How long does Fatty Liver take to heal??
 

Title says it all, does anyone know how long it takes for a fatty liver to heal??

My doctor diagnosed me with stage 1 fatty liver, he told me to lay off the booze for 3 to 6 months, and then do another liver enzyme test then.

I forgot to ask him how long it usually takes for it to heal though. I realize everyone's different, I would just like to know what range of time it would take.

I also quit the booze 4 weeks ago, I found it surprisingly easy to quit drinking actually. I feel much better now that I've quit, but it seems the fatty liver heals very, very slowly.


My symptoms included:

• Dizziness (brain fog)
• fatigue
• poor sleep
• gastrointestinal disturbances
• some minor acne

Opinions??

Welcome to SR.

I'm not a doctor and I don't play one on Sober Recovery. Nor does the forum allow us to dispense medical advice. Your question is best directed to the doctor who diagnosed you, don't you think?

Got any recovery question...fire away.

Not really asking for advice since I'm not asking for specific instructions on how to deal with fatty liver.

I am more interested to hear other people's stories on how long it took them to recover from FL

Can't give medical advice but as Carl says, it's best to ask your doctor. Some things to help your liver heal include avoiding fatty foods, increasing intake of antioxidants from fruit and vegetables, drinking green tea and if you're a smoker try to quit or at least cut down as cigarette smoke can increase strain on the liver. Exercise helps tremendously as well as avoiding OTC medications and paracetamol and aspirins.

If you're in stage 1 as I was it can take anyway from a few weeks to 6-12 months before liver enzymes return to normal but again, clear this up with your doctor and try not to worry. With fatty liver disease, things can only IMPROVE provided alcohol intake has stopped and a healthy lifestyle adhered to.

Thanks for this helpful post.

I dont smoke, and I dont take OTC (or illegal) drugs . I suppose I could exercise a bit more though, but I fail to see how this can help the liver. Does it help through oxygenation??

I'm probably looking at 6 months minimum then

Also remember the liver is a bit of a weird organ in terms of recovery time. Whilst detoxing , my doctor examined my abdomen and said my liver could be cirrhosis within 12-24 months if I didn't stop drinking. I then had an uktrasound a month later which showed mild fatty liver and now a month on my liver enzymes are nearly normal. So basically, in the space of 3 months I've gone from having a liver that was borderline cirrhotic to one that is nearly as good as new. Everyone's different though.

Oh and to answer your query about the benefits of exercise for the live, the idea is it helps to break down the fats in the liver. This may be more beneficial however for those who have non alcoholic fatty liver disease due to obesity.

Yeah, what I love about the liver it at least gives you some warning time before all the wheels start coming off.

It goes from 1. fatty liver > 2. alcohol induced hepatitis liver > 3. cirrhosis.

Luckily I'm still at stage 1, and I'm not gonna push my luck either.
No more booze till next summer at the very least

Yeah, thats what I figured. Thanks

Imo if u do get to over 3 months without alcohol. Then just dont drink it again.
Its evil. If im fortunate to last 3 months sober i hope i never touch alcohol again. I know everyones differant but if its affected your body then its time to say goodbye to booze forever imo

I guess the question that comes to mind is if you drank enough to create this medical issue in the first place what makes you think that after it heals and you return to drinking that it won't happen again? or worse next time.

A normal social drinker in good health would not have this type of issue.

I know for me, when I looked at time frames or made goals to control my drinking then that told me I had a problem.

It would depend on individual circumstances dutchee, not to mention the degree of damage - definitive answers can only come from a Dr.

As for drinking again - sorry, no offence meant, but that sounds downright insane to me.

D

Hear hear!

Also remember, even if your liver makes a good recovery, it will take less alcohol on subsequent occasions to cause damage and as we all know, the more times the liver is subject to injury from alcohol or other drugs, the greater the risk of cirrhosis and its best to avoid that stage!

No, I definitely agree with you. No more binge drinking for this Dutchie.

But to completely abstain from alcohol after my liver has healed, or not having a few beers while out with friends is not being realistic either.

I just have to learn moderation, which I dont think will be too difficult

Interesting. I didnt know that.

Good to know now though

Expecting that your liver will be fine with that is not really realistic either.

It was too difficult for me, Dutchee. I tried for 20 years.

Look around, there's thousands of people here who live without drinking - there's nothing unrealistic about the way we live.

D

I hear you

How many relapses did you have in those 20 years??

I never really stopped long enough to relapse Dutchee. My record was 2 months off the drink.

I *tried* to stop every week tho - usually lasted a day, if that.

why do you ask? :)

D

Just curious.

Like the saying goes, all we can do is just take it a day at a time

So quick update, I got my liver enzyme results back today, and the whole organ is back to normal :dance3:

Here's how I sped it up, I added some supplements to my recovery regiment.

My supplements were:

1. Desiccated Liver
2. Lipoic acid
3. Lecithin
4. Milk Thistle
5. Glutathione

Take all those and you can speed up recovery X3.

I'm gonna continue taking them, because I'm told you can prevent liver disease so long as you drink moderately

did you ever have elevated liver enzymes? and how much for how long? did you have an ultrasound of your liver? Do you know that people don't always heal from a fatty liver even if they stop drinking?