Implications

[Hehound]

Hi all. I’m an ex-alcoholic (drank occasionally from 15 years old, graduated to 3 pints a day by 20 and finished on 150+ units a week by 37) who saw sense eventually and stopped. Initially this was via Addaction who intended on an alcohol reduction programme followed by home detox. This was unfortunately foiled by the alcohol reduction plan inducing a pretty big seizure that saw me biting the end of my tongue off, turning yellow, unconcienceness and a trip to casualty. The trip to casualty turned into a stay where I was detoxed, diagnosed with acute alcoholic hepatitis and my mum told that I may potentially die. By the time I woke up properly, various tests had been done (bloods, ultrasound, palpations etc) and no one really seemed able to tell me if my liver was knackered or not. I don’t ever remember seeing a gastroenterologist, let alone a hepatologist and was released only to my gp. Recovery seemed to be better than I could have hoped - while advised against it by gp I went to Spain three weeks after being discharged from hospital and was fine. Bloods were done afterwards, lft’s came back down to normal. I was told I didn’t need to keep coming back by the gp. So here lies my question, I’ve kept off the demon drink other than a small scotch (25ml) on Xmas eve every year as a reminder that I don’t need it anymore (and a bottle of Heineken lager a year ago that I drank thinking it was and having asked for the non alcoholic version), I have no jaundice, Ascites, itching, flank pain, etc, etc. Should I be concerned going forward?

[Isabelle2]

Congrats! You had a lucky escape. A huge well done for remaining dry. If you speak to an addict specialist they will say you should not have any alcohol ever as there is always the possibility that you will go back to your old ways. I believe you do not have any cirrhosis. From a medical point of view I think, as an ex, that it will not hurt your liver. It has had plenty of time to recover from your historic excesses. However the danger is that you will fail again. Many people try to moderate and fail. If you can handle your yearly malt then with the relapse caveat it is fine.

I am no doctor though!

[Hehound in reply to Isabelle2]

I don’t miss it. The whiskey on Xmas eve is just so that I can prove to myself I can have a drink and not revert - like a test. So far, so good. Just wonder whether I ought to see if any long term damage was done? Perhaps best not to know and just get on with living.

[grace111]

After what you have been through i would never touch alcohol again. i dont know if your an alcoholic but if you are its a cunning baffling illness, and even having a drink every year to prove you dont need it is taking a big chance, if your alcoholic you can keep that up for a few years and once youv proved to yourself you dont need it, as your doing now then you say oh well i'v had a drink for years at new year and proved i dont need it, so i can now safely drink. I dont mean to be hard but its such a demon alcolol and it can trick your mind, who has something to prove that they dont need it?

i would say someone who is kidding themself on.

please be assured im only saying this because i know what its like to be an alcoholic and how it can play tricks, youv had a lucky escape and you may not have another one. please dont wait for someone to tell you that your okay, no one can say what the state of your liver is or if your an alcoholic, im saying if you are and if you are keep out of places where alcohol is i dont believe there are any non alcohlic drinks, all the very best. grace

[Hehound in reply to grace111]

Never once fallen off the wagon though. Regularly go to pubs, clubs and social events where the booze is flowing and happily stick to lime and soda.

[Barnetaccounts]

Hi Hehound, I am slightly confused so please bear with me. You drank so much that you had an alcoholic seizure, bit the end of your tongue off, turned yellow and diagnosed with acute alcoholic hepatitis. Somewhere in here is a clue that you and alcohol do not make the perfect couple. You had a remarkably close call, with the most forgiving organ in the whole body. Yet still you want to push those boundaries to prove what exactly and to who. I will put my cards on the table and say that I haven’t had a drink for 16 years, and although I now have liver issues that were diagnosed 5 years ago, I would never contemplate touching alcohol again. When I drank I was incredibly sociable, had fun, stayed out for days on end, in my head everything in my world was good. Not so for my wife and three kids, my parents, my real friends. I was unreliable, sometimes nasty, psychologically controlling. In a moment of clarity I saw this and realised that it was them or the alcohol and I decided to seek help. Liver issues aside do I think that I could have a drink and prove that I don’t rely on it anymore. On a physical level yes, on a mental level not a chance. Why because I would have to push myself to breaking point and the obsssion would begin all over again, arm in arm with sorrow, remorse and the loss of the incredible family and friends I have today. I still am a very social man, always going where alcohol is flowing freely, and am never tempted because I have been given the ability to fast forward the picture and see what my future looks like, and it’s not pretty. I have seen it on too many occasions when someone starts drinking Shandy to prove something. It never ends well. Should you be concerned going forward, that is a personal decision, I am no doctor. What would I do then, personally I would stop playing Russian roulette proving something that really proves nothing. Next time your mother could be told not you may die, but you have died. I went in for a transplant 2 years ago coming up, and haemorrhaged on the operating table. My wife was told not that I may die, but it was inevitable. She started to make funeral arrangements, wrote my eulogy, and then I pulled through. My liver is still diseased, but today I live every day to its maximum. Life is a gift. When you have been given a second chance, accept it with good grace.

[Hehound]

4 years for me - 1 unit a year.

[Barnetaccounts]

Lets hope it stays that way, that’s your choice it just wouldn’t be mine.

[mncold]

Hi hehound,

As with most things in life if you are having regular check ups - yearly is the thing here in the US, and your doctor is aware of your past medical issues hopefully he/she is doing the tests for liver function along with all the other regular tests.

If you are concerned can you ask to have your liver function tests done?

Best wishes,

Mary