Afld or nalfd

Very confusing one consultant said I have afld. The other nafld. Then doctor said I have both. And cirrhosis. I thought if u had fatty liver disease caused by alcohol then it reversed on its own after stopping drinking. Not drank for 12 months 12 days now. It's so confusing.

[Laura009]

If you have fatty liver be it NAFLD or ALFD, by eating healthily, exercising regularly and not drinking alcohol your liver will repair. If you have been diagnosed with cirrhosis, the liver has gone beyond the fatty liver stage and won't repair. But by continuing with the heathy diet, exercise and no alcohol it can be managed along with prescribed medication.

So, have you been diagnosed with fatty liver or cirrhosis? There shouldn' t be any reason for your confusion.

[Hidden in reply to Laura009]

They said I had fatty liver disease. And the words from liver nurse was Christopher deffo got cirrhosis with the fibro scan reading of 12. 7. And the grading. That what she said in the room on a follow up appointment. Then on a following follow up she said that I have a scarred liver. Then another time she said I'm right on the line of f3-f4 . Said sumat about compensated. Even mentioned something about portal hypatention . Was alot to take in. Never mentioned about any medication. She sent me off saying watch for any yellowing or bleeding yet again I was confused. On second visit I asked her what she meant with the yellowing n bleeding. She said that's what would have happened if I carried on drinking. Can u understand how someone could get confused with all that lot

[Laura009 in reply to Hidden]

You have cirrhosis Chris. The reason you were told to look out for yellowing skin and confusion is because they are just some of the symptoms of cirrhosis and you will need medication for both. So you will need to make an urgent appointment to get the meds if/when that happens. I also think it's imperative that you take a friend or relative with you to every doctor and hospital appointment to take in and even write down all the important information you are given regarding your illness.

Laura

[Laura009 in reply to Hidden]

Any bleeding call 999

[Laura009]

....... Correction ......AFLD

[AyrshireK]

Chris, as we've discussed before a 12.7 kPa reading puts you in F3 if your liver damage is alcohol related but 'just' into the F4 (Cirrhosis) if it's NAFLD related. Regardless of cause then no alcohol, healthy eating and taking care of yourself can still turn this around. You won't cure it but you can reverse the damage even if you do have very early cirrhosis. Fibroscan goes up to 75 kPa so you have very early damage.

I think I previously posted to you the fact that even cirrhosis is now considered reversible - "Until recently, it was thought that a liver with cirrhosis could not be healed. This is usually the case because most diseases that cause scarring of your liver (fibrosis) are long-term and difficult to ‘cure’. However, recent research has shown that it may be possible to heal scarring and even cirrhosis where the liver disease causing this damage is able to be successfully treated."

Reversing this isn't going to be a quick fix, it's taken a long time to get this damaged but you can help it to stop progressing and possibly reverse it.

Compensated liver disease means your liver is coping with all it's main functions. Your liver can exist in this state for many, many years. It becomes a bigger issue when you start to suffer decompensated symptoms.

Keep living healthy and keep looking after your liver. Stop dwelling on scores just get on with your life.

Katie

[Hidden in reply to AyrshireK]

It's not the dwelling on it. I'm constantly tired. My eyes look shocking. I used to have lovely blue sparkling eyes. Now when I look in mirror. There glazed over, whites of my eyes full of blood vessels.. I'm hoping my eyes not going to look like that forever. I look like Micheal jackson off thriller video. I wanted to get dating as I've no partner. If they look at me prob run a mile. Very sad at min

[Hidden]

I agree Chris, it is confusing if we aren’t told the whole (same) story by our doctors. I agree with Laura that it helps to take someone with you to appointments. But they will only hear what they hear. They will not necessarily be joining the dots of understanding as you have. It is important to be clear if you have an autoimmune liver disease as well as alcohol related liver disease because the pathways forward will be different/the trajectory of disease is not identical.

Someone here’s post yesterday made me wonder how many people affected by alcoholic liver disease have an undiagnosed autoimmune liver disease as well. We have to know what we are dealing with or we become fearful and depressed if what we experience is more than, or different from what we have been advised to expect.

I hope you get clarification from your specialist - you will need to ask the specific question - do you have autoimmune liver disease. Best wishes and thank you for your interesting post. Don’t be feeling down take action to get informed so you can focus on giving yourself the best to deal with it. 🙂

[Hidden]

Good afternoon chrisr998,

Firstly , congratulations for your abstinence for over one year !! This will be so beneficial for your long term liver health.

I see our lovely forum members have offered their thoughts.

If you still have concerns, perhaps you can contact your liver nurse or specialist and ask for clarification .

Best wishes,

Trust9