High Bilirubin....help, what does that mean?

I went to CareNow because my back was killing me.  They wanted to do a urinalysis to rule out UTI.  They came in after and told me my Bilirubin was high and they wanted to do additional blood work.  Has anyone had this trouble after surgery?  I mistakenly read WebMD and didn't like any of the potential outcomes.  I would love to know if this was a possible side effect of surgery.

Hi, I have a friend who had a scare with high bilirubin they ran a zillion of tests and at the end of the day they decided it was because she had had a rapid weight loss she had not had surgery or anything but because of family stresses she dropped something like 50lbs in 6 weeks. I forget what they did if she just needed to rest or if she needed meds but she is just fine now with no lasting effects.

Nancy

Thanks for the encouragement!  I have lost about 80 pounds since March and I have been working like crazy.  I have struggled with anemia and with lots of work lately I have neglected taking my iron.  I am really hoping for an easy treatment!

There are any number of reasons it could be high. Supposedly all of them are easy to treat. One possible reason could be your gallbladder and gallbladder issues are fairly common after WLS and rapid weight loss.

It is good to hear that some of the issues are easy to treat.  WebMD scared the life out of me!  It definitely is not my gallbladder I haven't had one of those in a decade!  I was secretly hoping for an easy to treat infection, but they told me I was clear of infection.  I will be glad to get some results.

Ugh, well good luck. Aside from the back pain, how are you feeling? Hopefully you'll have some answers really soon.

You said you had some back pain and that along with the high bilirubin - you could have a gallstone blocking your bile duct from the rapid weight loss. You dont' need a gallbladder to have gallstones.  You need to get this checked out ASAP because if this is the case, if it is blocked, it can be serious.

Are you jaundiced? Is your urine darker then normal? Stools almost white (before I retired I was an ER RN)? I know you are months out but are you still hydrating and getting in your protein? If you answered no to the first two then while elivated its not too high. If you answer no to the third you know what you need to do(G). Anyway take a breathe get the blood tests and talk to your doctor.

Nancy