Could I be dying from liver disease?

Question

For several months I have had loose bowel movements, loose bowel movement with an oily substance, dark green firm movements and nausea has accompanied this along with weight loss and fatigue. I am unemployed and do not have insurance. I am a bit worried since it has not gone away and I am 40 yrs old. Could it be cancer or liver disease?

Answer 1

That sounds like Celiac Disease. The oily substance is undigested fat in the stool. There are other similar conditions so get to a doctor.

Answer 2

You should be seeing a gastroenterologist. You could become dehydrated and your electrolyte balance can be off
if this has gone on for a long time.

There are free clinics that patients can go to...if you contact
your local hospital, they should be able to direct you to one.
Some hospital will also take patients that cannot pay...if
you are in a certain money range, they may also reduce
the amount you have to pay.
http://www.freemedicalcamps.com/
At the bottom of this link, there are more free clinics:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_clinic
Try to type in the state you live in and then place
free medical clinics after that and see what comes up.

No one here would be able to really tell you what is wrong
for sure. We could only tell you about the different diseases
or conditions we know about, so that is what I'm going to
try and point out to you.

The liver patient usually shows no symptoms when the
liver is first damaged and it usually starts out as inflammation.
The symptoms start to occur when the functions the liver
does becomes hampered. The first symptoms that are
most evident is tiredness, nausea, and a yellowing of
the whites of the eyes, skin, and mucous membranes.
You can see this best in natural outdoor lighting than indoors
where it can be masked. When you mentioned an oily
substance, this makes me think of the biliary area where
the bile comes from the inside of the liver to either the
gallbladder or its flow to the intestines. Bile is what helps
to digest the fats we eat and if the ducts become blocked
or twisted, it can cause the fats to not be digested and
the stools would be oily...however, you mentioned that
your movements were dark green so it sounds like the
bile, which contains bilirubin that causes that color in
the movements we have, is reaching the intestines.
Without bilirubin, the stools would appear whitish clay color.
So this kind of rules out the biliary problem to me.

Medications can cause a change in bowel movement
coloring. If you are taking iron, for example...your stools
may be a dark black gray color. Here is a link that may
tell you more about the coloring of the stools and what
it may indicate:
http://ibdcrohns.about.com/cs/otherdiseases/a/blackstool.htm
This oily substance...is it more like mucus? If it is, then it
indicates that it could be an infection of the intestines or
if this is blood that is causing the blackish stools with mucus,
it may indicate an intestinal disease.

As you can see, there are so many different medical problems with the same or similar symptoms and the only
way to be sure is to see a professional. By your blood work
they will be able to tell approximately where the problem is
coming from. Then they may follow up with more extensive
tests like a ultrasound, colonoscopy, CT scan, endoscopy,
ERCP, or MRI depending on the findings on your blood work.

I hope you get the help you need.

Answer 3

dude even if you are unemployed and have no insurance you really need to see a doctor. Sign up for medicaid or call a local "religious" based hospital. We have a catholic run hospital in a big city near me and if you are ill and indigent they will almost always work out something with you. Sometimes it is almost all free- like $10 a visit, no matter what extensive testing or surgery needs to be done. If nothing else then call your congressman's office and explain to them that you are very ill and indigent, they can often times help find assistance. Get to the doc soon though. Good luck!

Answer 4

I'm sorry about your situation. Normally I would be telling you to go to a doctor, but I think that would be counterproductive.

If your liver was failing, you would be jaundiced. The most obvious signs of jaundice are yellowing of the whites of the eyes, dark urine, and generalized itching. You didn't mention any of these.

Greasy stools are always a sign of malabsorption, and the weight loss and fatigue follow malabsorption. If there is no way you can see a doctor, you should at least supplement with fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K), since they are not well absorbed if you have greasy stools. Also, increase protein intake--it is harder to absorb, so you just need more.

One cause of the symptoms you describe is infection by Giardia lamblia, a nasty bug that takes up residence in your liver. It is usually acquired from drinking water from a lake or stream where there are wild animals such as deer or beaver (they carry it). It is treatable. The treatment of choice is Flagyl. I gave you a link to a description of giardiasis.

One other possible cause is celiac disease, which is a malapsorptive syndrome caused by a sensitivity to gluten. It is usually hereditary, and it is usually first seen in childhood, but it is not impossible for you to show symptoms at your age. Treatment is avoidance of all foods containing gluten, which essentially leaves rice and corn as your only grains. I gave you a link to a description of celiac disease.

I can't possibly list everything, but that should help you to rule out a few things. For further research, try wrongdiagnosis.com. It is a rather strange site where you can search on symptoms and get links to explanations of diseases and even texts of medical books.

Please take care of yourself, and try to check out resources for free or low-cost medical care. A lot of communities have such resources.

Answer 5

Yes it could be. If you need medical care the hospital near you must give you care. Social workers there can explain charity care, state insurance or other options for payment. Go see someone and take care of yourself. The sooner the better.

Answer 6

are the whites of your eyes yellowing?
Is your skin yellowing?

This is called jaundice and is the most classic symptom of liver dysfunction.

Are you having abdominal pain? Where? If it's right sided just under the rib cage it could be gallbladder and may be controllable by diet.

What's going on with your diet? are you eating fast food? Fatty? Try high fiber and cut down on the artificial crap and see if that helps.

Answer 7

a hospital cant deny seeing you even if you dont have insurance. anything to do with the liver is nothing to mess around with...i would go to the hospital immediatly....and if there is something wrong you can get medicade or medicare.. Good Luck

Answer 8

if it's liver related you will typically have jaundice..yellow coloring of your skin....but that sounds very serious you need to get even a cheap insurance to help pay for part of that ..ASAP!

Answer 9

Visit your local GP for a checkup. You'll have a better answer.

Get well soon.

Answer 10

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE A DIAGNOSIS OF YOUR CONDITION FROM WHAT YOU DESCRIBED.THIS REQUIRES ADETAILED HISTORY PHYSICAL EXAMINATION AND INVESTIGATIONS WHICH ARE QUITE COSTLY.AS YOU ARE NOT INSURED A PRACTICAL WAY IS TO CONSULT A REPUTED GENERAL PRACTITIONER AND EXPLAINYOUR SITUATION.HE MAY HELP YOU BY HIS CLINICAL JUDGEMENT TO KEEP YOUR COST LOWEST