Elevated Bilirubin

[Mazen]

I was taking Imuran at 150 mg, when I started feeling awful and very sick, as well as vomitting all the time. I did blood tests and they showed elevated Bilirubin (1.9). These are one of the liver blood tests. The other tests were normal.

The doctor said I was having a reaction to Imuran , causing liver toxicity, and so he lowered the dose to 50 mg. Now I'm fine, but blood tests always show a slightly elevated Bilirubin (1.4). the normal range is 0-1.2. The doctor says it's OK, unless the Bilirubin rises above 1.5.

Has anybody suffered something like this from taking Imuran? and what did your doctor advise?

 

[Brando]

bilirubin is basically a by-product of red blood cell destruction. it is a natural process to have some.. yours is a little high but as long as you don't start throwing up or develop yellowing skin especially in your fingers and nails or yellowing of the whites of your eyeballs (this is called jaundice) you should be ok if it is a tad bit elevated. it is just your liver having to work a little harder to process everything. however, this is for your doctor to decide so keep getting your tests done and ask him/her about it everytime you see the doc so you know what's going on.

if you drink alcohol, stop immediately. it is bad to drink with meds like these.

 

[Mazen]

Thanks Brando. I don't drink alcohol at all. Also I don't smoke