covrecover

I'm 49 and have been a heavy drinker for over 30 years, about 80 units a week. Recently I have been drinking more than usual.

I had not been feeling great for a few months. My life had become get up, go to work, no lunch break. Leave work after 11 PM, get home go for a drink and then fast food as I had not eaten.

About 2 weeks back I made an appointment to see my doctor.

Wednesday last week went to see my Doctor as I had been getting very breathless (I have asthma). The doctor did a full examination and sent me for normal blood count tests.

That evening I get a call from my doctor saying I needed to go to the hospital the next day. When I get to the hospital they take some more blood. I then get to see the hematologist. She tells me I was asked to go to the hospital as they were concerned with my low white blood cell count, low platelet and low hemaglobin.

We went through my recent history, the fact I felt I was very run down, that I felt I was drinking too much, and that it had increased. I did give the amount I was actually drinking.

The hematoligist put me on Folic acid and some iron supplement tablets. I was asked to go back the next day which I did. I was given a more thorough physical examination, and told my drinking was not helping. I had not drunk since Tuesday night and I explained this. Its not clear what stage things are at with my liver, but the hematologist was tapping my stomach and checking my neck after explaining when the liver get damaged the blood that would go through the liver goes through the other veins, like the ones around your stomach. From what I can see on the web the hematologist was checking for ascites in my abdomen, and varices in my throat.

I should add the bottom of my legs and around the ankle had been swollen for the last 12 months (roughly). My mother always seemed to have this and I put id down to that, the fact I'm obese, and do little walking as I'm always in work and have not been able to walk as I'm short of breath.

The hematologist has put me in for an ultra sound of my liver, and an endascope examination. I'm waiting to hear when these will be.

I go back on Friday this week and will be given a liver function test, as well as a test to check for Iron absortion, and Iron loss. I assume I will also have the same blood tests as before to check on the white blood cells, platelets and hemaglobin.

Since starting on the Folic acid and the Iron supplement I feel much much better. I do not get out of breath anything like as badly as I did, even though its only been 5 days. The bottom of my legs and ankles are no longer swollen.

The state of my liver is what scares me now. I do not appear to have the ascities, or jaundice. I did have the odema in my lower legs and ankles, but this appears to have gone. I have also lost quite a bit of weight, but I put this down to no alcohol and no junk food.

I think the iron and folic acid tablets have helped, but after only 8 nights with no alcohol I do feel much better. The really strange thing is I have not yet had any withdrawal symptoms from stopping. I just stopped.

Not sure quite what to expect, or what stage my liver is.

Cov.

Sapling

Welcome to SR...I was drinking a lot more than that my last couple years...The doctor put it nicely...I've seen larger livers than yours...But you have to stop...And he told me...Three months of not drinking and it would repair itself....I just got to a year....And feel great...You might want to put some serious thought into stopping for good. That helped my motivation.

Dee74

welcome covrecover

I'm pleased you're feeling better - in my experience that can only improve so long as you keep off the booze

D

pinkdog

Good job going to the doctor. Good job on no alcohol. Keep going. You are on a good path.:ghug3

Fandy

Congrats on 8 sober days! You can already see positive effects.

Spinach

Don't expect any probems if you haven't had any . Keep of the drink and keep on improving. Good luck.
John.

Bruno1979

Was it supporting Coventry city that drove you to drink?

On a serious note,

Well done on the 8 nights mate and keep up the good work.

Bruno.

covrecover

Heavy drinking just seems to be part of the "culture" I grew up with. Unfortunately its something I seemed to excell at. A few years back when I was in Czech Republic I was drinking Czechs under the table.

I cut back a fair bit from this over the last 10 years or so. Recently though the amount I was drinking had increased. No work life ballance. That's one of the reasons I had made an appointment to see my Doctor. I also knew in the back of my my mind things were not right with me.

Being back in Prague the week before I went to see the doctor had also made me determined to get my life back so I worked to live and not lived to work. Part of this was going to be 2 or 3 nights not drinking, and to vastly reduce the fast food I was eating.

The call up to the hospital and it being made clear my drinking was causing problems changed this. This was a serious wakeup call, and is the type of thing that makes your mind up for you. The worry from this is not something I would wish on anyone else. Many of the posts I have read from other newbies here say they have trouble in stopping or finding the will to stop. What I would say to them is do not let it get to the point I'm at or close to, i.e. stop drinking if you want to avoid permanent liver damage. Please remember once the damage is permanent it means you could well be looking at a much shorter life.

For me at present I'm taking this week off from work to start the recovery, and hopefully at least get rid of the anaemia, and maybe improve some of the other scores if I'm lucky.

So far I've lost over 1 and 1/2 stone over the last few weeks. I'm spending a fraction of what I did. I'm eating much better, and more aware of what to eat.

I've got a liver function test on Friday this week. Next week I have an endoscopy of my throat (check for bleeding and varices) and a liver scan. Hopefully I will be given the results of these tests over the next few weeks. If I can I'm going to try and get the results of the liver function tests on Friday. I will have a better idea where I stand then.

This is still early days for the recovery. Bone marrow takes about 3 weeks to recover after alcohol abuse. My liver assuming the best will probably take about 6 months to recover. All that assumes I do not go back to having a drink. Going back to having a few drinks would be very very easy. Just tonight I was being told I would be fine to start drinking again in a month or so. Me stopping may have made some people I know uncomfortable. That's life you have to make your own choices, and choose you own path. If others are concerned or try to change your mind you have to learn to stand your ground and stick to what you have decided is best for you (or you and your family).

Again I would say to some of the younger newbies please do not wait until your told you have damaged your liver and that you need to stop.

Cov.

2granddaughters

covrecover, are you attending AA meetings?

All the best.

Bob R (in the colonies)

nonblondechef

Prayers for your continued recovery and awesome strength and resolve. Your comment about some of your friends perhaps being uncomfortable since you have stopped drinking may be an indication that they are not true friends. Your health and sobriety are worth more than their aggitation. Aim for the stars and restored vitality through sobriety. Good job!!

covrecover

I'm not going to any AA meetings at the moment.

The first night I did not drink was simply because I was tired. I had eaten a big meal at work and that had made me drowsy. So I went home and slept.

The second night after blood was taken for routine blood tests I had been called by my doctors to say it was urgent I went to the hospital. This worried me and made concentrating on the work I had to do in the evening difficult and meant I finished late, and again just decided to go home and sleep.

So for the first 2 nights I just chose to go home and sleep. At that point I had not decided to stop drinking completely. Seeing the doctor on Thursday and Friday made that decision for me.

Just cause someone else carries on drinking does mean they are not still your friend. Its human nature. They see someone who clearly enjoyed drinking just stop. It makes them question their own drinking, and choices. This can make them feel uncomfortable. This can make them question what you are doing.

I have gone to the bar the last 3 nights and just had soft drinks (J2O topped up with carbonated water). I can drive to the bar as I'm not drinking. As I'm not drinking I walk past the fast food without buying any. For me if I chose to just avoid the bar I'm not sure how long the recovery would last.I miss the drink, but living by myself I miss the company and the friends I have known for 5 or 10 years much more. One of the things that led to no work life balance and the heavier drinking was 3 close friends and my mother dying, and another of my best friends moving away. I still need some support from friends, and to be able to talk things over with people. Over time I may well develop interests outside of the bar, but for me at present giving up what social life I have would just mean being at home by myself or at work. That's what led me drinking even more heavily, and not really caring what happened to me.

Another point is that sooner or later you will be in a social situation where most people are drinking. These occasions, at least in the UK, will happen. Its better to be able to handle this by knowing you can drink soft drinks without feeling uncomfortable while most of the others are drinking alcohol.

For me it helps to be straight upfront about me not drinking. I have told people the reasons I have stopped. It was uncomfortable doing that but now people know so I do not have to explain it. As said it may make others feel uncomfortable, but that is their problem. Its my decision if I choose to stop drinking, and the fact others may feel uncomfortable with that will not change that decision.

Cov.

covrecover

10 nights no alcohol now.

I went to the hospital today for more blood tests.

I was hoping to see an improvement in the anemia as I had not been anything like as breathless as before. I have been eating much better, and having my Folic acid and Iron supplements as instructed. I have also made sure I have fruit juice with the same meal as the iron supplements, and have avoided dairy products and tea for an hour before and after the meals so the iron should be absorbed. I have been taking these tablets for 7 days now.

When the results come through there is no difference from last week. I must admit I was hoping to see some improvement.

I was also given a liver function test, but do not get the results of this till next Friday. If the blood counts do not improve by next Friday the hospital will start to investigate my bone marrow.

It seems strange I feel much better, can walk farther and brisker, and walk up stairs with no problem when 2 weeks back I would have been gasping for breath, but the blood test results are the same. I wonder if there is some sort of delay in what shows in your blood and what you experience.

I realize not having alcohol for 10 nights would improve things but did not think this would make such a big difference to the symptoms of anemia I was experiencing.

Confused.

Cov.

Sapling

I think you have to give it a little more than 10 days to see any results...Look what you've been doing to that liver for how long?...One thing that concerns me is your hanging out at the bar for a social life...I can't recommend that...It's the old if you hang around the barber shop long enough routine.....Not good. I had to make a lot of changes in my life...Because I wanted to keep it...One of the reasons I liked AA was I had that chance to meet new people that don't drink....And that wanted to show me how not to drink...Do what you have to do...This is serious stuff man.

covrecover

Choosing not to have a drink when in the bar is for me by far the easiest part of this. I have done this many times before when my family, or work colleagues have organised a drink during the day.

Apart from very rare occasions like funerals I have not drunk during the day or early evening in 10 years. That's why for me my time off alcohol is measured in nights.

As time goes on I may find interests and a social life outside the bar, but for the moment that's where my friends go, and that is effectively my support network.

Giving up the alcohol is one thing, giving up what social life I have is quite another. I would miss my friends and the conversation much more than the alcohol. All that would happen is that I would end up going back to the bar after trying to keep out of it, and then the motivation for having a drink would be much much stronger. I did think about this and very soon realized that I still needed the social side of the bar.

I think the way people give up is different for each of them. My way may not seem right in some ways, but at present its what works for me.

Cov.

Sapling

I'm not going to debate you on this...Just throwing my .02 cents out there...I wish you the best.

covrecover

I have my liver scan tomorrow. I just hope the hospital will tell me what they can see. The scan is done using ultrasound.

Wednesday is the endoscope to check for ulcers and varices.

Friday i see the hematologist and then I should get the results of the liver function test. The results of the other tests will hopefully be explained as well.

Cov.

Anna

It's always very hard to wait for test results when you're worried about your health.

The best thing you can do is to not drink and to take care of yourself. Let us know what happens.

covrecover

I'm drinking, just not alcohol. The soft drinks are orange cordial with water, or a bottled fruit drink called J20 topped with carbonated water.

Even if the liver results show no damage I'm off alcohol for the foreseeable future. I'm losing weight. Have less problem with being out of breath, probably due to the weight loss. Once the anemia is sorted I may have more energy to do things. Add to that I'm saving money as well.

I might even treat myself, especially if things go well tomorrow. The treat will not be alcohol.

I'll update this thread if I get something definite after the scan.

Cov

artsoul

Good luck on the testing tomorrow, Cov - I hope you receive all positive news! Glad you're making this decision, too - you won't regret it! I look back on my drinking days now and wonder how I managed to function as well as I did.

Keep reading and posting - it really helps!

CAGED04

good luck ,to be honest from experience they are not supose to tell you anything the tech takes the scan ,the radiologist reads them and doctor reviews what they find , but if its an emergency you will know pretty quick good luck and godbless