PCOS/Insulin Resistance Support - Fatty liver?

I recently got the results back of an abdominal CT scan, and it was all normal, aside from the fact that they saw that I have a "fatty liver." Does anyone else have this, and if so does it mean I'm going to need a new liver???

My doctor didn't seem too perturbed about it, and she said it was another side effect of the PCOS, but I want to know if I'm going to die early because of something like this!!

gah.

Hello...

I believe Jennifer also has the "fatty liver" diagnosis. I myself dont, but I will go do some research on it and see what I can come up with for you ok. Might be a few days though...(Still battling the flu. Ugh!)

*hugs* :grouphug:

I have done some research, but have been unable to come up with much. Mostly what I found, were the causes and how to "treat" it (losing weight). I also found out that it can lead to cirriasis (spell?)

But I have no good leads :(

The glucophage can lead to liver damage and liver scan abnormalities also. I never had any liver issues despite being overweight until AFTER I took the glucophage for several months... then I started having elevated liver enzymes, and this spring, for the first time (I have an abdominal CT scan and an MRI the two years previous), on an abdominal they showed possible "fatty liver". But I had the CT scan in 2002, and the MRI in 2003, neither of which showed any indications of such a thing, and are both more detailed than an ultrasounds. I had the CT scans and MRIs because I started showing the elevated liver enzymes in 2002.
:mouse:

Hi there,

I read your posting and immediately identified with your anxiety. I was diagnosed with a fatty liver a couple of years ago. Of course, I can't offer medical advice, but I also searched the net and read through some medical journals at the hospital where I work. What I understand is that fatty liver is a benign condition but could lead to cirrhosis but it is rare. It is fat accumulating in the liver which is hormone related and quite common - especially for women. Weight loss can help the problem but weight loss is also harder because the liver is not functioning at its optimum because of the fat accumulation. So, exercise and eat food healthy for the liver (lemon is good, beets and greens) and lose weight is what I understand the keys to the problem to be.

I was completely freaked out by the diagnosis and the good folks here helped me (Jennifer and Noodles in particular). The liver is a vital organ and we can not live without it. It is also a very forgiving organ and can recover and rejuvenate itself which means a positive outcome for you and I. Skinny folks can also have fatty liver but it is said that 60% of overweight women (morbid obesity) have fatty liver but don't know about it because they haven't had an ultrasound or it hasn't been mentioned to them. Let me know how you are doing. I understand your fear because I have been there too. Just keep doing the healthy things that you are doing for yourself and chalk this up to another symptom of insulin resistance. At least we know the problem and its reality and we can work with our body to recover.

Hope that helps, you certainly aren't alone and I know how scary those words can be. Just keep looking after you and it will be alright - your liver enzymes are good I assume so that is good...

Jenaya

HI Ladies,

You may also want to look into taking a Milk Thistle Supplement. It is supposed to be protective for the liver, and helpful in encouraging the liver to regenerate new healthy tissue. My mom has had undiagnosed Hep C for probably 30 years - which should have been devastating for her liver - but has minimal liver scarring, which she attributes to her taking milk thistle for the last 10 years. I'm not sure how it would affect a fatty liver, but it is protective against cirrhosis from other casues (alcohol abuse, for example). Hope that helps!

Ciao!
Solarmama

I can't believe I've had this thread under my nose all this time and didn't 'see' it. I also have fatty liver. I was never told anything to do for it except lose weight. I recently asked another doctor about it and she said exercise will help. Lots of exercise! If you have insulin resistance also, exercise is vital to losing weight (moreso than a non insulin-resistant person).

I read The Fat Flush Plan, and while some people think it is a bunch of hooey, there are some good, solid ideas in it. Hopefully as your liver 'de-fats', you will find weight loss to be a bit easier. Good luck!

Many things can cause fatty liver, and yeah, it is relatively benign, but it is one of those "sentinel" type diagnoses; if you have a fatty liver, you should be careful about what you are eating/drinking/taking, and yes, it could lead to cirrhosis or other liver dysfunction.

One major cause of fatty liver is alcohol consumption. Even mild alcohol consumption can cause an increase in deposition of fat in the liver, and the effects, of course, are vasty compounded in the alcoholic. If you drink alcohol, even in moderation, it may be wise to stop and see if that affects it any.

Then there is the non-alcohol related fatty liver. This can be caused by drugs, toxins, or sometimes it can be completely idiopathic (we have no idea what causes it).

I was reading today about metformin and fatty liver. Scientists reversed fatty liver in mice with met. I will look for the article and post it in the PCOS Articles forum.

I was reading today about metformin and fatty liver. Scientists reversed fatty liver in mice with met. I will look for the article and post it in the PCOS Articles forum.

Here's the citation for it:

Lin HZ, Yang SQ, Chuckaree C, Kuhajda F, Ronnet G, Diehl AM: Metformin reverses fatty liver disease in obese, leptin-deficient mice. Nat Med 6:998–1003, 2000

I looked over the abstract; interesting stuff. It is important, however, to take this with a grain of salt; these mice were induced-obese not through forced feeding or a more "natural" approach, but through knocking out gene for leptin. The reason this is important is because leptin research is one of the areas that gives us a pointed lesson in how just because something happens one way in one animal model, doesn't mean it works the same way in the human. Millions were spent researching leptin for humans before it was decided that leptin truly only works in the mouse model.

It's still an interesting idea; it's surprising from the date of publication (over four years ago now), that this hasn't been pursued more deeply.

That is very interesting that they think metformin/glucophage would heal liver issues in humans since the drug carries a very strong warning that it may cause liver damage! I certainly never had ANY issues (barring a brief possible exposure to hepatitis A when I was in Eastern Europe in '89) with my liver until after I took the glucophage. As soon as they pulled me off of it, I started showing consistantly elevated liver enzymes (though they change with each test: one set will be elevated one time, the next test another set will be elevated and the ones that were elevated will be normal). Prior to the glucophage, I had a abdominal ultrasound and a CT scan that were both negative for everything. AFTER the glucophage, I had another abdominal ultrasound that showed possibly fatty liver.
I'm pretty well convinced that its from the glucophage.
:mouse:

Anonymouse, what can you do about it now?

I also started on gluphormine and have a fatty liver but I dont think its smart for me anymore.

How much id glupohormine helping in loosing weight?

I don't know what gluphormine is, so I can't tell you. My doctor took me off of the medication because it made me very sick. It was only after I was off the medication that the liver enzyme issue showed up. You'd need to talk with your doctor. They have not found any other medication to take the place of glucophage for me, so I don't take it. My insulin levels have come down, but that is due to exercise and some minor weight loss.

:mouse:

Anonymouse - did you take the brand Glucophage or the generic metformin? I was on the generic for awhile and got all kinds of progressively worsening gastrointestinal symptoms. I went to my doctor who took me off metformin and they cleared up. I am now taking Glucophage and don't have any symptoms except for a little gas. My liver enzymes are slightly elevated but I was told by an endocrinologist that this is not unusual with diabetics (this was before I took Glucophage or Lipitor, which also can damage the liver). Milk Thistle is supposed to be good for the liver. One caveat: try to ascertain that it is organic milk thistle because otherwise the pesticides can nullify the benefits.

I tried both Glucophage and the extended release. The initial trial was with glucophage the brand, because they were samples from the doctor. But, then we went to the metformin generic, and things didn't get any better with any of the types we tried. By the time they took me off of it in July, I was wearing my winter coat because I was freezing all the time, and the SMELL of food made me nauseated.
:mouse:

I too have a fatty liver that was just dx'd this past year. My dr said not to worry about it & as long as I eat healthy (even if I don't lose any weight) that I should be fine. She said it's very rare to have complications from a fatty liver.

I too tried Gluc. & couldn't take it b/c of the s/e's & it just didn't work for me. I'm now trying Actos but not sure if it's working. At least I have absolutely not side effects from it like w/ the gluc. though:)

Traci

I was diagnosed by several drs that I have fatty liver. I did not believe the 1st one so I went to others. It makes it so much harder to lose weight along with getting closer to 40. I also had pain in my liver which may or may not be related. It can become very serious if you do not loose weight so they tell me, but it has been so hard to do.

I too have fatty liver, also Multi focal focal nodular hyperplasia of the liver ( so its very sick, with enzyme levels at 1053 5 years ago instead of in the 30's). I am also an insulin resistant type 2 diabetic. I'm am still producing stacks of insulin, my body just wont use it. My new dr this week has put me on a strict very low carb diet to give both my liver and my pancreas a break, and said that I'll start losing weight faster.

I exercise for at least an hour 5 or more days a week, I am getting muscly, but the scales aren't budging. He said that until we stop my body having to produce insulin, I'll continue to have difficulties losing weight.

My husband was diagnosed today with fatty liver. Apparently his sister also has it. He is not seriously overweight (maybe 10 pounds), but has always had a belly. He has never been a drinker and stopped drinking any alcohol at all about 2 years ago, because of the effect it had on his body. He would be a different person for a week after he had had even just two glasses of wine.

He started taking a cholesterol lowering drug (Lescol sp?) about a month ago after his doctor suggested it following a physical. It made him lethargic (he was napping all the time), he lost his appetite and he felt a sharp pain were his liver was. His urine was also an orangish color. They did a sonogram for gall stone, but found nothing, but lab results came back and fatty liver was the diagnosis. He is supposed to go to see a specialist on Monday. Anyone have any information on specific diet? I read that he shouldn't have dairy (just soy), fatty or fried foods, and tons of raw vegetables and raw vegetable juices.

Wow, I know this is old, but I have the same diagnosis. However it's from being overweight. The doctor said weight loss would greatly help the situation.

I recently got the results back of an abdominal CT scan, and it was all normal, aside from the fact that they saw that I have a "fatty liver." Does anyone else have this, and if so does it mean I'm going to need a new liver???

My doctor didn't seem too perturbed about it, and she said it was another side effect of the PCOS, but I want to know if I'm going to die early because of something like this!!

gah.

I also have a Fatty Liver. I believe my RE (Reproductive Endocrinologist) said it is very common in PCOSer's, Diabetics and overweight people.
I did find this article that may be of interest to you all as well:
http://www.liverfoundation.org/db-select/articles/CatNonAlcy/1/1/ascend/Validated
and found this one too:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/nonalcoholic-fatty-liver-disease/DS00577

I was diagnosed with fatty liver about 15 years ago while on birth control and was taken off and things cleared up, it has been mentioned to me several times since then that I still have it but severity seems to vary significantly. My impression is the medical community even has a wishy washy opinion on it. Some feel it is necessary to treat, change meds, diet, monitor, etc and others just seem to blow it off as yeah you're fat and that happens. My personal feeling on it is do what you can to not make the situation worse and keep yourself informed.

I have a fatty liver also and trying to lose weight, but its slow. I have had a lot of blood tests and liver function tests and no abnormal liver function yet. I agree that its harder to lose weight because the liver is not doing such a hot job, but it can be done. My doctors doesn't seem to concerned about it so why should I be. As long as I eat healthy and exercise and do my best, thats all that can be done..bj

I'm one of the ones that was blown off! :wave: I had 3 doctors in a row tell me 'say, did anybody ever tell you that you have fatty liver?' :lol:

There are some good articles on fatty liver in the PCOS articles forum right above this one.

Hey ya all.
I ran across this article. My 7 year old daughter recently had blood work done and her liver ensymes were really high. The number was to be around 50 doc said and her's was over 200. She is to see a doctor in St Louis on Thursday. I have been reading and it seems like this is seen in those with diabetes or the such. I have checked the website on increased liver ensymes in children and have not come up with much. Do you all have anything about this increased liver ensymes in children or have you ever had as a child?
I have been really worried and the doc seems to be too. She said something about checking the blood for mono and hepatitis . She said if she had hepatitis she would be really sick and look sick. The weird thing is she has been a healthy child .Just the regular colds and tonsilitis and the such.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Shelley

Shelley, no offense meant but is she a heavy child? I have been told that just being overweight can cause it.

She is a big boned child . Maybe 10 pounds overweight . She is really tall like me who is 6 ft.
An update.
SHe had her biopsy. The doctor determined my the biopsy that it is deffinetly auto immune hepatitis. She is on prednisone and onother drug. She is doing pretty good considering . She goes for a follow up next week in St Louis.

SHelley

Hi Shelley I tried to respond to your PM, but wasn't able to. I have not heard of children having auto-immune hepatitis. I was diagnosed with this and Primary biliary Cirrhosis (PBC) about 3 1/2 yrs. ago. My biggest symptoms were pain over liver area, tons of yellow bile and a horrible rash all over my body that looked like disseminated shingles. Liver biopsy was done and read at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. I am stage 3 liver disease. I have never been a drinker or drug user and both of these conditions are cause unknown but tend to have a familial link. My mom died with liver failure in her 50's. I was put on a low carb diet by my hepatologist. I take glucophage and urso everday as well as prednisone. When I had lost the first 30 lbs, my liver enzymes were already down 4-fold and the doctor said I must have fatty liver disease for the enzymes to come down this great with weight loss. It is true that liver disease makes it harder to lose weight, but it can definitely be done. Even with my rotten liver, I have lost 86 lbs. on a low-carb diet plan. Wishing you the best with your daughter. There is lots of info. about auto-immune hepatitis on the internet and I have looked at a bunch of it.