Could I have fatty liver or worse? Looking to put my mind at ease

[Thumberlina]

Hi new to this community. I have been a fairly heavy drinker for past 20 years (wine) and ate a lot of sugary jelly sweets (haribo). I'm now 42. An initial thumb pain, swollen joint and pain sent me to docs who has carried out a whole set of tests incl LFT and full blood count. Everything came back fine other than ALP which was 105 and haematocrit 0.473, both were noted as abnormal although I am aware this is lab specific. The docs have said all is fine and no further action but I have mentioned to them before tenderness to the mid and right upper abdomen only when I press the area in question and I can almost guarantee I will be sick if I have a glass of wine with Asian cuisine, Indian specifically. I suffer heartburn regularly and I get localised itching they diagnosed as pruritus ani as there was nothing they could find causing it....I have no other symptoms so to speak that I am aware, plenty energy etc and have pretty much stopped drinking alcohol and cut out the sweets. Could I have fatty liver, or worse? Is there anyway to find out if I have done further damage? Google has my anxiety through the roof😳

[Hidden]

Hi Thumberlina,

Welcome to our friendly forum!

If some of the enzymes that were tested are not within the normal reported reference range then the blood test is usually repeated.

You may want to discuss this with the GP and also possibly an ultrasound scan to provide more clinical information. Its also worth being open and honest about your previous fairly heavy alcohol intake with the GP. Hopefully you are addressing this now?

Here is a useful publication 'Liver disease tests explained'

britishlivertrust.org.uk/in...

Keep us posted

[Thumberlina in reply to Hidden]

Hi thanks I've read that. The range max was 104 so obviously there will be tolerances, last year was same all was deemed normal but the ALP was 115? I've read up to 120 is also fine so I'm confused. If it's abnormal, why tell me all is fine?

I called the docs, they did a lot of other tests at same time and everything else clotting etc was normal range.

Other than having an ultrasound, would my current symptoms, of which I had never related to possible liver damage be an indication of fatty liver through alcohol?. Given the symptoms I do have, could they point to more severe damage or am I over thinking it with the help of Google?

[CocoChannel]

Everyone’s different, but I drank heavily for years. I now know I had no illnesses, but for the last year or so when I drank, I just felt unwell the whole time. Quitting alcohol and losing the weight solved all of that. Difficult to define why, but think about the continual loss of quality speed you have with drinking and your body having to clear those toxins on a daily basis.

I don’t know about the figures. My bloods were always OK, but I did have a mild fatty liver.

I’m quite sure if you stop drinking for good, you’ll soon feel better.

[Thumberlina in reply to CocoChannel]

Thanks Cocochannel, I have given myself a huge fright. I am now educating myself on healthy change and my liver in general. I have been so stupid, they really should do more to educate people on this. All I ever see is heart, stroke etc. This is just as important, if not more!

I had told the GP (male) back in Feb I was having pain under my ribs and he told me it's likely through weight gain and my bra digging in, no examination. My ALP and haematocrit was up a fraction but now I have access to my online medical records I can see they have a comment of 7units per week....i have no idea where that's come from, i drank that a night (bottle of red), not every day of every week however but every other so not sure if the other tests they done 4vials of blood would have indicated something was a miss. I read all these comments about people being severe and no symptoms. I'm reserving myself to the fact I have damaged it in some way, I would just like to know how badly. As well as wine I ate a huge amount of crap, sweets and stuff.

I've found a private place who do upper abdomen ultrasound so I've booked in privately. Hopefully if something is there they will see it and I can take that back to the docs. They currently insist on phone appointments so I'm left with little alternative than to investigate myself best I can. I wasn't sure at what stage my symptoms would occur, so I'm just hoping it is irreversible and I haven't done any permanent damage

[Laura009 in reply to Thumberlina]

Hi Thumberlina.

By giving up the booze, fatty and sugary foods but instead, eating healthily and getting regular daily exercise, you can cure your fatty liver and lose weight. You won't need suppliments just a healthy lifestyle.

Sadly no, there are not hard hitting warnings on bottles or cans of alcohol. Maybe if POISON, which is what it actually is, was printed on the label, people would use it to clean the toilet instead of drinking it!

Best of luck to you

Laura x