JADIII

Hi, been a lurker and poster here for a long time (too long). Had some success with stopping for a bit but when I felt better figured it was time to resume (foolish). I figured that at 53 as long as I get a physical every year (blood work), I'm cool to continue my drinking. I was wrong. Last year in 2020 blood work was "ok" with a little high cholesterol, etc. but nothing alarming. Well, went this year and my ALT and AST shot up to 100 and 75 respectfully in a little less than a year. They were in the middle or normal range a year ago.

MD called and said you need to cut booze and lose weight (both of which I knew but this was something I've never heard or at least paid attention to). So here i sit, worried about damage, etc. and not heeding my MD's warning last year with a dull pain under my right rib cage. I'm thinking it's my liver because it didn't "hurt" when was drinking so it was probably a numbing effect.

Not asking for medical advice, just some other stories. I'm only on day 4 after a good weekend bender (golf Friday, wedding Saturday and poolside all day Sunday) and let me tell you that a grown man throwing up on Monday morning out back in the woods is alarming and actually a bit painful to my throat for a few days.

I'm sure other people have had liver pain, etc. Was wondering how long it takes to go away or subside. Also, I asked my doctor and he said it could be gall stones but not sure. Just had an US last year and all was "ok" but this came on fast. Just a word to the wise, things can escalate quickly and it's much harder to bring it down then to drink it up.

I'm open to any advice/stories of liver pain that went away or maybe didn't.

Thanks for listening. Will be checking in often.

BeABetterMan

Well, I was diagnosed with cirrhosis and my ALT and AST ever were were 42 and 53 respectively. I quit drinking a year ago upon this news (with a couple brief relapses) and numbers are down to 32 and 24. Never had liver pain or jaundice.

Soft way to say it: You might want to consider reducing your drinking eating healthier. The liver can recover quite a bit if the damage is not too severe.

Real way: Golf, weddings and the pool can be done sober. But if you really want to drink while doing those things, prepare mentally to die an awful death.

JADIII

Yes, hopefully with some time off things will get better. Not exactly what I wanted to hear but thanks.

AlbaSober

Your results are not alarmingly high. It's not unusual to have ALT/AST's in the hundreds of even 4 figures in extreme cases. This isn't an invite to drink btw. I would ask for your GGT score and also the availability of a Fibroscan to see the true picture going on. Many of us drinkers (myself included was B vitamin deficient when I quit) so you could get that checked.

JADIII

Yes, my doctor didn't seem overly concerned like setting up a fibroscan, etc. as I had an US last year which was pretty clean (I did have a hemangioma) but other than that, what they call an unremarkable scan so I guess that's a plus. I did ask my MD about cirrhosis and he said it wouldn't happen that quickly (I know there are people that will say it's happened to them or someone they know) but for the most part, I'm sticking with what he tells me. Everything else, other than a higher bad cholesterol (most likely from drinking were normal. I don't see a GGT score on this basic blood work. He said to focus on being hydrated and eating well and the enzymes should go down so fingers crossed.

DriGuy

The idea is to quit drinking before it's too late, and I wouldn't base your decision to quit on ALT and AST's, because those aren't the only ways alcohol can kill you. Factor in that once you decide to quit, you still have to figure out how, and some people take a long time figuring out how to do that. You took a vacation from alcohol for a while, but by my definition of quitting, you haven't actually quit yet. You have only partially explored that. It also gets harder to quit the more addicted you become.

But quitting isn't just about life and death. For me it was just about being a better person and not being addicted to a substance, harmful or not. Having a substance that has no ability to reason, but still be in control my life was not pretty.

JADIII

Yes DriGuy, I know I'm still in the infant stages of this but I started a program called Living Smart. Pretty interesting as they offer it through work. So I guess what I'm saying is im not just quitting, I'm trying to build a foundation for quitting and not looking back.

Any suggestion on how long to wait to get retested to see the fruit of labor?

doggonecarl

Here's my story. I quit drinking and my health got better. I quit drinking and my life got better.

Moral of the story. Quit drinking.

advbike

Glad you're quitting. It does damage to many organs beyond liver - heart, brain, kidneys, etc..

As DriGuy said - we also become better people. Addiction does a pretty good job of halting personal growth.

Wait at least 90 days, 6 months is better. By then you will see a remarkable improvement if you can stay off the sauce.

It's harder than you think once you start to feel physically better. Put everything you have into it.

JADIII

Thanks Carl, can you let me know when you have time of how your health improved?

Thrillhou

I had elevated liver enzymes too in the past. My legs were swollen and covered in brown spots/vein things. They were gross. It felt like I was walking in ski boots. Stopping drinking helped the test results and the legs. Just stop drinking and spare yourself any more misery. It took me over a decade to finally quit but I'm on a good path now.

DriGuy

I would trust that to my doctor if you have confidence in him.

JADIII

Will do. How long had you quit before things got better?

Thrillhou

Several weeks. It's different for everyone though.

DriGuy

There are so many things wrong when you are drinking, some are physical and some are mental/emotional. For me, somethings get better right away, and end immediately, like pounding heart in the middle of the night. Other things get better or resolve before others. Things you decide to work on get better when you put in the effort, like handling resentments in my case. Some things happen so slowly you don't even realize until months pass. Physical damage may or may not get better. For me, finding contentment, which is one of my biggest goals is on going and never ending. I no longer work at it, because I found it, but even then, it gets better over the years.

Like Thrillhou pointed out, it's different for everyone. How much, how fast, and what order things happen is never the same. But it seems like you may be getting ahead of yourself. You should focus on not taking another drink. That's where you start. The rest follows, except if you never start, in which case, nothing will happen, except that you will slowly get worse.

JADIII

Thanks so much for the feedback, it's appreciated. So on day 5, which is a pretty good stretch for me, I'm at the very least able to wake up in the morning and not feel like my day is already ruined and chasing the next buzz. I'm at least not counting down the hours and looking at the clock to see when it's 9 AM so I can potentially sneak out for a drink or three to get my day started. For me, that's a step, albeit a small one, but it's a step, which is something I personally need.

For me, especially on a Friday, I would start to think about things I could do today and how drinking would fir in. Whether that's golfing, taking the kids to the pool or literally going to the grocery store and I'd convince myself that it was now time to have a few to get ready. Pretty odd way to think.

Thanks again for the responses.

Robbie64

Welcome back JADIII.

I believe that your readings take about 2 to 3 months to return back to whatever normal level they can get down to. However, if you have damaged your liver in any way they might never fall down to what is the average for a healthy person. I've had liver pain in the past due to drinking and from what I can recall it took just a few days or maybe a week for the pain to go away.

The best way to help your liver is to stop drinking and stay stopped. Hopefully any pain you have will vanish as your liver recovers. As an added bonus, stopping drinking lowers your cholesterol levels too. It may also do your waistline the world of good!

Hevyn

JAD - Congrats on your 5 hard-earned days. Those are huge things you're accomplishing. Waking up without guilt or remorse is a big deal. I drank in the morning too, in the end - what a horrible way to sabotage ourselves. No more. Be proud of yourself.

JADIII

Thanks for the positive feedback, much appreciated. So I made a mistake. I’m actually on day 4 as my last drink was Monday afternoon. That being said stomach is still upset and headache. How long were you guys out of commission before you finally felt better? I felt good enough for a brief jog this morning but now I’m in bed.

Again thanks.

advbike

5-7 days for physical withdrawal. You're almost there. At that point you will feel physically better although may still have sleep and cognitive issues. It takes considerably longer to actually heal.