Day 7 - Alc. Hepatitis
 

Just checking in, Ive been posting a lot this last week. I am just got back from work, feeling a bit sad to be honest. Dont want a drink. I went to Doctor as I wrote on another thread to get results from Tuesday.

So I do have Alcoholic Hepatitis. its early stage and it seems like a fair few things either too high or too low in the blood as well. Doctor keeps on telling me how I must not have another drink. He seems really serious. But I am too, seems like I have stopped just in time maybe.

And I have to go back in a few weeks for more tests to see if things
improve.

I am told it will repair with time but only if I don't drink, or else it will soon get a lot worse. I suppose I should be glad to hear that I can do something about it. But to be honest I just felt quite sad and reflective all day. And at one point I did think 'Oh **** it, what's the point', but of course its stupid thoughts.

But Im not going to drink, I have felt so positive last couple of days - and Im so sick of alcohol. And Ive had such nice messages and support, I will get day 7 at 03:00 in the morning. Just feeling miserable seeing other people going out on Friday, and stuck here alone for the weekend. I have a plan to keep busy.

Im not going to get into self-pity. I hate this. Its not good and Im just not that kind of person, people have worse things.

I guess I will have a nice bath, eat some healthy food ( that's something else I have to do! ), watch tv or a movie until I fall asleep and then its tomorrow.

But how the hell did I ever get to this.

ConfusedGuy -
I understand why you feel sad. I would, too. I'd be beating myself up. So I get it. But try to get past that as fast as you can. You know what you need to do in order to give your poor liver its best chance to heal. Take care of yourself. You're getting the chance to change things up and take charge of your health. And, yes, feel good that you stopped in time. Not everyone does! You can stay sober. You MUST stay sober, if you want that abused liver to get better. :)

Good you found out when you quit. You can turn this around. Stay strong.

Hi CF :)

I wasn't diagnosed with Alcoholic Hepatitis but I did get blood work back with concerningly high liver values. The doctor wanted me to quit drinking for 3 months and be retested.

I got mad and left her care. But I did quit drinking and after 2 months sober I found a new doctor and she did all the blood work and even ordered an ultrasound of my abdominal cavity.

We were both thrilled when everything came back normal!

Everyone is different and it takes time but if your doctor says it can be repaired with no more drinking, believe him!

Now I am over 4 years sober and not having to worry about how I am destroying my liver really helps me to sleep at night :)

You can do this :grouphug:

up to the diagnosis, you did not deliberately and intentional drink alcohol for the purpose of damaging your liver and compromising your longevity. there is no perfect algorithm that calculates exactly how many drinks or how many ounces or liters or whatever that one can consume safely. each person is different, each body is different.

ahem.........however now knowing what you know and having a diagnosis and stern warning from your doctor, if you STILL decide to pick up a drink again then you ARE intentionally and willfully harming yourself.

i watched it happen. the warning - if you drink ANY alcohol at all EVER again it will KILL you - and the response - for the person to willfully and intentional pick up another drink.

and it killed her. not immediately - oh no, dying from liver disease is slow and grotesque. and completely undo-able. terminal. but that is how my mother chose to end her own life. for no g/d good reason i could ever figure out, as her only child with her only grandchild. but i'm not sure i ever really fit into the equation, so there's that.

don't be her. if you find a drink in your hand, saw your damn arm off first. be that serious.

and then get busy LIVING!

Be thankful you got a wakeup call from the universe and stopped.

They called an ambulance for my neighbor a few weeks ago. When he came home he was a nauseating shade of yellow from head to toe.
Hes not long for this world.

Good nuitrition and self care will heal you.

Take good care of yourself!

I'm glad the prognosis is the damage is reversible ConfusedGuy - thats a real gift to work with :)

Congrats on your week :)

D

At least the damage is repairable. He sounds like a good doctor. Just don’t drink.

Enjoy a hot bath, relax, get a good night's sleep......tomorrow is another sober day and another day of healing for your liver.

Sorry about your diagnosis but at least it is reversible.. you seem pretty determined to stay sober which is great. Very admirable to not let yourself get into self pity.

Sorry to hear this. Think of it as motivation to stay on track. Take care x

Not a sip, my friend.
You got this.

By the way, liver cirrhosis is often irreversible, and if I'm not mistaken, that's the next progression. My birth mother died from it. My last memory of her was stabilizing her as we walked to the liquor store in the morning when I was 4 years old.

Livers are important. You kind of need one to, you know... live.

Checking in this morning. Just woke up, 08:40 Saturday. Got 7 days sober now. Thanks for posts. Going back to bed as Im sleeping so much, Glad Friday night is gone.

As I've learned from reading here play the tape forward. I didn't get that at first but you're on day 7 that's awesome. Keep going. You and everyone here are worth it. Getting sober is really something to be proud of. You should be so proud of yourself.
Take care Confusedguy.

Congratulations on a full week! That is really tremendous. It's awesome too that you can sleep. Do as much of that as you can - your body and brain get to rest and regenerate during that time. You deserve a rest after what you've been through.

O

p.s. You never need to be concerned about how much or how often you post. It seems it helps you, and I guarantee you are helping others at the same time.

Hey CG - you're on the right idea: keep going, new day, repeat it sober.

And, I might have said it on a thread of yours, but I've shared it around here a number of times.

I kept drinking thru repeated warnings and indeed saw alcoholic hepatitis on my chart long before I "got the message." I got to the brink of cirrhosis - as in, literally, I was given a yr, 18 mo and I was 39.

Don't push it that far. It took what it took for me, and I don't regret my journey at all. But you are coming here, and you are sober day by day, and you can do this NOW and have that be your journey.

I don't know about cirrhosis being reversible, indeed there is a point we are simply too far gone, and I didn't have a millimeter to push it. It was astonishing to all when around 90 days, my tests and levels were all normalized.

Glad you are here, glad you are OK and getting OK-er because you are not drinking. Honestly, I didn't worry too much about the alcoholic hepatitis thing because now it's just a past note on my chart. I'm not being glib with you or in any way say you are overreacting-but it's not a final stop in this journey of damage.

You can do this.

Yeah, I'm glad you went to the doctor and got this out of the way right away.

One day at a time. Just don't pick up a drink and start doing things that are good for your physical body. Sleep, water, good nutrition, exercise outdoors when you can.

I kind of made nutrition my hobby. It's fun, cheaper than eating out and it takes time to shop, prep, cook, clean. So it fills those hours.

Congrats on a Week. That's huge.

I'm sorry to hear this.

Just got back from supermarket. Lots of good healthy stuff, have to make an effort to cook weird things like 'vegetables' - no more junk. But honestly it feels good.
Had to walk past one of the bars I know - so I just looked down at floor and went past.
Great idea to make nutrition a hobby (biminiblue). I like that idea. Need to buy some scales to see how I lose the drinking weight over the next few weeks. Bought a piece of steak so I'll have that later with some salad. No carbs. Seemed like an expensive trip but how much would I spend on booze in a weekend ??