who else has had a pain in their side?
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Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2020
Posts: 1
who else has had a pain in their side?
to preface: not seeking medical advice, but others' experiences
tldr; to those of you who have experienced (presumably) liver inflammation based pain (or perhaps pancreas?) in the right side, how long did it take to go away and were there points where it got worse before it got better after your sobriety?
it was about a year ago i started noting an ache in my right side, below the ribcage. it wasn't everpresent nor uncomfortable enough for me to pull myself out of my river of denial and decide "hey, it's time to stop drinking." it'd only pop up after a particularly bad bender, which is reasonable, just part of the hangover, right, right. that is until it wasn't only after a bender. and it's crazy how it sneaks up on you, because you get accustomed to it, until there comes a point you realize that used to you didn't have a dull ache in the side every day, drink or no drink. i had a fat hat of party tricks to convince myself it was either something else or that it'd eventually go away on its own. so i guess my recovery arc starts a little over half a year ago, kicked into gear by a binge that ended in me fearing that if i went to sleep i wouldn't wake up, because of course THAT'S what it took for me to seriously commit to a change in my relationship with alcohol, and by change in relationship, i really only meant a change, not a complete cutoff. yikes. so i decided i'd drink one weekend every two weeks. of course, that one allotted weekend i would get absolutely hammered, which sort of defeated the entire purpose of keeping my health in check. and of course, it all began around the bloat of holiday season, which meant some cheating at parties and gatherings because being sober around drunk people is painful. still, i was drinking less, so i felt a bit better about it all mentally, if not physically. baby steps. around February i decided that drinking once a week was better, because having shorter time frames between dosing would lessen the urge to alcoholically nuke myself on my drinking days, since i could reason with myself "hey it's just next week you get to drink again, so there's no need to go nuts." living drink to drink, really. to be fair, it did work, in that i drank about the same amount overall, but it was more spread out instead of centralized, which i thought would be easier on my body.
anyway, back to the ache in my right side, which happily persists. it was four weeks ago when i couldn't take it anymore. i was drinking in spite of my body telling me something was wrong. being drunk began to feel miserable instead of fun, because even in the haze of it paranoia and anxiety would overwhelm me and i couldn't stop thinking about how i was slowly killing myself with this. the mornings after were even worse. so one day, four weeks ago, i cracked open a tall boy, had a few sips, listened to the familiar ache in my side as it spiked a bit and decided "nope! nope, that's it, i'm out."
it's a load off my mind now that i don't have to worry that i'm actively destroying my body, and that it should now have room to heal. at this point i'm doing everything i can. my diet has always been excellent (and funnily, i'd looked up diets for a healthy liver, and mine already matched them tit for tat), and i get good exercise at my job. the only remaining factor, and the most crucial one, was alcohol, and that's finally done with. but i can't really tell if it's doing anything. the pain doesn't seem to be dulling, but it wasn't getting worse either, until now. i know four weeks isn't all that much in the face of years of damage, but...
i began writing this because after eating a seemingly harmless bowl of lentils, the ache in my side kind of exploded relative to its normal "hey i'm just here, being an annoyance" level of discomfort - not excruciating by any means, but worrying and hard to ignore. it happened yesterday after eating too. it's calmed down now, and with that calm i feel a bit silly having written a giant spiel here, but it'd be nice to feel a bit less alone in all this and Googling hath failed me.
as an aside, part of me worries too that if the pain goes away i'll forget why i stopped drinking and slip. because as it stands, i still absolutely enjoy being drunk, and have no mental hangups over it. the only thing holding me back from it is that it's literally a poison.
also, hi! i'm new here (:
tldr; to those of you who have experienced (presumably) liver inflammation based pain (or perhaps pancreas?) in the right side, how long did it take to go away and were there points where it got worse before it got better after your sobriety?
it was about a year ago i started noting an ache in my right side, below the ribcage. it wasn't everpresent nor uncomfortable enough for me to pull myself out of my river of denial and decide "hey, it's time to stop drinking." it'd only pop up after a particularly bad bender, which is reasonable, just part of the hangover, right, right. that is until it wasn't only after a bender. and it's crazy how it sneaks up on you, because you get accustomed to it, until there comes a point you realize that used to you didn't have a dull ache in the side every day, drink or no drink. i had a fat hat of party tricks to convince myself it was either something else or that it'd eventually go away on its own. so i guess my recovery arc starts a little over half a year ago, kicked into gear by a binge that ended in me fearing that if i went to sleep i wouldn't wake up, because of course THAT'S what it took for me to seriously commit to a change in my relationship with alcohol, and by change in relationship, i really only meant a change, not a complete cutoff. yikes. so i decided i'd drink one weekend every two weeks. of course, that one allotted weekend i would get absolutely hammered, which sort of defeated the entire purpose of keeping my health in check. and of course, it all began around the bloat of holiday season, which meant some cheating at parties and gatherings because being sober around drunk people is painful. still, i was drinking less, so i felt a bit better about it all mentally, if not physically. baby steps. around February i decided that drinking once a week was better, because having shorter time frames between dosing would lessen the urge to alcoholically nuke myself on my drinking days, since i could reason with myself "hey it's just next week you get to drink again, so there's no need to go nuts." living drink to drink, really. to be fair, it did work, in that i drank about the same amount overall, but it was more spread out instead of centralized, which i thought would be easier on my body.
anyway, back to the ache in my right side, which happily persists. it was four weeks ago when i couldn't take it anymore. i was drinking in spite of my body telling me something was wrong. being drunk began to feel miserable instead of fun, because even in the haze of it paranoia and anxiety would overwhelm me and i couldn't stop thinking about how i was slowly killing myself with this. the mornings after were even worse. so one day, four weeks ago, i cracked open a tall boy, had a few sips, listened to the familiar ache in my side as it spiked a bit and decided "nope! nope, that's it, i'm out."
it's a load off my mind now that i don't have to worry that i'm actively destroying my body, and that it should now have room to heal. at this point i'm doing everything i can. my diet has always been excellent (and funnily, i'd looked up diets for a healthy liver, and mine already matched them tit for tat), and i get good exercise at my job. the only remaining factor, and the most crucial one, was alcohol, and that's finally done with. but i can't really tell if it's doing anything. the pain doesn't seem to be dulling, but it wasn't getting worse either, until now. i know four weeks isn't all that much in the face of years of damage, but...
i began writing this because after eating a seemingly harmless bowl of lentils, the ache in my side kind of exploded relative to its normal "hey i'm just here, being an annoyance" level of discomfort - not excruciating by any means, but worrying and hard to ignore. it happened yesterday after eating too. it's calmed down now, and with that calm i feel a bit silly having written a giant spiel here, but it'd be nice to feel a bit less alone in all this and Googling hath failed me.
as an aside, part of me worries too that if the pain goes away i'll forget why i stopped drinking and slip. because as it stands, i still absolutely enjoy being drunk, and have no mental hangups over it. the only thing holding me back from it is that it's literally a poison.
also, hi! i'm new here (:
Member
Join Date: Mar 2020
Location: Poole, Dorset
Posts: 533
Hey, welcome to SR!Obviously I am not a doctor but I think any liver pain particularly worsening should definitely be investigated - see your GPDid you say you have stopped drinking? As it's the first thing your doctor will say to do. I seem to remember having on and off pain in the same area, although I have now been drink free 9 weeks and not a peep. Get it checked, look forward to hearing how you get on Billy x
Edited to say - sorry I re read and you did say stopped drinking 4 weeks ago, well done that's great!
Edited to say - sorry I re read and you did say stopped drinking 4 weeks ago, well done that's great!
Last edited by Billymacintosh; 05-05-2020 at 11:58 PM. Reason: adding to original post
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,439
Hi and welcome
any pain lasting for that long a period, even tho its not everpresent really needs a medical professional to look at it I think.
I get a pain like that to this day if I sit too long in one place...but I have posture issues.
I hope others experiences may help you.
D
any pain lasting for that long a period, even tho its not everpresent really needs a medical professional to look at it I think.
I get a pain like that to this day if I sit too long in one place...but I have posture issues.
I hope others experiences may help you
.D
Member
Join Date: May 2019
Location: UK
Posts: 3,942
I had similar pains, and an ultrasound diagnosed a mild fatty liver. I quit drinking, but the pains continued for a few months after. I then had a private fibroscan which showed my liver was fine and had no detectable fat. The latter was very good news as it really shows liver fat can clear with a few months without alcohol.
The pains stopped soon after. Maybe there was something mental or psychosymatic going on. The doctor who looked at my fibroscan results reckoned the pains were due to fatty liver.
The pains stopped soon after. Maybe there was something mental or psychosymatic going on. The doctor who looked at my fibroscan results reckoned the pains were due to fatty liver.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Florida
Posts: 6,425
I had a chronic pain in my left side that was apparently a stress-related cramp for the last couple of years before I quit drinking. Doctor said that liver function appeared normal at my last checkup. When I quit, it became less intense and finally went away.
Hope this helps.
Hope this helps.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Toronto
Posts: 3,195
At one point, I was a daily vodka drinker. Probably the worst of my drinking was during this period. I was having abdominal pains. A dull, throbbing pain, but quite uncomfortable.
I eventually went to the ER and was diagnosed with 'Alcoholic Hepatitis', or in layman's terms, a swollen liver.
This was my first ever ER visit. Age 32 I think. I am now 43 and have had many more ER visits. I've lost count but know I've had at least 10 more ER visits, all alcohol related.
I eventually went to the ER and was diagnosed with 'Alcoholic Hepatitis', or in layman's terms, a swollen liver.
This was my first ever ER visit. Age 32 I think. I am now 43 and have had many more ER visits. I've lost count but know I've had at least 10 more ER visits, all alcohol related.
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