I have been strikingly normal (LFT completely in the normal range, even when I feel cruddy) for several years. The week before last I had a flareup for 4-5 days. This was in the middle of a week where we were working in the hot weather, maybe not hydrating enough, but mainly stressed preparing for a cool workshop this last week, worrying about not being prepared, etc. Started to feel nauseous, couldn’t eat anything, got worse over a few days, started throwing up (dry heaves, nothing down there to bring up) went to the ER (an hour away, middle of the night), and LFT numbers were up. After three days on a round of broad spectrum antibiotics I started to be able to eat.
This is the first time I’ve had this. Other flareups have been more out of the blue, not associated with stress. Is this common? What’s your experience?
I have often seen this correlation in my husband. I watch it happen in him…
My husband is like clockwork. His liver flares when we travel, around holidays and during hard times at work…or when our kids are fighting
I have learned to let him stay home, take time away from the kids, and workout to keep stress managed.
Thanks for that article. The link between stress and inflammation is new information to me. It makes sense. And, it is useful to hear your story of your husband as an example. The big stressor is over for us, and now we’re in a rest and recovery mode. I’m much better than I was, and I’m due to see our gastro Dr tomorrow for a scope. At that time he plans to do a LFT to see if the numbers are down again.
MM, thanks for asking. A lot has happened since May 2017… :). I had a second flare in late June that year, and then an ERCP where they opened 4 of 5 strictures, then Pancreatitis. The ERCP – plus starting to take something to help sleep – really turned things around for me, for now. Much less itching, less restlessness (gabapentin was one of the new meds I tried). Sleep is such a big deal – I had been so numb-headed that I got lost in my own neighborhood a couple of times, was often too spacey to drive, etc.
And starting to be able to sleep opened up the possibility of working again. And so I just signed an agreement to work as a mental health counselor where I plan to specialize in helping people living with chronic illness, among other things.
But… the plan to start working was delayed by the need for colectomy/j-pouch surgery late last year (48 years with UC), and the recovery from that has been challenging at times. But at this point, I have begun to get a sense of how my altered system works, and what I can and can’t put in it.
So, overall, I seem to be doing pretty well right now ;), really, truly.
