Still scared.....
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Still scared.....
I drank quite a bit for 6-8 years. Not sure when it really turned to "heavy". 4 years ago had liver enzymes at 140 and ultrasound said fatty liver so I stopped for a while but started again. Quit drinking last winter as much and tapered my way off through out the spring. I have quit all together and all this year my enzymes have been only slightly elevated with them being normal the last 3 months and the last ones were perfect. I have been having pains down my left rib cage, small / light pressure / discomfort in my center chest below rib connection, and have an upset stomach. Had CT done with contrast and it showed fatty liver still but that was it. Everything else is normal except white blood cell count has been slightly elevated also for a while. They have been running in the 11-12k range. Docs can't figure anything out. I'm have major axexiety and nerves and wonder if that plays a roll. Looking for similar stories out there. I'm 36 and hope to still have some years left. I'm hoping my fatty liver goes away after eating healthy and loosing some weight. Enzymes being normal gives me some hope. Looking for some encouragement.
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Back in 1988 my enzymes were elevated such as yours were and yet the docs were amazed that within a couple of weeks the enzymes returned to normal and I had regained my appetite. Are you eating O.K.? Maybe some chicken livers stroganoff (no booze in it however) would help. The liver seems to have astonishing recuperative powers. If you have good docs you can rely on them if there is anything seriously wrong. Your job is to stop drinking and eat foods they recommend. They can also help with anxiety but it's important that they give limited amounts of RX that could be habit forming, with limited refills for a limited time only. Sounds like you're on the recovery path if you can stop drinking. With that it helps to avoid former drinking companions and seek friends who are also in recovery and have some track record in gaining sobriety. It may be challenging at first but it gets a lot easier later on. Good luck.
Bill
Bill
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Originally Posted by wpainterw 
Back in 1988 my enzymes were elevated such as yours were and yet the docs were amazed that within a couple of weeks the enzymes returned to normal and I had regained my appetite. Are you eating O.K.? Maybe some chicken livers stroganoff (no booze in it however) would help. The liver seems to have astonishing recuperative powers. If you have good docs you can rely on them if there is anything seriously wrong. Your job is to stop drinking and eat foods they recommend. They can also help with anxiety but it's important that they give limited amounts of RX that could be habit forming, with limited refills for a limited time only. Sounds like you're on the recovery path if you can stop drinking. With that it helps to avoid former drinking companions and seek friends who are also in recovery and have some track record in gaining sobriety. It may be challenging at first but it gets a lot easier later on. Good luck.
Bill
Bill
I'm lucky that quitting has been easy. No cravings or desires and it has been great. The eating has been rough because I have been paranoid about this. When they did a urinalysis it came back with billiruben in it and I made the mistake of asking Dr Google about that and it started me down a road of paranoia and anexity. I couldn't breath and was having panic attacks. Blood test came back ok and next urine test was ok. Nurse said urine bilirubin test isn't accurate. But even with that information I am still a wreck. I have seen 3 nurse practitioners, one being a GI doc, and my family doc. All have assured me that they don't think it is anything serious at all and just to come back later. Getting an upper GI done in a couple of weeks. I hope that if they were worried they'd speed it up a little. One nurse shrugged it all of and said IBS and she thinks I'm one that just has a higher white blood cell count. I think my nerves play a lot into all of it but they are not a light switch than can be **** off. When I do eat it seems to be better, just belch a lot. Maybe an ulcer? Don't really know. Just like reading the many stories of inspiration on here and I does help spirits.
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gr555: Yes, I've been known to consult Dr. Google. Sometimes it's helpful but often it backfires, since there is a lot of defensive medicine stuff which looks like it's been written by lawyers (e.g. "You may develop constipation or diarrhea" (presumably not simultaneously). My spouse carefully reads all the possible side effects and makes a valiant effort to develop them all.
Then, having consulted Dr. Google and raising the possibility that you may have some rare disorder the docs tend to chime in with their own brand of defensive medicine. The various tests put money in the doc's pocket and protect them from lawsuits.
So maybe the best approach is to trust a doc in whom you have confidence. If you don't have confidence then change docs. I did that recently with fine results.
Bill.
Then, having consulted Dr. Google and raising the possibility that you may have some rare disorder the docs tend to chime in with their own brand of defensive medicine. The various tests put money in the doc's pocket and protect them from lawsuits.
So maybe the best approach is to trust a doc in whom you have confidence. If you don't have confidence then change docs. I did that recently with fine results.
Bill.
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P.S. I'll be 90 next year and about 75 percent of my former friends are dead. If it had not been for the heart surgeons I'd would have been dead 19 years ago. But I had a daughter in law who developed some kind of chronic pain syndrome and went to Brazil in a wheelchair with a friend. She came back "cured" apparently by a Brazilian faith healer who combined his skills with jungle medicine from the Matto Grosso. She was warned not to get pregnant but did so, had a baby and ended up worse then ever. So where do you turn: Dr.Google? Jungle medicine? Faith healing? Lourdes? Just trusting your local doc is less expensive since just taking a flight anywhere these days is a traumatic experience. 
Bill
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How's your dental health? An elevated white count could mean you're dealing with a low-grade infection or you could just be a person with a higher count as normal. Since your doctors aren't concerned, maybe try to trust that, schedule a retest for whenever they recommend and then just take good care of yourself.
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