Liver Disease - Symptoms
What were your symptoms associated with liver disease?
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What are the symptoms of liver disease?
Classic symptoms of liver disease include:
- nausea,
- vomiting,
- right upper quadrant abdominal pain, and
- jaundice (a yellow discoloration of the skin due to elevated bilirubin concentrations in the bloodstream).
Fatigue, weakness and weight loss may also be occur.
However, since there are a variety of liver diseases, the symptoms tend to be specific for that illness until late-stage liver disease and liver failure occurs.
Examples of liver disease symptoms due to certain conditions or diseases include:
- A person with gallstones may experience right upper abdominal pain and vomiting after eating a greasy (fatty) meal. If the gallbladder becomes infected, fever may occur.
- Gilbert's disease has no symptoms, and in an incidental finding on a blood test where the bilirubin level is mildly elevated.
- Individuals with cirrhosis will develop progressive symptoms as the liver fails.
Some symptoms are directly related to the inability of the liver to metabolize
the body's waste products. Others reflect the failure of the liver to
manufacture proteins required for body function and may affect blood clotting
function, secondary sex characteristics and brain function. Symptoms of
cirrhosis of the liver include:
- easy bruising may occur due to decreased production of clotting factors;
- bile salts can deposit in the skin causing itching;
- gynecomastia or enlarged breasts in men may occur because of an imbalance in sex hormones; specifically an increase in estradiol;
- impotence (erectile dysfunction, ED), poor sex drive and shrinking testicles are due to decrease in function of sex hormones;
- confusion and lethargy may occur if ammonia levels rise in the blood stream (ammonia is a waste product formed from protein metabolism and requires normal liver cells to remove it), ascites (fluid accumulation within the abdominal cavity) occurs because of decreased protein production; and
- muscle wasting may occur because of reduced protein production.
Additionally, there is increased pressure within the cirrhotic liver affecting blood flow through the liver. Increased pressure in the portal vein causes blood flow to the liver to slow down and blood vessels to swell. Swollen veins (varices) form around the stomach and esophagus and are at risk for bleeding.
See what others are saying
I was on an experimental drug at the time and was receiving routine blood tests. The research facility notified me that my Bilirubin count had dropped severely and to go and have a hep screen done. The test was negative twice and my GI believed that it was the drug and would the problem would fix itself. I then turned yellow and it was decided that I had auto-immune hepatitis. I have been at stage four cirrhosis and am on a variety of drugs including diuretics, antibiotics, and immune system suppressants. I will eventually require a transplant but for now am not sick enough to make the list. I was a non smoker and very light drinker.
Just discovered that i have hepatitis B and chronic hepatitis B as well. I believe I've had it since 1992 and survived 19 years without treatment. I intend living another 20 and more. I'm not prepared to let this get the better of me. I will treat the disease. I am currently infectious and very sensitive to those around me and my loved one. Wish me luck and keep me in your prayers for my journey ahead.
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