Happy New Year, bloods update, discussion with GP and honesty time.

[GavBelfast]

Good afternoon everyone. I hope you are all as healthy as possible and had a pleasant Christmas and New Year period.

The last time I posted was about three months ago when I had had a full liver panel done and, really, everyone reassured me that my liver was fine - and I finally accepted that.

I went to see my GP about an unrelated matter and we talked about these liver results again. He again said to me that I had to avoid excessive/binge drinking because, while I did not have a serious problem now, I would do in maybe 2-3 years if I didn't.

I've already explained the causes of the binges and my doctor said he did not think I was an alcoholic. He said my historic liver/full blood count tests (these have been done regularly over the years because I have to take a statin) and it was only really sine June 2015 that the results spiked.

I was honest with him (as I have been honest on this forum) and told him I missed having an occasional social couple of pints with friends and a glass or two of wine on Sundays with dinner with my Dad. He said that, if I could stick to doing that, I would not do any harm and he had no medical grounds for telling me not to drink limited amounts of alcohol, but only I could determine if I could stick to such limited consumption of alcohol, not every day, and preferably with food, and had to stop, go back to him or seek other assistance if there was any threat of the binge drinking returning.

We had also agreed to dispense with the liver-unfriendly medications I had been on (apart from the statin).

So, I had my first pint of beer (with food), on 19 October, after 8 weeks without alcohol. I have done so on several occasions since. I have not had a single drink in the house and there is no alcohol in the house. I didn't have one drink over Christmas week. My consumption of social coffees has also increased.

In mid-December, I noticed that I was feeling discomfort under my right rib. I had to go back to the GP to discuss a change of anti-depressant medication. I admitted I was worried about the liver again. It was palpated and nothing could be felt - everything was soft and supple. I was told this is how it should be: it should not be able to be felt. He knows I am due to start a new job on 4 January and he said that, as it had been over two months since I'd had blood tests, it would be a good time to repeat everything. He said they would also be a good indication that the fatty liver condition was in retreat. so I had liver function tests, full blood count and coagulation tests done. I had to wait until after Christmas to get these results, but got them from a nurse earlier this week. She told me they were all normal (they are flagged on the screen if they are not normal) but the the doctor had asked her to give me some specific numbers as he has been tracking these with me. So, these 'highlights' were:

Albumin: 45

Total Billirubin: 9

AST: 15 (this is the lowest this has ever been in over a decade of results)

ALT: not measured

GGT: 18 (this is the lowest this has ever been in over a decade of results)

Alk Phos: 101 (this is the highest this has been, but still well within normal range)

Coagulation: The nurse explained this to me but it was too complicated for me to understand, so she just told me how important good liver function was for it to be working properly and it was in normal range.

I know some/many of you will be disappointed an even angry with made for not completely abstaining from alcohol after having such a scare during/after the summer and pestering many of you, especially you, MisterX, for advice and asking hypothetical questions.

Some of you may also be offended, particularly where you have/have had serious liver problems and, if that is the case, I apologise. I mean no offence in updating my story.

Of course, I got thinking again. I thought that, with the resumed moderate alcohol intake, the values (AST and GGT) would have gone up a bit, but are now the lowest they have ever been. How could this be? I must admit to being worried again that these results are too low dor a healthy liver (and that would have been the case had I not had anything to drink).

The doctor showed no concern at all when I'd told him about the occasional pints, and was quite adamant that the pretty constant discomfort over and under the right rib had nothing to do with the liver. It has not been affected by having a drink - it's just discomfort that is there.

I can't be 100% sure that something traumatic happening won't stop me from binge drinking ever again, but I can say that that the occasional social beers since 19 October has not inclined me to the desire to do so.

So, I'd welcome any comments about these latest blood tests and frank feedback on having an occasional few pints again.

Thank you and my best wishes to all of you.

Take care,

Gavin.

[Moysey83]

Sounds good , I am going through a similar thing and hope that I can be same , all the best

[briccolone]

of course we're not offended. The reasons for the very good low figures is because you've been abstaining from alcohol and good diet for months now so it works doesn't it! you may get the odd twinge now and then-we all do.

[GavBelfast in reply to briccolone]

Thanks, Briccolone,

But, but I have not been abstaining - having occasional pints since mid-October and I genuinely wouldn't want to cause offence to anyone who is anti-alcohol because drinking had damaged their health or of someone close to them, anyone whose liver has been affected through NO drinking, or to those who may have felt I ignored their advice never to drink again (which I only did when my doctor said it was OK to do so on an occasional basis).

I was just astonished that the figures were so low: my Albumin, Billirubin and Alk Phos figures have varied considerably (but always within normal range over the years) but the AST has never been as low as 15 and the GGT never as low as 18.

I simply wondered why and my anxious mind, coupled with the mild pain at and under the right rib, had me thinking that the very low AST and GGT figures could be my liver telling me something worrying.

Gavin.

[Hidden]

HI Gavin

You appear to be struggling with not drinking, if you need some help then seek it out.

Your ultrasound showed fatty Liver and fat has to be pretty well established to show on ultrasound. The enzymes mean the Liver is not inflamed, but you could still have too much fat in it. I am sure you will be fine, but dont jump the gun, you still have work to do.

[chynablue]

Hi Gavin,

Good job on getting your blood work into normal ranges. A healthy liver should be able to handle an occasional drink in moderation.

Try not to focus on how low the figures are. Normal range is normal range. They are normal. That is good. It doesn't quite work like you are describing - drink a beer and the numbers go up... don't drink for a week and the numbers go down... the normal number was low but I had a beer yesterday so it added a few points... none of these things are real. Its a lot more complicated than that. The enzymes are affected by multiple factors. We're talking about chemistry functioning at the cellular level within an organ system within a human being with environmental factors on top of that. You can't piece all of that together based on a single number on the page. It's meant to be a guide only.

Keep taking care of yourself. Keep the drinking to a minimum or skip it all together. If you feel a binge coming on, feel free to send me a message. I'll help if I can.