Guest guest Posted August 4, 2000 Report Share Posted August 4, 2000 Subject: Itching/Alk Phos I read elsewhere that the blood test that closely correlates with itching due to PSC is Alk Phos, maybe GGT. I read here it might be the Bilirubin. For all of you itchers, what are your lab results of those 3 when you are itching? Can anyone shed some light on this? Thanks, , I have itching. My alk phos is 667, my bili is in normal range. They are'nt measuring my GGT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 4, 2000 Report Share Posted August 4, 2000 In a message dated 8/4/00 6:46:53 AM Pacific Daylight Time, patmakane@... writes: > I read elsewhere that the blood test that closely correlates with > itching due > to PSC is Alk Phos, maybe GGT. I read here it might be the Bilirubin. > For all of you itchers, what are your lab results of those 3 when you > are itching? Can anyone shed some light on this? Thanks, , My alk phos is chronically elevated to the 400-500 range but my itching is generally controlled by Cholestyramine. It is when my bilirubin exceeds about 2.5 that my itching gets unbearable and must resort to more drastic measures. My hepatologist also explained that it is the backed up bile (essentially bilirubin) that gets absorbed into the circulatory system that effects the nerve receptors which cause the puritis. --Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 4, 2000 Report Share Posted August 4, 2000 > I read elsewhere that the blood test that closely correlates with > itching due > to PSC is Alk Phos, maybe GGT. I read here it might be the Bilirubin. > For all of you itchers, what are your lab results of those 3 when you > are itching? Can anyone shed some light on this? Is this true? Thanks, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 5, 2000 Report Share Posted August 5, 2000 > I read elsewhere that the blood test that closely correlates with > itching due > to PSC is Alk Phos, maybe GGT. I read here it might be the Bilirubin. > For all of you itchers, what are your lab results of those 3 when you > are itching? Can anyone shed some light on this? Thanks, Hi , I've just joined in with this group and now have an excuse to jump in and start posting. My name is , I'm 22 and was diagnosed with PSC this christmas (nice gift eh?). So to help you with your question, my alk phos varies but on average about 600, once 818, and my GGT, the only time it was taken, was 336. My Billirubin is around 18 but since you guys seem to have MUCH lower numbers I'm wondering if it's being measured at in different scale (Maybe someone could let me know), I don't get jaundice but I itch extremely but not if I take 4 doses of cholestyramine a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 5, 2000 Report Share Posted August 5, 2000 Hi , My guess is that your labs are reported in Système Internationale (SI) units. (The American system generally uses mass per unit volume, while SI uses moles per unit volume. For instance for glucose 100 mg/dL = 5.55 mmol/L while for total cholesterol 100 mg/dL = 2.6 mmol/L). For bilirubin the normal range in SI units is <22 (less than 22). I got this value from http://home1.inet.tele.dk/ordsmed/MetteBloodTest.html where DenverD has posted the normal ranges in SI units for most labs related to a diagnose of PSC (along with the test result history of Mette, his wife, who was recently dx'ed with PSC). In his on-line article " Interpretation of Lab Test Profiles " , Ed Uthman, MD (http://www.neosoft.com/~uthman/lab_test.html) has a brief discussion (3rd paragraph) about the difference in units. Tim P.S. Just before my transplant my bilirubin did hit 18 in the US units. But at that level it is VERY obvious to the casual observer that jaundice has set in. --- lucier.wombwell@... wrote: > My name is , I'm 22 and was diagnosed > with PSC this christmas (nice gift eh?). > So to help you with your question, my alk phos varies but on > average about 600, once 818, and my GGT, the only time it was > taken, was 336. My Billirubin is around 18 but since you guys > seem to have MUCH lower numbers I'm wondering if it's being > measured at in different scale (Maybe someone could let me > know), I don't get jaundice but I itch > extremely but not if I take 4 doses of cholestyramine a day. __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 5, 2000 Report Share Posted August 5, 2000 < My name is , I'm 22 and was diagnosed with PSC this christmas (nice gift eh?). So to help you with your question, my alk phos varies but on average about 600, once 818, and my GGT, the only time it was taken, was 336. My Billirubin is around 18 but since you guys seem to have MUCH lower numbers I'm wondering if it's being measured at in different scale (Maybe someone could let me know), I don't get jaundice but I itch extremely but not if I take 4 doses of cholestyramine a day. > Welcome to the group . My alk phos is 667 was 857. My bili was at it's high 2.8 but now is .4 but I still itch alot. Questran works to relieve it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 5, 2000 Report Share Posted August 5, 2000 Welcome , Sorry to see another such young person diagnosed with this disease. I can relate to your " Christmas Present " Phil was sent to the hospital Dec 23, 1998 and sent home on the 24th with an IV pump until the 28th when he had his nightmare ERCP which diagnosed him with PSC and landed him in the hospital for 10 days. Peg, wife of Phil (57), UC 30 years, dx PSC 12/98, listed-status 3-UCLA-2/2000, living Los Angeles suburbs, CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 6, 2000 Report Share Posted August 6, 2000 On Sat, 5 Aug 2000 06:02:14 -0700 (PDT), Romlein wrote: >DenverD has posted the normal ranges in SI units for most labs >related to a diagnose of PSC but it should be noted that the " normal ranges " quoted are for the particular lab that did Mette's blood work.. the " normal ranges " can change from lab to lab, so should ask HER lab for their " normal ranges " .. DenverD: husband of Mette (44), UC '73, dx PSC 6/2000 alive in Denmark <www.Texan.dk> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.