Triglycerides are a type of lipid found in the blood. Having high levels of triglycerides predisposes you to develop cardiovascular problems, such as a heart attack or stroke. Medications can be prescribed to lower your triglyceride levels, but they can have serious side effects, including liver damage.
Fibrates
One medication prescribed to treat high triglyceride levels are fibrates. Fibrates are drugs that affect how your liver makes and processes triglycerides. One risk of taking fibrates is that they can be toxic to your liver, resulting in liver damage or failure, EMedTV notes. This risk is heightened if you are a heavy drinker or have a history of liver problems.
Niacin
Another medication that can be given to lower your trigylceride levels is niacin, also known as vitamin B-3. This vitamin also affects how your liver handles lipids and it can lower your triglyceride levels and increase your HDL or "good" cholesterol, the University of Maryland Medical Center explains. Much like fibrates, niacin can cause significant liver damage, particularly if you take extended-release formulations. Although niacin is safe in the dosages commonly found in foods, treating high lipid levels requires doses that are high enough to potentially damage your liver.
Diagnosis
If you take niacin or fibrates, your doctor may want to do some blood tests periodically to monitor your liver function. When your liver becomes damaged, special proteins get released into the blood. These proteins, sometimes called liver enzymes, can be measured using blood tests. If your levels of these liver enzymes jump suddenly, it may be a sign that your liver is damaged. These tests cannot identify the cause of the elevated liver enzymes, however.
Symptoms and Treatment
Symptoms triglyceride-related liver damage include yellowing of your skin or the whites of your eyes, pain in the upper right portion of your abdomen, unusually dark urine and trouble with excessive bleeding, Drugs.com states. If you develop any of these symptoms, talk to your doctor. Your doctor will most likely do some tests to rule out other potential causes of liver damage and then take you off the medications.
