Worried about possible liver disease due to alcohol.

[ceddietom]

Hello,

I am new to this site and would like to thank you all for being a part of this community; I am glad to find those who might understand and speak to my predicament. My heart goes out to all of you who are suffering from liver ailments, or are close to someone else who does.

I am a 30 year old male and have been a heavy drinker for years, however following a difficult life event roughly two years ago my drinking escalated to a level that was beyond excessive. For the most part I have not worried about my intake because I've been otherwise healthily, getting a lot of exercise, etc. Recent symptoms have led me to seek out medical advice and blood tests and an ultrasound gave normal results (I do not have these results available, but I was told explicitly by my GP as well as a gastrointestinal specialist that the results are fine.) The gastrointestinal specialist who ruled out cirrhosis nevertheless scheduled a colonoscopy and endoscopy due to one occurrence of possible bloody stool as well as occasional heartburn and a transient dull ache in my upper right quadrant which she believes is actually originating from my large intestine. I do not want to indulge in hypochondriasis nor ask anyone else to give audience to it however I will not have the colonoscopy/endoscopy for several weeks and have been very troubled by the appearance of what I believe may be spider angioma on my chest; these appear more prominent later in the day and following exercise. I have looked at many pictures online and they bare a worryingly similar resemblance.

I take my doctors reassurance seriously, however I know that blood tests and ultrasound can fail to reveal cirrhosis, and I should not have vascular problems due to being an active long distance runner up until last year. It is my understanding that spider angiomas, when associated with cirrhosis, are due to portal hypertension, and that this can also be seen with ultrasound.

I know that many people most seeking reassurance as I am and I apologize if it is a nuisance, but I've been terribly worried over this and would appreciate any response.

Best,

Cedric

[Hidden]

Without going into great detail, I became addicted to alcohol to the point I couldn't function without a drink, my bloods have been sent all over the world to see why some people get chirosis and others dont,5hey are looking for reasons and answers, is it gentic for example ect.I hve stopped drinking but the damage is done if I listend to doctors in the first place it might not have gone full blown, all for the whant of a drink, even now I feel like a drink but know it would kill me and the hurt I have put my wife through makes me feel ashamed.listen mate hope things are alright with you is to try and give it up or at least cut down to the required alcohol intake a day.tell you what I am no athele now with the physical and mental problems ihave got, encepolopothy, I feelbetter in myself, dont worry about not seeing your drinking friends mine deserted me, goes to show.good luck matey.

[susieanna]

I would personally request to be referred to a liver specialist rather than a Gastroenterologist; the liver specialist will be able to tell you instantly if you have spider veins; you could request a fibroscan too which measure the stiffness of the liver; i am sure you will then find out one way or the other. He will do other tests too. In the meantime try your best not to drink any alcohol; you are not being a nuisance; you are worried......good luck and best wishes to you.

[Hidden]

HI

spider angiomas do appear on the upper body and usually its more than one, but they dont disappear is my understanding.

Firstly try to be calm, serious Liver swelling (its swelling that causes the scarring) will show on the bloods tests, they are sensitive tests. Good bloods and a clear ultrasound should rule out Cirrhosis.

You might want stay away from google, there will be horror story's of normal bloods and ultrasound and yet the person had "end stage Cirrhosis." It can happen that way, but 95% of the time it does not. Its google that scared me when I first kicked the booze, heck I even found a story of a non-drinker having sudden Liver from no where, basically walked down the street and collapsed, needed a transplant a week later "acute idiopathic Hepatitis" or something to that affect, in other words the doctors didn't have a clue why. Another guy dead after touching a poison fox glove plant, caused some kind of freak reaction and he also got Acute Hepatitis. The truth is that only 10-20% of serious heavy drinkers get Cirrhosis, nobody knows why though.

I like you wanted more tests than the Ultrasound and bloods so I paid £450 and went to the London Clinic for a Fibroscan. 4.2kpa and a tiny amount of fat above normal and some more text book bloods, ALT 20, AST 20, GGT 16. I was 38 and had been a regular drinker for 20 years pretty much.

[briccolone]

hi there and welcome,

would agree with all the previous comments and perhaps add the following. Firstly, 30 is pretty young to have serious damage from alcohol despite you caning it for a couple of years. It's possible of course depending on the amounts and what you've been drinking and sadly increasingly common but still I would keep and open mind and resist self diagnosis.

Go the to your GP-explain your concerns and get a full liver panel done including GGT. Post the results-if the GGT or other results are out of range then be abstemious(if not already) and test again in 6 weeks. In the meantime-stay calm and avoid alcohol if you can. No point in worrying at this point if the results are clear.... I've been a long term drinker for well over 30 years before I started seeing digestive symptoms and high GGT due to fatty liver. If you dont have any other symptoms-that's a good sign too. Post again when you have the results

cheers

[Hidden]

Cedric, i beleive You have to trust the Doctors, if the results are fine sure You are, stop reading everything You find on the subjet because that might get You nervous, my advice is that You try your best to stop drinking alcohol, the liver can heal itself if You help it it would be great, i don't know for sure but maybe the colonoscopy would give You a full diagnosis; my husband has chirrosis we havent found out why, he used to drink ocassionaly, they maybe he had it for a long time but never had syntoms until it really got worse, so i really hope is only fear what You have, nothing else, hope You the best! I am sure everything will be fine, take care! Clair.

[Dulux]

Google is your best friend and your worst enemy, use it to research but not to attempt self diagnosis. I find identifying chest pain very odd, i was convinced my kidneys were battered to hell yet my results show tip top condition, my liver is completely shot though and I guess this is the culprit for the pain and feeling I get through my chest.

Your doctor has started out right in my mind, bloods and an ultrasound and your next due the old tube trick, I dodged that as the gastroncologist said I needed to see a liver specialist not him, so I went through the 'prep' for nothing. Anyway keep a note on your synptoms if anything starts to change let your gp know and get the colon jobby done and go from there.

I went for an ultrasound and got put on the fast track cancer referral list, that wasn't fun I can tell you, still it wasn't cancer which was some what of a relief.

You can ask for a copy of your blood tests, I have all my gp ones, I do it for fun as it appears to wind up the receptionist! Well you gotta have some fun!

[Emmabskin]

Try your hardest to give up the booze and drink lots of water. Even if it turns out you hadn't anything to worry about, you won't have done yourself any harm and I'm sure your your bdy will thank you for it whatever. God Luck Emma