I need help: recovering 19 y/o alcoholic worried about ARLD

[harmonyy]

Hi there everyone, I would really appreciate some advice here.

I'm a 19 year old girl who drank very heavily for 2 years. I have now been completely sober for 1 month and intend to keep it that way for, well, forever. As the title says, I am very worried about ARLD and recently booked a doctors appointment to ask about this even though I currently have no symptoms. I had a liver function test and the results came back normal. I was then not contacted again. However, I am still not satisfied. I know people can still have ARLD and have completely normal liver function tests and want to find out if I have done any permeant damage (i.e liver fibrosis.) Am I over reacting here? I'm just so anxious about this....

Also, I have a couple of questions I would like some help with. Firstly, can alcoholic hepatitis be picked up in a liver function test? Also, if liver fibrosis is mild to moderate can the damage that it causes be reversed if I abstain from alcohol?

Thank you everyone for your help! xx

[Amethyst91]

Hello.

I’ll be honest idk how much you were drinking but I’ve been a heavy drinker since about 19 and I’m now 28. I never had any issues that young even with my heavy party days and trust me they were heavy. Just now as I’m 28 am I starting to get some problems such as fatty liver. It’s not impossible to damage your liver in a couple years but especially with good tests and no symptoms I think you are ok, obviously I’m not a dr can’t tell if you are or not though. Try to ask for an ultrasound, if you have any damage it might be the early stage called fatty liver and can be picked up with the ultrasound. Try not to worry too much since everything is looking ok so far. If you want to talk to anyone about it you can always PM me as I know being worried and having no one to talk to can feel absolutely terrible. I’m glad your taking a step to change things for the better and wish you the best of luck with everything.

[harmonyy in reply to Amethyst91]

Thank you so much for your kind words Amethyst! Yeah, I agree with you. I'll just keep an eye on it and go back to the doctor if anything particularly is troubling me. I'll take you up on your offer if I have any more questions Thanks again!

[Hidden]

Good morning harmonyy,

Welcome to this friendly, supportive forum. I am sure our forum members will be along to share their experiences.

Congratulations on your month of abstinence! From a long term liver health perspective this is a great start.

I have attached the British Liver Trust information regarding alcohol for your information.

britishlivertrust.org.uk/in...

To answer your questions - if alcoholic hepatitis was present, some of the liver blood tests would be elevated, so yes, it would show in you blood tests.

And again yes, if mild to moderate fibrosis is detected this can significantly improve with lifestyle changes.

I hope this helps.

Trust9

[harmonyy in reply to Hidden]

Thank you so much for this information! This is really helpful.

[Richard-Allen]

Hello Harmonyy

Firstly I'd like to commend you for being concerned about your liver.

Most of us at your age all did too much of most things. We all believed we were invincible at that age. We could party all night long, stay up until the early hours and still go to work the next morning. Many of us could burn the candle at both ends and for the most time, we didn’t care. Our livers never complained and most of us didn’t even know where the liver was. In our late teens, we were all damage-proof and liver disease was just something old people got.

So, to be concerned about your liver at your age is refreshing if nothing else.

What you may not be aware of is that it takes the liver 21-years to fully grow. So, at the age of just 19, your liver is still building and growing. Thankfully, the liver is a mighty tough organ and can take a lot of punishment. It’s also a forgiving organ and can repair its self.

Having said that, if you were to prick your hand with a pin it will heal. Prick your hand a dozen times and it will still heal. Prick your hand ten thousand times and it’s not going to make it. The liver is pretty much the same. It can take only so much abuse before it starts to suffer.

The real answer is to be truthful with yourself and ask yourself why you drank so heavily for two years? If it was just for partying or just going out socialising then that can be put down to a teenage phase in your life. If however alcohol is being used to mask some other possible condition like a lack of self-esteem, depression, bad experience from the past for example. These can become a form of self-medication were alcohol is used to make someone feel better.

But I’m sure your age will be a benefit in that your liver will recover. It may sound a little corny, but look after your liver, and it will look after you.

Stay young and healthy.

Richard

[harmonyy in reply to Richard-Allen]

Hi Richard,

Thank you so much for this lovely message. It was very useful and interesting for me - I didn't know my liver is still growing!

You were right to question my motives for drinking so much. I never was able to drink like my friends because I was a bit of a mess really. My mental health was so bad that I fell into a kind of self-destructive whirlwind of alcohol abuse and anorexia. Luckily for me, I have had phenomenal help from my family and eating disorder treatment team so I'm in a much better place now and actually want to be healthy and happy! That's why I was so worried about any long-term damage I might've done but, you've really reassured me here.

Thanks again Richard, take care of yourself.

Anna

[X19Dave]

Hi you say heavy drinker everyones idea about heavy is different and it is different for everyone my wife drank a few beers maybe the odd wine then went on to vodka which is meant to be the worst thing you can drink she drank less than a 1/4 bottle a day for about a year killed her liver she had to have a transplant but me drank about 60 pints a week for at least 10 years no problems

To be honest if you are not showing any symptoms and you got a clear test you need to relax a bit there is no point in worrying about something that is not there that will just ruin your life

the liver is a very smart bit of kit it can repair most things I think the only thing it cannot repair is cirrhosis but I am not sure as not a doctor

Try and cool down and not worry it is not worth it

Dave

[harmonyy in reply to X19Dave]

Thank you Dave