Hello there, it is highly unlikely that that your liver is damaged but not showing in all the tests you have had. An ultrasound and CT scan plus normal bloods would all seem to indicate no lasting damage. The liver itself won't be painful, pain in the upper right quadrant is generally to do with an inflamed liver pressing on other tissues. Well done on staying off the booze after this all started, carry that on and hopefully your other side effects will ease away.

Alcohol related liver illness is actually one of the few that can be reduced or reversed by positive lifestyle changes so stay off the booze, eat healthier and exercise and your blood tests should remain ok or indeed improve. The liver is pretty resilient but you've had a warning so improve your lifestyle and after a few months get some fresh blood tests done and see how things are.

All the best to you, Katie

23 is very young to have serious Liver damage, but drinking everyday is the worse way to drink, especially half a bottle of vodka. The tests you have had should rule out Cirrhosis, but yes you could have some Fibrosis or mild fatty liver. A test that can give a better picture of your Liver health is a Fibroscan and another blood test is a Fibromax test. Also the Liver can take years to heal after such a heavy period of abuse, if you start to feel good after say 3 months off, then dont assume its ok to start drinking again. Recent studies have suggested that the Liver becomes sensitised to alcohol, so if you start up again damage occurs easier than the first time around.

I know what you mean about doctors not helping much, but the truth is the tests they have arent very good to be honest, alot of things can slip the net.

What may help is some exercise, eat fresh veg and fruit and take a vitamin pill and no smoking or drinking and only drink water and plenty of it, give your system a good clean out

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Hi justme321, to be honest if your ultrasound, ct scan and bloods are clear I wouldn't worry too much. Anxiety can cause you to have pains, its just one sympton and not everybody gets it. I have alcoholic cirrhosis (completely sober now) and I never had any liver pain even though I was causing a lot of damage. The only time I got pain was when I got rushed to hospital with a upper gastric bleed and found out about my condition. I couldn't even lay on my side it hurt so much but it went after a couple months. I was probably drinking between 200-250+ units a week. You haven't caused this type of damage so try not to worry. My liver is doing a lot better now, even though I have permanent damage my condition is under control. Stay off the drink and you should be okay. All the best.

I start feeling pain under the right ribs few days ago. Went today to GP and I will get blood tests on Tue. GP make some "touching" tests on my abdomen and said liver is a bit bigger, so he recommend blood test done. I did drink few beers every day for about 2 years, having nightmare time at work and with wife pregnant (usually at the evening, while I was working on the PC). I hope my liver is not so damaged... Cutting off alcohol now!

It's no surprise your blood work is coming back normal. I'm sure the doctors are doing a liver panel of bloodwork to check for liver disease.Simply put, you haven't drank enough for long enough to have any liver damage.liver issues usually start after about 10-20 yrs of alcohol abuse.In rare cases maybe 7 years but you are nowhere near there.The fact that your doctor has told you your bloodwork is normal is all you need to know.Initially your ALT will rise from fat infiltration and inflammation.after long term continuous assault some livers will start to develop fibrosis and some eventually cirrhosis. this would start to show on liver function test such as INR,albumin and bilirubin.obviously these are fine do that's the main important thing.i thought maybe you might have mild fat infiltration in your liver but this would show up on an ultrasound or CT scan.seens like your liver is doing really good. Maybe the pain is from something else.i wouldn't worry about any significant liver damage. Keep on it with your doc. Something isn't right.stay off the booze for now just to see what happens but from what you've wrote there is zero evidence of liver damage.

This would as far as I am aware NOT be the case for you Justme but I have read that you can have cirrhosis but the Lft's be normal.. Somone on here posted a little while ago this and I have read it before. But as I said this would not be the case for you JUSTME as you have only been drinking for 7 Months.

I agree justme is doing right thing and no way has advanced liver problems.

Sorry I am not sure about PBC Justme, I have had the test I think a year or so ago which was negative. Ask the Docs next time you go.

I was wondering... the liver is the main organ which help / organise other organs such as thyroid. I had 2 years ago blood test and these tests shown that I have a bit higher levels of the hormones. I'm wondering if this symptom means that liver was damaged at this stage. Tuesday I have my first blood tests and we will see...

Stay off the booze for 6 months and see if the pain disappears. If your problem is liver damage due to alcohol you will stand little chance of a transplant if you do not stop drinking. Donor livers are in short supply and not given to people who continue drinking.

Thanks everyone for your help, I really do appreciate it.

Will do!. Thanks for the help

A couple of months ago i decided to go to gp bc of pain in right side just under rib cage. Lft were slightly elevated and dr asked that i stop drinking for 3 weeks and return for 2nd lft. 2nd test was improved albiet i did still drink one day a week during that time. Dr then asked me to stop drinking for 6 more weeks. 3rd lft was all back to normal and i was drinking once or twice a week during that time also. Since then i have gradually drank more and more veer theoughout the week. 3 or 4 times a week. Usually a 12 pack or maybe 14 light beers. Drank last night for the football games and pain is back again. I decided to do a little reading and came across this site... after reading the advice and stories of folks on here i have decided to stop altogether. I have 2 little girls, a 3 year old and a 3 week old, and their mother (my fiance) that all depend heavily on me. If i cant do it for myself then i have to do it for them. Plus i know i feel so much better when not drinking.

Any update. justme did your liver pain go away eventually. I'm in a similar situation.

28 years old and I've just started month number 9 with the exact same symptoms/condition as justme321. I have not drank at all for 9 months and the first few were by far the scariest... Now, after 9 months the pain is much less prominent but def still there.. all day... everyday... Makes you cry not remembering when you were living without it....

 It is Just as justme321 described--- Much worse at night (morning is a god send...), after sugar, caffeine, etc... For me, I especially get swelly pain after eating anything made with fine white flour. Becoming a full vegetarian has also helped. 

I was just wondering justme321, if the pain just got better and better each month until it was gone, or just one day it was like poof gone! 

Thanks mate!

Ya, lots of reasons why Dr's are bad at advice. Main one is they just don't really know much. You will have better luck looking at NATURAL HEALTH as it's where all the chemical durgs started from. Biopsy is the only way they can tell for sure if your liver is inflammed and scarred. However, after your diagnoised with cirrhosis, they no longer will do it due to bleeding problems. So, the way they rate cirrhosis is by symptoms only. Not very good for trying to stop disease. No drinking, period. Eat organic watching for toxins, chemicals. The toxins is one of the ways ppl die from it.

Ignore the statistics due to above statements. Take good care of what you put into your liver and who knows, you may live well to 100😊

Sounds like IBS, alcohol abuse can cause that too. Ease up boyo

I'm glad I came upon this post. I was diagnosed with fatty liver recently. I really wasn't a heavy drinker until last year. I would drink around 40+ beers a week and sometimes a big bottle of alcohol every few days too. I had also stopped working out during this time which probably added to the fatty liver. It's only been a year but it scared me once I started reading all the stories online. I've stopped drinking, started eating healthy and started working out again. But my pain is still there. The doctor didn't give me much info. Just called one day and said "your ultrasound showed an inflamed liver so you need to do a low fat diet and lose 15 pounds." I just hope I didn't do any damage.

Hello everyone...just an update from me after a long time. I posted this thread about 4 years ago and found tremendous amount of help from everyone. I had a lot of pain around the liver area at the time. It subsided and went never came back again. At the time I was 23 now Im 27. My bloods and liver ultrasound was normal at the time so I carried on partying and drinking half a bottle of vodka nightly, which lead to a 70cl a day for many years. I ended up in lock ups, hospitals for detoxes, and eventually traveled to Spain which my parents spent over 15k sterling for to a rehab where i was sober for a month. I got back in the start of March and carried on drinking for a month more...from a half bottle or spirit to a full and sometimes even a Litre. I finally ended up with a fatty liver and abnormal LFT's. I'm nearly a month sober and feel great. My LFTS are going down, and i feel great. A lot of anxiety is still there with lingering depression especially in the mornings. Anyone new reading into this, I just want to say if your drinking just do whatever it takes to quit...there is nothing in this disease but sorrow and grief. I lost a lot of money, time, lost my job, girlfriend, friends and was very close to getting kicked out of the family home. I now attened AA meetings, and other local meetings weekly for help and motivation and I must say its helped me a lot. Thanks to everyone for the help and support.

Hi, and congratulations on being one month sober. From reading your story I can see that you have been through one hell of a battle. It's good to hear that your LFT's are now going in the right direction. As you know you will always find help and support on this forum. Keep checking in and let us know how you are doing. Hope to see you posting soon with even better news .All the very best to you. Alf

Thanks Alf for the kind words and support. I wish the same for you. yes i have been through hell and back with alcoholism. I would wake up in the morning just to have a drink. Book Hotels and skip work so i can drink throughout the day and then bring a bottle home at night. I didn't sleep for months, didn't eat regulatory. I was working daily holding down two jobs until Dec 2018 until i was a functional alcoholic. But since then I drank day and night for the next 5 months. Thanks once again and best of luck to you too,

It wasn't even a half life was it? I'm really pleased for you that you came to your senses. Just keep reminding yourself how bad it was and never go back to those old ways. You have masses of years ahead of you to enjoy, you don't need alcohol to spoil it . I'm looking forward to hearing that you are 2 months Alcohol free. Keep on posting. Alf

It Was not a life at all, I was powerless over alcohol...whether I walked in a Pub, Bar, Shop ...or anywhere it is consumed or sold. I never want that life again...I lost a lot from it and if I carry on I know I will end up with some deadly disease and I don't want to live that sort of miserable life. I admit the alcohol buzz is very satisfying from the drink but the things, people you lose from the substance is not worth it at all. Seems like you've seen it first hand, Alf?. Thanks once again and good-luck, I will be on here regularly, maybe I can help others and it also helps me a lot keeping in touch. Day 26...I haven't been this long in years, except when I was in rehab and believe it or not I managed to relapse over there too...only once and was told I was the first person who relapsed in the sober home and also told I ruined their clean sheet lol. Thanks Alf.

Hi again, and congratulations on day 26. You are doing very well and must keep it up!. Keep posting whenever you feel the need. People on here will be rooting for you and I hope that helps boost you in your fight. I had NASH and HCC. When first diagnosed with cirrhosis I thought it was ok to carry on having my couple of glasses of red wine in the evening (how stupid was that?) but within 2 years I had 2 cancerous tumours on my liver. It's amazing how quickly you can stop drinking when faced with a diagnosis like that!! I know though from many stories on here how difficult it is to stop drinking alcohol when it has such a huge hold over you that it takes priority in your life. You can do it, just as many on here have managed to do it. Much better to do it before you are faced with an awful diagnosis of liver disease and the choice is give up drinking or die. You are doing the very best thing that you can do for your liver, don't waste any more of your life to alcohol. Wishing you a great future and I'm here for you anytime. Alf

Hi Alf, thanks for all the support and motivation, it helps a lot in early recovery. I’m taking it a day at a time and I feel better everyday. Sorry to hear about what your going through, I hope your stable and enjoying life. It shows how ugly the disease is, even when you were told you had cirrhosis you carried on drinking. You seem very strong and I knowledgable and it’s nice to have people like you on this board.

I initially returned to drinking for the past four years so never returned on here. I drank a lot, never missed a day. I drank dangerously, I would neck a half a bottle in one go (neat). I know that’s so stupid, but that’s how I drank all my life. I don’t remember since I started drinking, that I drank slowly or sipped. Always been a binge and neat spirit drinker. My body has recovered, my liver score is abnormal by 20 points, after stopping for 2 weeks. And everything else is normal. It’s amazing how the body recoveres so fast in little time. Maybe because I just turned 27. If I carry on drinking I know the future I write.

I would book hotels when I have a home and drink day and night in peace. 20 bottles of wine in 3 days. No food, only drink. One meal in 3 days. Crazy right ?. I say nature of the disease. One drink can lead me to relapsing for several months. I’ve seen it, and I know how addicted my brain becomes. So I just stay away from it completely. God bless, everyone who helped and I will remain posting. Thanks

Hi there. Good to hear from you. It's great that your results are looking good. Hopefully there will be no long term damage. You have age on your side so you can probably reverse everything and go on and have a long and healthy life. There is only so much the liver can take and It sounds like you were really pushing it to the limits. Not only do you get your life back but think of all the money you will save too! No more lethargy and groggy mornings, that's got to be good! You've gone through a whole 4 weeks now and that's brilliant. Hang on in there and keep at it. Wishing you well every step of the way. Keep me posted. Alf

Hi justme

I have just come across your posts - actually Alf told me about it. Alf and I have similar histories relating to cirrhosis but I think it fair to say that I drank considerably more than Alf. Not as much as you but drinking since I was around 18 until about 60. So for a long long time I didn’t take much, ahem, any, notice of the recommended guidelines. Then one Liver Clinic session I was told you better stop “or else”. I didn’t fancy the “or else” bit 👎🏻 so stopped there and then - nearly 5 years ago now. Like Alf I was one of the lucky few who had a transplant last year - in fact we had our transplants within days of each other albeit at different Hospitals and we only “met” here on this forum.

So after that rambling story what I’m trying to say is much the same as Alf in that it seems like you, with any luck, have “saved” yourself in time from having to go down the same route as the two of us! Please keep it up, yes it’s blurry hard but the rewards are stupendous. Not only money saved, but also, as Alf says, you really do get your life (a life!) back, and will be able to actually remember the happy times I hope you have ahead.

Stick with it please! We like to read of success life stories on here. Every day you can make it without alcohol is one step nearer to not needing it any more. I am not giving advice but merely (merely?) recounting my experiences.

Go for it 👍

Miles

Did your liver pain ever come back once you started drinking again?