Does stress affect PSC

Hello @sandyjr, I can't begin to imagine the struggle your daughter is going through. The additional stress just makes it harder for her to cope. Until other members can share their recommendation with a doctor/specialist in New Jersey I thought you might find the following American Medical Association Doctor Finder page helpful for locating a doctor close to you -- https://doctorfinder.ama-assn.org/doctorfinder/disclaimer.do?

I did find some other information that may answer your other questions.
-- Can Stress Cause High Blood Sugar?: https://www.verywellhealth.com/can-stress-cause-high-blood-sugar-5116560
-- Stress Management and PSC: https://pscpartners.org/patients-caregivers/living-with-psc/stress-management.html

@rosemarya may have some more suggestions for you.

@sandyjr - I was treated by a gastroenterologist who had some experience with PSC. He had a close connection to a liver specialist (90 miles away) who he consulted often about my case.

As for locating a doctor, I have located this link to locate a PSC specialist. I believe that you could try to contact one in your vicinity, or at least the closest one, and ask for help to locate a liver specialist near where your daughter lives.
https://pscpartners.org/specialist-map.html

Q -Why isn't there a healthcare provider listed in my state?
A- If you live in a state without a healthcare provider that specializes in PSC, please expand your search by looking at nearby states or join our PSC Partners Patient Registry to view the Registry map of PSC healthcare providers used by our Registry members.
https://www.pscpartnersregistry.org/

@sandyjr, Your daughter is fortunate to have you as an advocate for her and to support her during this difficult time. Having experienced PSC myself, I can verify that it is a highly stressful disease because there are so many unknowns. Your dear daughter is having to deal with a lot right now. If she hasn't already done so, I would encourage her to talk to her current doctor about her stress level and how it is affecting her life.

I hope this gives you a starting point.

John, thank you so much for your reply! I cannot believe that I never thought of the cortisol connection. Of course stress would cause cortisol which would affect blood glucose that is connected to diabetes and the liver. That in itself gives me hope that her numbers now are not necessarily permanent. Her whole married life has been stressful due to the fact that her husband was a recovering alcoholic when they got married and I am sorry to say has gone downhill over the 20+ years they have been married. Losing the house was the last straw and thank heavens that was it. People do not understand why some people stay in bad marriages. Your friends say “Why doesn’t she just leave him?” It’s not that easy and it is tough to be judged. The good thing is that the separation has occurred and that has been when these high readings have spiked. I think she has hit bottom and things will now start to improve. Your input has given me hope.

@sandyjr, I'm happy that the information has given you some hope. I'm sure she really appreciates having a mother that is so supportive. I had the opportunity a few years ago to listen to a talk by Dr. Amit Sood about how the brain works. He has the ability to explain things so they are easy to understand. Here's a 3 minute video that may be helpful on stress and resiliency if you think she might like to see it - https://youtu.be/JzZXhVzpaxg

Dr. Sood also gave a TED Talk that is about 20 minutes long that I really enjoyed - Happy Brain: How to Overcome Our Neural Predispositions to Suffering: https://youtu.be/KZIGekgoaz4