of a problem than my joint pain at this point. The burning and itching is just too much to handle some times! I used to come to this group alot, there are alot of new faces, but I also see alot of my old friends are still here. I miss BBLarry, he was a great person and also a friend to me. Glad to see all the old timers here, it's like coming back home to a warm fire. (Even if those fires are sometimes flamewars, LOLOL) Enough from me, Take care, D Lots of us take Milk Thistle for liver protection. Gwen > > Well it's me again. Posting my latest....I have been taking MTX now > > since April 5th, and I had my bloodwork done this past friday. The [quoted text clipped - 59 lines] > > Smokie Darling (Annie) Hi, I love the saying Cowgirl Up. I try to use it in my life. I read your post and wanted to say if you do have PA - I believe that Enbrel is being used for Psoriasis now as well as RA. This might be a good med for you. Be sure and let your doctor know and he can tell you. Good Luck, debbie m. > Well it's me again. Posting my latest....I have been taking MTX now > since April 5th, and I had my bloodwork done this past friday. The [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > Thanks for listening, > D I say call the doc who is prescribing the mtx for you. But, I say talk to your RD about how your joints are doing. Do you have any kind of arrangement between the two docs about who treats what? Milk thistle is used by lots of us to help our livers stay healthy but I don't know if it would bring your enzymes down enough fast enough with them being so high now. Mine never got that high. I'm not surprised that you haven't had any results from the mtx yet. In my case we slowly worked our way up from 7.5 mg/wk. I first felt it kicking in PA-wise after I'd been at 15 mg for a good month. It never did help my psoriasis much - just helped it respond to tropicals more readily, none of the clearing some folks have had with it. With your liver reacting so strongly to mtx, I doubt they'll try you on Arava - also, it isn't commonly usd for Ps, though it is used for PSA. As someone else said, it is *really* rough on your liver. That would make Enbrel the most likely next med. Do you have good insurancee?  SignatureNann remove the Gator cheer to email me Simply the thing I am shall make me live --- William Shakespeare >I say call the doc who is prescribing the mtx for you. But, I say talk to > your RD about how your joints are doing. Do you have any kind of > arrangement > between the two docs about who treats what? I say tell everyone everything. Be a bore. Recite. Tell them who said what. If they won't call and chat keep telling each one about what the other says. Yu pick up all kinds of little bits and pieces that way. |
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