How Much Do I Need To Know ?

[GANDONAS14]

Firstly let me congratulate the Trust and its membership for such an enlightening and supportive forum. My journey with alcohol started when I was fifteen, cider at parties led to my first bottle of Chianti then pubs and so on, fuelled by a West Of Scotland drinking culture. Roll on 30 years with alcohol as a prevalent part of life and one gets older, another 10 yrs culminates in an element of addiction ( 70 units per week ) then maybe more. July 2018 and a horrendous rash appears , bloods okay though raised GT @ 70, cut down to (40 units per week , cut down, really !) come across Trust forum , re -test August 2018 raised GT @ 60 , cut down to (14 units per week 5 of last 6 weeks) , getting there !

With another test this week I am just unsure about how much I need to know ?

My confusion is that should any tests come back within range I would still be concerned that such an intake has caused damage , but how much do I need to know ?

I have no other symptoms , I regularly have three or four alcohol free days and find other things to do, eat or drink. The Trust forum and its contributors have been pivotal in allowing me to understand liver related issues and have helped me address alcohol consumption and will continue to do so.

Maybe I will pop another note after the results come through , it may make more sense then.

Thanks for listening, but any comments would help crystallise my thoughts.

Best Wishes

Graham

The forum and its contributors have been pivotal in my change of drinking habits and must be thanked wholeheartedly for this.

[Hidden]

Hi Graham,

Thank you for your post. We are delighted that you have found the forum so helpful and it sounds like you are taking very postive steps to improve your health...well done.

Have you seen our website? There is a lot of useful information on there, including an 'alcohol and liver disease' publication etc.

britishlivertrust.org.uk/

Have you had an ultrasound scan or a fibroscan yet? Both would offer you more information about your liver function, you may want to discuss that with your GP?

We also have some fantastic support groups facillitated by Amy in Scotland. Details of these can also be found on our website here;

britishlivertrust.org.uk/li...

If you'd like to have a chat on the helpline it is open today until 14.45.

Best wishes

Trust1

[GANDONAS14 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you so much , another example of how supportive and comforting this forum can be for anyone.

[Hidden]

Hi Graham

Welcome 😁

You’ll be pleased to hear I won’t say much - I have tendency to be verbose post transplant 😁

Like you I tried to cut back on vimto. Seemed to be OK - blurry difficult but I knew I was doing myself good! Good lol what an idiot I was. Head in sand or what. Came to roost when consultant said stop drinking or else. For some reason the else bit worried me and I took my head out of the sand and stopped forever - well 4 and a half years so far.

That’s just MY story and not a correlation necessarily to your situation. It’s just that we are “not supposed to” give advice on here but can recount our experiences 😁

Good luck Graham! West of Scotland yum yum 😁

PS I started at 15 (or maybe 14) as well - but it was rum and coke. That’s what happens when you’re brought up in Barbados 😁

Miles

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[GANDONAS14 in reply to Hidden]

Nice to hear from you and thanks for your note of support.

Best Wishes

Graham