I have cirrohisis.

[Dort1234]

I found out I had cirrhosis six months ago. Due to heavy drinking. Had many raised liver results over the years and drink detoxes in hospital. But until I got ascities which then I was told. I have gained the weight I lost,stayed away from drink. ( 6 months tommorow) my question is that im staggering a lot when walking what is that about and have stiffness in legs that's holding me back from living a normal day. If anyone could explain why. It's been so long I thought it would go by now. I am ashamed to leave the house in case someone thinks I'm drinking. Im wobbly and dizzy to. please can someone tells if they have had this and give me hope it will go away. I haven't seen my children in six months as my family in England brought me to stay with them for support when I left hospital. I hoped to be home sooner but don't think I could manage safely being on my own with this staggering.

[Millie09]

Hi there ; well first off your not alone on here , not everyone with cirrhosis will have identical symptoms untill it reaches end stage. I am.end stage, normal liver function, mild hepatic encephalopathy, no bleed, varices or portal hypertension. I did however suffer very bad with ascites. If it wasn't for ascites I would be not on this planet today .I'm.not 100%sure but you could be suffering neuropathy.

This can be caused by the liver but also long term drinking. I would suggest if your not confident to be out alone then call your dr to see you at home. Best wishes..linda

[Dort1234 in reply to Millie09]

Thankyou so much Linda I will look into that neuropathy. Your the exact as me. I think the ascities saved my life to. I would of continued the way I was I think truly it was a sign wake up girl. Like I said before I had many bad liver results and detoxes for many many years but was never sat down and told by doctors to watch my self so cotinued to drink. I knew I wasnt right before Xmas as I wasnt eating for months totally nackered after doing nothing and barely drinking anything cause i felt so full. I took myself to hospital and told them I'm scared. Again a detox for few days and home never told how actually my liver was until 5 days later my stomach was literally blowing up infront of eyes I went to drs again and said I needed a drain and off to hospital again and a within a few weeks of being there they told me and my family I had cirrohisis But had my belly not swollen I really don't know what would have happened angry a bit they must of seen something a week previous. Fingers crossed had no other complications as I've read of many of them. Can I ask how did your cirrohsis come about. And any tips you might have on how to stay alive. thanks again.@

[Millie09 in reply to Dort1234]

Your welcome dort1 , to be honest with you I didn't really have any so called symptoms apart from not eating, stomach ache, lethargy, but I was alcohol dependant. I was not even aware of having cirrohsis as I knew nothing about it , the only way I found out was by my dr sending me for an ultrasound scan .my ascites was only very slight then bit my legs and ankles had swollen too plus I was bleeding from my back passage. After diagnosis my dr put me on spironalactone and that was it !! No hospital referral at all .It was only when I looked pregnant and could not keep even alcohol down that I was admitted to hospital where I was drained. In total I was in hospital 6 weeks. I had Aquarius visit me during my stay . To be honest a lot of people don't even know they even have cirrosis untill they don't feel well or picked up while investigating other medical problems.

[Dort1234 in reply to Millie09]

Same again as you got to the stage I couldn't drink anymore a blessing I suppose.. I never knew of symtoms till ascities but a lot add up when looking back. Ironic enough I lost my mum through cirrohisis and if I knew then what I know now I could of helped more. Please God mine was caught in time. Best wishes

[Millie09 in reply to Dort1234]

Hi dort; I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your mum to cirrhosis, thing is , at the time we just don't join all the dots up so we ?

Like yourself, I as yet coping apart from lethargy, insomnia and the mind of a sieve lol .but I'm thank full I have lived 9yrs now and hopefully for a few more for us both .you take care and best wishes.. Linda

[Dort1234 in reply to Millie09]

Thanks Linda. You say we don't add up the dots jow true true is that. Not only didn't I with mum but with myself too you think that I would of copped on after mum but I didn't plan to become dependant on drink. I would socialise with the girls for twenty years and made the mistake of taking the healer then the healer for the healer so I was then hooked.so angry with myself. with my mum a alcoholic I should of seen the signs. Sorry for babbling on I really only wanted to say you give me hope with your time in which you were diagnosed till now. Well long may there be many many many more years left in us. Best wishes...

[Millie09 in reply to Dort1234]

Hi dort, well it's easy to not register things especially as knowing little about cirrohsis apart from all it meant to me was that you could never drink alcohol again

You can't really punish yourself even with your mum god bless her having the same illness. It would be like me when my dad passed away to cancer after having his lung removed then went to his brain, I still carried on smoking regardless only up untill 2 yrs and I stooped then.

We have addicted personality, well I know I do, only now it's bloody Maltesers 😂😂.. once that drink gets hold of you in no time you can't function without it .

We will continue anyway doing what we can to stay as healthy as possible.. It's lovely to know that I have given you some hope, this forum has given me hope.. without it I would never have got to know what I have..best wishes..linda

[LAJ123]

Good morning,

I'm glad you have managed to make it to six months without a drink. That way you are giving yourself a chance of recovery and receiving effective treatment.

I was just like you, I walked like I was drunk a year after my last drink - how ironic that was as when I did drink I never looked drunk or wobbled.

My solution was to buy a stick. You can get hiking sticks that look quite sporty and not like an 'old peoples' walking stick. That way you can get back the confidence in walking, not for support, but to guide where the pavement was. It really did work. I was given a really good one by the physiotherapist at the hospital. I saw a good stick in Mountain Warehouse but you could try ARGOS or AMAZON.

Since I had a transplant ( I hope that you get liver function back and don't ever need one) My balance is perfect and I'm now able to play table tennis three times a week.

Take care,

JIm

amazon.co.uk/Walking-Poles-...

[Dort1234 in reply to LAJ123]

Thanks for reply. I don't have the confidence for a stick. I suppose I'm just afraid what people would think and also being a bit vein. As you can tell I'm female. I love your comment about staggering more now than when you were drinking that is so true..

[matt137]

Hi there Dort

Welcome to the club.

Im another one with cirrhosis from excessive alcohol. I was diagnosed 15 months ago by ultrasound.

I occasionally get the wobbles too. I wouldnt say they were as severe as staggering but definately sometimes feel not so sure of where my feet will go!

Keep your chin up and stay positive, thats the best advice ever x

[Dort1234 in reply to matt137]

Thanks Matt. Positive thinking is right. I was written off six month ago so should be lucky in here today. So glad I found this right as people reply are are regularly on here for support. Others I was on I had nothing. I also get hope fro. The stories of the time they were diagnosed till now. Best wishes to you also...

[matt137]

Im the same Dort, i get great comfort from hearing from people that have lived with this for a long time. When i was diagnosed i literally thought it was a death sentence. Panic! Still over a year down the line for me and still now serious outward symptoms. Keeping fingers crossed!

[Dort1234]

I too feel ok .the only hiccup so far is a cyst found on my pancreas which was found in scan I have hep Dr on the 14th so will know more. I have reguler bloods and have seen my amylase level has gone down from 600 to 87 which is in normal rate so I'm thinking maybe it's gone. Fingers crossed anyway...

[jules45]

Hi, from a person who has cirrhosis, portal hypertension, neuropathy it was the water infections I kept getting that made me drop things..stagger, slurring my speech because the infected urine was affecting my brain like HE. Also the thiamine and vitamin b that we are all prescribed helps with the function of the brain. When my liver failed I had to learn to write again such was the damage. Best wishes julie xx

[Dort1234]

Thanks Julie. Maybe my hep Dr might be able to put me straight on that staggering slightly. I shouldn't complain as it's not as serious as other complications people are having I suppose that's all to come. But it does affect me every day and I never leave the house because of it. If someone was walking behind they would think I was steaming drunk . Someone suggested maybe to many toxins in my blood but I take lactalose for that. We will see. Best wishes...