Looking for some answers
 

Hi everyone. I found this site a few months back because I had an alcohol problem. I was an everyday drinker and I was probably knocking back 20-25 beers a day at times even more. I was finally able to quit back in November until about the end of December but then I had a relapse. I started drinking again in January at an even higher rate than before. I finally realized AGAIN that I needed help and I was extremely nervous about the withdrawal symptoms so I went to detox at my local hospital. I was released last night and am back at home with my family and I have a couple of questions.

First of all since I've gotten home I have been extremely extremely fatigued. I also feel almost like a walking zombie. Did anyone else experience this?

Did anyone else here decide to go into detox? If so do you remember if your liver enzymes were elevated? The nurses said they weren't critically high but they were high and I'm very nervous I've permanantly screwed my liver (and I'm only 20 years old).

Also are there any vitamins, supplements, etc that you or your doctor told would be beneficial to your liver health?

Did anyone else while they were drinking heavily get pains in there right dull pains or pressure in there right abdomin in the area of their liver?

I have an appointment with my primary doctor tomorrow and I'll be having another liver function blood test performed after a month of being away from drinking so I'm praying they drop off.

If you have anymore information you could relay it is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Yes, recovering physically from alcoholism will take a little time. I'm not sure how long you were in detox, but give yourself a little time.

You have a plan to talk to your dr about your physical health and that's the best place to start.

I was terribly nervous about my physical health when I stopped drinking, looking for guarantees that I would be okay. The thing is, stopping drinking is the best thing you can do for yourself. None of us have any guarantees about our health, but whatever happens, I plan to be sober.

I recall the pain in my right side on various occasions, which seemed to occur after an especially long, hard period of boozing it up. These incidents scared me so much that I ran right back to the bar to have a few, to dull the pain and forget it. Needless to say, this only made matters much worse. After I made a decision to try to stop, and after a few days of not drinking, the pain subsided. I still feel is occasionally, so I'm having it checked next month, along with my heart, etc. Drinking damages us in many ways after prolonged use. the physical challenges are just part of it.

Feeling tired is also very common. Then there are days when your mind won't shut down. It's a rollercoaster till your body can rebuild itself and recuperate.

Of all the things I lost while drinking, I miss my mind the most, lol.

welcome!!!

Keep coming back, you'll find a lot of support here.

If you do/did any other drugs lately they could be the reason your enzymes are elevated. I wish you well in your recovery.. you still have most your life in front of you.

Milk Thistle is helpful for the liver, kudzu root for reduce cravings. Glad you are here...

Thank you. That makes me feel much better. I'm hoping it's just my liver recovering from the abuse I gave it.

Well they had me on a hell of a lot of drugs during detox so maybe that is the reason for the elevated levels. Thanks for all the replies they are greatly appreciated.

I had read about the Milk Thistle I think I'm going to go pick some up from the pharmacy here in the near future and I didn't kknow anything about the kudzu root so I'll definitely look into that.

By the way sorry for all the replies so quickly I got a whole bunch very quickly from all of you which again I greatly greatly appreciate.

I had really bad pains on both sides under my ribs. My enzymes were elevated and after three weeks of not drinking my liver test came out normal. A few weeks later I drank for a few days and started feeling the pain again. Since then, I have not drank for a month.

Just another question for some of you that had pains in the region of your liver. I've been sober since Monday and last night basically I had some of the worse pain I've had. It's probably just because I don't have the pain killer of alcohol but I'm freaked out. It seems to be subsiding a little bit today but it's almost like a burning sensation now. I did get a little worked up right before it happened but damn am I scared. I know most of you drank much longer than me but unfortunately, and I hadn't mentioned this earlier, I drank while I had Mono which, if anyone doesn't know causes mild hepatitis and can screw you if you drink. I really think I screwed up.

@ Robc....Do you remember what your enzyme levels were when they were high by chance?

I had liver tests done about 6 weeks ago and they were all elevated. I stopped drinking a couple weeks after this and will get them checked again in about 4 months. My ALT, AST, and GGT were all elevated. Since I don't do any other drugs, I am sure it was alcohol related. Just make sure you take care of yourself and don't drink. Also, I started taking some vitamins that have really helped, alcohol depletes B vitamins, niacin, thiamine, and folate. Good luck :) Lynx

Hi Zandre - I can answer yes to all of your questions - the fatigue, achiness & pains all over, and the liver damage. I drank for many more years than you, yet I feel so much better now, even after all the abuse. It took a few months to get feeling anywhere near normal. I was told the B Vitamins - as Lynxster mentioned - are very important. I shouldn't assume, but since you're 20 I think you have an excellent chance of mending your body. I'm so glad you're back among the living.

Thank you. I'm so glad I found this site a couple months back when I first stopped. Unfortunately I relapsed but I'm back on track now and I'll be having another blood test in about month so hopefully they've dropped by then. I do have a good Multi-Vitamin that has plenty of B-vitamins in it. I also started taking milk thistle today so I'm hoping that does some good.

I've also heard nutritional diet is extremely important. Did any of your doctors put you on a certain diet? If so what was it?

Also for those that did have the pains in the right region of the abdomin did it feel like it was internal? And how long did it take for it to stop after you had quit drinking?

Again thank you to all of you. You are definitely easing my anxiety but this is certainly going to be a long month of anxiousness until I get those results. I'm just still so worried about the drinking while I had Mono.

As a nurse, and speaking from experience, the pains in your stomach could very well be your liver saying it's had enough abuse. The great thing about livers is that they can regenerate and recover if the damage is not too severe--and since you are a young drinker, your chances are good that you can recover completely. Another reason for the pains could be pancreatitis--another organ that can't handle excessive liquor. If the pain becomes severe, or is accompanied by vomiting or fever--go to the ER right away--this can be deadly if not treated in a timely manner.

Welcome ! (I'm a newbie too, one day sober ):c009:

It's awesome to have a nurse on here. Hopefully as you said at my age, even with the Mono, my liver can recover. I've been checking my tempature a couple times a day and it's been normal. No vomiting and while I was in detox they checked about every organ in my body and I believe my liver was the only one elevated at least I think so or else I'd think they would have let me know down at the hospital. But again it's awesome to have a nurse on here. I've actually been thinking about looking into it myself.

Yes, it may take a long time to heal. Alcohol rewires our brains by shutting down our natural reward system and soon alcohol is our only reward. And alcohol rewires the liver too: after a long OR intense period of drinking your liver processes alcohol as it's primary nutrient. After putting your body through this stress you may be tired for a period of weeks and even months.
I experiences fatigue for almost 5 months. Not constant fatigue, it came and went. Your body is healing and needs the rest.

I didn't decide to go into detox, my body decided! I ended up in the ER.

I've read on the net that B-complex and zinc are good and I take those everyday. I am due for blood work in a couple of months to check on my liver again. Doc says: stay sober.

I did.

My doctor has assured me the levels will drop.

WELCOME to SR! It was wise of you to see your doctor. Have you made a plan for your recovery?

:c009: Welcome to our family! Good on you for taking the step of detoxing.
While we're not allowed to give medical advice, I do have a couple of suggestions for you.
The first is pretty easy. If it hasn't already been suggested please read Under the Influence ( Milam & Ketcham ). It will tell you how alcohol effects your body. It also has a great diet plan at the back of the book.

There are also excerpts in the stickies section, all in all a very informative book.

My second suggestion would be to not wait until your next scheduled doctors appointment if your still in pain. Pain is our body's way of letting us know something isn't right and it could be that it's just your body adjusting to not drinking.

Sometimes people present different symptoms for common ailments, ie: I had two weeks of extreme back ache, thought I had just pulled a muscle. Turned out to be gallstones. I also get chest pains that I have to use nitro for, but it's not my heart. For whatever weird reason, they will go away if I can belch, which I'm unable to do once they start but the nitro relaxes something inside that allows me to blech and wa-la I'm all better ( doc's still don't have a clue )

Worry always seems to make the pain worse, so try not to worry too much but do make that extra appointment thats what the doctors are there for. Make a list and ask questions.

Hope you feel better soon:ghug3

Linda

Thank you. I saw my doctor on Friday and he still believes I'll be fine as long as I stay sober. The pain seems to be subsiding a little more each day and becoming less and less periodic (I'm only on day 6 of being sober) which has me hopeful. The past two days it seems more like pressure/burning sensation, rather than pain, in the area of my liver however I am still concerned. I'm going to try and stick it out a little while longer and if the pain doesn't subside I'll likely make another appointment with him. As I stated earlier what has me most concerned is the fact I drank while I had mono, because at the time I had no idea it caused mild hepatitis, but hopefully my age and sobriety will work in my favor.

I'm still kind of looking for an answer from those of you that did get liver pains on how long it was after stopping the drinking that the pain finally subsided.

Anyways again thank you to all of you for your support. I hope that in little less than a month when I get my next test I have some positive results. It'll be a long month but I know I can make it through.

I had pains near my liver, I have been sober for a little over 3 months, I don't have any of that pain anymore.. but honestly I can't remember when it (and all the other effects of chronic drinking) went away. I'm just glad it wont come back!

Thanks. It seems to be getting a little better each day. Today I'm getting some lower back pain but I'm just hoping it's all just my body detoxing and getting used to not having the alcohol. Sorry to keep harping on all those that had the liver pains but did most of you at least have the pain for a little while after stopping the drinking or did it cease immediately?

By the way I have a follow-up job interview tomorrow so I'm very excited and hopeful for that (to be honest I'm surprised they called me back as I've got a feeling I probably reaked of booze in my first interview). However when I did receive that call, that was when I made the decision to go to detox and get myself sober. One of those small miracles that helps you keep that faith in a higher power.

About 5 hours away from being a week sober!!!!

Congratulations!! Yes, I had the pain you described. It can take awhile for it to go away. I had aches and pains as if I had the flu. Sudden sweats and then just feeling like I was on pins and needles. Its our bodies trying to adjust. However, its always good to check in with your doctor with your concerns. Welcome :ghug2 Hang in there.

Hi Zandre, I don't know what my enzyme elevation was, but I had the pain for at least two weeks. I had a weird tingling feeling that would come and go as well. I have not drank in a month and still get a few pains in those areas. I am also getting bad lower back pain. I think these side effects come and go over a period of time.

Wow. To hear that from you makes me so much better because I am pretty much having the exact same symptoms. The tingling feeling you described is exactly what I'm getting periodically and ha because of it I feel like Napolean (been holding my right side quite often). I also have been getting the lower back pain but it is getting better as is the liver pain. I haven't taken any pain relievers (like advil nothing perscription obviously) because I am trying to give my liver a break from everything but good nutrition and vitamins. The only real med I'm taking is ambien because I'm a natural insomniac and obviously the withdraws just make it that much worse. I'm only going to try to take those for another couple of days as I seem to be getting into a good sleeping pattern again (instead of staying up till 4 or 5 in the morning.) As I've stated a couple times in about three weeks now I'll be having another LFT blood test done and I hope to see a dramatic drop off.

Anyways I officially have ONE WEEK of sobriety! I know I still have a long road ahead of me but I'm still proud of myself. I've even had alcohol staring me right in the face on a couple of occasions this first week and I haven't even been tempted. I'm sure I will be eventually but I'm proud of my progress.

I also had a job interview today and I think it went really well. I believe the manager I met really liked me. I'm hoping to hear back from them later this week with good news because I could really use something to help take up my time and heck who doesn't want to make a little extra cash that I won't go blow on alcohol. Maybe I'll actually be able to save up for a couple things I've been wanting to get the past couple of months.

Finally, I went to see my therapist today and he was great. I really missed seeing him and I have another appointment with him in a week. He couldn't have been any nicer or more supportive. I have a **** ton (excuse my french) of family problems that I really believed triggered all this alcohol abuse and I got some good input from him about how to better handle it. And to top it all off it was an absolutely beautiful day here. Things seem to be looking up finally.

On a lighter note my younger sister turns 17 on Saturday and she's having her party at a very good sushi buffet near us and I LOVE SUSHI! For those of you that haven't tried it not only is it good for you it tastes freaking amazing and if you're afraid of eating raw food just know that a large majority of sushi is actually already cooked just served cold. If you haven't tried it before seriously give it a shot. Good treat.

Anyways thanks for all the support again...

Zack

Just checking in again. I hope no one is getting annoyed with me using the same thread but I see no point in opening a new one for now (maybe for my one month birthday). Anyways I'm on Day 9 (WooHoo!!) and feeling better with each passing day. The liver pain seems to be subsiding more and more each day which has me encouraged. I had some tingling part of yesterday and some unpleasant pain when I laid down to go to bed but I felt better again this morning.

I also have some great news. The last time I saw my doctor before I stopped drinking I weighed 254lbs. Which had me very discouraged because my sophmore year of high school I weighed 350lbs and had a 52inch waist. I know WOW! I decided then and there that I wanted to change that and I lost 150lbs and got all the way down to around 195lbs. I eventually got back up to 215lbs by lifting and was in excellent shape. I was basically Mr. healthy if you can believe it. I had a bunch of my friends at school asking me for advice on how they too could lose weight and two of them actually stuck it out and lost a bunch of weight themselves with my help. I was on top of the world my senior year and then everything started to go downhill after my first semester of college. Anywho where I'm going with all this is I got myself back on a very similar diet to what I was on before and, without the added 2,500 to 3,000 calories of empty calories I was getting from the booze added onto the crap I was eating, I've lost 10lbs in the these first 9 days and I'm estatic (244lbs as of this morning).

I actually do know quite a bit about good nutrition so if anyone has any questions I'd be more than happy to help.

Thanks again for all the support.

Zack

Your life could not sound more familiar zandre. All of those pains i know so well.....along with chest pains as well. I think i scared myself enough this time to stay away from the beer. I have realized i cant drink in moderation for long. Always end up back in the same place. I did not do detox but have to admit i was very scared this time and would have went if the pains got worse. Have a doctors appointment tomorrow and sure he will want to do blood work after i am sober for a while. My liver levels were high last time as well....that is when i quit the first time. I am on day 3 now and already feeling a lot better. Hang in there.

Well I know I'm jumping the gun just a tab bit but I'm officially and technically on day 14 of being sober (WooHoo). I had a pretty uneventful but enjoyable weekend. My younger sister turned 17 on Saturday so we had a birthday dinner with all her friends at a local sushi buffet which is actually quite good for being a buffet. They have a little bit of everything including Hibachi which I love.

I'm still waiting to hear back from the employer where I had my follow-up interview at last Monday which I believe went quite well. I gave them a call Friday just to see if they had made a decision or if the position had been filled and what not. Thought it would show a little extra initiative and that I was highly interested in the spot. The owner told me that it was still open and he was planning on sitting down with the managers Saturday to discuss it. So hopefully sometime early this week I'll hear from them. I could definitely use something to help kill the time instead of just sitting at home trying to find chores to do and errands to run.

As for the pains they seem to have just about completely subsided but I am still getting them a few times a day but nothing like earlier so that has me feeling a little better about everything. Unfortunately my sleep pattern is still pretty screwed up, didn't get to sleep last night until 5am, but I'm going to force myself to get up a little earlier tomorrow to try and get this under control. I have a little over two weeks before I go in for another LFT blood test and should be able to get the results same day from the medical records office and will see my doctor the next day so wish me luck with that as I am still pretty concerned. I probably wouldn't be as concerned if I hadn't been such an ignorant fool by drinking heavily while I had mono but my doctor didn't mention anything so I really had no idea although I don't blame him. I should have inquired about it myself.

Anyways again thank you to everyone here for all the support. Not sure what I'd do without all the help I've gotten here. Can't wait till I get to that one month mark. I'm sure I'll do another check in here in a few days.

By the way craze283 where do you live in Ohio?

Zack

Hey zandre,

Great news about the pain subsiding. I remember all the concern I had when my side was really aching alot, but, it seems to just be alcohol related. Now, if I would only be so concerned about the damage to my brain, lol.

Just another check in...

Well I'm officially on day 21 (3 weeks WOOHOO!!!). I can feel that month getting here before I know it. Definitely feeling better with each passing day but unfortunately still getting these darned pains occasionally so still pretty nervous. I have my next blood test in 10 days and see my doctor the day after. I'm extremely anxious to see those results so those 10 days can't pass fast enough especially since I'll be able to get the results same day and I know a thing or two about judging LFT's now (WAYYY too much researching). Ha maybe you guys could throw a few extra prayers in for some positive news out of that.

Anyways on a lighter note I have some pretty awesome news. This past Wednesday I got the job I was interviewing for. Pretty siked about it and I definitely need something to pass the time during the day and I'll be making a little extra dough who doesn't love that. I start training tomorrow so I'm looking forward to that.

Again thanks to everyone here for all the support.

Zack

Congrats on your sober time!! I came into this conversation late...

I was put on a serious vitamin regiment because I couldn't sleep on my right side for about 3 months. Just a dull ache, but constant.

Milk thistle, dandelion root for the liver. Just make sure you're...uhhh....never too far from a restroom. Water, water, water is the key. Just keep very hydrated. And EAT!

Prayers coming your way...