Recent fibroscan, need advice please.

[PJ2121]

Hi all I'm a 50 yr old male and work in a stressful job and until last month was drinking every eve,but also being obese realise it was affecting my health, recently diagnosed via ultrasound as having a fatty liver but had a follow up fibroscan today which has worried me sick as the median score was 24.9? I'm on a healthy eating regime and walk a lot, but any advise would be great. Thank you. Paul

[Hidden]

Hi

Sorry you are not feeling well. Yes, healthy eating is a good start but also please try and abstain from alcohol if you can. Have you been referred to a heptologist, if not then get your Dr to do so. Take care Lynne

[PJ2121 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for your reply Lynne, I gave up drinking completely in June and am waiting for my gp to review my scan results, just worried sick about the very high fibroscan score.

[Hidden in reply to PJ2121]

First, well done on abstaining from alcohol. Please try not to worry. Has your Gp referred you to anyone? Take care Lynne

[Hidden]

Good Morning Paul

Thank you for openly sharing your brief story and welcome to this forum!

Firstly congratulations on giving up the alcohol and starting an healthly eating plan with exercise!

I cannot comment on your fibroscan results as my liver issues are not alcohol related. However I have completely improved my bloods by losing lost 3 stone so please try to stay on your healthy plan as it may improve your fibroscan reading in time!

Take care and keep in touch

Trish

[PJ2121 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for the comments Trish. I really am determined to keep things up, well done on losing 3 stone, that's a great achievement, I hope I can to the same, I think a general healthy outlook on life is key. Diet, exercise, no junk food and positive thinking, so glad I found this forum as unfortunately I have no one I can be open and honest with so thank you again.

[Hidden in reply to PJ2121]

Hi Paul

Its lovely to hear from you and if you like a bit of banter now and then

to cheer your day up you will occasionally find that here too and feel free to join in! However we are serious most of the time as there are people like your self and many others seeking advice, help and comfort!

Take care , goodluck too with the healthy life style and keep smiling 😊😊😊

Trish

[Owlie in reply to Hidden]

Paul, I have done the same as Trish and it absolutely works, best of luck, Owlie

[Roy1955]

We could be twins.

booze/obesity/ultrasound/fibroscan wise we are identicle!

Your GP should refer you to a specialist who will take over your care from now.

A few more tests are needed but all the indications are that you have liver damage, probably cirrhosis.

It's not all doom and gloom though!

My Dr says that by living health and totaly quiting booze I will (probably) never get symptoms and live into old age, I will live with cirrhosis and not die because of it.

Your going to be in for routine 6 monthly scans and bloods for the rest of your life to keep an eye on things but see that as a positive.

Your aim now is to stop it getting worse.

That next pint might be the one that tips you into liver disease that makes you sick so just dont drink another pint!

Not easy and if work is an excuse to drink (it's always excuse and never a "reason")

you will have to make changes.

Well done on quiting, I am about 875 days sober, thought it would never happen to me but it did.

[Countrywalks in reply to Roy1955]

I agree see a specialist dint be fobbed off only they know the full picture .

[MarkAS]

Next time you have a Fibroscan make sure you don’t eat or drink for a good 6 hours prior... your numbers will come down.

My first scan 4 years ago was 23.5kPa and I stopped drinking completely. Last scan 5 months ago was down to 20kPa.

I also was told I have fatty liver but no signs of cirrhosis I.e. no Portal Hypertension, Abdominal Swelling or Swelling around ankles etc.

Ensure you remain alcohol free, eat well and you should slowly improve and can look forward to a long life. I’m 43 now.

All the best 👍

[Hidden]

Good afternoon PJ2121,

The British Liver Trust Helpline is available on 0800 652 7300 Mon- Fri 10am-14.45pm if you would like to talk through your concerns.

Best Wishes

Trust9

[PJ2121]

Thanks for all the support everyone, I know what I need to do it's just keeping to it, I have been prescribed acamprosate to help with my cravings for alcohol, anyone had any experiences with this drug? Only my 2nd week on it. Thank you Mark and Roy for the advice. I'll keep you all posted as I travel this road of sobriety, healthy eating and hopefully a healthy future, I am a grandad now so have everything to live for 😀..P.S has anyone experienced waking up with blurred vision, almost like glaucoma? Seems to last for an hr or so and has only been a recent thing, any thoughts or input greatly appreciated. Best wishes everyone. Paul

[CocoChannel in reply to PJ2121]

Can’t help with the eye thing. Well, actually I can a bit. I had a detached retina years ago (don’t worry, that’s not what you’ve got), and apart from getting my eyes checked every year at an optician, I’d not had any checks for years and recently paid £250 to see a private consultant. He said my eyes were fine and that an optician could have done the same checks! See an optician. If there’s anything amiss, they’ll spot it and refer you to your GP.

As for Campral, yes. I took it for six weeks. It’s no miracle drug, but it did seem to do the trick or maybe it was a sort of placebo effect. I’d gone to my GP, to a counsellor (once) and then a nurse who prescribed Campral which I had to pay for. It seemed ridiculous to drink after doing all that. Plus I’d finally reached the conclusion I was alcohol dependent so had to stop totally and not try to moderate. Hopefully you’ve realised this too.

I was advised there’s no time limit for taking Campral so don’t read too much into my six weeks. Take it for as long as you need. Well done for going through the hassle of getting Campral, and even more well done on quitting. How are you feeling?

[Worriesalot in reply to PJ2121]

Has it cleared up?

[Bootandall]

Hello from America!

I hope you are well. I am writing to give you this quick read and table that I found useful to begin to understand the Fibroscan, a relatively new diagnostic tool here in the states. (The FDA is very slow to adopt anything new). My specialist told me that 50% of all people she sees do show regression, but that doesn't mean I will ever reverse my condition completely.

I have cirrhosis caused by the Hep C virus, but my score dropped from 24.5 to 22.6 in two years, due to curing the virus and getting more protein in my diet by making healthier food choices. I am obese too and have a long way to go. Best of luck to you Paul!

mskcc.org/cancer-care/patie...

[Hidden]

In the same boat within last six mths. I thought I had fatty liver subject to ultrasound. Follow up by Fibro in April 24.1

My Consultant at Liver clinic likes 14 or less and no more than 20. That was after a full 3 mths without alcohol and I thought I had repaired my Liver, but I'd left it to late.

I tried campral didn't work for me just cut down to so called safe limits. I'm on Baclofen. I'm off the booze now due to having sh1t mecel when diagnosed with Cirrhosis. I found this out whilst the Consultant himself was doing my OGD camera down the throat looking for varicies. Afterwards he told me my result clear, I happened to mention I was sneaking the odd 3 pints. Guinness is good for you? He replied, You can't you have Cirrhosis.

I have another six monthly ultrasound in two weeks.

As for blurred my eyes are going in general.

Sorry not what you want to hear everybody's slightly different. Keep alcohol at bay & stay safe.

[Ocean_ovna]

Hello,

Increased fibroscan results may be affected by recent alcohol use, liver inflammation, food, and overweight. We must try to exclude these factors. The doctor should prescribe additional tests to clarify. For the correct diagnosis of visual problem, an oculist consultation is needed. Sometimes, visual problem can be associated with chronical alcohol intoxication and vitamin deficiency. Less commonly, this may be a manifestation of hepatic encephalopathy.