Carefully Does It

[MrBumpWR14]

This is another of my non-sporting articles dealing with liver disease.....something that I suffer from.

My case is a strange one indeed my haemotoligist has told me to my face that in all his many years of experience, I am the one case that defeats him in that he has no idea why it happened. He isn't the only one either as not one consultant or doctor has been able to provide an answer.

Now I have never smoked in my life and very rarely did I touch alcohol mainly down to the fact that for 25 years I drove for a living so drinking was just not an option. Only at Christmas with a couple of drinks, and I mean a couple, would I drink alcohol....this is excepting my 40th birthday in 2006 but even then I didn't go mad. There are however two things I can think of that just may be a possible cause;

1-I used to have an apalling diet! Driving for a long hours day in day out including early mornings does not lead itself to a healthy diet. If you add to that several years as a barman added to my load it made things worse. I would live on junk food both at work and at home meaning my weight shot up and it took the warning words of a doctor in 2007 for the message to hit home. I'm 5 foot 9 and my weight in September 2007 was nearly 17 stone. It was a warning I heeded as over the next 6 months I ate far more healthily that I dropped to below 15 stone meaning I felt and looked better. So diet is a huge thing and I urge anybody to eat healthier.....although sometimes there is no harm in a treat.

2-When I was married between 1991-1997 my now ex-wife would constantly tell me to stop taking painkillers for a headache. Thing is I wasn't just taking paracetamol....oh no, I was taking stronger pain relief that had more instant relief. Now very much like my late father I can be stubborn and of course "I knew best" so kept taking the stronger pain relief even for a slight cold.

Add the pain killers and poor diet together and I wonder if I may just have the answer to what caused my health issues. Of course its something that cannot be proven and I could be barking up the wrong tree but in all honestly it won't have helped.

I have NOT written this very honest self appraisal so that people feel sorry for me as I dont want that so why write it?

Simple.....I urge everybody to live their lives to the full but do not take your body for granted. I'm not a medical expert at all and I speak from self experience....life is for living but do try to eat as healthy as possible. Most of all do not abuse your body with too much alcohol and lay off the painkillers. They can be deadly and I wish I would have listened all those years ago.

I will never know for certain what caused my illness but I honestly don't think I helped myself in years gone by.

Carl Taylor

[carmik]

Hi

Just one comment I will make.

Were you tested for ALPHA 1 ANTITYRYPSIN DEFICIENCY.

A cause of liver problems that it classed as rare. Not because it is rare in itself, in fact it is quite preverlant BUT not everybody tests for it.

My husband fits into a lot of what you said, a rare drinker, long distance lorry driver, with all the issues for poor diet that that brings, slightly overweight. His problem turned out to be the above. at age 58.

His liver, without anybody realising, had been struggling since he was born.

Good Luck

[MrBumpWR14 in reply to carmik]

Not that I'm aware of. The very 1st test I had was diabetes but at least I don't have that. I was very lucky it was caught early.

[carmik in reply to MrBumpWR14]

My advice is to see a hepatologist who will delve deeper into why you have a liver problem.

What part of the country are you in.

Kings College, London, Liver Unit is ACE

Good Luck

[Brummi in reply to MrBumpWR14]

Thanks for the info. My problem was PBC. Its a liver diease caused by autoimmune, I had had it for years but never noticed it. Diagnosed in Jan 2013 I had a transplant in June 2013.

[Brummi]

Hi Carl, I read your post with interest, what is the actual disease you have?

[MrBumpWR14]

Just chronic liver cirrhosis and HE plus all that comes with it