RELATED: If You Notice This on Your Skin, Get Your Liver Checked, Says Mayo Clinic. You used to chow down like you were in a food competition, and now you’re never hungry. So what gives? According to the Mayo Clinic, one of the most common signs of liver damage is a loss of appetite, making your non-existent hunger pangs something to be wary of. RELATED: If You Notice This on Your Hands, Get Your Liver Checked, Mayo Clinic Says. There are many things that can disturb your sleep pattern, but a study published in the Egyptian Journal of Chest Diseases and Tuberculosis found one possible culprit is liver cirrhosis, which can make it especially hard to get a good night’s rest—even if you’re counting sleep like it’s your job. Forgetting where you left your car keys is one thing, but if your memory has gotten much worse lately, there might be a reason for that. When you’re experiencing liver failure, the organ can’t properly remove toxins from the blood, and that can result in them building up in the brain—AKA hepatic encephalopathy, Healthline reports. Unfortunately, one of the results of that is memory loss. Feeling really tired lately, no matter what you do? Liver disease might be to blame. One of the most incredibly common signs of liver damage is chronic fatigue, which according to a study published in the Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology, could occur due to changes in neurotransmission within the brain. Primary biliary cholangitis—which the Mayo Clinic says is a chronic disease that destroys the bile ducts in your liver—doesn’t typically have super-noticeable symptoms, but one early sign is experiencing itchy skin. Sure, your skin might just be dry, but if it’s becoming a regular thing, it might be worth getting checked out—especially because itchy skin is also an indicator of cirrhosis of the liver, the Cleveland Clinic says. Seeing the whites of your eyes start to turn yellow—or experiencing yellowing of your skin—can be incredibly scary, but it has a solid explanation: it’s called jaundice and it’s due to a high level of bilirubin in the body, which is a yellowish pigment that’s secreted by the liver, according to the Cleveland Clinic. If you do notice the discoloration, it could be from many different signs of liver damage, from cirrhosis to hepatitis B.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb If you’re suddenly gaining weight out of nowhere, your liver might be to blame. According to the Cleveland Clinic, it could be a sign you have liver cirrhosis, a disease that develops slowly and replaces healthy liver tissue with scar tissue, blocking blood flow through the liver and inhibiting the organ from working properly. RELATED: Drinking This 3 Times a Day Slashes Your Risk of Liver Disease, Study Says. While suddenly gaining weight can be one of the signs of liver damage, losing weight can be a symptom, too. Seeing the number drop on the scale isn’t just a sign of liver cirrhosis—according to the Mayo Clinic, it’s also a red flag for hepatitis C, a viral infection that leads to the inflammation of the liver. Speaking of red flags, do you suddenly have red palms for no reason? It could be due to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, a condition that, according to the Mayo Clinic, involves too much fat being stored in liver cells that affects people who barely drink—or totally avoid!—alcohol. One of the most shocking warning signs of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is experiencing enlarged breasts if you’re a man. It’s a very mind-boggling occurrence, but there’s an explanation. It’s thought that the growth of excess breast tissue—aka gynecomastia—occurs due to an imbalance of the hormones estrogen and testosterone. Experiencing changes to your personality can be scary and sometimes it might be others that notice before you do. Just like how hepatic encephalopathy can cause memory loss, all those toxins building up in your brain can also decrease mental function, causing you to not act like yourself, according to Healthline. As you get older, your body can start to bruise more easily due to your skin getting thinner. If there’s really no explanation for why more marks are showing up on your body, though, it might be one of the signs of liver damage. Liver disease can also make it a more frequent occurrence, the Mayo Clinic says. According to the Mayo Clinic, liver disease can be caused by everything from alcohol use to obesity, and one common warning sign is something you probably wouldn’t expect: swelling in your legs and ankles. If you’re experiencing puffiness and aren’t sure why, a visit to your doc might be in order to make sure it’s not something serious. Unfortunately, the hepatic encephalopathy caused by liver failure can also mess with your ability to understand things. This can result in you feeling confused about things that wouldn’t normally confuse you. Let’s be real—everyone has dealt with concentration issues. Sometimes your brain just doesn’t want to work. If you feel like you’re having trouble concentrating regularly, though, that could also be your liver giving you a warning sign that it’s failing, the American Liver Foundation says. RELATED: 20 Ways You Didn’t Realize You’re Ruining Your Heart. You haven’t been working out more than usual, so what gives with all your body pain? One possible reason is primary biliary cholangitis, which aside from causing itchy skin can also lead to bone, muscle, or joint pain, the Mayo Clinic says. If your bloating can’t be blamed on a big meal, it might be due to the buildup of fluid in the abdomen, which is known as ascites. Since abdominal swelling is one of the warning signs of liver damage, it’s a good idea to make a doctor’s appointment, just in case. For more helpful health information sent straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter. Seeing dark urine in the toilet after going to the bathroom can be a total shocker—and it’s also one of the tell-tale signs of liver damage, the Mayo Clinic says. While bilirubin is responsible for the yellowing of the eyes or skin, it can also change the color of your urine, says Johns Hopkins Medicine. Have a chronic case of the chills that no amount of cozy blankets can fix? It could be a sign of cholestasis during liver disease, which the experts at Johns Hopkins Medicine say occurs when the organ’s flow of bile is reduced or has stopped completely. There are plenty of different reasons behind experiencing dry eyes or a dry mouth—from your age to the medications you’re taking—but one possible culprit is a lot more serious. Primary biliary cholangitis is known to cause the problem, the Mayo Clinic says, but luckily it’s an early symptom of the chronic disease. RELATED: If You Notice This on Your Face, Have Your Kidneys Checked.
