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Primary sclerosing cholangitis: the signs, the tests, treatment, and day to day
For anyone told a blood test shows abnormal liver enzymes; for anyone with ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease whose doctor has started asking about the liver; for anyone just told they have primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), or facing an ERCP or a stent; and for the people who love them. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK, part of the NIH) says it is a chronic liver disease in which the bile ducts inside and outside the liver become inflamed and scarred and are eventually narrowed or blocked, that many people have no symptoms when it is found, and that about 7 in 10 people with it also have inflammatory bowel disease. This page passes on, by name, what NIDDK says: the signs, a bile duct infection, and when it cannot wait; who gets it and what can come with it, including the cancers; the tests; opening the bile ducts, the itch and the complications; and cancer checks, protecting your liver, food, bones and vitamins. It builds the words to say to a doctor, and prints a card to carry.
A word with a dotted line under it, like this, opens its official definition, quoted from a U.S. government glossary.
Right now
- Someone with liver disease is vomiting blood, is confused or very hard to wake, or has fainted? NIDDK names bleeding from burst veins, and confusion, among the signs of cirrhosis. Call 911 (ours). Do not drive yourself.
- Fever or chills, yellow eyes or skin that is new or worse, or pain in the upper right belly? NIDDK names these as the signs of a bile duct infection. Call your doctor the same day; if you cannot reach anyone, go to urgent care or an emergency room (ours).
- You had an ERCP or have a stent and now feel unwell? NIDDK says procedures such as ERCP raise the chance of a bile duct infection. Call the doctor who did it (ours).
- It is all too much, or you are thinking of ending your life? Call or text 988, any hour (ours).
More help
- The liver, on this site: Cirrhosis · Autoimmune hepatitis · Primary biliary cholangitis · Fatty liver disease · Gallstones · GI bleeding · An upset stomach: find the right page.
- What can come with it, as NIDDK names it: Crohn’s disease (a kind of IBD) · Celiac disease · Diabetes · Underactive thyroid · Osteoporosis · When you or someone you love has cancer.
- Day to day: My medicines list · Symptom diary · Quit smoking · Get ready for your appointment.
- Care and costs: When you can’t afford your medicine · When you need a doctor and can’t pay · When a medical bill is too much.
- In a crisis: Help right now (988, 911). All our free tools.
An upset stomach, and not sure this is the right page? The pages on this site for throwing up, diarrhea, heartburn and constipation, on one list.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). No doctor or nurse has reviewed it. The facts were read on October 17, 2026 on NIDDK’s Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis pages (NIH): the overview, Definition & Facts, Symptoms & Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment and Eating, Diet, & Nutrition, and their Spanish versions; all were last reviewed in February 2022 and say the same things. NIDDK names no medicine that treats PSC itself, so there was no approval to re-check. Ours: 911 for vomiting blood, confusion, someone very hard to wake, or fainting; calling the doctor the same day for fever, chills, new or worse yellow eyes or skin, or pain in the upper right belly, and urgent care or an emergency room if no one answers; calling the doctor soon for swelling or an itch that keeps you awake; bringing a list of everything you take; writing down the dates of your checks; the card; 988 when it is too much; health centers when money is tight; and the order of the steps. What we left out: brand names, doses, medicines no page we read names, research studies, and clinical pages for providers. This page saves nothing and loads no trackers.