Scared about ultra sound results: mild coarsening of the hepatic echotexture, nonspecific but suggestive of hepatocellular disease

[kdhs]

I am 49 and my husband got cancer in 2009 and so we lived our lives and enjoyed too much red wine and he died in 2012.. and I mourned and drank too much for a year. I then was better but started dating again and married and it was stressful time with him and coped the wrong way. I recently had some pain on right side and have cut back my drinking but was concerned about my past so got an ultra sound and the above results look like a death sentence online. What does this mean for me ? if I continue to limit my alcohol can my liver get better ? do I have to completely quit? Does this mean I have chirosis? cancer ? I am terrified about what that result says when I research online ... 6 hours and still can't find any thing that gives me hope.

[Hidden]

I have replied to you but it came up under liverlover71.... sorry. That's twice that's happened this week can't decide if I'm having senior moments or my new phone is dodgy !! Xx

[kdhs in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for replying I am so scarred about this report it sounds like Chirosis

[Hidden in reply to kdhs]

Don't worry yourself til you know for sure. Easier said than done I know. But just take good care of yourself from now on x

[kdhs in reply to Hidden]

trying to but i was told that they dont put chirosis on a ultra sound exam so very worried

[Porphyriamaniac]

Hi kdhs, im so sorry you lost your husband and been through it by the sounds. Yes, it could be cirhossis,but it could just as likely be fibrosis or fatty liver which is also hepatocellular disease. Worrying yourself half to death won't change the findings of the ultrasound. Best you can do, is wait for your appointment to discuss it with a professional and in the meantime look after yourself and your liver as best you can. That means no booze, even if it's 'just' fatty liver it should be a no no for you from now on. Don't lose hope, stop googling and talk on here if needs be, even if it's the worst case scenario there are treatments and things that can be done and it can either be reversed or lived with and treated for many years to come. Xxx

[Garyvh]

Please dont Google yourself into despair. For now, until the consultant sees the results, try to concentrate on the word 'mild'

[kdhs in reply to Garyvh]

Yes but I have heard you can have chirosis with mild and yes I have googled muscle into panic mode for sure All my results were normal my liver is normal sized nothing was stated except what I listed above it scares the crap out of me

[kurtymac]

It can mean many things. Ultrasound is kind of the first line of defense. There will have to be more tests done to see what's really going on. I've seen others with this reading and it turned out to not be cirrhosis, some damage but was repairable with futher testing. Don't limit alcohol use, stop it all together. Your liver has been damaged by alcohol, as your ultrasound suggests. A liver that is healing needs all the help it can get. A damaged liver previous means your liver is much more susceptible to damage from alcohol. At least this is what I was told by many leading Hepatologists. Get in the mind set that when you drink anything with alcohol you're poisoning yourself and your directly damaging your liver. You'll hit a point where everytime you take a sip, you'll say, yuck why did I just do that and you'll become disgusted with it. That's the mindset I adopted when I needed to kick some bad habits that landed me in the hospital with drug induced hepatitis.

[kdhs in reply to kurtymac]

Yes i am reading that once your liver is damaged you can never have any alcohol again. I am certain that is what I will be told. Just very fearful it is too late. I read that if it was chirosis that more would of been noted on my ultra sound but so hard to know anything and its just very sad. Have some special trips coming up and have always enjoyed a glass of red wine at sunset on vacation. no more ....

[littleleah86 in reply to kdhs]

Sorry to hear about your loss, I think if you are suspected to have cirrhosis it sometimes can heal itself but I’d quit alcohol all together to give your liver the best chance. Iv had 2 liver transplants non alcohol related and I’d love an occasional glass of wine but then I remember that someone died to give me back my life xx hope the doctors tell you something soon and if you don’t understand ask them to explain to you. Google is the worst thing to do xxx

[kdhs]

I have a trainer I lift weights with and when I worked out in march he overworked my abs and I got Rhabdomyolysis (“Rhabdo”) is the breakdown of muscle fibers that leads to the release of muscle fiber contents (myoglobin) into the bloodstream. Myoglobin is harmful to the kidney and can cause kidney damage...so my doc had me do blood work after two weeks of waiting for the swelling to get better and in March my Albumin was 4.9 Alk Phos was 51 ALT was high at 54 AST was 41 Bili was 0.0 Bili indirect was 0.1 T protein was 7.4 and total Bili 0.5. doc said my cpk level was almost normal... just saying in just March it was fine and now I have progressed to this ... happened fast?

[kurtymac in reply to kdhs]

Normally, labs dont give the whole story. However, Albumin looks good, total protein looks good, AG Ratio looks good. Did you mean to say 0.0 for Bili? Bili looks good as well. Normally with cirrhosis AG Ratio will be high, Albumin will be low. Bili most likely elevated. Your labs are reason to be optimistic. Is there a chance of getting a fibroscan? They're pretty accurate with alcoholic damage. AST and ALT does show something is bothering your liver, but they dont mean much unless a trend is established.

[kdhs in reply to kurtymac]

direcrt Bili is 0.0 and bili indirect is 0.1 but this was done in March... and i had the ultra sound a few days ago and it said liver normal in size and contour, mild coarsening of the hepatic echotexture. impression: mild coarsening of the hepatic echotexture, non specific but suggestive of hepatocellular disease

December 2017 billirubin was 0.3 Albumin 4.42 AST 28 A/G ratio 1.8 ALT 30 Ferritin 47

March 2018 bilirubin 0.4 Albumin 4.5 AST 33 A/G ratio 1.8 ALT 39

June 2018 bilirubin 0.2 Albumin 4.5 AST 51 (big jump) A/G ratio 1.7 ALT 50 (big jump no ferritin measured

June 2018 retst due to high levels on previous ... bilirubin 0.6 (higher) Albumin 4.6 AST 34 A/G ratio 1.7 Alt 43

[kurtymac in reply to kdhs]

Something is causing your ALT and AST to jump around. When was the last time you drank? It could be fatty liver, which can cause a course echotexture. I suggest checking out MDJunction, look at alcoholic liver disease and reach out to moonwatcher. He's awesome and he will be able to give you futher details. Its a really good group for alcoholic liver issues.

[kdhs in reply to kurtymac]

Yes I was enjoying red wine every day until about five days ago when I found out I might have an issue

[kurtymac in reply to kdhs]

That's probably what was causing the AST and ALT spikes then. A GGT test is very good too when picking up damage from alcohol.

[kdhs in reply to kurtymac]

Yes well the ultra sound has said liver disease so very scared

Go to Gastro next week

[Roy1955]

I have confirmed cirrhosis.

The following is from a report sent to me after being examined (paid for a private consultation and whole lot of tests) by one of the top Drs in the UK.

"Overall the prognosis from alcohol related cirrhosis in patients who stop drinking alcohol is excellent, and ordinarily should have relatively little impact on his life expectancy"

Quit Drinking now!

Your never going to wake up in the morning and say "I wish I had a drink yesterday"