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Elevated LFTs

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 1/29/2022 7:19 AM (GMT -8)
Hi

I am fairly new to this forum - this is my first time posting. I was diagnosed with pancolitis in June of 2013, and have visited this site over the years.
A little bit about my journey with UC:
- diagnosed June of 2013
- tried and failed Delzicol, Apriso, and Lialda
- switched to Simponi 100 mg every month in August of 2016
- 8 week course of prednisone in January of 2017
- Simponi increased to 100 mg every 14 days
- in clinical remission as of January 2020 on Simponi 100 mg every 14 days and azathioprine 150 mg daily
I get regular blood work done every 3 months, and I recently had new onset elevated LFTs (ALT 250, AST 150). My GI doc sent me for an ultrasound of the liver, which came back inconclusive, and then for an MRI. I got my MRI results back and I have a lesion suspicious for hepatocellular carcinoma. I am an otherwise healthy 25 year old female and am freaking out about the results. Of course it is over the weekend and will not hear anything from my doc until Monday at the earliest. I am freaking out and was wondering if any of you have any experience with this? I know HCC is uncommon in young women, especially with no prior history of liver disease. Could it be from the Simponi or azathioprine?

Thank you all for your support.
Posted 1/29/2022 8:29 AM (GMT -8)
I am not going to be much help, but did some reading about HCC, it's considered a rare form of cancer. People that get it usually have hepatitis B or C infections, autoimmune hepatitis, chronic alcohol use, diabetes & obesity.

Symptoms are abdominal discomfort/dissention, weight loss, jaundice, nausea, vomiting, persistent itching or fever. This info came from John Hopkins.

I know your world has just been turned upside & inside out, but remember it says, suspicious for, that's not a definite. Imuran can drive the numbers up & drs will either take them off of it permanently, or take them off until the numbers go back down.

It's the weekend, do something nice for yourself that you normally don't do, consider going for a massage. If you do a massage, drink plenty of water afterwards.

Take care & keep us posted.
Posted 1/31/2022 9:29 AM (GMT -8)
I just want to say don’t freak just yet. Not until you get a diagnosis from your doc who will probably call for more tests. Anything caught early always has hope. Wishing you all the best. Do follow StrayDog’s kind suggestion of doing something nice for yourself in the meantime . Something I do know is that UC meds in general can tend to impact the liver. It is why GI’s always include tests and monitor the liver when one is under a prescription. But then again everyone responds differently in terms of side effects too. Hold onto hope and positivity 🍀
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