10 year drinker. Worried about the C word.

[ryan9119]

I've been drinking a tall 6 pack every night for about 10 years. Think that's the equivalent of pints in England. Crappy light beer.

First off I am a severe hypochondriac with horrible anxiety. I always think I'm dying of something. I don't have any of the common symptoms of liver problems that you read about. I'm tired a lot, but that's could be from stress, the booze and bad sleep. We have a 9 months old baby and he is running me ragged too. Only other thing is I feel fuller in the liver department, if that makes sense.

I Have a deductible, so I can't afford to see a Dr right now and have labs done. I'd probably prefer to be clean for a little while anyway before I'm tested. I'm tapering off and am drinking half my usual. Hope to be completely done in a week.

If I was succumbing to liver disease wouldn't I have more outward signs? I just did a 30 mile bike ride 2 days ago. Healthy appetite.

[Hidden]

alot dont find out until they start throwing up pints of blood. The fact you have energy is good, but finding out any damage isnt straight forward. You will need blood tests and scans. Cant you go to the emergency room and blag some tests by telling them about Liver pain?

Light beer doesnt sound too bad, my dad drank 2,3,4 pints an evening for 50+ years and can still cycle 100 miles. also being clean for a while isnt the best way, you get a better idea of any inflammation if you go as soon as you can, even people with Cirrhosis will have normal labs after quitting a while, so that would be useless really. You may have some fat building up in the Liver that will clear if you stop drinking. its when the fat starts to cause the Liver to swell when the damage happens. the Liver doesnt feel pain its the sack around that does when it starts to swell

[ryan9119 in reply to Hidden]

A trip to the emergency room would put me on the streets. The cost is astronomical.

I don't have lots of energy, I'm damn near exhausted a lot. But I don't get much sleep and have tons of stress. Drinking doesn't help, I heard it ruins sleep.

My old lady is exhausted too and she doesn't drink, but we both get no sleep and have a crazy barbarian toddler.

[Hidden in reply to ryan9119]

USA great in so many ways, but health care is something you would expect in Africa or something. I just pick up the phone and get a doctors appointment the same day and have all blood tests for free, for scans there would be a wait though, but still free.

You have to see a doc to get a handle on the situation, you might be in good shape, or you could have some serious damage, its impossible to tell because the Liver has massive reserves and can still do its job even if its 75% dead. I dont think you would have Cirrhosis yet, but im sure your Liver will be starting to struggle.

good luck pal

[RodeoJoe]

I think you're doing the right thing. Cut right down and then try hard to not drink for a few weeks. Your hypochondria and anxiety will probably subside quite a bit. Hopefully this will will also help with your sleep and therefore energy levels.

Believe me I know, I had liver cirrhosis until 6 months ago and had a transplant. It wasn't caused by alcohol, in fact the cause was unknown but alcohol and viral damage was not present. It was probably genetic. Anyway I'd known about it for about 15 years before I needed transplant. However I didn't quit drinking altogether, although not a heavy drinker I found it helped with stress but the next day I was ridden with anxiety.

Cycling 30 miles is no indication of liver health, I cycled 50 miles on a charity ride a year before my transplant.

I feel your pain though, I had two young kids, liver cirrhosis and to top it all off undiagnosed coeliac disease. My energy was drained, but had to keep working long hours and look after the kids.

With any luck cutting back and quitting alcohol will do the trick, you'll get your life back in order. If not you need to get the tests done.

[JohnyD]

Dear Ryan. You sound a lot like me. Have always been a bit of a hypochondriac. Like many who drink to overcome stress. I love my drink but it exacerbates my anxiety and depression!

Vicious circle as booze works initially but not in the long run.

You have my total sympathy. (I am going to a medical to try and get my driving licence back after losing it through combination of sleep apnoea, a legally required reportable medical condition, prolonged use of antidepressants and alcohol abuse- never been dui but medically recorded excess drinking). I wud recommend going to AA just to listen. You will meet many anxious, stressed hypochondriacs just like me there.

Someone may know of free/reduced medical facilties to address liver problems. My son, like me abuses alcohol and was diagnosed with a fatty liver. He has now been sober for two years, has saved his marriage and his health. He actually changed his job to reduce stress which helped with reducing the desire to drink. Please note I am not judging as don't even practice what I preach but booze causing me so many problems in my life.

Good luck with everthing. I totally agree with the commentator who said don't wait for tests until youve been on the wagon for a while. Try to get yr liver tested as soon as possible. You havd my complete and absolute sympathy.

Best wishes JohnM

[ryan9119]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Currently I cannot afford to go get any blood work done. Would cost a few hundred dollars. Baby cost a ton and we ran up credit cards when she was on maternity leave.

I hope to feel better soon. We are gonna budget to set aside money so I can pay for it hopefully in a few months. If something takes a terrible turn I'll just go to the ER.

I work in a liquor store (I despise hard alcohol) and I see people drinking half gallons of cheap vodka for years, probably decades and they never get it. Then there are the ones who look worse and worse and eventually you don't see em anymore.

Hope I get lucky and my life of helping old ladies and being a generous tipper affords me a bit of karma and my liver is in fact not a large raisin.