Blood Drug Testing

Help! Liver damage... blood tests... please read!!?

Ok, so 2 years ago I overdosed. About a year ago I had blood tests for a different reason... the doctors didn't know about my overdose, they were doing blood tests for something else. My question is would the blood tests show whether my liver is damaged or not? Even though they weren't checking to see if I had liver damage, they were just doing blood tests for something else.

Public Comments

1. Chemical imbalances such as uric acid levels and such would very likely indicate that you had liver damage if you do.
2. Nope. Blood tests look for very specific things, and can't see anything else. A blood test for, say, cholesterol levels or HIV wouldn't see liver enzymes. If you're worried about your liver, you need to talk to your doctor and get the test for liver damage.
3. unless you have severe liver damage which i doubt nothing will show up on routine tests ,even imaging wont show anything if its just an OD you had in the past
4. It only shows up in a blood test if they specifically look for it. You would need to do another blood test. Your liver might be okay as it has the ability to repair itself. You might also want to ask for a kidney function test.
5. It depends on what country you live in and what you were having the blood tests done for. In a normal check up in the USA...doctors will check the amount of different types of blood cells in your body and your electrolytes. The liver tests are separate from that and are only done if it is decided to be medically necessary. For instant: someone who takes 'statin, cholesterol lowering drugs'...it would be decided to be medically necessary for them because statin drugs can cause damage to the liver if a person's liver is sensitive to it. It would be great if the doctor would do these tests once in awhile...(and some do) but because the insurance has to pay for them...they are limited unless the doctor states it is medically necessary. I would ask your doctor or his nurse, if he has ever done these tests on you. He would have them listed in your medical file, if he did. Remember that blood tests are not 100% accurate. If the doctor sees something, he will usually have more blood work done for the same thing and then make a comparison. They would be the only ones who know for sure what tests were done and the results.