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Liver Ultrasound

So, pretty much out of the blue, my Infliximab infusions have been dropped back to 8 weeks, and I have to get a liver ultrasound.

One of my liver enzymes has been elevated for a while, but was told that it wasn't really a problem, and as far as I'm aware, it hasn't got any worse.

What should I expect from the ultrasound?
 
Oh I had one when I had extremely high liver enzyme readings from methotrexate.

Don't try and worry about the ultrasound though. I've had a few looking for potential kidney stones too. There's no prep for it. You just go in, they put some jelly on your stomach and then they prod around a bit. They randomly ask you to hold your breath so they can capture the image and take measurements of your liver.

They'll probably look at your kidneys etc too. It can be a little uncomfortable when they look at the kidneys as they push quite hard into your rib cage. But nothing too bad and it only takes about 20 minutes for the whole ultra sound.

Mine was fine and hopefully yours will be too! Hope this helps!
 
Ultrasound is probably the easiest test ever! It's exactly the same as when pregnant women get one. You expose your belly, they put jelly on you and rub the thingy around, take some photos and you're done! You might want to bring some wet wipes though, because the paper towels they give you to clean up with aren't great.
 
I had an ultrasound on my legs/groins once. It was so awkward to have the goop rubbed into my groin. I'm a fan of the ultrasound though because you don't have to prep... maybe I'll ask if they can do a liver ultrasound for me instead of the liver MRI... I would imagine I'll have to drink crap for an MRI. Good luck creepy!
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Katiesue: I've got some benign nodules on my liver, so I had an MRI of my liver a few months ago, and I did not have to drink anything for it. The only prep was no food or drink after 10 PM the previous evening. It was pretty easy except for one thing - they did inject contrast through an IV at one point during the MRI, and I had a bad reaction to it (it's a different contrast than the stuff they use during CT scans). It made me super dizzy to the point where I started to panic because I was going to pass out, so I made them stop the test so they could pull me out and calm me down. The dizziness passed rather quickly, fortunately, and after a few minutes I was calmed down enough to finish the MRI.

I haven't yet had an ultrasound of my liver but I have one scheduled in May. Good to hear that it's an easy test.
 
Ultrasound is a dawdle compared to some of the tests I've read about on here. They usually want you to have a full bladder. And the jelly is really cold!
 
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