New member

[Tormented]

Hi im new to this iv been diagnosed with cirrohis since dec2016 . Iv abstained from alcohol ever since

[AyrshireK]

Welcome to our merry band Tormented. Hope you are doing ok despite the cirrhosis diagnosis. If you've any questions or support needs or just want to vent you've found the right place to come.

All the best,

Katie

[Tormented in reply to AyrshireK]

Hi thats kind. Thank you. I dont really know wot to do on here.

[AyrshireK in reply to Tormented]

If you need help with any questions just ask away. I hope you are under a specialist at hospital who is monitoring your condition. You should be having blood tests every 6 months and an ultrasound on the same time scale. When my hubby was first diagnosed with cirrhosis I learned that finding out as much as you can about the condition is good to do so you can make the most of medical appointments and monitor your own condition between appointments and push for the relevant care.

The British Liver Trust page about cirrhosis is a good place for information and the page on living with liver disease also provides useful pointers.

These pages area at:- britishlivertrust.org.uk/li... and britishlivertrust.org.uk/li...

Katie

[Tormented in reply to AyrshireK]

Hi katie

Yes i have the relevant blood tests and scans. Its the not knowing. Its a like a timebomb inside . I can feel ok. Then out of the blue i feel shocking. The negativity i get when people address you. Whispers behind you. Oh its an old alki. Brought in herself. Its not nice. I treat everyday with my grandson as the last.in all honesty im frightened

Thank you for messaging me. Hope your doing ok tòo

[AyrshireK in reply to Tormented]

It's my husband who has liver disease, been diagnosed since April 2012. His illness is due to auto-immune liver disease. He presented with a life threatening upper GI bleed which came completely out of the blue. He spent 10 months on liver transplant list between 2014&15 but stabilised meaning he no longer meets criteria for tranplant. Doing ok in the grand scheme of things, far from fit but a long way from deaths door (hopefully). He still struggles daily with the sudden end to the life he hoped to live but can't BUT is slowly learning to accept the new life he has to lead and LIVE it we do. We make the most of every good day, write off the not so good and try to live life to the full.

You'll certainly not get the snide comments here, you are amongst friends. A great many people here do have liver conditions due to alcohol use and many don't but regardless we are still all dealing with the same conditions and symptoms, tests and procedures. If you've been abstinent since your diagnosis in December 2016 that is fantastic and you are going a massive way to helping your liver.

What age are you if you don't mind me asking? I was just wondering if transplant might be an option for you if your condition was to progress.

I am sure some of the folks who've been in a similar situation to yourself will also pop up with a welcome soon.

Katie

[Tormented in reply to AyrshireK]

Hi. Yes i read it was your husband. Still you must feel the pressure aswell. It cant be easy. Hope i didnt inertprit.it wrong. I meant the snyd comments in general from so called friends i had. Theyve no time for me anymore. Im 46 katie. A liver transplant hasnt been suggested. So i just presume im not eligable for one. I do hope your husband is ok

Thank you

Nicki

[AyrshireK in reply to Tormented]

Are you in the UK? If your symptoms do get worse it would be worth asking for referral to a transplant unit where they can assess you and decide. Normally where alcohol is thought to be the cause of cirrhosis then a minimum 6 month period of proven abstinence and commitment to a sober future are required. 46 is absolutely no age at all. My hubby is 57 (I am 45). We've got many, many members on here who have had transplant following alcohol related cirrhosis - indeed that is the leading cause of transplant in the UK.

Your life isn't over and there are treatment options.

I do ok, I married my hubby post diagnosis and he's my world so I am happy supporting him and keep a close eye on him.

Katie xx

[Hidden]

Hi tormented. Sorry about your diagnosis. But well done for staying away from alcohol 👍

[Tormented in reply to Hidden]

Hi laura009 thank you. I was that ill alcohol was the last thing on my mind. I hate the stuff its evil. Sounds like you had a pretty rough time with your husband. There are no excuses for the behaxiour alcoholics . Iv put my daughter through hell and i didnt realize i was doing so. Im sure your husband didnt realize the devastation he has left behind.

[Hidden in reply to Tormented]

No he didn't. But I was determined not to let my children grow up resenting him or what alcohol had done to him. They realise the dangers, they've both tried it with their peers, they were both sick and decided it was a waste of money and never want to feel so ill again.... lesson learned!!

Yes they miss their Dad especially my son but we've all moved on and life is good for us all now because alcohol no longer features in our lives.

Xx

[Tormented in reply to Hidden]

Thats good, im so glad you are able to move on. Alcohol is a demon. The worst easiest addiction. Its legall readily available. It grabs u without knowing. Im concerned about my daughter she has started drinking red wine like its going out of fashion. She calls me a hypocrit if i say anything. But im worried sick about her.keep been happy. Youve gone through enough laura009

[Hidden in reply to Tormented]

Explain to your daughter you have drunk so you know 1st hand now how it damaged your mind and body and you don't want her to become addicted like you did. You're not being a hypocrite you've quit because you know the dangers and want to protect her from damaging her body too.

It is poison and a killer and shouldn't be legal x

[Tormented in reply to Hidden]

She wont listen . Shes headstrong and stubborn like her mother. It should be illegal x

[Hidden in reply to Tormented]

Oh dear. How old is she ? X

[Tormented in reply to Hidden]

Shes 22., at university, just gone back last week and a toddler of 2. So i think she will get her priorities right. I have my grandson most weekends so she gets a break. X

[Hidden in reply to Tormented]

I truly hope so. Uni has a big drinking culture itself which wouldn't be easy for her to break away from. Very tough situation and I don't have the answers xx

[RonShirt]

I think that's fantastic! The longer you keep off the easier it gets, in my experience (but I haven't managed as long as you, so far!) But also the easier it can be to slip back to 'just one more drink won't hurt me'. I've done this several times over the last year, once I'm feeling back to normal again. But now I find I can barely take drink without feeling mentally and physically very disturbed for many days afterwards! It's carrot and stick! How stupid we humans are!

[Tormented]

Hi ronshirt. You need to treat it like a game of russian roullette. One more drink and im dead. Im trying to deal with the issues that made me drink. Abuse etc... if i feel down and anxious i get out of the house and walk and keep walking till i smile to myself. Last week iv taken up swimming its brilliant i get lost in my soul in water. All the pain goes. Till i get out again lol. Try an activity. I know thats wot the docs think. You think oh pee off . But honest i feel better. Try to distance people from your old life that u drank with. Its hard, but you have to. You can manage to abstain if you really want to. Keep going at it ronshirt. If you need to talk and you feel crap. Text me

[Hidden in reply to Tormented]

Yes well done... exercise is a fantastic tonic for depression or anxiety🏃‍♀️💪🏊‍♂️

[smp071266 in reply to Tormented]

Sounds like you’re doing a really great job. Stay strong.

[Tormented in reply to smp071266]

Thank you. Hope your doing ok too.

[Hidden]

Welcome Nicki,

We are really pleased you joined our forum and hope you will find it a supportive place to visit, our members are the best!

Warm wishes

Trust1 ( Rebecca)

[Warrior1]

Welcome and well done. I’m January 2017. Similar diagnosis although my recent lfts are normal and I feel ok most of the time, just tired sometimes which the hepatologist said was normal. Still as I understand it, to drink again would be the end of me, not just in health terms - a slow descent to death - but letting down all those who love and care about me. I find mild exercise - a good long walk even - helps a lot as does good diet too and AA works for me. As some say here, sobriety becomes that bit easier by the day but complacency is the enemy. Keep the hopes high and just a day at a time. We’ve a lot to be grateful for with a second chance maybe and in truth walking miracles all of us who have escaped the booze bandwagon to hell. 🙏🙂

[Tormented in reply to Warrior1]

Hi there. Yes you are right we must be positive. Where i live in a small community everybody is practically alcoholics in last last 2yrs 6 ppl have dropped dead with the disease. I feel like iv been given a second chance. We cant predict the future but i hope to stay abstenant for the rest of my life. I would be very angry with myself if i didnt. We have to be strong. I know strong is boring . Iv often nothing to do. But id rather be bored than dead. Run past the booze wagon and wave.

[Hidden]

Hi Torment and all!

Very interesting comments, recounting issues a lot of us have had. I was told i had to give up A 4 yeaes ago, or ELSE. Well i did but my wife also did to help mininise the beers in the fridge syndrome- gosh we ought to make some room in there, i know, ill have just one or two, JUST one ot two - not. Ah well there was more space in fridge he he.

Not a drop for 4 years.

Liver started to get better but then 18 months ago it said blow this its too much like hard work and virtually abandoned me lol?

16 months later after many hospitalisations due to HE I got on THE list. They didnt say but inferred that since i looked so well (!) and had a common blood group I would be a long way down the waiting list.

But after only two months at the second attempt (first time after me having test tills 3 AM they decided about 0730 that the donor liver was no good) but then I got a fantastic gift of “new” liver 4 weeks ago.

Anyone who has psoriasis will be glad to hear it completely disappears a week after the transplant due to the PRO something tablets you have to take for life Yippee. Every vloud and all that!

You mentioned about getting on (not) in age - I’m 64...

Hope everything goes well for all of you.

[Tormented in reply to Hidden]

Thats brilliant thar you lasted four years. Thats an achievrment. You should be proud of yourself. Thats what im frightrned of. Somedays im really good then some days i feel so ill. My mind has gone ga ga. I cant remember 1 thing to the next. I dont recognise people. I forget what im doing. You know in your head its still there. At some point its coming back to say hello. Its not going to just vanish.. great news your new liver is working.

[Hidden]

Thx for that Tormented. Yes its a long haul and yes i have terrible memory problems and thats why my wife comes with me for every session with doctors. You are thrown so much info its in one ear and out instantaneously with me. I still have memory problems, hallucinations, fall asleep all time in evening and then get about 1-2 hours sleep ar nite, and tremors and jerking legs, arks, head, shoulders ar any time. No wonder i get stared at sometimes. I feel like wearing a label saying im not very well you know! Apparently this is is all down to the new meds and itll reduce with time. Yipee!

Well hope you can carry on ok, you can only do what you can....