oddity Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 For the last couple of years I've been on a pretty high dose of Prozac (90mg, now down to 20mg), and was on Lithium for about a year. My recent urine/blood test results showed somethings strange - my bilirubin is high, indicating that something's not right with my liver. (Basically, I have a mild version of jaundice.) All other liver functions look normal though. I reviewed my blood work for the last few years and until now it's always been in the normal range. Has this happened to anyone? I don't have health insurance right now, so I go to a community health clinic and see mostly interns/brand new doctors. They're stumped about this, but I'm assuming it's something to do with medications. I've cut out all alcohol in case that was impacting anything. Thanks for any info you might have. I've had MI issues my whole life, and will probably need to be medicated forever...so it's scary that this could be hurting my liver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muriel Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 Lithium doesn't go through your liver, so that's not the culprit. Prozac isn't known for being that hard on your liver, though 90mg is a large dose. I'd want to get the blood test redone (sometimes the values can be wonky for no reason) and see if your clinic docs can talk to someone or refer you out to a specialist. There's a good chance it's not med-related at all. If you were drinking, it could have been that more than anything. Or, it could be something completely unrelated. Or it could be nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 Yes, I'd honestly be highly suspect that it is the lithium, though as muriel points out, prozac is a pretty high dose of whatnot. If you are drinking that alone can cause jaundice, so it could be as simple as staying on pmeds and cutting out the drinking, etc. I'd say repeat the test first in case it's a fluke, then stop drinking, then, if you can possibly find it, more specialty care somehow through a sliding fee scale. Honestly, none of the meds you are on are known for being hard on the liver. Drinking IS known for this. Anna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blart752 Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 Yah, my bilirubin as 2.1 lasttime i checked. It was elevated and they can't figure how or why. Exactly how high was your bilirubin a little over 1.5 i guess is acceptable(not sure the cut off number), but i guess they said i had gilbert's disease(syndrome) where your bilirubin is elevated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oddity Posted November 10, 2011 Author Share Posted November 10, 2011 Thanks guys. I'm (almost completely) cutting out alcohol, and am going to be retested in a few months. (Mine tested at around 1.5, up from 0.2 last year.) Jaundice is listed as a rare side effect of Prozac, but hopefully having cut down the dose significantly will mitigate that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blart752 Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Yeah, I mean I'm not a doctor, but I really wouldn't worry about a bilirubin number that low, even if it is a tid bit elevated. Like i said im not a doctor, so take that with a grain of salt, even if it turns out to be true or correct when your doctor talks to you about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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