Painfulbiopsies, head aches, HRT

[Guest guest]

Hi All!

Gonna take on several messages at once here.

First the subject of painful Biopsies. I have had only one liver

biopsy, but have been threw over a dozen (collectively) on my uterus,

ovaries, vagina, upper and lower intestines, and stomach. None of

which were real fun. My liver biopsy was the only real painful one I

had. Yet I still blame it on the inflammation at the time. I agree

with you Jerry on it being the capsule and surrounding tissue,

because yes I remember the liver has no nerves. But remember it does

have a very large ligament, and I beleive the biopsy [if accidently

pushed through] the ligament could be quite painful once the numbing

they do wears off. That is when my pain started, as things 'thawed'

and wore off. During the biopsy itself, was painless, and very quick

as you say. I also beleive biopsies are like shots or blood draws.

It all depends on the person doing it. You know how you can have

your blood drawn 10 times in a row without incident, then the next

one is pure trouble? I think some people are skilled at it, and some

aren't. (Hee, hee, hee! Mine will not be done by the same guy so I

have a 50/50 chance it goes great!)

As far as head aches go, I do beleive they are related to the

disease. How, I am not totally sure, but do buy my doctors

explanation. When I was admitted when my LFT's were so bad (as I

explained in previous post), I had the worst head ache I have ever

had in my life. I've had migraines when I had hormone trouble, but

nothing like I had that night. As I said, the doctors were stunned I

was not in a coma, let alone encepholopathy (they had the tests

redone, then took another blood sample and ran it again to make sure

it wasn't a mistake) so they beleived the excess 'toxins' and

bilirubin in my bloodstream had manifested itself in the way of the

head ache instead of enceph. or coma. Makes sense to me. When ever

my LFT's go up, I can expect the headaches to return.

Anita- on the HRT. when I was first Dx, they did make me drop HRT

for a time, to give my poor liver a break. After six months, they

allowed me to go on an estrogen patch. Was on that for a few years,

now they allow me some of my pills back. The patch wasn't quite as

good as the pills, though I attribute the hot flshes not totally

subsiding to the steroids. But patches are also better in a way too

because it is a more steady release of the hormone, vs the high and

low drops you get with pills. It was a help, and made my emotions

stay on an even keel. Now I take an estrogen/testosterone mix pill

and prometrium 10 days a month. I LOVE that prometrium, when I take

them I am so mentally 'ON' it's not funny - wish I could take it

every day! If you find they won't let you have pills any more, ask

if you can try a patch, and have them monitor your LFT's a little

closer in the beginning weeks to see if it hurts them. A patch still

gets 'processed' through the liver, but has a much less impact on it

than digesting the pills. (Jerry could probably explain the patch vs

pill effect on the liver - has something to do with that whole 'half

life' lecture)

Oh, and Jerry, hope you aren't foregoing the underware around the

snakes! Lol (My bad)

Lastly - on to my lovely day yesterday. Had one of what I call my

liver episodes. Bad timing. My daughters have a NEW Years Eve party

every year - have since they were very little. (Was my way of

knowing when they got older, like in high school, that I would know

where my children were and that they were safe.) When I have my

little episodes, I get a lot of right side pains, and the fatigue

becomes phenomenol (sp?). Was an exhausting evening. It is like a

feeding frenzy with all of these girls. Couldn't get much help from

the lovely husband, he was too busy playing foosball and playstaion 2

with my daughters fiance. (What a man.) Oh wait a minute, he did

make sure to clean his garage before all of those teen age girls came

over. Wouldn't want those girls to see a dirty tablesaw ot lathe now

would we? Men, can't live with them..... What is that

saying?.......It is hard to soar with the eagles,.......when you live

with what? I just was feeling bad because I couldn't do nearly as

much as I usually do. But amazingly, no one really seemed to notice,

and the New Year came and went anyway. A great time was had by all.

Love to all!

CArole K