I am a 50 year old male and have had slightly elevated liver function
tests for 10 years. The past 18 months they have gone up to around 6 to 8
times normal levels (AST, ALT & GGT).  My PT and PTT are also slightly
elevated. I have recently been tested for hepatitis a, b and c and auto
imune hepatitis. I was tested for hep b and c two different ways. All
tests were negative. Had two ultrasounds and the 2nd showed slight
thickening of the wall of the gallbladder.  I had a CT scan that showed
normal except for some small lymph nodes on my diaphram.  A liver biopsy
showed hepatitis type signs with some liver damage. My symptoms are
recent and include some itching and slight discomfort in the liver area.
I was on over the counter pain relievers constantly for several years for
unrelated back pain. These were stopped 60 days ago and at the same time
I went on a diet and lost about 10 Lbs.  Liver function tests then went
down but started back up when diet was stopped. My other health is good
and I am not in any high risk catagories and have had no transfusions
except possibly as a infant when I had ceptosemia.  Just recently I was
tested for primary billary cirrhosis and Alpha 1 Antitrypson Deficiency.
Don't have these results yet.  I havn't been treated for anything yet and
I am afraid this thing will kill me before we figure out what it is.  
Any Ideas would be most appreciated.     Jim.

Did you take Tylenol for years? I'm told it is toxic to the liver.

: I am a 50 year old male and have had slightly elevated liver function
: tests for 10 years. The past 18 months they have gone up to around 6 to 8
: times normal levels (AST, ALT & GGT).  My PT and PTT are also slightly
: elevated. I have recently been tested for hepatitis a, b and c and auto
: imune hepatitis. I was tested for hep b and c two different ways. All
: tests were negative. Had two ultrasounds and the 2nd showed slight
: thickening of the wall of the gallbladder.  I had a CT scan that showed
: normal except for some small lymph nodes on my diaphram.  A liver biopsy
: showed hepatitis type signs with some liver damage. My symptoms are
: recent and include some itching and slight discomfort in the liver area.
: I was on over the counter pain relievers constantly for several years for
: unrelated back pain. These were stopped 60 days ago and at the same time
: I went on a diet and lost about 10 Lbs.  Liver function tests then went
: down but started back up when diet was stopped. My other health is good
: and I am not in any high risk catagories and have had no transfusions
: except possibly as a infant when I had ceptosemia.  Just recently I was
: tested for primary billary cirrhosis and Alpha 1 Antitrypson Deficiency.
: Don't have these results yet.  I havn't been treated for anything yet and
: I am afraid this thing will kill me before we figure out what it is.  
: Any Ideas would be most appreciated.     Jim.

The following may help!

About 7 years ago I also experienced elevated {*filter*} readings which
pointed to my liver and hepatitis.  Doctors could never determine the true
cause of my {*filter*} reading and nothing was done about it except that I could
no longer get life insurance.  (I had been taking naproxim, a muscle
relaxent, for a back injury for 5 years prior to the elevated {*filter*}
readings and I continued to take it.)  

Nothing happened until 19 months ago when I became very ill and lost 45
pounds.  Still my doctors could not determine what the cause was even though
during that time I had many ultra sounds, {*filter*} tests and several
biopsy's.

Then about 13 months ago one set of {*filter*} tests pointed to Autoimmune
Hepatitis (AH).  I was placed on Prednisone and immediately my {*filter*} readings
started to improve.  

Since then, I continue on Prednisone and continue to fight AH.

Lorne

Lorne, Thanks for the reply to my problem.  I was also on Naproxin for
about 3 years for back bain.  I was taking a double recomended over the
counter dose which was the same as my old prescription dose.  Does your
doctor think that the medicine could be related to your problems.?    Jim.

Rex,   I didn't take much tylenol.  I took mostly aspirin and Naproxin
(Aleve).  I took them continuously for 3 or 4 years.  My doctor said that
if that was my problem, my enzymes would go back to normal when I stopped
taking the meds.  They didn't so I don't know.    JIm.

says...

snip

A "toxic" hepatitis may be related to a number of compounds other than
the medicines that you may take. For instance, do you work with solvants,
paintings, vernishes, in a laundry, in a garage, a gas station, or more
generally with chemicals?

If you don't, you may suffer from a viral hepatitis. Here also, there are
hepatitis other than A, B, C, or AI (autoimune). Hepatitis D, E, F, G and
H are in the process of being described and little data are available on
these.

Another cause of hepatitis is the presence of a parasite but probably
this should have been seen by the MDs yet, considering the numbers of
exmainations that you underwent. This is also mostly true if you
travelled a lot in third world countries...

Good luck,

YD