i am pretty grateful support forums such as BLT exist. i have learned a lot from many here thus far just reading through and hope to gain and give useful insight through posts now.
firstly, i reside in the US. from what i read, much of the diagnostics are similar.
so onto a bit of a background. i am a 31 yr/o M with a history of social drinking for ~10 years. the typical overdo it a bit on the weekends but nothing out of the ordinary. i never had a daily habit of it. smoked cigarettes mostly when drinking. some marijuana in the last 3 years -- it's legal here. unfortunately, my social drinking led into to more serious substance habits that was popular in social circles within the city. it took just less than a year of that, having come from being a fit young social drinker to a bit more of a partier for a year, to completely screw up my digestive system, amass a great deal of hepatic steatosis and an F1 on the fibroscan.
i started with a LFT which came back good AST/ALT 18/25. then i was referred to a GI doc that did an ult sound, mri and fibro scan. the ult showed fatty infiltration and splenomegaly. the enlarged spleen was very a troubling find. the MRI showed diffuse changes but no nodular exotexture or anything signaling cirrhosis. the fibroscan came back an F1. the measurement i received was not a kpa like everyone else receives -- i suppose my doc just didn't include it in the results. the score i got was an average velocity of 1.2 m/s at a 10.1% median IQR.
anyone familiar with those measurements?
so even though i have mild fibrosis, i still cannot digest fats well. i developed some kind of water retention issue just in my lower eyelids are puffy sometimes. i cannot digest fats well. my fingertips hold an imprint when i press on them but they are not enlarged. my hair looks brittle and my complexion is nothing like it used to be. im wondering if im not absorbing some nutrients well.
no hepatitis, pancreatic issues or kidney disease to fight with, thankfully. just a really fatty liver, F1 fibrosis and an enlarged spleen (still freaked out about that) i have quit all substances since my results and hope to never go back.
so if anything here is similar to your story or one you know, i'd appreciate your input. i'd like to know if anyone has experienced a full recovery from this point and what did it take.
thank you all!
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deinzbeanz
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If you've been told F1 fibrosis and fatty liver then don't worry about the other figures you were told (that's just how they calculate your score, number of readings, averaged out (median) and the range between the readings - means not a jot to us, it is just how they calculate your average score).
For an inspirational tale of a young chap not unlike yourself take a look at the story of Ashley on here, most importantly the one with his before and after picture. What a turn around he has made to his life and liver health. You'll find his posts at:- healthunlocked.com/user/Ashw88
Katie is right. I wouldn’t get hung up on figures for the moment. F1 is the first level of cirrhosis so with a careful diet, keeping off the bad stuff, booze or other drugs and with gentle exercise you can get better.
I know that sometimes in the US medical care can be expensive but can you see a nutritionist who can help you to get the vitamins and minerals you might be missing. I can’t remember which but some vitamins, perhaps the B complexes for example, are low in drinkers.
Take a leaf out of Ashw88’s book and get your head down and concentrate on getting healthy.
I am in the US too. I got a Kpa score — 4.8 - and a Cap score - 297. I didn’t receive any direction as to what to do (aside from no alcohol and “lose weight”). I feel kind of left out in the blue.
SevereFattyLiver, i can empathize with your "feeling out in the blue." alluding to what Isabelle2 said, medical costs in the US are high and you would think with the cost people like us--what my doctor said "clinically insignificant--would receive some guidance or treatment. why is it that we have to pay doctors just to be doing the research ourselves.
from my understanding, reversing fatty liver has everything to do with discontinuing what it is that got it is there in the first place and improving metabolic processes. example: if you drink often or to excess, stop. alcohol even in small amounts inhibits metabolic processes. don't use tobacco. that is all i can speak on from my personal knowledge. i do not know how carbs, fats or anything works in regards to fatty accumulation. i know that managing diabetes and dyslipidemia is crucial.
one thing i can suggest is moderate exercise every single day. that is what i am doing. i think a good form of exercise is biking or spin class 20-40 min as many days as you can. i have been noticing drastic improvements doing that. peloton is pricey but it's been helping me significantly. biking is low impact making it ideal for daily exercise.
doctors say lose weight, which seems like something a doctor should not say. i mean you can lose quite a bit of water weight and that probably would not help a fatty liver. also, not everyone that is overweight is unhealthy. i think the goal should be to improve metabolic processes, reduce stress and improve physical fitness.
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Hi friends! Liver/Spleen Dilemma
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