FULL FATTY LIVER AND CYSTS

[Jayden44]

Hi everyone I came on here about a month ago as I had raised ALT levels I have just been for an ultrasound as my levels have risen again last week I've been told that I have liver cysts and the whole of my liver is fatty

I don't really know what this means although I have read up but there seems to be conflicting stories whether this is serious or not

In 2014 I had an MRI scan on my liver as I wasn't feeling too good with tummy pains the specialist told me that I had like little bits of fat floating around but nothing to worry about so I did not worry about this as I took his word

My doctor has his results and I am confused now as to why no one has followed up on this or am I thinking out of the box and this probably wouldn't have made any difference

I would appreciate any advice from the group on what I should do and where I should go from now

[AyrshireK]

Have you totally stopped drinking Jayden? I know in one of your earlier posts you were talking about drinking lambrini wine regularly.

A liver full of fat is certainly not a 'benign' condition and you do need to take some control here and don't just ignore it. Fatty liver and a fully fatty liver will continue to progress if you carry on drinking. The next stage is it will start to become fibrotic and could become cirrhotic.

Fatty liver is commonly associated with alcohol but can also arise due to diet, medication and other conditions such as poorly controlled diabetes.

Have a read at the British Liver Trust guidance on alcohol and the liver and also non-alcohol related fatty liver disease to see if there are areas of your lifestyle and health where you can identify possible modifications. At the stage of fatty liver you can turn this around but it can't be ignored.

britishlivertrust.org.uk/li...

britishlivertrust.org.uk/li...

Katie

[Jayden44 in reply to AyrshireK]

Thank you for your reply. Yes I have stopped the wine but my Alt levels still rose. I will look at the guidance you have sent me. Thank you

[Katiesgran in reply to AyrshireK]

Do not allow your doctors to play this down. You can reverse this by not drinking, exercise and diet. If you don’t then you will likely be facing cirrhosis in the not too distant future and believe me you do not want this. I had exactly same scenario for years. Not a drinker, not very overweight but had diabetes. Doctor told me I had fatty liver but not to worry about it so I didn’t. I wish to god someone had warned me and advised me how to keep my liver healthy. I beg you, take the actions now and take control of your life. Good luck.

[Jayden44 in reply to Katiesgran]

Thank you so much for the advice as it is so easy to pass by when you know little about this issue. I will be speaking to my doctor today and I will be pushing this issue along with asking why I was not followed up after this was discovered in 2014. I will need to do some good research as to how I change my lifestyle to control this. Again thank you

[Hidden]

Hi Jayden,

You may want to consider reqesting a referral to a liver specialist. They will be able to investigate your diagnosis and give you the information and guidance that you need. As Katie has already said a very fatty liver can progress to a different stage and become fibrotic. It is very important to see a specialist to be able to help.

Katie has already sent you the links to 'Non- alcohol related fatty liver disease' and our 'alcohol and liver disease' publications. Below is a link to our 'benign tumours and cystic disease of the liver' publication which does detail different types of liver cysts. Again, it is very important that the specialist interprets your scan result for you and informs you of the nature of the cysts and how they will monitor or treat them.

britishlivertrust.org.uk/wp...

Best wishes

Trust1

[Jayden44 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I will request as advised as I need to understand this much more so I can control it the best way possible. I am unsure how long it takes for your liver to get to this stage but as mentioned I was never monitored after MRI 2014 where cysts and fatty areas where diagnosed.