bunnyluv

Hi, i posted this in the anxiety section, but hope i can get some support here. I quit drinking again 16 days ago. I've quit in the past up to a few years. I want to stay sober for good after 15 years on and off again drinking. I am seriously ready to go to the mental hospital I am so anxious. I got sick a few weeks ago and started thinking something is wrong with my liver. Even after I healed my anxiety has gone through the roof. I feel like I have permanent irreparable liver damage and I can't function from the anxiety. I went to primary care and they took blood and aid my liver values were fine. A few days ago I ended up in the ER from my anxiety causing a pain in my calf muscle that I thought was a blood clot. They did a CT scan with contrast dye and drew blood and the doctor said I didn't have a blood clot . I asked if my liver ,kidneys and heart looked normal and the doctor said yes but when I looked at the paperwork they only remarked on the condition of my heart and lungs and I didn't see any liver function info in the blood work, so now I am so scares my liver is beyond repair that I am scared to take the meds the psychiatrist gave me-- Prozac and gabapentin. I know I sound like a basket case which is what I feel like. I've tried to understand if docs can know from bloodwork on the Internet but keep getting conflicting info and don't know if I should go to a hepatologist. I feel like I'm going crazy. I can't even get out of bed to go to AA. Please any words of advice!

sleepie

bunnyluv I have been through the severe health anxiety and still do. It is a little better the longer you do not drink. I think just take the blood work for what it is, it looks good, so run with that and stop drinking. There are many people here who had poor results and even they improved after abstinence from alcohol. Just try and take the good news.

Read my posts if you like, trust me I have been there and am still dealing with mysterious health issues. Ambiguity and mystery are crippling for a person who suffers anxiety. Take care of yourself, do not drink and try this- once in awhile I take a "day off" from worrying. I just don't allow it. Then I can go back to it if I want. It gets exhausting.

trachemys

Consulting Dr. Google is a bad idea. Share all your anxieties and fears with all your doctors. Do what they tell you. Try some meditation to relax.

Debbie329

If the doctor said you liver enzymes are good. Go w that. If you psychiatrist prescribed you meds take them. I'm sure he prescribed them for a reason. Sit back relax, take good care of yourself by eating well, hydrating, exercising and getting some good rest. In a couple months if your still feeling anxious about your liver why not go get tested again. Like sleepie said .....your liver can only get better w abstinence.

LexieCat

Is there something specific that makes you think you have liver damage? If your blood work was normal and you don't have specific symptoms to cause you to suspect it, then I'd say you are obsessing for no reason except your own anxiety.

I don't think you're ready for the mental hospital, but a referral to a psychiatrist might be helpful in terms of getting to the bottom of your anxiety. A lot of people do experience anxiety as a result of alcohol withdrawal, but that usually subsides pretty quickly once you've completely detoxed.

fantail

I understand how you're feeling. In the last year of my drinking and in the first month of my sobriety I was also convinced that I had a blot clot, that my liver was destroyed, that I had a kidney infection, that I had lung cancer, and finally internal bleeding of unknown origin. I went to the ER multiple times. And I spent a lot of time either drinking to forget how scared I was (prior to quitting) or obsessing over every sensation in my body (afterwards).

It's really normal to go through some hypochondria at first. I've talked to a few other people who had the same thing.

I would trust the blood results. The second one probably didn't include liver tests because you'd just had them done, and the results would be in your medical file (I had that explained to me when I went to a second hospital about the liver!). From what they said to me, they're very straightforward tests that don't need a second opinion... the numbers are what they are.

Do not stop taking your medication. Seriously. Going off your antidepressants, especially without medical supervision, but really at all, could just trigger you to relapse and make your anxiety worse. I speak from experience!

Hold on. It'll get better. I'm at four months and I still get freaked out about my health, but it's nothing like the way it was during the first month.

sleepie

The anxiety will improve with abstinence and the test results will only back that up. Trust me I am the anxiety queen here. It's going to take a few months, mine eased up a bit after about 3.5 months. To where I didn't think about it 24/7.

bunnyluv

This is the most supportive group! Thank you so much. I am so glad I wrote-- I've been sitting here for days wanting to write but feeling weird about it. I'm amazed to learn I'm not the only one who feels this way with the health anxiety part.

Tooshabby

Yes, health anxiety is pretty common and very unpleasant. Welcome to SR!

Debbie329

Around here.......people are always talking about ice cream it seems to soothe the savage beast. That and chocolate.

bunnyluv

Do you think my anxiety could be causing this pain in my chest right side? Which the doctor said is nothing.

biminiblue

Yes, anxiety causes all kinds of symptoms - including chest pains. Stay the course and try to do something other than worry.

Meditation on YouTube is a good idea. Take deep belly breaths, and release slowly. Breathe in - - - hold - - -Breathe o... u... t.

Don't check in with Dr. Google!

Learning to distract yourself away from fear and negative thinking is a lot of what recovery is about - rewiring those neural pathways.

bunnyluv

I'm sitting here on the floor crying I can't believe the support here. Someone here asked if I had any reason to believe I have liver problems and the reason is because I have been drinking for 15 years not always a lot and not every day but still -- it makes me feel paranoid-- plus the fact that Dr. GOOGLE hinted that these tests don't show past damage. .

zjw

i was short of breath and such from anxiety constant lump in my throat then panic attacks. It felt like i had electrical shocks running down my arms nad legs and out my finger tips like 24/7. Like ya know that feel you get when you loose your step and just about fall down the stairs almost like a shocking sensation in your body then it promptly passes? i had that nonstop only worse 24/7 for i dunno at least the first 6 months. It was awful but it got better and better and I no longer have it.

I do still have bad anxiety and such but nothing nothing nothing like that anymore! Hang in there abstenence is the key.

healthy eating and exercise really help.

Kallistia

Google is the best way to convince yourself that you are dying...I would avoid consulting it for medical advice.

It once told me I was at risk of prostate cancer and unless there's something my mother neglected to tell me...

bunnyluv

That sent me spiralling was my creatinine level was .7 and that is good for no kidney disease, but that was under the range for the lab which was.8 -1.5 and I saw that low creatinine can mean advanced liver disease and that is 1/10 lower but in small amounts not sure.

zjw

yeah be careful with doctor google i got a swollen lymph node probably from this sinus cold ting i got going on but of course Dr Google says it could be cancer ya know how this goes....

I had every illness in the book i was pretty sure of it too for a while there after i sobered up. as the body heals it gets better.

I can still easily diagnose myself with many things on dr google but I'm a bit ore objective about it now a days.

sleepie

I had anxiety related chest pains and still do at times if I get really stressed out. It has lessened with time and things settling with some months of abstinence.

resolute50

Oh Bunny,
First of all relax. If the doc says everything is ok, then you should take his word for it. People that have done serious damage to their internal oragan show very clear signs, even without test.
Second, don't let a clean bill of health give you the permission to continue with bad habits. I know, it happened to me. I stopped when I thought it was killing me. And restarted after the doc said I was healthy as a horse.
Five years later after high blood pressure I finally gave it up.
So calm down bunny, you've made a choice to stop. That is a very good thing.

sleepie

bunnyluv they would have said something if that creatinine was a problem. I had the same exact thing and asked my dr about it- I was told they look at the overall picture, if other things were low too they would have said something. It was just a tiny bit under and all it meant was kidneys are functioning well. Please try and distract yourself- I KNOW how hard it is! I was diagnosed with prediabetes too and still deal with that and I just quit worrying a little because that will drive me nuts and also stress makes blood sugars go high. Just be thankful they said it's ok. Also, in my case- the few things that were borderline improved after 3 months of abstinence and these were things that really were not even a problem.