jpm1020

I know they say you cant quit until you're ready and i am no where near ready. Drinking is the only way i feel normal, but i am only 26 and my ast and alt levels are above 150. Hoping ot was a temp elevation my doctor retested again this month and same result. I've been having liver pain for over a year and have been drinking daily for 5 years but rarely to intoxication. A year ago my levels were in this 30s and ultrasound looked perfect so they called my pains after scopes etc IBS. So now a year later I've been throwing up bile every morning so asked to revisit the tests. Now im waiting on a ct scan for more info.

So im having a lot of symptoms, and now high levels but I really am afraid to quit. I told myself i would wait for the ct scan results to determine my method of quitting. No matter what I have to. its effecting my job and I have a 4 yr old son who is my life and want to live to see his kids one day, but as of now I feel like ill be lucky to make it to his next birthday.

My question is mostly to those of you who have had liver problems from alcohol. How did you go about quitting? Did you continue to drink for awhile? Did it scare you into sobriety? I am just beyond confused right now how I could go from a healthy liver to this in less than year. I'm just a mix of emotions and honestly since finding this out my drinking had been worse because when I'm sober i start to freak out about my liver. This shocks me since I come from a long line of severe alcoholics that I don't hold a candle to and they all lived into their 70s n plenty of 50 yr olds including both my parents still alive and outdrinking me. So there's that level of frustration as well..... Any pointers you guys can give me I'd appreciate it. I know I cant ask medical advice but any insight you. An share from personal experience would help. It also doesn't help I havent seen a GI yet. They can't get me in untold mid October so all the questions i have go unanswered. My gp is very religious so he kind of looks at me like I'm a bad person and this should be easy to do, and gives very little advice other than just go home and quit drinking. BTW I was negative for all blood testable diseases all heps, etc.

phoebe64

With your numbers up there like that, you have to quit. And with quitting, and eating healthfully, you can heal your liver. Do you need medical support to detox? Maybe you do. Has your doctor discussed this with you? Have you been honest with your doc about your drinking?

Also, being overweight can contribute to fatty liver disease. I had the trifecta. Overweight, diabetes, and drinking. I got better, and then drank again. Not like before, but a very stupid thing to do. I am here to be sober again.

ImperfectlyMe

First you might want to read through one if our active members live thread
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...no-not-me.html
Hope you don't mind snoozy

I know they say you have to be ready to quit. But I don't believe that I sure as chit wasn't. I had no other option. I was a mother of two small children drinking myself into an early grave.
You can do this you have to do this. Stay close to our family here there is so much love support and help!

Wishing you well

jpm1020

I really don't know if I need medical support. This has been my longest stretch without a break. Like I said i dont usually drink to intoxication but in the past I'd overdo it and quit for a month and start back ul. But now I'm on almost 3 years without more than a one day break which was me fasting for my scopes. I still have 3-5 beers a night (8%) I know its not helping my liver by doing this but I'm just hoping its not going to kill me before i know more. I am slightly overweight but i don't really eat. I'm 6'0 200 lbs no other health issues I know of. Good luck with getting sober again, and did/do you have liver problems or just worried since you have so many risk factors?

kadidee

You are definitely not a bad person and you have come to the right place. You'll find lots of support here, jpm.

jpm1020

Thanks for the link im on here with an older smart phone so browsing topics wasn't easy for me. Trust me i really didn't want to open up lol

lastcallsunday

I know several people that had liver damage and quit drinking and in 4 months, it was back to pretty much normal.
The trick is not to let a bad medical report contribute to continuing to do what likely caused the problem.
Chances are if you put the shovel down and quit digging, you'll end up ok.

hayley86

I ended up in hospital last year (i was 26) because i had high lft levels. I was told to stop drinking and my liver would return to normal with no damage. I was also told if a carried on drinking i would cause permanent damage. I stopped drinking the same day i went into hospital.I have not touched a drop since and i am now over 11 months sober. My blood tests are all normal and i am fit and healthy. The doctor told me to take it as a big warning. I did and i stopped drinking. You are taking a massive gamble if you carry on drinking. Wishing you well.

phoebe64

JPM. I have some posts in the thread linked above. yes, I have liver disease. My technical diagnosis is NASH, but I was not exactly 100% forthright about how much I drank. I did tell my docs I had some wine most nights, and more than was healthy. I did quit for 4-5 months and only had very occasional drinks for a long time.

But, we all know the slippery slope. So, if you get quit, stay quit! Ugh.

ScottFromWI

What more could you possibly need to know? You can hope all you want but the fact is that stopping now will give you a chance. Is your doctor aware you still drink daily?

jpm1020

Well id like to know the extent of damage before choosing my path to recovery. I spent years in the medical field as a medic and have seen a lot of bad happen from quitting cold turkey at home. I also split custody with my sons mom and he is currently with me and back when I was 20 I was in a bad avcident and spent a year on lortab and was using as directed not to get high and once i felt better I quot lortab at home by myself and remember how horrible that was and I would never risk doing that in front of my kid. Who would take care of him? I know if my withdrawl is like that it could scar him for life, not to mention get me arrested.

ScottFromWI

So you'd rather risk dying of liver failure than risk someone witnessing you detox?

jpm1020

A four year old who can't care for himself? It's a double edged sword. I'm hoping that I'm not going to die with recently raised liver enzyme levels but thanks for the anxiety. With him here i don't drink more than 3 just enough to not withdrawl. From what I understand those levels can reach into the 1000s and my doctor stated it was moderately serious. I did advise him I hadnt quit between my first and second test and he didn't make it seem like the sky was falling. He just said he recommended it and to stay calm until the scans.

ProgressNotPerfection

I drank daily. From the time I was 12. I started drinking at five - sipping the foam off a beer for my dad and uncles. I would sneak a swig from the bottle in the fridge - wine - and so I was well on my way. By my late teens, I was having black outs.

I know my story is different - it is very important to relate to the parts you can relate to rather than compare.

At 21 I hit a few meetings - got some seeds planted for sure . . .

By the time my early twenties rolled around, I was blacking out for days at a time. In 1984, my sister had a daughter in October. Next thing I knew it was my birthday - Nov. 1st - then, on November 9th, the next day I remember, I went blind from alcohol poisoning. My legs quit working. While I was laying on the floor, I prayed to God to not let me die. Living scared the sheet outta me, but dying scared me more. I was 23 years old and dying from my disease.

I went to an AA meeting that afternoon. I said "Hi, I'm Johnny and I'm an alcoholic. I'm new to the program. Thanks."

An old man with a cane and coke bottle glasses spoke next: "I'm sixty three years old. My liver doesn't work, I can't walk anymore. I can't hardly see. I have diabetes, too. I don't remember growing old. I don't remember my kids growing up. I don't remember Christmases or Thanksgivings with my family. I don't remember my life. I wish I'd gotten sober at your age."

Wow. The thought of spending forty more years like I'd been living was terrifying - walking around this planet in a daze, a haze of confusion and emotional pain, of fear of wondering why I was different than everyone else - the thought shook me to my core.

I did what they told me to do. Now, I'm 51. My eyes suck. I have diabetes. Some times my hips hurt, probably from driving a cab all those years - BUT!! I've stayed clean and sober since then and I remember growing older, I remember Christmases and Thanksgivings. I get to watch my kids grow up - I have triplet nine year old girls - I remember all the weddings and funerals, all the good and bad life has to offer.

Those things are privileges of sobriety in my book. All these things - my paid for house, paid for car, my home, my wife, my life - these are all things I wouldn't have if I'd not stopped. But most of all I like life today. I'm reasonably happy today. The past 28 years have been far better than the first 23 by a long shot

I hope there is something in my story that helps, something that might hit home. .

ScottFromWI

I didn't mean to cause you anxiety, but can you truly say you think it's better to continue drinking with all you know rather than find a way to quit? We're you 100% honest with your doc this recent visit? The amont of beer you are currently drinking, especially at such a high ABV isn't even considered safe for someone with a healthy liver.

jpm1020

Thank you for your story. I can relate to the drinking young and excessively my mom was one of those I'd rather you drink at home where i know youre safe when really she wanted drinking buddies. Luckily for my liver I preferred sports and the occasional joint because a lot of my friends parallel your story and had been in AA before the end of junior high and still go strong and I've alwayd compared myself to them to make my problem seem not as severe, but the truth is while I may drink less im no better

jpm1020

Yes I was 100% honest. My enzyme levels are high i had nothing to hide and he would know I was lying if I wasn't. A month off alcohol from someone my age shoulc drop the enzymes and they stayed the same. he knew before he asked i had been drinking at least the same and I told him it had been more. Worst part is the day before both my tests I was so nervous I drank probably the equivelant of an 18 pack because of my abv. Which honestly OS enough to raise levels in a healthy liver especially when you add tylenol to get rid of the hangover.

phoebe64

This is not any medical advice, but experience. I was told 2 years before I stopped drinking, that I had fatty liver. It was presented to me as, "Many overweight, middle aged women have it and it is often benign, as in, not progressive." I did cut back and try to lose weight, which was the major thing I was told to do. I failed at stopping drinking and at losing weight, and went 2 years before another physical. That was when I was diagnosed with diabetes, high triglycerides, still fatty liver and had an enlarged spleen. My doc changed her tune and said they now knew more and it was getting loads of attention at conferences and fatty liver was an epidemic and can progress. Advised me to "get it right out of my life." about the wine "I enjoyed."

I sobered up right that minute, and never drank....for five months. After 5 months, I had lost 60 pounds, gotten the BG under control with diet and exercise and my liver enzymes were normal and the ultrasound showed no more swelling, etc...

Now, if I had never had a biopsy, the doctors would be telling me my liver healed itself, because all of my labs are great. But I had a biopsy, so I know I scarred my liver, and I know how much.

It can happen and it can happen in a year or a few months, or 5 years. Everyone is different.

I am sharing so you realize how serious this, and looking the fool that I am still here fighting for my sobriety. But if I help you, it is worth it. Get healthy. Stop drinking, and do not pick up again. Trust me on that. It eventually goes right back to habitual use.

Renarde

Your title is right. You have no choice! It doesn't matter that other people have been drunks longer, had a higher consumption, etc - this is how your body has processed the alcohol - it is injured. There's no reason to wait for additional results to stop, in my opinion - you have proof of damage already. Since you've been so honest with this doctor already, it's time to talk to him about a plan for medical management of your withdrawal, so you can safely quit. If you need to give your son back to his mom for a few days, so be it. This is doable!

jpm1020

Anyone know new York states laws on missing work due to addiction or have a site they can sugguest? I'm trying to load Google but with no luck. I've used all my time this year and I'm one strike away from losing my job. I make well over the state average for a couple by myself so its not a job I can afford to lose. I think my best shot is fo get away to a facility for a few days or a week to make sure I do it correctly because I know the first sign of withdrawl ill be cracking a beer. I've quit before with no signs of withdraw but again this is my longest stretch and I drink more now. When i quit before i was drinking 3-4 light beers a day my abv has probably tripled since I last "quit". So thats my fear.

Also everyone with liver issues did they seem to get worse or better while you were drinking. This is what boggles my mind is I feel perfect after a couple beers. I'm sure everyone is different and depends on the actual diagnosis. I've known a guy with liver damage from pain killers and if he took them he was in agony from liver pain. So I'd figure if i had a liver problem wouldn't alcohol cause me some sort of pain? Don't get me wrong I will be quitting regardless but its just one of the 1000000 questions I have. Even if I go and this is due to a backed of bile duct in my gallbladder which can also raise levels and cause all the symptoms ive had im still quitting. It's been a wake up call.