Hello . I feel like I have to tell my doctors what might be going on with my liver. I can not get a straight answer about the stage of liver disease I have. Maybe you all could help me. Januraury 2015 liver biopsy was grade 3 stage 3 inflammation no cerohsis . One month later took Harvoni and now Hep C free. I do drink and soon after went thru a divorce and drank a lot. I thought in my head since the Hep C was gone My liver would repair and the damage was from the Hep C only. Also the same time I developed pain upper right quadrant . 2 gastroenterologist say this has nothing to do with my liver. I do have torn ligaments in my right hip too and my whole right upper side hurts ( rib area burns severely ) 2016 I had my gallbladder removed because of the upper right pain ( no stone just hydrops ) the doctor who actually saw my liver during the surgery said yes I had liver disease because I had nodules. He did not say how bad and I did not ask . No the pain did not go away so it was not my gallbladder !!!! In 2017 I had a fibroscan done and I was graded a 0 - 1 ( 6.2 ) . My gastroenterologist was shocked !!! He said he couldn't believe it and when I asked well what is true the biopsy or the fibroscan he would not say. I had a CT scan done 2018 , just a month ago. The report said I have SLIGHT nodulas which MAY be underling cerohsis , which not one doctor has mentioned cerohsis to me ever.
So:
2015 liver biopsy grade 3
2017 fibroscan 0 to 1
2018 CT scan showed slight nodules only reported
Blood work is only 15 points high in both alt and Agt. All blood work normal .
Remember I do drink alcohol still 2 bud select 55 beers a night and weekends maybe 1/2 to 1 pint vodka Friday and Saturday .
Anyone want to tell me what exactly is going on with my liver ?!!!
Would be nice for a doctor to say , hey you have mild liver disease or hey you have severe liver disesase maybe a grade 4 now.
Thank you very very much .... Deb
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Debbiejo12
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Hi Debbiejo, regardless of scores, scans and treatments already undertaken you have a poorly liver. None of us can give advice on what stage your liver is at - on one level the level of damage could have reversed following successful Hep C treatment. HOWEVER, this shouldn't be treated as a green light to drink alcohol. Your liver is still affected by having had Hep C and taking any alcohol is like pouring petrol on a bonfire. One liver illness isn't independent of another and once your liver is strained you want to avoid giving it more work to do like regularly giving it a poison to deal with.
forget the results... thats irrelevant... if you really want to help your liver stop drinking.
easy to say and hard to do... but what is the point of worrying about your results if you are not going to try and sort the underlying problem.
ive had very mixed up results not usually tying up, but if there is some damage you don't want to make it worse... please concentrate on how you are living and do yourself a good chance of a good life.... don't play roulette.
sorry to be a bossy boots..
best wishes cazer
Hello Debbiejo12,
welcome to the forum where you be able to get advice and support from others with experience of liver disease.
However, this is not a medical forum and none of the forum members are qualified to diagnose or give specific medical advice. This would be against the rules of the forum which are set out in detail in the guidelines. There is a link at the end of this post.
Other than giving general help and support in living with liver disease, nobody is able to assess the results of any tests. We would suggest that you see your own doctor for an assessment of any symptoms that are concerning you.
Only your GP or the doctor who requested your blood tests and scans will have possession of all of the facts, your history and current health.
Please make full use of The British Liver Trust website where you will find information which will help you to make sense of liver disease as well as the tests that are routinely performed when someone is suspected to have problems with their liver.
Hi blt, it looks like many people do not get answers from their health care teams. This forum is excellent for members to give each other support. Sharing experiences, but of course we have all have different problems. The liver is very complicated.
Hello Debbiejo,
Are you being treated at a local hospital or at one of the specialist liver centre's? This of course will depend on whereabouts in the UK you are. I think it's about time this all got sorted out. You need to be reassured as to your long-term prognosis, and where you go from here. Your hepatologist needs to let you know what the next course of treatment should be. If this information isn't forth coming, I'd go back to your GP and insist on getting some answers. It may mean that your GP will have to write of send out a few emails, but they have a duty of care to support you. This not knowing is/will have a detrimental effect on your wellbeing as this must be a stressful time for you.
My own GP was telling me the other day, that a lot of the local GP's have recently had a meeting with their controlling NHS Trust. They were addressing issues where hospitals and GP's needed a better working relationship as they had recognised that they really weren’t supporting each other as well as they should be. The dangers are that some patience’s can slip through the cracks. I believe that when it comes to our own health, that you do have to be thick skinned and completely selfish, after all, there's only one persons health your interested in.
Once again, Katie is spot on. Your liver is being damaged and can't tell you as the liver it's self doesn't have any pain receptors. If you continue to drink alcohol, the damage will become unrepairable, and your liver will begin to fail. There will then be other health issues that you'll be able to look forward to too. On my website about Alcohol-related Liver Disease: taep.eu/ there is a section on "medical consequeces". These should be concidered seriously. All this can be avoided if a change of life style is made. Debbisjo, you really don't need alcohol in your life to be happy.
I certainly agree with you about alcohol, it's very hard to stop drinking but it has to be done. I was successfully treated for hcv and feel I owe it to the NHS not to drink. I just watch everyone else now. 7 years no booze and okay about it. I just think... one drink would be useless so I won't have any.
Hi Deb, & biopsy is supposed to be the most accurate diagnostic for liver fibrosis. The problem with biopsy is that it only samples a very small portion of the liver tissue.
Fibroscan looks at much larger portions of the liver, and is also supposed to be very accurate.
The only foolproof whole liver measurement for fibrosis is autopsy, which you should avoid at all costs!
When you've got biopsy @ stage 3, a visual inspection saying liver disease is obvious, and CT reporting nodules; it's high time to get serious about striving for optimal liver health.
Saying NEVERMORE to alcohol can be difficult to wrap your head around, but I found the Alcoholics Anonymous mantra of "One Day at a Time" to be helpful.
Stop thinking about never being able to drink again, and start thinking about not drinking "today" and leaving alcohol may be easier than you think.
Cirrhosis can mimic so many other illnesses or symptoms. It is reported that most all Hep c patients that get treatment and reach (SVR) Sustained Virologic Response is successful Hepatitis C treatment after 4, 12 or 24 weeks after the finalized treatment. They Can go on and expect to live a “ normal “ life with . In my case Those expectations an chances of a normal life expectancy drop severely when hep c has caused cirrhosis or you just get cirrhosis form other causes. So the question is the same as everyone else’s why in the hell would you still be drinking ? Sounds as You need you some professional help to stop ? The liver maybe able to cure itself & liver regeneration is possible. But dam you have to help it . Your liver is sick you have to give it a chance to heal ,Surely you don’t need to be told that alcohol ain’t part of the cure & you would be best to remember that right quick if you haven’t. You can read the plight just on this forum of to many wonderful people that are seriously ill with cirrhosis and all it’s side effects and daily struggles and constant challenges and worries an the heartache of the death. Only you can change your path best get to Hurring up and get your 💩 together before the real problems start.
All I have received is negative mean responces . No one has answered my question but disrespected me by my way of life. I only wanted an answer to my question not to judged . If you feel the need to be mean please don't post it on my site. Thank you very much
Sorry you feel you haven't received the answers you wanted. I thought I had explained it that you were staged as stage 3 fibrosis reading whilst still having the Hep C virus, it has then reversed once your Hep C was successfully treated (as the liver can once the damaging agent is removed). But, your gall bladder surgeon who obviously 'saw' the liver during the surgery has confirmed that there is some damage present also reflected in the 2018 CT scan.
Most people never get this staging information (my hubby has cirrhosis and has never had a fibroscan and only regular US scans). Once we knew he had the condition though we've done everything we can to look after him & his liver, following every bit of advice given.
Once you know you have a liver condition of any sort then it will only get better if you look after it and sadly adding alcohol in any quantity to a damaged liver is not going to help it get better. This isn't being mean or judgemental - this is an observation based on several years of supporting people on this forum with many types of liver disease. My hubbies condition is not alcohol related but auto-immune and there is nothing at all that can be done to help his condition but if he could do anything to improve his condition he would. Maybe some posters have been 'blunt' in their replies but they've been so based on their own experiences and have offered advice with your best interest at heart.
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