Sahti

So here's my story, I've been a drinker since I was 16 or so. I'm 31 now. Idk why but it was rare that a day went by and I didn't have a drink. I guess I liked the place alcohol put me in like a peaceful little world you could say. Even if I was hungover I'd have a drink. Probabaly a six pack a day for the last 5 years. Anyways I woke up one day with a burning pain in my side it felt as though my liver was on fire. Googling this led me to believe I had Chirosis. Mind you I had no idea of the damage I was doing to myself until very recently I just never had a reason to know. I was never an angry drunk or anything so no one ever questioned my bad habit. So freaked out I go to the doctor told them about the pain in my side and told them I was a heavy drinker for 10 years. They did a CT scan, an ultrasound and blood work and told me that currently they see nothing wrong. I don't believe them. I haven't had a drink since March of this year because I've been so fearful. I still get a burning sensation in my liver area and my docs think I'm nuts and need psychiatric help. Would those tests be sufficient to accurately know if I'm okay. Would the beginnings of Chirosis show on that kind of testing? The other reason I believe something is wrong is because around 3 pm in the afternoons I just crash...bloodshot eyes extreme fatigue. I'm losing my mind. I wanted a fibroscan but the docs won't send me because they haven't seen clinical evidence to justify it. Are there any fibroscan places I could go that don't require a referral? Sorry for the huge rant but I guess I'm fearful of being sick losing my job everything because I'm an idiot and didn't know better or what I was truly doing to myself. Last blood tests
MPV (mean platelet volume): is (7.3fl) range should be 7.5 to 12.5
Albumin: (5.2) range 3.6 to 5.1
Albumin globulin is 2.6 range is 1.0 to 2.5 so my bloods are out some adding to fear. I don't even understand what these readings are I just know they are slightly out. Anyways sorry for the long rant I'm just anxiety stricken at this point.

tomls

Could it be your diet?

Sahti

I'm not sure if anything I feel as though I have improved my diet over the years. Spend plenty of money at Whole Foods. Plenty of fruit veggies. Some junk food but nothing over the top.

Sahti

I guess I just find it hard to believe I'm okay after all those years of abuse. I thought a biopsy was the only sure way of knowing. If I am okay I would like to know where this sensation stems from. Never drinking again.

Dee74

Hi Sahti

I know I become near obsessive about my health, and every ache and pain, for a while after I quit.

If your doctor says you're ok, I'd go with that.
If you can't quite accept that tho, why not get a second opinion?

D

Sahti

did go and get a second opinion. Got the same answers it's like they don't care. I've been reading on this site about PAWS and wonder if that's what I could be going through but would just like to be certain somehow I think it would help with depression and the tiredness I've been dealing with...

Dee74

Not sure if you saw this link or not, but it's a good one on PAWS - see if it rings any bells for you.

http://digital-dharma.net/post-acute...r-immediately/

some good ideas on managing it too.

just an aside - I had a lot of aches and pain abdominally too in the immediate post quit period - I was *convinced* it was my liver - turned out my liver was somewhere else than where I thought it was.

A blood test revealed no liver problems

The aches and pains subsided in time - hang in there

D

Andagain

If the doctor says your fine, then its extremely likely that you are fine.

Sure, there have been wrong diagnoses before, but its unlikely. I'm a hypochondriac and there's always the possibility something bad will happen for everyone, but you can't let it take over your life.

If it makes you feel any better I too have a burning pain in my liver area, terrified me, turns out I'm just overweight and have bad posture and my anxiety makes me hyper aware of it. My test results came back fine, what's the chances both our doctors are wrong?

Andagain

Exhaustion is pretty common too, I slept 12 hours a day last week. I would be amazed if all those tests were wrong, like, astronomically unlikely.

tealily

Sahti,

I'm so sorry you are having this worry about your health, but I am so happy for you that you have decided to quit alcohol. It truly is a poison. Maybe you should be grateful for that pain you felt. If it spurred you on to make this change for the better.

I think of the stress I was putting my system under, to pour an entire bottle of wine through my liver almost every day.

Our bodies are amazing in how they can heal, though, once we start treating them well, if we stop soon enough.

One thing is sure, if you had kept on drinking the way you were for the next 10 years, then 15, and on and on, the damage certainly would build.

Consider yourself fortunate that you stopped now, and no matter what final diagnosis you ultimately get, don't start again! There's no question that life is will be better!

KES06

Agree with others about seeking a second opinion if you're not convinced. But a CT, US and bloodwork are pretty sufficient to specifically show liver issues. Also, I know I was completely paranoid in the beginning with any and all "pains" I was having that I had never noticed before. Could just be you're extra sensitive now that your brain is not always fogged with alcohol. And realize your body is in "shock" from lack of alcohol, so it is slowly adjusting to new things.
Are you taking any supplements? I was taking certain supplements(on my own accord - not doctor recommended) and noticing sharp abdominal pains at the same time every day. I quit taking them and .....pooof.....gone.
I wouldn't worry too much if your doc said you're fine. Our bodies are amazing things, but they take time to heal after constant abuse.
Good luck.

llk555

First off, it's extremely unlikely that you're sick. The doctors ruled that out. Consider yourself lucky! A good reason to never drink again because if you kept going, at one point you would actually get sick.

Second, see the things I put in bold. I agree that it would be good if you got psychological help. There's no shame in that.

Sahti

Thanks everyone. I am much happier without alcohol. I have been working on projects to keep my mind busy and the cravings are gone now. Going on 5 months dry. It's comforting to see that others have gone through the same thought processes. Now that my mind has cleared some life just seems so much more valuable and I don't want to miss out on it. It's way better sober! I told myself that if I ever reach for a bottle I'm going straight for help however it hasn't been an issue. I just hope I'm not too late. From the sounds of things I'm not so time to make up for lost time I say.

jessiessong

Hi IIk, thanks for sharing your story.

Having had liver concerns as well, I've had numerous liver function tests and they've always had two indicators, the AST and ALT. If these are in the normal range for you, then you almost certainly don't have cirrhosis.

Nonetheless, after so much drinking you should consider detoxing/cleansing your liver. There are plenty of liver detox suppliments online; you'll particularly want one with a decent dose of milk thistle. Additionally, you could get alpha-lipoic acid suppliments; these actually remove any excess acetaldehyde in yoru body, which is the result of the breakdown of ethanol and which causes the hangover feeling. If you take these suppliments, you will help your liver repair yourself and significantly reduce the potential harm to your body by acetaldehyde. I have never had a hangover while taking these suppliments, and I've drank quite a bit.

Another question, is the pain on your left side or right? If it is on the left side, you likely have GERD or acid reflux. Drinking is a huge cause, as well as eating late and sleeping flat. If you have reflux, the pain will be persistent until you change your habits a bit. I talk from experience.. wen't to the gastro because of the burning sensation and found out it was reflux.

Hope this helps!

TheProdigy

I understand what you're going through... my doc once told me very seriously "most alcoholics are hypocondriacs". At some point i felt like I had barbed wire squeezing my liver 24/7 but it was just because of my diet/anxiety/lack of exercise.

Michelle009

My father died of cirrhosis.His symptoms were jaundice and major fluid retention to the point that he looked pregnant and had to have fluid drained from his abdomen on a regular basis. If your liver function blood tests are coming back normal then you likely don't have anything to worry about.

All people are different. My uncle has smoked over a pack of cigarettes a day since he was a teenager. He is now 67 and doesn't have cancer. That's over 50 years of smoking! Some people smoke for 5 years and get cancer.

Be grateful that you made the change before your liver was damaged. I'm not trying to be unkind in any way, but it seems as though there is something going on emotionally with you that is causing you to insist you have a liver disease that doctors are telling you that you do not have.

Sahti

I don't think you're unkind in the least. I had the same thoughts that I'm lucky that I had a reason to look into my concerns and learned that I was undoubtedly damaging myself. I wouldn't necessarily say my concerns are emotionally driven. I just read posts that say blood work can be good and yet you still have a big problem and that the only way to know for sure was the aforementioned testing. I do feel better having others reinforce the testing. I almost got to the point of saying the hell with it if I'm going down why stop what I was doing but thankfully through support in the forums I've read here and other sites I never reached that point. I just wanted to know that I wasn't going to die or be sick. I'm slowly starting to believe that now.

Sahti

Taking some b12 once in awhile to try to help the nerves and system recuperate. I stopped back in march and still experiencing some odd cloudiness even off balance at times. I think it might be a little PAWS I'm going through so I'm just doing my best to stay busy. What a community here on this site and a positive one at that by the way! Learning to deal with life without an escape seems to be the challenge to overcome. Heck I drank just so I wasn't bored anymore....ridiculous now that I think back on it.

Sahti

I am grateful in the sense that it encouraged me to discover just how much of a poison alcohol really is and to realize how harmful it was to myself. I thought my biggest problem was alcohol poisoning, I was definitely wrong. They teach us how bad drugs are and such in school and not to drink and drive etc however I never recall being thought what alcohol could do to you in the long run...

Kiwidub

Why not talk to a counsellor of some kind? I had some CBT sessions, found them very helpful for dealing with fear, anxiety and the catastrophising you seem to also be experiencing to some extent.