watnow78

Hi guys,

its been a long time since ive been here and posted anything. But now im scared for my life! Im 38 yrs old male who has drank for the past 25+ years. I would drink 4-6 days out of the week consistently and ive received some frightening news from my doctor. I admitted myself 1.5 months ago due to pain in my upper right quadrant that radiated to my upper back just below my right shoulder blade. I explained to my doctor that i drink daily and have a poor diet and right away they want to do a blood panel and ultra sound. They said if anything comes up positive that they would contact me. So a month goes by and no phone call so i assumed everything was okay, but i decided to contact my provider and ask for the results. They said that the ultra sound came back negative in which they check all organs. but they did say my liver enzymes were extremely high. My ALT is 157 and AST is 225, and that i need to see a specialist right away. This FREAKED me out and now im waiting for a call back with a day and time to see the specialist.

I dont want to drink anymore and i WILL stop. But im afraid i have done permanent damage and im very scared that my drinking has got the best of me. I dont know what to do and im afraid of telling my family. My also afraid that i may have Cirrhosis of the liver or at least some kind of liver disease.

I dont know what to do!!!

ScottFromWI

Welcome back watnow. Glad you went in to get things checked out, the clean ultrasound results are a good sign at least, right? While the high levels are certainly not a good sign, I'd wait to see what the specialist says before jumping to any conclusions. Our bodies are amazing when it come to recovery so let the experts do their thing. Most importantly, you need to stop drinking immediately to prevent things from getting worse, have you stopped yet?

STGHealthyWoman

What Scott said--exactly. I was freaking out a year ago when I went to the doctor and came completely clean. Turns out my liver was okay so here I am a year later still drinking and still trying to quit. Use this fear to finally make a decision to stop before it's too late and whatever the results are, don't drink. You can find a lot of support here on SR. Keep us posted on what you find out.

Soberwolf

Try to remain calm We'l get you through bud

watnow78

i just got the news today. so im done drinking! no more! i hate the fear of not knowing what i have done to myself.

watnow78

STG,

what were you freaking out about when you decided to come clean?

JD

I wouldn't freak out yet. I had similar levels. It took almost 90 days for mine to return to normal. I also had the UT testing and everything was ok there. But you need to stop drinking. Also, your results may be different so stay close to your Dr.

AnonSara

Hi Watnow! Since I've been in recovery I routinely feel like I don't know what to do and then I have to slow it down and take one thing at a time. Sorry to hear about your health concerns. Keep sticking around. Sounds like you're in a place to make some changes and there's good support here.

Talkinandwalkin

My story was real similar to yours. I went in with bad blood work and passable but not the best ultrasound. I ate good exercised and prayed and my levels went back to normal on my second test 3 months later. I am at a year and change sober know. Take advantage of the gift you have been given and don't look back. I am praying that your levels come down.

watnow78

thanks guys for all the support. i have calmed down a bit after reading your post, but im still very afraid. I have decided to stick to a all fruit and vegetable diet with very little meat. Maybe fish and chicken is what i will stick to but no sugars, caffeine, or ALCOHOL. Ive read on many sites the past few hours, about certain foods to eat to help heal the liver.

At: TalkinandWalkin what was you diet you used to help heal ?

thanks everyone!

ScottFromWI

Not drinking is the best thing you can do for your liver right now. I'd hesitate gathering medical/diet advice from the Internet. For one thing, some of it may be bad advice - ask your doctor if they recommend anything specific based on the tests they've done specifically with you. Secondly, you can scare yourself silly by diagnosing ( or misdiagnosing ) yourself based on what you read on the Internet.

FBL

What Scott said. Don't diagnose yourself with Dr. Google.

My liver enzymes were very high when I finally quit for good. I'm now 7+ years sober and my doctor says he can't believe that I drank like I did for nearly 30 years. The key is stopping and staying stopped.

sleepie

Are you doing a medically supervised detox?

watnow78

No detox supervision. But im just eating very healthy right now and i doubt i will have any withdrawals. Its been 4 days since ive had a drink and i have zero cravings or the urge to want to drink. I did have a bit of bad news today, my doctor had called me a said my medical insurance has been canceled. What?!? they said i have not renewed my insurance and it was canceled Aug 1st. Ive never had to renew it in the past 5 years and they have never sent me any renewal forms or paperwork. So now im in the process of having it reinstated. What next, right?

But as of today i feel fine and just drinking a ton of water and eating right. Once my insurance is in order i will be scheduled to see a specialist.

Thnaks

tomsteve

PLEASE stay away from doctor google!!! he has provided MANY misdiagnosis and proven here over and over(and not only on alcohol related symptoms).


the good news is stopping drinking will keep everything from getting worse.

i knew a man that stopped drinking after being told he had cirrhosis(i called him old joe and started a thread years ago about him)it was pretty bad,too.
he lived many years after.

Soberwolf

Grats on day 4

MIRecovery

To tell you the truth I would be more worried about how you are going quit drinking. Many many alcoholics have continued to drink regardless of the health consequences. Make a plan that requires systemic change. You only have to change one thing, EVERYTHING. Prayers going out that you will find recovery and health

August252015

What do you do?

Stop drinking. NOW. Today. Full stop. Deal with whatever your detox process is; do not go back to drinking now that you "feel ok" after a few days.

Keep facing your fears of the tests. I know EXACTLY what I am talking about: I knew I was killing myself and my liver well before I had stopped. When I finally did, almost six months ago, I was told I had a year to 18 mo to live if I did not stop, because of immediately impending liver disease. Other things- potassium, iron, blood cell counts, etc- were abnormal in the slew of tests I took.

I stopped drinking, cold turkey. I had trouble eating at first but I began eating the most nutritious (and varied- to get all the vits and minerals possible) food I could, got towards regular meals, and drank lots of water/non caff bevs. I still drink a ton though there's no reason at all for me to get dehydrated. I like having something near me. And I slept- a LOT at first, with lots of naps- and then on an increasingly regular, and now normal, routine.

I got my retests. At 90-100 days, all was smack in the middle of normal which made me break down in grateful tears. I will NEVER go back to being that sick -by my own hand- again. I will die of something else but not me killing my liver!!!

And, finally, what do you do? You get a plan. You go to an AA meeting. You go to a counselor (I, too have also dealt with insurance- I let it lapse somehow right around the time I quit so have several months' worth of bills I am paying off - get it fixed somehow even if it is expensive). You make a PLAN. You are very early days - but you can keep adding to them.

Good luck.

watnow78

Today is Friday and i have not had a drop of booze!! I dont feel like i need to drink nor do i have any cravings. This morning i walked into my kitchen and there is a full bottle of Vodka that my roommate had left on the counter and a fridge full of beer. Normally i would have already had a few of them and a couple of shots, but i pulled out the blender and made a vegetable/fruit smoothie and drank 30 ounces of it as i looked at that bottle of Vodka. I really dont feel tired at all and i can go about my usual day without any stress or aggravation. I do however get very hungry most of the day and i eat 2 full meals plus 2-30ounce smoothies. I just need to keep on the same track from this point on. Headaches come and go all day long.

I have spoken with my care provider and they are in the process of reinstating my health insurance so i can see a lover specialist. Hopefully this will be rapped up by Wednesday of this week.

6 Days Sober!!!

freshstart57

Awesome, Watnow. Congratulations to you. You are on your way!

Are you a non-drinker now? Or are you not drinking? There is a big difference. Hope all goes well. Stay the course