Hi All, i'm looking for some help / roadmap on how to recover from mild fatty liver.
I was diagnosed in Jan after an ultrasound, my bloods have always been fine except high bad chollestoral with high good cholesterol and the doc again said your fine despite the high cholletoral, CRT and MRI scan all fine, however, at the time I was told "everyone has fatty liver these days, cut down the drinking a bit".
I've carried on drinking, below 20 units per week, taken whole months off since then, drank below 14 for two weeks, then two weeks off, but pain in my side has remained for ten months now as well as almost constant nausea.
Clearly I should have been told to stop drinking completely. I did three weeks ago, and the pain still persists.
What I'm looking for is a road map to recovery, when should I get re-tested, what expectations for recovery are and what indicators I can have that I am re-covering. As Ultrasound was the only thing that's shown an issue, I guess at some point I should ask for another ultra sound? I guess at some point the flank pain/Nausea should stop, but what are other peoples experiences of how long it took to re-cover?
help appreciated as medically there isn't great guidance. One doc said its muscular go away!
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mayk19
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I agree you should have been told to stop drinking completely along with no alcohol, but a healthy diet and exercise regime that is how to cure a fatty liver. But when someone tells another to lose weight and / or stop drinking they are often accused of being judgemental and unhelpful ( as have l but don't care because it is the only way to recover ) Cutting down, as you have found doesn't work. Without those toxins going into your body, your liver will only start to improve from around 6 weeks but depending on the severity it can take months to recover and the pain subside. You need plenty of protein, fresh fruit and veg. Measured amounts of carbohydrates with no added salt or sugar. I believe there is a guide to healthy eating on the livertrust website. It may well be worth asking your gp for a referral to a liver dietician to help you too.
Hello mayk19. And well done in wanting to respect your liver.
Fatty liver (as you’ll know) is the first stage of liver disease, and you are right to want to prevent this from getting any worse. No doubt you will have researched a lot about the liver and what it does by now.
The liver is the body’s sugar factory, and any excess glucose in the blood is turned into fat cells. As the blood sugar circulates the body, some of this excess sugar is sent to the kidneys to be flushed out, but the kidneys see sugar as being a much-needed fuel source and so sends it back to the liver. The liver then turns this into fat cells. So, diet is important, not just fatty foods, but sugar intake needs to be controlled too.
Add alcohol to the mix and we have another cause of liver damage. This can cause the liver to become enlarged. Also, certain medications can be the cause of liver damage. If you try and think, that everything we eat, drink and rub onto our skin, at some point has to end up being processed by the liver.
Some drugs may seem perfectly harmless to the liver on their own, but if taken as multiple cocktails of medication at the same time, these can all become toxic when they reach the liver. So where possible medication should be spaced out, some taken with food, and others taken at night.
So, fatty liver can be caused by several different factors. Just by knowing this, will help you to cut down and monitor what is having to be processed.
Thanks Richard - that makes a lot of sense. I think i've just been thinking about alcohol and not diet. Excercise is pretty good - 1 run (1 hour) & 1 ride (2.5hour) a week with a fair bit of walking.
Hi,
Are you in the UK?
You may want to consider requesting fibrosis testing for your fatty liver. This estimates any levels of stiffness/ scarring
The specific blood tests are Fib-4 score blood test or an Enhanced Liver Fibrosis (ELF) blood test. A specific scan called a FibroScan also estimates fibrosis.
If you do have some weight to lose, then you could also ask your GP for a referral to a hospital registered dietitian for more support and guidance. As you have already realised, if you carry on drinking alcohol this will only cause more potential problems in the liver.
HI Turst, yes I am UK - I asked GP for a FibroScan and she said the NHS would not do this as my bloods were not showing any signs of an issue. I've lost 11lbs this year, BMI now 26, working towards 25. Thanks very much for your advice. I'll try the dietitian.
“Everyone has fatty liver nowadays” is at best anecdotal and at worst very silly. It’s not OK at all, and if lifestyle related, it must be fixed.
My story is sort of similar so here goes. I was an overweight very heavy drinker who became a slim heavy drinker by lifestyle changes. I still drank a fair bit, and an ultrasound detected a mild fatty liver. I quit alcohol but apart from that, carried on as I was living quite healthily otherwise. Eight months later, I had a private fibroscan, and this showed my liver had no detectable fat. So just cutting out alcohol sorted out liver fat within months.
Thanks very much for that Coco, think I’ve had a lucky earning. May I ask, did you have flank pain ? Have you returned to mild drinking or managed to stay off? Thanks for sharing
You’re welcome. Yes, I had on and off pain for a few months after I’d quit drinking, and that’s why I went for the fibroscan.
As for the second point, I’d cut down and was drinking about half a bottle of wine a night. This doesn’t sound much, but it equates to 40 units a weekly. If I didn’t drink for a day or two, I craved for it. This meant, of course, I’d become dependent on alcohol, and the only way to fix that was to stop for good. The first weeks weren’t nice (not much sleep, anxiety) but it was surprisingly easy after that. I now know if I drink again, the cravings will be back and I’ll be drinking a half to one whole bottle of wine a night within a week. I’ve had a great life since I quit hence no more drinking for me.
Thanks Coco, our paths are certainly parallel, I was similar intake, similar exercise, pain etc It’s great to hear from someone’s who’s similar but ahead, inspiration to carry on. Week 4 commencing Monday, it’s not been tough so far. Helps social trips to the pub aren't a thing anymore! Thanks v much for replies
Sounds like you’re coming round to making the right choice. I definitely know I dodged a bullet. I’ve no medical basis for this, but I reckon I’d have developed liver damage in another two years or so.
I really really wouldn’t have imagined quitting booze for good. I always thought I’d drink every now and then. Check out alcohol problem forums. They’re full of otherwise sensible people who’ve unfortunately relapsed after having a few drinks. I’m no better than them and would relapse too. I can still go out to pubs, etc, but I’m not drinking alcohol.
Well done for dodging that bullet too. You know how to keep healthy now.
I’ve had a Fibroscan and if came back 3.0Kpa.... last Tuesday I’ve had physio - and for five hours after that my pain had gone
And brilliant timing I was refused like insurance due to on going critical health investigations 😖
It looks like I’ve put myself through 10months of google paranoia!
The great thing is though, I’ve stoped drinking for 30 days on Monday.... I’m going to carry on. The mild fatty liver was not to be ignored... I’m SURE I was on the road to much A worse outcome
The back/side/hip pain is still here, hoping the Physio I’m doing twice a day solves the problem. Unless it’s something else abdominal, all the pain is right middle mostly back.
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