History - daily drinker and daily paracetamol user - never over the dosage but can be 3-4 time’s a day.
Fit and healthy, decent weight etc. so typically dismissed by doctors until I pushed for tests. Symptoms - constant dull/heavy sensation in back right rib area. Pain in right shoulder blade.
Tests all normal - (blood, ultrasound, CT) including FibroScan of 6.9.
Should I still be concerned given FibroScan is on the verge of 7?
Have stopped drinking and medicating this week due to fear. Hoping to make it a long term commitment. Will abstinence from both be able to reverse that FibroScan result or will I always be on the verge of going over it.
Does anyone else have a dull ache back right rib or pain on shoulder from mild liver scarring? Will abstinence potentially rid me of this?
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liverfool
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With a fibroscan score of 6.9 you don't have any scarring, you are at the stage of F0-F1 meaning you have some fibrous tissue build up - this isn't scarring as yet. If you maintain a healthy lifestyle and abstinence from the booze then you may return your liver to a healthy state.
If your bloods are normal and don't indicate any liver inflammation I would be questioning why you have any pain in the liver region. The liver itself has no pain receptors though when we get liver pain it is generally due to an enlargement of the liver causing it to stretch the Glissons capsule in which it is contained but as you don't indicate any liver enlargement I am puzzled why you are experiencing pain.
Continue your healthy lifestyle, reduce/remove your paracetemol and booze and see how you go.
I’m puzzled too which is why I’ve tried everything to rule it out as liver issues but the constant dull heavy pressure (not a pain as such) in the back right rib and more recent shoulder blade pain - added to the alcohol and paracetamol points to that...even though the medical results don’t.
Ultrasound has ruled out anything else sinister in that area.
I know the FibroScan takes an average so that too worried me as some results were an 8, although others were a 6...hence the 6.9 average.
I’ll continue the healthy lifestyle purely on the basis of this worrying me so much.
I just want to convince myself I can at least undo some of the abuse the alcohol/paracetamol has done.
Taking paracetamol on the same day as you drink alcohol increases the toxicity to the liver of both drugs. If you take one avoid taking the other and try to have at least a couple of alcohol free days per week. With your FibroScan score on the verge of going above 7 it's a good time to modify your habits so that in 10 years' time you don't wind up with a significantly higher score due to scarring of your liver.
In short, yes. I started getting referred right shoulder pain when I had fatty liver and it used to disappear with periods of abstinence. I've lost the right shoulder pain and it's moved to the left. It's now pretty persistent despite not drinking alcohol or taking medication. My suggestion is to cut out the daily drinking. What's that paracetamol for?
Honest answer - the paracetamol is just a bad habit...one I’m working on.
Like everyone on here, I’ve enough reason to kick this all now. I’m trying not beat myself up about it thinking it’s too late or I’ve done too much damage so what’s the point of quitting etc. The FibroScan result although “ok” has given me a kick to sort this out.
honest answer to an honest question-we like to assist on this forum...quite often there's a lot more going on than meets the eye...yep bad habits can be hard to shift...tell me about it....as you've already said....you're making changes or are about to so I reckon if you listen to your body + good advice-you should be ok. Cheers
My fibroscan result was an average of 7 with a couple of 8s amongst the figures too. I’ve only ever had one fibroscan, and that was after 8 months of no alcohol so it would’ve been interesting to see my scores when I was drinking. My doctor wasn’t concerned as 7 is in the normal range. He said I should keep off the booze and stay slim to keep things that way. When you had your fibroscan, there would have been a consultation so what did they say?
As for the pain, I had the same. The doctor didn’t have an explanation except perhaps fatty liver, but that’s since cleared up. How much are you drinking?
Good aftrnoon liverfool,
I can see you have had lots of valuable support from our lovely forum members.
Lifestlye changes including abstinence from alcohol, a nutritious healthy diet and exercise will have a positive effect on your long term liver health and your FibroScan score can indeed be reduced.
WIth regards to your pain- if it is persistant or worsening, please seek medical advice.
I’m incredibly grateful for the comments and support here.
Consultation was very much the same - I’m ok, stay healthy (healthier), nothing to worry about, within range. Drinking could be a 4-5 beers a night all week or some weeks not at all.
The heavy feeling / dull ache in that area has been investigated for everything else first before they finally focussed on liver after me pushing for it. I got dismissed a few times. Hopefully it will go away with abstinence and then I will know that was the issue.
Thanks again for all the feedback. I’ve learned more here in a few days than from several trips to the doctors!
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