Question for Those with Liver and Pancreas Issues
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 17
Question for Those with Liver and Pancreas Issues
So, I have been diagnosed with fatty liver, gastritis, and I likely have pancreas problems as well. I'm currently receiving medical treatment. As I go through the initial stages of re-diagnosis it has been frightening, embarrassing, maddening, etc.
I feel so awful about the fact that I drank for over a decade and did so much damage to my body. Even worse, I couldn't bring myself to stop when I first was diagnosed with fatty liver. I quit briefly and started again. It was only after the pain and diacomfort became constant that I woke up.
Thankfully I no longer drink, and its been pretty "easy" abstaining. I just need to keep focused on my new productive habits, avoiding the old triggers which feed the destructive habits that damaged my body. I also finally came clean to a new doctor, who has been great.
Anyway, I would love to hear from others who have been down this path. I'd love to he read stories of recovery and hope. I'm pretty down bout my condition, and the fact I couldn't quit when initially diagnosed.
And, I wantmto add that I am not looking for medical advice. Rather, I am looking for stories that give me some hope as I begin this journey with my family and doctor.
Thanks in advance.
I feel so awful about the fact that I drank for over a decade and did so much damage to my body. Even worse, I couldn't bring myself to stop when I first was diagnosed with fatty liver. I quit briefly and started again. It was only after the pain and diacomfort became constant that I woke up.
Thankfully I no longer drink, and its been pretty "easy" abstaining. I just need to keep focused on my new productive habits, avoiding the old triggers which feed the destructive habits that damaged my body. I also finally came clean to a new doctor, who has been great.
Anyway, I would love to hear from others who have been down this path. I'd love to he read stories of recovery and hope. I'm pretty down bout my condition, and the fact I couldn't quit when initially diagnosed.
And, I wantmto add that I am not looking for medical advice. Rather, I am looking for stories that give me some hope as I begin this journey with my family and doctor.
Thanks in advance.
Belgian Sheepdog Adictee
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: In Today
Posts: 6,101
(((((jra)))))
Livers can heal themselves if one stops doing what caused the problem in the
first place.
As much as I drank, I really did not have a problem with my liver when I found
sobriety. However, during my first 9 years sober I suffered from headaches
constantly and would eat tylenol like candy.
Well, at a bit over 9 years sober I was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver, yep
from all the tylenol. I was down to 22% liver function, and at 20% I would be
put on the transplant list.
Well, of course, no more tylenol, and test to find out what the H was causing all
the headaches. Turned out they were 'cluster headaches' a form of migraines.
With a lot of help, my Dr was able to find a medication that would work on the
headaches and be easy on my liver.
It took a few years of really eating healthy, staying away from a lot of red meat,
(protein in beef is very hard for the liver to process, much more so than fish,
poultry etc) and slowly my liver came back. I am now at about 87% liver function
and have been for many years.
My point is this. By not doing what caused the 'fatty' liver, your liver will heal.
The liver is the only organ in the body that can heal itself, that is why today they
do many 'live' liver transplants, as in they take half the healthy liver from a
donor and transplant it to the individual needing a liver. In about 8 to 10 weeks
later, both donor and donee are well on their way to having a whole and healthy
liver.
So, eat right, go easy on the red meat, get a test every 3 months from your Dr.
and you too can come out of this.
Providing you no longer imbibe the beverages that caused this to begin with.
Please keep posting and let us know how you are doing as we do care very much.
Share you experience, strength and hope to those that are coming here after
you.
Hope to read more posts from you .............................
Love and hugs,
Livers can heal themselves if one stops doing what caused the problem in the
first place.
As much as I drank, I really did not have a problem with my liver when I found
sobriety. However, during my first 9 years sober I suffered from headaches
constantly and would eat tylenol like candy.
Well, at a bit over 9 years sober I was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver, yep
from all the tylenol. I was down to 22% liver function, and at 20% I would be
put on the transplant list.
Well, of course, no more tylenol, and test to find out what the H was causing all
the headaches. Turned out they were 'cluster headaches' a form of migraines.
With a lot of help, my Dr was able to find a medication that would work on the
headaches and be easy on my liver.
It took a few years of really eating healthy, staying away from a lot of red meat,
(protein in beef is very hard for the liver to process, much more so than fish,
poultry etc) and slowly my liver came back. I am now at about 87% liver function
and have been for many years.
My point is this. By not doing what caused the 'fatty' liver, your liver will heal.
The liver is the only organ in the body that can heal itself, that is why today they
do many 'live' liver transplants, as in they take half the healthy liver from a
donor and transplant it to the individual needing a liver. In about 8 to 10 weeks
later, both donor and donee are well on their way to having a whole and healthy
liver.
So, eat right, go easy on the red meat, get a test every 3 months from your Dr.
and you too can come out of this.
Providing you no longer imbibe the beverages that caused this to begin with.
Please keep posting and let us know how you are doing as we do care very much.
Share you experience, strength and hope to those that are coming here after
you.
Hope to read more posts from you .............................
Love and hugs,
Member
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: highland beach, florida
Posts: 649
Hi JRA,
Well thank God for Laurie. Her story surely must make you feel a little better about the Liver. The pancreas is a wild little organ, it can cause all kinds of problems even if you don't drink.
Try not to worry . You have done the right thing now and are in good hands. Let your doctor be your guide. ....and don't beat yourself up for not taking care of this sooner----we alcoholics don't think too straight when we are drinking.
Keep us posted, there are others here that your story will help.
Best wishes for a positive resolution to your health problems.
Congratulations on getting sober.
Sincerely,
Trix
Well thank God for Laurie. Her story surely must make you feel a little better about the Liver. The pancreas is a wild little organ, it can cause all kinds of problems even if you don't drink.
Try not to worry . You have done the right thing now and are in good hands. Let your doctor be your guide. ....and don't beat yourself up for not taking care of this sooner----we alcoholics don't think too straight when we are drinking.
Keep us posted, there are others here that your story will help.
Best wishes for a positive resolution to your health problems.
Congratulations on getting sober.
Sincerely,
Trix
Keeping it simple!
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Surrey, BC
Posts: 3,282
I didn't come out of this necessarily heathly.
I drank cheap sherry with high sugar and high alcohol content. Barely ate either. My teeth have lost a lot of bone mass and I have to get most of them pulled out and get dentures.
Also my body aches and I feel exhausted at times even after sleeping. My fingers and hands get numb. I have to go get a bone mass scan and talk to my doctor about my other symtoms. I probably should have done this sooner, but I wasn't ready to deal with all this. My goal was to get sober.
I drank cheap sherry with high sugar and high alcohol content. Barely ate either. My teeth have lost a lot of bone mass and I have to get most of them pulled out and get dentures.
Also my body aches and I feel exhausted at times even after sleeping. My fingers and hands get numb. I have to go get a bone mass scan and talk to my doctor about my other symtoms. I probably should have done this sooner, but I wasn't ready to deal with all this. My goal was to get sober.
Keeping it simple!
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Surrey, BC
Posts: 3,282
Originally Posted by jra 
I'm pretty down bout my condition, and the fact I couldn't quit when initially diagnosed.
You can't change the past, however you can move forward and know that you are sober and taking better care of yourself. And being honest with your doctor is real big step!
Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: California
Posts: 81
Jra, i was recently (11/21) diagnosed with alcoholic fatty liver, Gastritis, GERD and a Hiatal Hernia. I am on meds for the stomach issues and 75 days sober. Just had my liver enzymes re-tested and they were way down. I'll be on the stomach meds for at least another 3-6 months. I have some liver pain and really fatigued all of the time, like sleeping 12+ hours a day and i'm still tired, but the doc says its due to the liver/body working overtime to repair and these will get better as the liver gets better. I was frightened at first. i was in so much pain and could not believe what I had done to my body. Just like Laurie, while drinking heavily i never had any health issues. it wasnt until i was a month sober that i was in so much pain and i knew something was wrong. the doctor assured me that all was reversible and i did my research and I am feeling so much better. Obviosly abstaining from booze, taking supplements and eating healthy. Just so thankful that it was caught before there was no turning back. I was also slightly embarrassed but all of my family and most of my friends have been so supportive and understanding. Take care of yourself!
Member
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: highland beach, florida
Posts: 649
Originally Posted by LadyinBC
I didn't come out of this necessarily heathly.
I drank cheap sherry with high sugar and high alcohol content. Barely ate either. My teeth have lost a lot of bone mass and I have to get most of them pulled out and get dentures.
Also my body aches and I feel exhausted at times even after sleeping. My fingers and hands get numb. I have to go get a bone mass scan and talk to my doctor about my other symtoms. I probably should have done this sooner, but I wasn't ready to deal with all this. My goal was to get sober.
I drank cheap sherry with high sugar and high alcohol content. Barely ate either. My teeth have lost a lot of bone mass and I have to get most of them pulled out and get dentures.
Also my body aches and I feel exhausted at times even after sleeping. My fingers and hands get numb. I have to go get a bone mass scan and talk to my doctor about my other symtoms. I probably should have done this sooner, but I wasn't ready to deal with all this. My goal was to get sober.
......and in my opinion only---you absolutely did the right thing in putting sobriety first. Many of the health problems we have are masked by the alcohol, so until we get clean we don't know what hurts, LOL!
Lady BC you are doing exactly what you need to do now, and that is what is important....and of course your sobriety has already been a giant step in the right direction.
Wishing you the best of health in the future!
TrixMixer
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 17
Thank you for the responses. I am happy for everyone that is able to recover, and your stories are inspiring and humbling at the same time.
Today my liver pain is pretty miserable. It does seem to be worse since I quit drinking.
At times I am surprised by how I continued to drink despite the slowly and continued deterioration of my health. But most of the time I am just embarrassed and saddened.
Thanks again for sharing your recovery . . . .
Today my liver pain is pretty miserable. It does seem to be worse since I quit drinking.
At times I am surprised by how I continued to drink despite the slowly and continued deterioration of my health. But most of the time I am just embarrassed and saddened.
Thanks again for sharing your recovery . . . .
Member
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 83
I had been drinking since I was 16 years old. I did not start out as a heavy drinker but it just escalated the older I got. My father passed away at the age of 39 of cirrhosis. I was not close with him and he did not live close either so I never saw him much and hated talking to him on the phone because he was always so drunk, and a mean one at that. So I slowly drank more and more the older I had got. I made everyone's life miserable with it including my own although I could not see it at the time.
To make a very long and drawn out story short. Last February I had gone to a concert with a friend and the months before this I had not been feeling terrible but not great either. Anyhow, the morning after the concert I noticed that I looked somewhat yellowish. I had originally thought that it was the poor lighting in my bathroom and I asked my friend what he thought and he confirmed that I was definitely yellow and it was not my imagination. The weeks after that everyone was worried to pieces about me which in return worried me too. I actually felt mad at them because they would not quit harping about how horrible I looked I knew but I was in denial because I was afraid of the worst if I went to the Doctor. However, everyone made me more afraid because they were afraid. These are strong people who do not worry much either and they were this worried about me?
I ended up going to Urgent care about a week later and they sent me straight to the hospital. I had edema in my legs really bad. They looked bigger than my entire body because at the time I was malnourished and only weighed 92 lbs (I am 5'0). My legs were so swollen and feverish that I though that they were going to burst. It was awful! I totally understand how it is to be frightened the way that you say that you were. I thought the absolute worst and to this day do not even like to think about it.
I was diagnosed with liver failure and my Doctors in the hospital pretty much told me that I had better quit NOW or else the worst was going to happen. I had already hit bottom the year or two before this. I had lost a great job that I had been at for a very long time and then got a job afterwards with an income that I will never see again and lost it because of drinking too. If I had decided to go to bed instead of staying up all night drinking, I could not wake up the next morning on time to get to work on time. Sometimes I did not even go. I was unemployed looking for a job and all of these potential employers obviously knew that I was sick because I immediately landed a job a month after I had got out of the hospital and it was my first interview. When I was sick I had been looking for one for a year????
I have not drank since I got out of the hospital except for once last July and that was a huge mistake and for a stupid reason at that. Nothing happened that July evening but I felt so depressed and had anxiety attacks the next day. It has not even been a year and feels like it has been an eternity. 2010 through April of this year have been the worst time of my life. This is when I was actually hitting bottom and did not even know it. Right now it is like the storm has passed and things are slowly settling down. It is so weird but so awesome. It is a feeling that I just could not ever imagine. Nobody could ever know or understand this until they have gone through it. A lot of my newer friends left and the ones that I have had for a long time that just sat back and watched helplessly are now talking to me again.
I am doing really well now and starting to see the light again financially and in so many other ways that I thought were absolutely impossible. I just do not know what else to say other than I feel new again. I am just having a hard time learning how to live a sober life and facing reality. I have never had to deal with it head on before so it is still a bit awkward. It has gotten easier though. I take water pills and have been told to watch my sodium intake. The edema in my legs is almost gone now. I still have it though but I am about the only one who can really tell. I have to go to the doctor here in a month or so and get another blood test but will keep you posted. The main focus here is to not drink and I was told that if I take care of myself that I could lead a normal lasting life... I hope it is a long one too. YESSSSS! I am just now starting to live.
Hope this all made sense. There is so much more to it but I would have to write a book. Seriously... Life is great being sober and I could never imagine it like this a year ago.
To make a very long and drawn out story short. Last February I had gone to a concert with a friend and the months before this I had not been feeling terrible but not great either. Anyhow, the morning after the concert I noticed that I looked somewhat yellowish. I had originally thought that it was the poor lighting in my bathroom and I asked my friend what he thought and he confirmed that I was definitely yellow and it was not my imagination. The weeks after that everyone was worried to pieces about me which in return worried me too. I actually felt mad at them because they would not quit harping about how horrible I looked I knew but I was in denial because I was afraid of the worst if I went to the Doctor. However, everyone made me more afraid because they were afraid. These are strong people who do not worry much either and they were this worried about me?
I ended up going to Urgent care about a week later and they sent me straight to the hospital. I had edema in my legs really bad. They looked bigger than my entire body because at the time I was malnourished and only weighed 92 lbs (I am 5'0). My legs were so swollen and feverish that I though that they were going to burst. It was awful! I totally understand how it is to be frightened the way that you say that you were. I thought the absolute worst and to this day do not even like to think about it.
I was diagnosed with liver failure and my Doctors in the hospital pretty much told me that I had better quit NOW or else the worst was going to happen. I had already hit bottom the year or two before this. I had lost a great job that I had been at for a very long time and then got a job afterwards with an income that I will never see again and lost it because of drinking too. If I had decided to go to bed instead of staying up all night drinking, I could not wake up the next morning on time to get to work on time. Sometimes I did not even go. I was unemployed looking for a job and all of these potential employers obviously knew that I was sick because I immediately landed a job a month after I had got out of the hospital and it was my first interview. When I was sick I had been looking for one for a year????
I have not drank since I got out of the hospital except for once last July and that was a huge mistake and for a stupid reason at that. Nothing happened that July evening but I felt so depressed and had anxiety attacks the next day. It has not even been a year and feels like it has been an eternity. 2010 through April of this year have been the worst time of my life. This is when I was actually hitting bottom and did not even know it. Right now it is like the storm has passed and things are slowly settling down. It is so weird but so awesome. It is a feeling that I just could not ever imagine. Nobody could ever know or understand this until they have gone through it. A lot of my newer friends left and the ones that I have had for a long time that just sat back and watched helplessly are now talking to me again.
I am doing really well now and starting to see the light again financially and in so many other ways that I thought were absolutely impossible. I just do not know what else to say other than I feel new again. I am just having a hard time learning how to live a sober life and facing reality. I have never had to deal with it head on before so it is still a bit awkward. It has gotten easier though. I take water pills and have been told to watch my sodium intake. The edema in my legs is almost gone now. I still have it though but I am about the only one who can really tell. I have to go to the doctor here in a month or so and get another blood test but will keep you posted. The main focus here is to not drink and I was told that if I take care of myself that I could lead a normal lasting life... I hope it is a long one too. YESSSSS! I am just now starting to live.
Hope this all made sense. There is so much more to it but I would have to write a book. Seriously... Life is great being sober and I could never imagine it like this a year ago.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 2,937
I was never diagnosed with any liver problems, although after one blood test the doctor asked if I drank a lot which I did and she told me to cut down.
However I used to have lots of twinges and pains where my liver was.
I used to worry all the time. The thoughts about my liver were like mental torture because the only thing that stopped me worrying was another drink or 50. Then the cycle started again.
I have 322 days now without a drink and I can say I have not had one single thought about my liver or any alcohol related health problems.
The peace in my head from that is amazing!
You deserve to get better and should not feel shame.
You deserve a doctor you can work with to get you back to tip top health.
I wish you the best xxxx
However I used to have lots of twinges and pains where my liver was.
I used to worry all the time. The thoughts about my liver were like mental torture because the only thing that stopped me worrying was another drink or 50. Then the cycle started again.
I have 322 days now without a drink and I can say I have not had one single thought about my liver or any alcohol related health problems.
The peace in my head from that is amazing!
You deserve to get better and should not feel shame.
You deserve a doctor you can work with to get you back to tip top health.
I wish you the best xxxx
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 17
Originally Posted by Halzuzu
Jra, i was recently (11/21) diagnosed with alcoholic fatty liver, Gastritis, GERD and a Hiatal Hernia. . . .
My goal is to continue abstaining as you did. I'm a long way from 75 days, but I plan on getting there.
Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: NY
Posts: 190
That is really great to hear how people have recovered from this and I have been obsessing about this myself. I have been drinking for about 5-6 years myself, not always daily, stopped here and there for a bit, but always has been a struggle. I recently went to the doctor and found my ALT to be 208 and my AST around 180. Everything else was normal, but my doctor left a message with the results saying to avoid alcohol to avoid future cirrhosis. I am trying to up my game and have so more thought out plans to contribute to a healthy and sober lifestyle, but its also scary that, at the same time I obsess about my current health, the diseased thoughts can careless and the beast still tries to pursue one thing.......I have also had some discomfort on my right side but no ascites or yellowness or edema or anything like that. Maybe this obsessive thinking also plays in with also obsessing with alcohol? I don't know, but I hope to be one of the people here who recovers. Thanks again for sharing your experiences :-)
Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Phoenix
Posts: 4
This post leads me to a question of my own. I am 23 years old and still drink. I suffer from an extreme pressure in my upper stomach right below my ribcage and dead center. When I don't drink it acts up. I can only describe this as if it feels like I could make an incision in my stomach and deflate myself. It is absolutely miserable. I did a barium swallow and I don't have a hiatal hernia but I do have "mild acid reflux".. prilosec does nothing for me and I was planning on scheduling a new doctors appointment this week to ask about the pancreas and get my annual blood work done. If anyone else has experienced this pressure please let me know. I need to stop drinking and I can assure you I am doing my absolute best. This website has been great and I will get help.
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