One month blood work

[andrew856]

Just got my results from one month of harvoni and good news...not detected!! Only things abnormal on the results were alt ast and creatinine. Alt:75 ast:92 can anyone help me understand what these two numbers are? Got anxious to hear the news and drove to pick up the results before the doctor called to go over them with me. Prior to treatment these two numbers were alt:99 ast:90. However this is great news considering I did not expect to be  undetected after only one month. As far as the treatment goes I am on harvoni only and it has been a BREEZE to say the least. I'm sorry to read about some of your negative responses to the drugs but I am here to tell you this is nothing compared to what I went through four years ago with an interferon based treatment plan. The only obvious side effect I'm having to the drugs are inconsistent  bowels maybe some fatigue.

[its time]

hi andrew856... just wanted to say congrats !! great news on 1 month !!! must feel so good mentally.... 
the ast and alt.. I believe still have to do with the liver... but that's all I got... I'm sure others will be able to give you the information you are looking for ...

[KimInTheForest]

Congrats on your Undetected, Andrew!! Great feeling to see those words in print, isn't it?

ALT is considered a measure of liver inflammation. At least yours is going down. And by end of treatment I would expect it to be well down in the normal range. AST is another liver enzyme. That too will almost certainly drop to normal by end of treatment.

Go celebrate that Undetected! 
kim

[AussieRosa]

Congratulations, Andrew. Wishing you the best for SVR and a hep c free future. Keep us informed on how you go with it all.

[Lynn K]

ALT or alanine transaminase and AST or aspartate transaminase as enzymes produced by the liver when it is repairing itself from injury.

Have you ever heard of someone going to the doctor complaining they had some chest pain days prior and the doctor says they suffered a mild heart attack? This is because they were tested for heart enzymes which are made by the heart muscle when it is repairing itself from injury so this is similar with liver enzymes ALT & AST.

For those of us with hepatitis c our livers are under daily attack so most of us have slightly elevated liver enzymes all the time. Anything which insults the liver will cause a rise in liver enzymes like drinking too much or taking excessive amount of Tylenol as well as having a fatty liver. Also certain chemical exposures and other infections that target the liver.

Your ALT & AST levels decreasing are likely a sign that your liver is experiencing less damage from hep c but you could still have other reasons for slightly elevated liver enzymes.

Most patient become not detected for hep c by 4 weeks these new medicines are amazing. I too treated with interferon based treatment 3 times with no decrease in viral load. Even with having cirrhosis for over 8 years and being a 3 time null responder to interferon based treatment I was cured of hep c by Harvoni.

You will be cured too!

reference:
https://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/alt/tab/test/

AST and ALT are considered to be two of the most important tests to detect liver injury, although ALT is more specific to the liver than is AST. Sometimes AST is compared directly to ALT and an AST/ALT ratio is calculated. This ratio may be used to distinguish between different causes of liver damage and to help recognize heart or muscle injury.

Liver Panel:

https://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/liver-panel/tab/test/#what

From the Mayo Clinic:

Many diseases and conditions can contribute to elevated liver enzymes. Your doctor determines the specific cause of your elevated liver enzymes by reviewing your medications, your signs and symptoms and, in some cases, other tests and procedures.

More common causes of elevated liver enzymes include:

    Certain prescription medications, including statin drugs used to control cholesterol
    Drinking alcohol
    Heart failure
    Hepatitis A
    Hepatitis B
    Hepatitis C
    Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
    Obesity
    Over-the-counter pain medications, particularly acetaminophen (Tylenol, others)

Other causes of elevated liver enzymes may include:

    Alcoholic hepatitis (severe liver inflammation caused by excessive alcohol consumption)
    Autoimmune hepatitis (liver inflammation caused by an autoimmune disorder)
    Celiac disease (small intestine damage caused by gluten)
    Cirrhosis (early stages of liver scarring)
    Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection
    Dermatomyositis (inflammatory disease that causes muscle weakness and skin rash)
    Epstein-Barr virus
    Gallbladder inflammation (cholecystitis)
    Heart attack
    Hemochromatosis (too much iron stored in your body)
    Hypothyroidism
    Liver cancer
    Mononucleosis
    Pancreatitis (pancreas inflammation)
    Polymyositis (inflammatory disease that causes muscle weakness)
    Toxic hepatitis (liver inflammation caused by drugs or toxins)
    Wilson's disease (too much copper stored in your body)

[BillT]

That's great news Andrew.Congratulations.Did you have a fibroscan or fibrosure test done?

[andrew856]

Is that the F scale test? I know it was less then F1 I think like in the twenties prior to treatment. Can't be sure of the number since I do not have it in front of me.

[Lynn K]

Sounds like you maybe had a fibroscan. They use a devise that they move around your abdomen that does a sort of thump to measure how stiff your liver is that is assigned a numeric value which is then converted to a F score or fibrosis score. Fibrosis is basically how much scaring your liver has. F4 or cirrhosis is the highest F score. My cirrhosis was diagnosed with liver biopsy in Jan 08 but me doctor did a fibroscan in Oct 2014 incase my insurance wanted something more recent. I was 27.

Here is a reference to the conversion for fibroscan. The score card is near the bottom

http://hepatitiscnewdrugresearch.com/fibroscan-results-the-scoring-card.html

[SomewhereinTX]

Andrew, its nice to hear that it is working is it not?

Just got my 4 week results  back, labs were taken actually at 3 weeks and 4 days into treatment.
Undetected viral load and got a number for my AST (53) only.
I have to learn more about what it all means and don't know my prior numbers a info from those in my Drs. Office is like having to drag it out of them, barely got that one number.
Thus it is not known to me if they are dropping.

As others have said here I am sure they will continue to drop as treatment continues and you will see that soon enough.

[Philadelphia]

Andrew, to give you an idea of what your ASL and ALT can do, have a look in my sig below. My AST and ALT were both over 100 when I started treatment. Now, nearly a year after I finished, they are 15 and 23. Completely normal. My liver is still scarred and damaged, but it's not being assaulted from hep c any more.

There are a number of reasons why your ALT/AST might be elevated. The drs will be looking for a downward progression and looking at your numbers over time.

[BillT]

Lynn,When I had mine done the other day he did it between the first and second rib.He showed me how the machine tells him when he's got sweet spot.I wish I could explain it better but you'd have to see it.

[Lynn K]

Yeah good point I don't recall the exact area they used the probe of the machine but yeah not entire abdomenjust near liver and yes you probably recall better than I mostly lower right rib area

I have had a lot of medical testing so just not paying enough to attention to specifics I guess.