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What Are The Side Effects Of Narcotic Drugs?
Question: I recently had a ggt level of 201 I've been on norco for chronic pain for 3 years. I had surgery in March 5 and ended up with c diff. They put me on flagyl and vancomycin for 3 weeks. Could any of this cause my levels to be that high?
Brief Answer:
Either long-term effect of norco or side effect of vancomycin use
Detailed Answer:
Hello ma'am and welcome.
Thank you for writing to us.
I have gone through your query with diligence and would like you to know that I am here to help. A raised GGT indicates liver damage and so I would like to go through each of the described factors before reaching a conclusion ma'am:
+I am unsure about the dosage of norco you have been on, but a duration of 3 years is quite long and this could have easily caused at least a small amount of liver damage
+Infection caused by c. diff cannot cause such a change in GGT levels
+The use of flagyl (metronidazole) has hardly ever caused any reports of liver damage, and so I think this is highly unlikely
+Vancomycin use: There have been previous cases of patients with c. diff infection who have been treated with vancomycin and metronidazole whose liver enzyme levels were found to be suddenly elevated, and on discontinuation of vancomycin the levels returned to normal
In my opinion, it would be either a long-term side effect of the norco, which cannot be sudden and should have shown a gradual increase in liver enzymes. But if the rise in liver enzymes was sudden, then the culprit is most probably the vancomycin and the liver enzymes should indefinitely return to normal once the vancomycin is discontinued.
I hope you find my response both helpful and informative. Please feel free to write back to me for any further clarifications, I would be more than happy to help.
Best wishes.
Either long-term effect of norco or side effect of vancomycin use
Detailed Answer:
Hello ma'am and welcome.
Thank you for writing to us.
I have gone through your query with diligence and would like you to know that I am here to help. A raised GGT indicates liver damage and so I would like to go through each of the described factors before reaching a conclusion ma'am:
+I am unsure about the dosage of norco you have been on, but a duration of 3 years is quite long and this could have easily caused at least a small amount of liver damage
+Infection caused by c. diff cannot cause such a change in GGT levels
+The use of flagyl (metronidazole) has hardly ever caused any reports of liver damage, and so I think this is highly unlikely
+Vancomycin use: There have been previous cases of patients with c. diff infection who have been treated with vancomycin and metronidazole whose liver enzyme levels were found to be suddenly elevated, and on discontinuation of vancomycin the levels returned to normal
In my opinion, it would be either a long-term side effect of the norco, which cannot be sudden and should have shown a gradual increase in liver enzymes. But if the rise in liver enzymes was sudden, then the culprit is most probably the vancomycin and the liver enzymes should indefinitely return to normal once the vancomycin is discontinued.
I hope you find my response both helpful and informative. Please feel free to write back to me for any further clarifications, I would be more than happy to help.
Best wishes.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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