I have just had a fibroscan and the results are 5.5 on the fibroscan but 244 on the fatty liver past, which indicates stage1. As a pretty heavy drinker am sure this is down to alcohol
Does anyone know what the appropriate action might be. I was already thinking to cut right down and have 3/4 days a week alcohol free. Would this in itself be enough to repair the liver?
Thanks
hi well the good news is that 5.5 on the fibro is by no means bad-not sure what 244 fatty liver refers to GGT perhaps? anyway in order to reduce fatty liver certainly reducing alcohol is the way to go-take it from me. Suggest you stick to the new govt guidelines of 14 units a week with 2-3 days alcohol free. This will at least stabilise the situation, If you can take 4-6 weeks off drinking and get the tests done again. you may be surprised by the improvement. Plantey of help on this site. good luck-presume you dont have any symptoms at this level?
Thanks for the advice, much appreciated
You're welcome presume you were a Latin scholar with a name like that...caius?
Schoolboy Latin. A long time ago
yes the same for me...caius caecilius Pompeii if I'not mistaken...temper fugit....
I had 233CAP after stopping for 6 months, the limit is 220CAP, so its pretty mild fatty Liver. I was a regular drinker and DID take 3 or 4 days off a week, I was drinking about 40 units a week on average.
Take this as a warning, a serious one. Cutting down is not enough, the Liver can take a couple of years to heal properly. You need to accept that you have a drink problem and have some COMPLETELY SOBER time. Once the Liver has been abused it is sensitive to further insults.
Your drinking future needs to be kept in check, a couple of years alcohol free and then you could probably return to some moderate drinking. From now on a yearly check with your doctor is on order, get a Liver Function Test with GGT.
Was your CAP 233 after 6 months of abstinence? I had a liver function test recently and all was within range but wanted to second opinion it with the Fibroscan.
Yes thats right, its a fair conclusion to think that it was higher than 233CAP at the time I was drinking. I had 3 sets of bloods all normal and an ultrasound all normal early on.
After reading all the terrible thing that alcohol does to you body I too decided on the Fibroscan and im glad I did. The Liver function tests dont tell you how close you are to a problem, they only start to rise when the Liver is starting to swell up. The Fibroscan tells you how it is, its a great test!
Im around 650 days with no booze and im never going back
A month without any alcohol for every year you have been drinking to heal your liver is the tip given on here by a regular poster on here.
I managed 2.5 years 2010 - 2012. To be honest I didnt change my lifestyle enough so although I lost lots of weight and felt much healthier it wasn't a very satisfactory social period. Also I'm a publican and live above the pub, can be a difficult situation. I'm going to cut right down on the drinking, have at least 4 days without per week and re assess from there. If i don't adhere to this I will go back to total abstinance and make the changes necessary to make it permanent. If i am able to stick to the changes I will also get retested to see whether the cutting down has been enough. Thanks for the advise
We do often hear about how the liver regenerates, and we have had posters on here who have improved their Fibroscan score amazingly by turning their lifestyle around.
We've also had a lot of people who feel they have never drunk any more than the person next to them,, but come on here shocked to have had blood tests or a scan that show their liver is not liking alcohol one bit.
For the liver to stay healthy long term - and we only have the one so we need to look after it - its a bit like someone who diets to reduce their weight. Do it for the short term, lose the weight, feel great, but then go back to the nutrition or diet you were on before, and you undo a lot of the good. If you change your diet or nutrition and see the benefit, then stick to the new regime and the new you for the rest of your life.
If you cut down ' for a bit' and your liver numbers and level of fat in the liver improve/reduce ..... great. But go back to where you were before, the fat deposits will most likely build again.
As a publican this must be very difficult for you, as now you have the knowledge of how damaging alcohol can be it may be difficult to look at your clients and their drinking habits and not see with x-ray eyes into the damage drinking is doing to their livers.
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