worried: hi i wonder if you can help me... - British Liver Trust

British Liver Trust

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worried

26 Replies

hi i wonder if you can help me..

i have been drinking quite consistently for the last couple of years to unhealthy levels...however ive not drank for 5 days and surprisingly havent missed it and actually feel less tired and have slept better...which ironically was one of the reasons i actually started drinking

My motions hacve been very lose for as long as i can remember ..no solidity ..but i put that down to bad diet and too much alcohol

however today my motion has been quite dark and tar like...and when i wiped myself had alot of blood

26 Replies
AyrshireK profile image
AyrshireK

Get yourself to the hospital or GP at the very least. You could be experiencing an internal bleed somewhere in your digestive tract and these are not to be ignored. My husband passed blood from his back passage for a couple of weeks and ignored it thinking it was only a rectal tear when actually he was bleeding from 7 burst varices in his oesophagus and could easily have died - he eventually vomitted a huge amount of fresh blood and 'coffee grain' type blood.

It was his massive upper GI bleed which brought to light the fact he had advanced cirrhosis of the liver (in his case he was tee-total so it came as a massive bolt from the blue!).

With your drinking history go to the hospital, be honest and explain your history and get this investigated NOW.

Wishing you the very best.

Katie

in reply to AyrshireK

oh my goodness thanks for your reply

AyrshireK profile image
AyrshireK in reply to

Go and get it checked out, better safe than sorry.

Katie x

in reply to AyrshireK

ive booked with my dr for a blood and urine test for the 29th ..and am going to see if its cleared abit for then ...im on a period at the moment and dont want to be examined

Im not in any pain and feel absolutely fine ...would i Katie if it was something sinister?

AyrshireK profile image
AyrshireK in reply to

I personally would not leave it until the 29th. My hubby was feeling nothing at all (just a bit unsettled in himself) - as I said he was passing blood in stools and just thought it was a rectal tear (or something more sinister in the bowel department, he had just turned 50 and the bowel screening pack had not long come through the door) so he ignored the blood. The vomitting came out of the blue and it was as I decribed before - burst varices in his oesophagus due to portal hypertension stemming from advanced cirrhosis.

This may or may not be what you have going on but alcoholic liver disease can bring about sudden bleeds (that's what killed the former MP Charles Kennedy).

Leave your dignity at the door and get this checked out - yes they may need to examine your back passage but more likely it will be an utrasound and endoscopy you'll need to confirm whether you have a bleed.

Another 9 days could be too long if it is something to do with the liver.

Please get it checked sooner rather than later.

I am not meaning to alarm you but several times since my hubbies diagnosis we've been told how severely poorly he'd been and what the outcome could have been had we delayed. There are other posters on here who've been through similar, waking from coma's and learning that they'd be resucitated and such like.

Please don't delay for want of embarrassment.

Katie xxx

RodeoJoe profile image
RodeoJoe in reply to AyrshireK

Yes I would second that.

I suffered from cirrhosis for years before transplant and it was one of the big signs to look out for.

Don't worry about being embarrassed at all. I ended up in A and E and it turned out I'd eaten too much beetroot!

in reply to RodeoJoe

i actually have been eating loads of beetroot...so that could explain why my motion is that colour

RodeoJoe profile image
RodeoJoe in reply to

I think its probably still worth getting checked.

AyrshireK profile image
AyrshireK in reply to

Don't ignore it based on the basis of that anecdote please. You said black and tarry and blood when you wiped.

RodeoJoe profile image
RodeoJoe in reply to AyrshireK

I couldn't agree more. I meant it isn't embarrassing rather than a possibility.

Catfishjumpin profile image
Catfishjumpin in reply to

She is 100% right

briccolone profile image
briccolone

welcome Red,

ok the loose motions and poor sleep patterns very typical of drinking to excess and indicators of fatty liver which is not a surprise. Take a look at the new guidelines and its 14 units for women per week which hasnt changed. Drinking a lot more than that for long periods will inevitably lead to some problems or another.

With respect to the dark tarry stuff-I concur with the others-get yourself booked in for a checkup and express your concerns to the GP and be honest.

In the meantime, stay off the sauce and see if things improve over the next 2 weeks.

You might be surprised how good you feel without alcohol in which case make it a habit.

keep us posted

B

in reply to briccolone

Thanks for that. . I already feel a lot less tired and no longer have diarrhoea as soon I wake up... haven't been seen just yet but will post as soon as

briccolone profile image
briccolone in reply to

very good-normally takes a couple of weeks before it gets out of the system but good news you're seeing improvements already-what were you drinking btw? wine?

in reply to briccolone

Gin!

briccolone profile image
briccolone

mothers ruin

ejnurthen profile image
ejnurthen

See your gp now

Yes!

dckimberly profile image
dckimberly

Hi there..great you have quit on your own..I myself am sober just over seven years and did not get sick till I was three and a half years sober. Last October I was blessed to recieve a new liver.

I've been in detox several times..and what your describing is cause for alarm. I'm not a doctor, but imagine you've been using a solvent on your system for years (which you basically have) so powerful is it it's literally like pouring drain cleaner down your pipes everyday. This cleaner/poisen can actually hide a multitude of sins, as it is scraping all the rubbish off your pipes.., a loose stool is super common in alcoholism. Things getting tarred up now is because your no longer using that super strong drain cleaner. but blood in the stool? That's just bad news. In fact, it's one of the things they tell those of us with liver disease to check for, daily. We are also asked at our doctors appointments if we have seen any.. Your very lucky to not be having any withdrawal symptoms...very. Most people are mildy to severely agitated, have the shakes, tremors, vomiting, sometimes delusions, restless to no sleep and, sadly, grand seizures. alcohol withdrawal is one of the two known Drugs as far as addiction goes, that can cause death. and it often does.

The fact that you are feeling great, but seeing blood should send up huge warning flags to you..beetroot or not.

Please don't worry about your menstration..believe me, they have seen it all?its a normal part of life..no big deal. The bigger deal is if you just have a seizure.

Sorry, not to sound so scary or harsh, but alcohol withdrawal is nothing to play with.

And it does not take days to leave your system..the main effects, yes, but the common line used is one month for every year of drinking.

To get completely out of your system. That's for alcohol. So ten years is ten months..for it too no longer be hiding in brain cells and fat cells etc.

You were an everyday drinker? Of gin? A bottle? Pint? A fifth? Half gallon? The more you drank, the more dangerous it is.

Studies show that women in their fifties and sixties are more likely to die from the disease than men. Our bodies cannot handle it as well, weight not withstanding.

Are you taking sleeping meds? I'll be honest..I'm stunned to hear ur sleeping well at night..I really am..shrugs. I have never seen that in recovery from alcohol..lucky you?im serious..really lucky you. Everyday heavy drinkers normally don't sleep well or right, without help, for days or weeks at the very least.

Please go to the A&E ..

Like I said, Im no doctor, just going on my own experience and what I've seen with others..id just hate for you to get really ill and not be amble to make it to hospital..

Please do take care of yourself..if nothing else, surely there's a hotline you can call and e press your concerns to a nurse or doctor..your in the UK? What about 211... I think thats it..sorry I have only lived here two years!

Thinking a good thought!

Kimberly

in reply to dckimberly

I drank for the last few months every evening. . 3 doubles. .measures. .. but previous to that abstained 4 days out of 7.... I haven't taken any sleeping aids ... have done in the past on my 4 days off I'd take nitol. .. but nothing since I've stopped this time.. would the bleeding be bright red if there was a problem ...I've read it would be dark..as it's coming from higher up the gastric? ?..

AyrshireK profile image
AyrshireK in reply to

You can also have bleeding from the bowel.

Hubby had both dark tarry stool and red blood when he wiped.

Please don't ignore this.

Katie

dckimberly profile image
dckimberly in reply to AyrshireK

i totally agree with you! don't wait..better to be safe than sorry when it comes to this stuff..sadly, some of us found out the VERY hard way

XXXXX

dckimberly profile image
dckimberly in reply to

ahhhhh ok, well then, thats not nearly as bad as what i thought! lol..erase erase... :) still, id have it checked out anyway..dunno..blood in stool is never good.. you know?

Like I said, not a doctor, so Id hate to comment on blood color, either way..

but also, its always good to not drink..really, it is like poison..I never knew until I went into last detox and this doctor would come an teach us about each of the drugs..like a class? he knew how bad that stuff is for the body..let alone the mind and soul..you know? starts off as a stimulant, ends as a depressant..etc. All I know is I'm better off without it..it nearly killed me..and would have, if I'd continued..even 6 more months, the docs said I'd be dead. period. But I did drink everyday..morning noon and night..a lot.

cheering you on!

kimberly

in reply to dckimberly

I'm a primary school teacher.. so my drinking always wasn't moderate in the holidays. . And there A LOT of holidays!...but thank you so much for your replies it truly has opened my eyes ... and I will be visiting my gp

cityman62 profile image
cityman62

Listen Mr bryan jones-1:you are outrageously spamming this forum.2:I've received 5 emails-today,all identical.3:you are totally taking the P*ss.4:I respectfully suggest you go forth+multiply.5:I am on life-changing drugs and deeply irascible.6:I hugely look forward to hearing from you again in another life-down below,where I can beat you with a big stick-for all eternity.Have a nice day.........

Catfishjumpin profile image
Catfishjumpin

How are you now? People here gave you great advice and real time experiences on this issue. It happened to me, I woke in the middle of the night, felt like puking, blacked out, woke up projectile vomiting blood. I live alone. It was a horror show. I thought I would die. It finally ended. I went back to sleep, did not dial emergency because if I was dying I wanted to die at home alone. 3 weeks later, two back to back blood transfusions, almost died again. They found bleeding varices, banded them. Please quit drinking. The blood due to your condition forces you to accept you are not able to assume this might just be a passing issues. Our issues get larger, they take more work to manage if we are going to continue to live...

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