I’ve been taking rebif since the end of September and recently had some routine blood test to see how things were getting on. My ALT came back as 288 which my nurse said it should be around 25 so I’ve been told to come off rebif completely.
I’m now having to have a blood test every week until they’re at a suitable level but I believe in not starting on new treatment until my levels are back to normal.
Is there anything I can do to get these levels down quicker?? My most recent blood test is now down to 266 so it’s only coming down very slowly and I want to start on new treatment quickly!
Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do to make your liver return to normal quickly. It’s just a case of letting it come back to normal as slowly as it likes. Obviously, you should have been told to be careful about taking other drugs that are metabolised by the liver while you’re waiting. In particular, stay away from paracetamol and ibuprofen. If you get a headache, take aspirin instead. And don’t drink too much alcohol.
Saying that, I had raging AST/ALT levels from Tysabri and went on a big holiday and I wasn’t about to not drink at all. Apart from being told by my neurologist to go straight to a hospital if I became extremely ill (he said if I show signs of liver failure without explaining how that would materialise!), I drank pretty much as normal. In fact I’ve had hepatitis three times from drug side effects and not stopped drinking - just been a bit more careful. Each time, my blood tests have shown it return to normal sooner or later. The liver is really a very resilient organ.