Suggest Remedies For Elevated AST And GGT Levels In Blood

Posted on Fri, 5 Aug 2016

Question: My daughter is slowly recovering from liver failure. her Gamma-GT and Aspartate Transaminase just don't seem to be coming down in line with everything else. her blood results are 79 and 82 respectively. is there anything we can do to help these come down into acceptable range? her Neutrophilis have also been decreasing over the last 6 weeks and is now out of acceptable range at 1.92 - can we do anything to help bring it back into line?
Are the above blood results something to be overly concerned about. Her bilirubin as come down from 680 to 151 over the last 4 months, so things do appear to be heading in the right direction.

Answered by Dr. Tayyab Malik (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
kindly read detailed answer below

Detailed Answer:
hi.
thanks for posting your query at HCM.

i have gone through the current lab readings of your daughter and will try to answer your concern in the best of my capacity.

1. Firstly, AST and GGT values are definitely higher than normal, but NOT high enough to be concerned of. With passage of time, values would come to normal , provided the underlying cause of hepatitis is properly dealt with. In addition, proper rest, low fat diet and monitoring liver enzymes is advised.

2. Secondly, decrease neutrophil count maybe secondary to the use of the drug - "Bactrim". You may discuss with treating physician for an alternative drug and/or dose adjustment. I hope the patient spleen is intact and functioning.

3. Bilirubin values have declined positively since last few months. As mentioned earlier, with passage of time, values would return within the normal range.

putting together, the overall picture is satisfactory for a patient with history of liver failure.
you need not worry about the values much, provided the patient and lab results are under keen observation of treating physician.

any further questions are welcomed.
if no further questions, kindly close dialogue box and rate the answer.

hope to answer your concern.
wish the patient good and sound health.

regards,
Dr Tayyab Malik

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Priyanka G Raj

Follow up: Dr. Tayyab Malik (6 days later)

Thank you Dr XXXXXXX your answer has helped to ease our nerves a little. Hard to rest easy when things are still not back to normal though. Our daughter seems to sleep for around 20 hours a day now, progressively sleeping more and more over the last few weeks, even though her blood tests results all appear to be improving. Is this just part of the condition of Liver Failure? Her bilirubin has now come down to 129 which is great. Her Red Blood Cell Count is 2.7; Haemoglobin is 95 and Haematocrit is 0.28. Would these numbers account for her lethargy? These results are improving each week, but she is more and more tired. Just not sure what else we can do?

Answered by Dr. Tayyab Malik (8 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Fatigue is very common symptom in patients with Liver disease

Detailed Answer:
Hi.
Thanks for getting back to me.
Glad that the bilirubin and other values are improving.

I understand your concern for increase duration of sleep and tiredness observed in the patient. Fatigue is one of the most common presentation in patients with liver disease. As the patient is in the recovery phase, resolution of all symptoms will occur with passage of time.

The mechanism of fatigue in patients with liver disease in not full understood. However, its thought to be due to various hormonal changes within the nervous system. The effects would decline and patient would be back to back to normal activity as liver normal functioning is restored.

Furthermore, hemoglobin level is increasing gradually and it would also help to combat the fatigue.

You may also discuss with your treating physician for some test to exclude other causes of increased sleep and fatigue.

These tests include:
thyroid-stimulating hormone, calcium, creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, electrolytes, fasting blood sugar and magnesium.

I would be happy to clear any further doubts.
If no further questions, kindly close dialogue box and rate the answer.

Hope to answer your concern.
Wish the patient good and sound health.

Regards,
Dr Tayyab Malik

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee