Non alcholic Fatty Liver Disease

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endermako
endermako Posts: 787 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So for a few weeks I've been having some fatigue issues. I went to my doctor and after running some tests and an ultrasound I've been diagnosed with NAFL. I'm being referred to a liver specialist to assess how bad the damage is, but for now I will be continuing my weight loss journey just like usual. Has anyone been able to completely recover from this? It sucks that this is giving me problems after I've already lost over 10% of my body weight, but there isn't much I can help about that.

Any advice or any stories of reversing the damage is much appreciated.

Replies

  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
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    I have a friend who had great success with some modified version of the ketogenic diet to treat her NAFLD, might be worth checking out and talking over with your doctor.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,598 Member
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    I too have had friends who were put on types of low carb diets to deal with fatty liver disease. Talk to doctor, maybe see dietitian.
  • endermako
    endermako Posts: 787 Member
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    I'm hoping after I talk to the liver specialist that my nutritionist can set me up with a plan. I was hoping someone had success of fully reversing any signs of NAFL.
  • endermako
    endermako Posts: 787 Member
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    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    firecat1987 wrote: »
    So for a few weeks I've been having some fatigue issues. I went to my doctor and after running some tests and an ultrasound I've been diagnosed with NAFL. I'm being referred to a liver specialist to assess how bad the damage is, but for now I will be continuing my weight loss journey just like usual. Has anyone been able to completely recover from this? It sucks that this is giving me problems after I've already lost over 10% of my body weight, but there isn't much I can help about that.

    Any advice or any stories of reversing the damage is much appreciated.

    do they know what caused it? I would keep up with the weight loss and have them also refer your to a registered dietitian who specializes in things like this. do you have high cholesterol? insulin resistance or diabetes? for some a low carb diet may help but it depends on the cause. for some a low fat diet may be needed. I have a genetic defect where my liver cannot produce fats and cholesterol efficiently so I have to do a low fat diet.

    finding the cause and what the damage is and if it can be reversed would be the first step.since NAFL can be caused by many things its not going to be the same for everyone. so what works/worked for one may not another

    The only link that I have currently to the cause is obesity. I've been at 30+% body fat for about a decade, I didn't ever get to morbidly obese though. My highest weight was 192lbs with a height of 5'4. But I didn't start having symptoms until I had lost weight oddly enough. When i got down to 165 the extreme fatigue started. I have no other symptoms. I have no other precursors like high cholesterol or diabetes. I've actually brought all of those down based on my quarterly bio metric screenings at work. My recent Hemoglobin A1C was normal so no diabetes.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    firecat1987 wrote: »
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    firecat1987 wrote: »
    So for a few weeks I've been having some fatigue issues. I went to my doctor and after running some tests and an ultrasound I've been diagnosed with NAFL. I'm being referred to a liver specialist to assess how bad the damage is, but for now I will be continuing my weight loss journey just like usual. Has anyone been able to completely recover from this? It sucks that this is giving me problems after I've already lost over 10% of my body weight, but there isn't much I can help about that.

    Any advice or any stories of reversing the damage is much appreciated.

    do they know what caused it? I would keep up with the weight loss and have them also refer your to a registered dietitian who specializes in things like this. do you have high cholesterol? insulin resistance or diabetes? for some a low carb diet may help but it depends on the cause. for some a low fat diet may be needed. I have a genetic defect where my liver cannot produce fats and cholesterol efficiently so I have to do a low fat diet.

    finding the cause and what the damage is and if it can be reversed would be the first step.since NAFL can be caused by many things its not going to be the same for everyone. so what works/worked for one may not another

    The only link that I have currently to the cause is obesity. I've been at 30+% body fat for about a decade, I didn't ever get to morbidly obese though. My highest weight was 192lbs with a height of 5'4. But I didn't start having symptoms until I had lost weight oddly enough. When i got down to 165 the extreme fatigue started. I have no other symptoms. I have no other precursors like high cholesterol or diabetes. I've actually brought all of those down based on my quarterly bio metric screenings at work. My recent Hemoglobin A1C was normal so no diabetes.

    did you take any meds in the past? like nsaids(motrin,tylenol) in excess? or any illegal drugs. not trying to pry or accuse you of anything but these things can cause NAFL too.same with some antibiotics like tetracycline https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4888072/ also maybe get a genetic test as its possible it may be a defect in a gene causing it as well https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/non-alcoholic-fatty-liver-disease#genes

    They told my sister she had NAFL disease and that was more than 10 years ago. she hasnt had no issues with it in years but she did nothing different so I dont know why its not an issue now compared to back then, she didnt change her diet,she didnt lose weight,etc. I was obese for more than 15 years and for me I dont have a fatty liver even though my liver doesnt process fats and cholesterol like it should.

    were your liver enzymes high? if so did they say how high? as for not having issues until you lost weight. same here once I lost weight I started to have more symptoms of things compared to when I was obese,which to me is odd. I know for some when they lose a lot of weight their cholesterol goes up, so not sure if it affects the liver or not Im sure it does as it affects cholesterol. so maybe over time it will straighten itself out.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    firecat1987 wrote: »
    I'm hoping after I talk to the liver specialist that my nutritionist can set me up with a plan. I was hoping someone had success of fully reversing any signs of NAFL.

    see a registered dietitian instead. especially if the nutritionist isnt an RD as well.and RD is more qualified(has to be licensed) and is backed by the AMA(american medical assoc.) where a nutritionist is not.
  • Noreenmarie1234
    Noreenmarie1234 Posts: 7,493 Member
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    Are you still overweight? I have worked with many patients who had NAFLD and reversed it within a few years of getting to and maintaining a healthy weight.
  • RAinWA
    RAinWA Posts: 1,980 Member
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    I had NAFLD - lost about 1/2 my body weight and my liver is now just fine. I did do keto for the majority of my weight loss but I have no idea whether it was just losing weight or keto or some combination of the two that fixed it.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
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    might want to look into WFPB as another option.
  • RunsWithBees
    RunsWithBees Posts: 1,508 Member
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    About 5 years ago during a routine blood test my doctor noticed some of my liver enzymes were elevated so he ordered a full liver panel. He found that my ALT & AST numbers were in the high 50’s and 60’s. I rarely drink alcohol and turned up negative for viruses, all my other numbers were fine. I had a bmi of 30 at the time and I used to get a dull ache on my right side just under the ribcage (where my liver is) and it seemed to be increasing in frequency and intensity. Everything pointed to the beginnings of NAFLD. I already knew I needed to lose weight but this gave me the incentive I needed to get my act together and actually do it. My doctor certainly was on board with me losing weight and he said to retest in 5 months.
    I ended up losing 43 lbs over 10 months by eating less (no special diet, just eating less and also drinking more water) and exercising for the first time in my life. I lost at the rate of about a pound per week. At the 5 month retest I was about halfway through my weight loss and bmi of 27 and my AST & ALT numbers were now in the 30’s... lower but not quite normal yet.
    My doc retested after another 5 months, at this point I had lost my excess weight and was at a bmi of 23.3 and my AST & ALT enzymes were in the low 20’s and high teen’s... right smack where they should be! And I completely stopped having the dull aches in my right side!
    I often hear people say that bmi is a useless, inaccurate measurement for individuals... but in my case it correlated *exactly* with my liver enzyme tests and this was a perfectly objective way to measure my progress. In my case, my excess weight and sedentary lifestyle were causing liver damage, luckily it was still reversible at that point. Every year my doctor tests my levels and ever since I’ve maintained a healthy bmi & remained active, the tests have all been normal. I know how to eat better now and I’ve become a runner. Just sharing my personal experience, definitely follow your own doctor’s advice :)
  • endermako
    endermako Posts: 787 Member
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    My liver enzymes for both alt and ast are in the 170’s up from two weeks ago when only the alt was elevated with a 88. I don’t do any excessive pain medications and I only have a drink maybe once a quarter. So for me I think it’s just because I’ve been un healthy weight wise for so long. I went from 192 to 165 and I keep losing. I just hope nothing gets worse
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    firecat1987 wrote: »
    My liver enzymes for both alt and ast are in the 170’s up from two weeks ago when only the alt was elevated with a 88. I don’t do any excessive pain medications and I only have a drink maybe once a quarter. So for me I think it’s just because I’ve been un healthy weight wise for so long. I went from 192 to 165 and I keep losing. I just hope nothing gets worse

    just have them retest every so often and see if they improve. you can try either a low carb diet or a low fat one and see what happens I suppose.something has to be up though to cause them to raise that much. so hope you get it figured out soon
  • endermako
    endermako Posts: 787 Member
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    Hello everyone, so my ultrasound was normal. My liver specialist ran additional test and one of them came back positive for lupus. I'm waiting for my doctor to call me back to discuss but atleast the big question is answered. Thank you all for the support :) I'm not sure what's next or what the treatment is but I hope I can pull through it all.
  • finleycats
    finleycats Posts: 7 Member
    edited July 2018
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    Have they checked your thyroid? My brother, fiance, and myself have NAFLD that was triggered by the thyroid. Many doctors for whatever reason don't check that. Once we received thyroid meds the numbers got back into range. I still have fatty liver (from being obese), but the liver numbers are in range. Both my brother and fiance no longer have NAFLD.

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