Question: Hi there!

38 year old male, overweight/obese but exercising regularly and trying to eat healthy and live fairly healthy (and lose some weight, though that's been a struggle).

In general I feel pretty good, though in the last few years, I've been getting bouts of extremely itchy skin, sometimes with rashes, redness, and an area on my neck that likes to get scaly/flaky. I also get quite red in areas after exercise, and areas like my scalp (anywhere with hair) as well as mucus areas seem to itch when it does come on (but other areas like arms/hands/feet aren't immune to it). The thought was that it was psoriasis, and it seems to come and go. I went to a dermatologist who prescribed me a cream that didn't seem to help, but unfortunately when I actually got in to see him, I wasn't having the itchy issue. It's also possible it's a reaction to some allergen, but we haven't been able to pinpoint anything yet.

I recently read about cirrhosis of the liver and one of the early signs could be itching, and I just want to if possible make sure that couldn't be the issue. I drink moderately now (usually stick to the XXXXXXX of 2 drinks a day, sometimes a bit extra holidays, but that's rare), but I did drink somewhat heavily in my 20's/early 30's. I've cut back a lot the last several years. I do take a lot of supplements, but all approved by my doctor/nutritionist, all reputable/trusted brands, and most are food-based in reasonable amounts (examples like fish oil, garlic, vegetable powder, beet root, cinnamon [sans coumarin]).

This itching goes back a couple years now, and partially because of it, in August of 2017, I did have a comprehensive metabolic panel. I was diagnosed some years ago (perhaps 10 or more) with Gilbert's Syndrome, so bilirubin tested a bit high as is usual for me, but everything else was normal. I'll include the results at the bottom of this query.

I also don't have other symptoms commonly associated with it. I can workout fine, have a healthy appetitie (a little too healthy at times), no nausea, no jaundice that I can see (even with Gilbert's), don't bleed from my gums, etc.

Basically, given the itching was going on at that time and no other associated symptoms, can I rule out liver disease or cirrhosis as being the reason I'm itchy? I also haven't seen anything about a rash with liver disease, so I'm hoping that helps rule it out as well. I guess I just want to make sure this couldn't be an early sign of liver damage from past alcohol use and/or supplements and is most likely something else. Thank you for your help!

Test Low Normal High Flag Reference
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GLUCOSE | | 93 | | |65-99 MG/DL
| Fasting reference interval.
BUN | | 13 | | |7-25 MG/DL
CREATININE | | 1.0 | | |0.9-1.4 MG/DL
BUN/CREAT RATIO | | 13.0 | | |7.0-25.0
CALCIUM | | 9.4 | | |8.5-10.4 MG/DL
MAGNESIUM | | 2.1 | | |1.6-2.4 mg/dL
| THIS TEST WAS PERFORMED AT:
| ASSOCIATED CLINICAL LABS
| 1526 PEACH STREET
| XXXXXXX PA 16501
SGPT(ALT) | | 25 | | |2-60 U/L
| Patients treated with Sulfasalazine may generate a
| false low result for ALT.
SGOT(AST) | | 24 | | |4-50 U/L
TOTAL PROTEIN | | 7.3 | | |6.2-8.0 GM/DL
ALBUMIN | | 4.6 | | |3.6-5.0 GM/DL
GLOBULIN | | 2.7 | | |2.1-3.5 GM/DL
ALKALINE PHOS. | | 79 | | |41-125 U/L
TOTAL BILIRUBIN | | | 2.0 | H |0.2-1.5 MG/DL
A/G RATIO | | 1.7 | | |1.1-2.2
| THIS TEST WAS PERFORMED AT:
| ASSOCIATED CLINICAL LABS
| 1526 PEACH STREET
| XXXXXXX PA 16501
SODIUM | | 137 | | |135-145 MMOL/L
POTASSIUM | | 3.8 | | |3.5-5.2 MMOL/L
CHLORIDE | | 105 | | |97-109 MMOL/L
CO2 | | 23 | | |21-32 MMOL/L
EGFR | | > 60 | | |
| RESULT DERIVED USING MDRD GFR CALCULATION
|
| Stages of chronic kidney disease
| Stage Description GFR (mL/min/1.73m2)
|
| Moderately decreased GFR 30-59
| Severely decreased GFR 15-29
| Kidney failure 15 or less (on dialysis)
|
| Calculation performed by XXXXXXX General Hospital Laboratory
TSH | | 1.17 | | |0.40-4.50 mIU/L

Thank you very much for the helpful and reassuring response!

So essentially, if it were to be some sort of liver injury, I'd be having problems well beyond just itchyness?

I am considering testing for allergies to see if I can figure out what is causing the issue. Thank you for the suggestion as well as the medication suggestion. Funnily enough, after looking it up, I've actually taken this a few days on and off (Xyzal) when it's been really bad and it does seem to help somewhat!