<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

First of all thank you to all that responded it is so comforting to know
there are all of you out there! I am going to the Dr. on Thursday of
this week and I had more blood drawn on monday ( so that we can review
the results at the appointment. she drew another round of Liver function
's and also hepatitis 's I did read the recent article in "Gluten Free
Living " about Pancreatic function in Celiacs . so I am going to see
what the dr thinks.  Anyway here are a few quotes from the responses.

Laura


"AST & ALT (also known as SGOT & SGPT) are the transaminases & can be
elevated just from CD.

Many drugs also elevate transaminases--I'd be concerned if more than
twice normal value.

Alkaline Phosphatase is the other common "liver function test".  It can
be elevated by osteoporosis (bone, not liver source) also by liver
obstruction like primary biliary cirrhosis (an autoimmune liver disease
that's more  common in celiacs).

Also gamma GT--drugs or alcohol are common causes of abnormal.
I saw an article recently that suggested CD patients were more likely to
have viral hepatitis C, another cause of "liver function" elevation.
Authors speculate that hepatitis C predisposes to the development of
autoimmunity in general.

Mild elevation of liver functions is very common.  Often you just repeat
it & it returns to normal.

Consider drugs, hepatitis, autoimmune liver disease, CD itself.  Your GI
doctor would help evaluate if the workup gets esoteric.  " * "Laura I
would strongly advise against taking pancreatic enzymes as they are
imported and could derive from animals infected with mad cow disease.
This  is according to a news item last week. " * "You're right, Laura.
Steatorrhea (floating greasy stools) is often caused  by pancreatic
problems. There was good article on this in the last issue of  Gluten
Free Living. You might get a copy if you contacted Ann Whelan.

Also you'll find the following paragraph and some other info in the very
well documented article on celiac that I'm including here: -vance

"The diagnoses encountered in patients with treated celiac disease who
continue to have diarrhea were illustrated in a series of 78 patients
with celiac  disease treated with a glutenfree diet for at least 12
months in whom persistent diarrhea was observed in 13 patients (17
percent).[33] Further evaluation of these patients revealed a number of
causes of diarrhea including: Microscopic colitis and  Steatorrhea
secondary to pancreatic exocrine insufficiency."

"Are you absolutely sure not one molecule of gluten is getting into your
diet?" I don't think so  I have become so good at being gluten free that
it is second nature to me , it no longer feels hard to do


Laura: I was biopsy diagnosed with CD almost 20 years ago. After I went on
the GF diet for about six months, I still had symptoms. The doctor had me
take steroids for a number of months, but I still had symptoms. Finally, the
doctor prescribed pancreatic enzymes (Pancrease). After I started taking
them, I became asymptomatic. Since then, however, every time I have blood
work done I have an elevated liver function. The doctor says he doesn't know
why. I guess we just have to live with it.

  You might have CFIDS or ME.

Have you ever heard of CFIDS(Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome
or ME )?

It is an interesting syndrome albeit a mouthful.

It seems that yeast which is normally tolerated can develop into a sub-
clinical culture in the large intestine.  Uncontrolled Yeast and
undigested lactose seem to be a rather severe combination.

This overwhelms the immune system and leads to stress.

 It then manifests itself as problem in all areas as unrelated symptoms.
e.g.  tiredness, weakness, dizziness, headaches, alloydynia (sensitive
to touch) exhausted liver and kidneys, pains in joints and bones,
frequent urination, constipation and diahorrhaea, food intolerance and
malabsorption, loss of stamina, allergy, breathing difficulty, poor
response to increased exercise, changes in body temperature, hormonal
dysfunction(eg loss of sex drive), depressed brain function, impaired
short term memory, poor concentration(eg.  attention deficit), makes
time go by slowly, dehydration and thirst mimicking diabetes, also drop
in blood sugar levels, pins and needles, short term blood
pressure/fainting spells, leaky gut syndrome ,disorded sleep which is
unrefreshing, Chronic mild sinitis It may trigger dormant viruses which
are usually held in check by a healthy immune system, etc, etc.

 However it is not life threatening, all standard tests will come back
as negative and doctors cannot easily test for the condition.  Indeed
many refuse to accept it and falsely blame depression and stress.  It
seems that friends, relatives and doctors add to these problems by
piling on emotional pressure and expectation in the form of disbelief
and accusations of 'hypochondria'.  Also Antibiotics knock out key
microflora or bugs which control yeast making the problems worse.
Apparently most sugars make this worse e.g.  simple sugars from oranges,
chocolates, etc.

Other sources of yeast or fungi include mushrooms, wheat, alcohol  ,
coffee, tea, coca cola .

 Dairy of course provides  sugars such as lactose.

This  condition maybe triggered by a physical head injury or a viral
head injury and I suspect also from  an emotional head injury such as
a bereavement or a severely stressful event.

It is not caused by chronic hard work, stress or depression as some
would have you believe.


go to keyword "mercury poisoning" or heavy metal toxicity--you will be amazed
at the similarity in your symptoms.-


Last fall I had very high liver enzymes. I searched on the internet and
found a site on doing liver and gallbladder flushes. (With olive oil, lemon
juice, etc.)

I did one and passed many gallstones and my liver enzymes went down to
normal in a couple of weeks.

This was a surprise to me.  It was especially a surprise because I had my
gallbladder removed about ten years ago. I didn't realize that one still
grows gallstones that form in the tubes and get stuck in the tubes and the
liver.

If you are interested do a search for Hulda Clark's liver flushes. There is
also a email group.


You probably are eating too much protein . and next it may be your
kidney tests


> I'm not sure about the pancreatic insufficiency, but I
> can respond to elevated liver enzymes. Dr. Murray at
> Mayo Clinic in Rochester lists this as common in
> celiac disease. Recently, (since November) my liver
> enzymes climbed from normal to 10 times higher. I
> started my gf diet six weeks ago and as of yesterday,
> my liver enzymes have returned to normal.
>

  pancreatic insufficiency I have this problem and know of a good GF
enzyme supplement available at the health food store that did wonders
for me (cleared up a 3 yr. bout with diarrhea in a few days).   It's
called PANCREATIN 1300 by Solaray (tele.# 1-800-683-9640). *


> Hi - regarding the elevated liver function----I have gluten intolerance as
> well as cow protein and peanut intolerance...have had psoriasis for umpteen
> years...but since gluten and cow protein free, they have improved about
> 75% -most encouraging....the gastric specialist has been very up on my blood
> work and found the liver function elevated...did more tests to eliminate a few
> possabilities,and is leaning towards pernicious anemia...I have done part 1
> of the Schillings test which indicated the lower colon was not absorbing
> B12....part 2 will be done next week to see if the upper (small intestine
> etc) is or is not absorbing the B12.....I hope this is helpful to you.....it
> is a wonderful giant step to coping and wellness for me


> I had elevated liver function tests after 18 years on the gf diet.  It turned
> out to be autoimmune hepatitis.  I was treated with prednisone for 18 months
> and have been fine for about 2 years.  As celiacs we are predisposed to other
> autoimmune diseases.   This has to be treated right away.  Otherwise you feel
> sick all the time. good luck
>


Again thanks for the input I will post when I get an answer ( or a
reasonable facsimile there of) PS I hope I did okay composing a summary
,its my first Laura