Question on hepatitis reversible

[raenata]

My Doctor doesn’t think I have ALD but instead autoimmune hepatitis (maybe) because I don’t drink anywhere near enough. But I was just randomly curious whether alcoholic steohepatitis is reversible?

Getting a biopsy for possible autoimmune hepatitis - he thinks I may have got from some antibiotics I took for a UTI.

[AyrshireK]

Liver inflammation due to alcohol should reverse if there is no alcohol being consumed - it might take a while depending on previous alcohol consumption levels.

A biopsy sounds a good idea with your elevations of ALT etc. It should reveal what is going on at a cellular level and hopefully reveal where the inflammation is in the liver, which cells are affected and hopefully allow them to come up with some idea of what's going on. A diagnosis of Autoimmune Hepatitis is achieved by a jigsaw of tests but if it does turn out to be that then at least it is treatable and probably caught soon enough as you currently show no sorts of liver damage signs.

Were you on the antibiotic for long? Nitrofurantoin which is on of the 'go to' antibiotics for UTI has been linked with being a potential trigger for AIH - when used frequently (not from a one off treatment).

Let us know how you get on.

Katie

[raenata in reply to AyrshireK]

Unfortunately I used that exact one a lot because I had frequent UTIs a couple of years back and this was the only one that worked.. Is there a point where alcoholic hepatitis is not reversible in the absence of fibrosis? I haven’t drink for months and the Doctor is not concerned at all about this but it is in the back of my mind..

[AyrshireK in reply to raenata]

I would not be worrying about alcohol related liver disease, in the absence of current damage and a continued sobriety then anything related to alcohol shouldn't cause issue. Sometimes when people continue to drink even with known cirrhosis and they then make the decision to stop it can be too late, the damage is done and it's the side effects of having the damage that cause problems. Cirrhosis brings with it a whole range of knock on effects and it is these that cause the issue late on.

If you have prolonged nitrofurantoin use then AIH is definitely worth investigating.

Best wishes.

Katie

[raenata in reply to AyrshireK]

Thanks Katie!