I'm writing this as a scientific diary in hopes that it may help someone in the future. I will try and keep it updated as I learn more about my situation and health. Let's start with some stats about myself and brief history.
Age:30
Height:5'8"
Weight:175-200lb over recorded span below
White male. Dutch/irish/cherokee decent.
Possible chronic depression.
Physically active at the gym. Recent pandemic lead to borderline obesity.
History: I started smoking cigarettes around age 17. Whole family smoked ever since I was a kid. I took up marijuana around age 18-19. Smoked approximately an eighth ounce a day for nearly four years. Around age 23-24 I did some excessive drinking as many new adults tend to do in combination with pot. Eventually I started growing socially anxious from pot and could no longer cope. Gradually I filled that void with alcohol. Age 25-30 I binge drank nearly ever day. Some days less than others but some days drastically more. Curing a hangover with another day of drinking. Intermittently I'd experiment with plant alkaloids and synthetic chemicals while continuing my drinking habits. (I should note that this is around age 28 and I had traded cigarettes for swedish snus around 4 years prior). These plants came in the form of kava(tried this as an alcohol replacement), kratom, and a Russian narcolepsy nootropic called modifinal. Modifinal and kratom seemed to reduce the effect of alcohol impairment leading to even more excessive binges. Volumes at close to a fifth of cheap rum or 24 cases of beer. Weekends at a time.
I'm thirty now and symptomless other than a discomfort in my right upper quadrant, anxiety, and trouble sleeping. This has been going on for about two weeks. Give or take a couple days. Sometimes it's hardly noticable. Sometimes it's all I can focus on. I haven't drank for a little over a week. Low fat, high fiber, plant based diet. No change in discomfort. Had liver labs done twice by two different agencies, all within "normal". I have an ultrasound to see the extent of the damage I've done to myself on 1/7/21. I'll update when I can. Feel free to ask questions or comment on what a careless idiot I've been.
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Yarkis
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In some ways very similar to me with the drinking and pot. I was drinking heavy up until May 2020 after a heavy night of drinking that caused URQ pain to this very moment has not gone away. Even before this I got checked 1-2 times a year due to IBS I always wanted to rule out liver disease and my labs and Ultasounds and endoscopies were always good. Even my labs just three days after the binge we’re pretty good like all the others besides bilirubin 2.4, bilirubin was the only elevated enzyme in my lab history so still not out of the norm for me. Gave me an ultrasound that showed mild fatty liver but everything else good. I was not pleased that things were ok cuz I had never felt worse in my life. Since May my labs have elevated and each imaging test is worse than the last. My most recent mri in December showed my liver is almost 21cm which is not ok and my portal vein is 1.5 so I’m dangerously close to portal hypertension. Just so you know since May I have completely quit alcohol and smoking and pretty much all bad food. I eat super clean and try to work out a little when I can. My UPQ has only worsened to the point I feel like my liver will burst out of my rib cage every day. Drs always want to write me off as the tests show no fibrosis but I’m clearly not ok. I’m only 29 and 120lbs, used to work three jobs , was always on the go living a perfectly normal happy life. Now I can barely make it out bed some days due to URQ , headaches, body pains, nausea. I’m in no way the person I used to be and my 70 yr old aunts can do more than I can now. If you get a casual work up and nothing shows push for more testing. Keep pushing until you get an answer because every dr you see will tell you that your fine or just eat better and won’t give you the time of day unless you almost beat it out of them. After 7 months of deteriorating I’m finally getting a biopsy on the 11th that will hopefully give me some answers. Just know if your symptoms continue that this is going to be a very long , frustrating, exhausting, emotional road to answers not to mention expensive as well. A sad truth is that 100% your GP will not be qualified to help you if this is liver related, my GP is great but absolutely clueless about the liver. GIs actually don’t even know much about the liver and even with clear evidence will try to tell you it’s not your liver but they also won’t give you any other explanation. Even my Hepatologist does not give the support I need to figure out how to treat myself but did order the biopsy and will put me up for clinical trials if this becomes NASH. Just don’t trust them when they say “oh it’s just fatty liver, eat better/loose weight.” Then kick you out the door. With any luck your liver will turn up good on the ultrasound and please please take this as your opportunity to really monitor/ limit the amount of toxins you out in your body as you will have a chance at that point. My ultrasound just 2 years ago was good so I never changed my habits and now I’m in this hell for probably the rest of my life. I always thought if something came up I would find it in time to fix it or get it under control, I never thought that the first sign of anything would be the downward spiral that it is now. Good luck and I hope it’s not your liver or anything major. Sorry for the long reply, Just don’t like ppl to be in the dark about liver disease like I was and still am.
URQ pain for 7 months? I was hoping fatty liver might cause slight inflammation aka the dull ache and it was something curable through abstinence, diet, and exorcise. Now I'm a little more worried.
There’s a really really good chance it can be fixed. I guess I am just a little blunt and maybe dark about liver disease as I saw my non drinking mom die from it while drs had no clue and I’m living through my own very frustrating issues from it. Definitely give yourself a good six months of clean eating and living and hopefully it will start to go down. Don’t think it will happen overnight and definitely don’t ignore it if it doesn’t get better. From what I’ve read in here and gone through myself, it can definitely be put off and ignored by the health care system.
I definitely will. I'm sorry about your mom. Watched the man who raised me die of cirrhosis a few years back. I know what it's like. Guess we are kind of similar. I can't believe it's taken a mortality scare to realize what I've been doing to myself. An agonizing path set before us. Giving up the drink, nicotine, any kind of comfort food.. sounds like a recipe for some awesome depression. Let me know how the biopsy goes.
Thanks. I definitely feel the same way,. Like why did I think I needed to drink everyday and put all that crap in me? Now I can’t even eat French fries and the other stupid things I used to love. I will admit for the healthy change the first two months were difficult and I always wanted to get over this so I could have a beer again and now the thought isn’t even worth it. I think now the hard part is staying to a good diet and knowing how to cook it. The convenience of fast food is definitely missed. Like I said though there’s still a good chance you’ll come back ok and you won’t have to go as intense on everything. Just listen to your body and if it first get better then keep following up on it. Definitely let us know it all goes. I’m wishing you the best of luck that it all gets better.
And I’m sorry for your loss as well.😞Losing someone close to you is never easy and especially when it’s watching them slowly go from a disease like this. I think that’s why it’s just so burned into me now and why I’m so determined to know all I can know about it and what type I have and how it’s affecting my body. And probably why I’m so blunt about it now there’s too much to live for still at this age!
Too much to give up. I really can't wait for the ultrasound. I just want to know where I stand. Thanks for the response Ame. Have you tried supplementing with milk thistle? I've read some pretty interesting studies.
Hi Yarkis. Milk thistle and other non prescribed suppliments are very much frowned upon as they don't do anything other than put more strain on a damaged struggling liver and rip you off financially. For your liver to recover properly it is all about taking away the toxins which cause the problems ... alcohol, drugs, fatty sugary foods etc. Not adding other things like suppliments which the liver has to work hard to process. It just needs rest and time to heal. Laura x
It's not a short term fix it's a life time of commitment to never returning to your addictions but sticking to the healthy lifestyle choices. Drugs and drink never cure anxiety and depression they make you believe they do by the high it gives you momentarily. In truth it only adds to a low state of mind
I did try milk thistle for a while but I don’t think it helps. Honestly packing too much on your liver even vitamins can stress it out so I’ve been recommended to not take any I don’t need since my vitamin levels are ok. The only one I need is vitamin d because I’m deficient and my liver de said vitamin e is the only one that can help liver but get approval first as depending on your condition it still might not be right. Don’t take anything over the counter unless you really need it and be sparing with it. At this point your liver just needs to detox with a good diet and some exercise, those are the best things you can do for it. It get easier as you go.
Interesting. I'll take your word for it and avoid supplementation for now. I really do appreciate your help. Just being able to talk to someone about it is huge. I'm going crazy waiting for the damn ultrasound. Still days away.
Trust me I’ve been there and still am there. I was really looking forward to this biopsy to finally give me some real answers but sadly today found out I’m covid positive so idk if that’s going to be out off or not. But you can definitely DM anytime if you need to vent or want to ask questions. I certainly am not a dr and do not have all the answers but I’ve been walking this path for 7 months and I have learned a lot. Always try to get approval from your dr before starting anything new but you can learn a lot from other on this forum too and researching online. A lot of this will come from your own research and the dr will help guid you through it all.
Shit! Do you have covid symptoms? I think the test is only like 40% accurate. Any chance of a retest? I doubt they'll do a biopsy if your positive. From what I've read, the biopsy takes a lot of hands to make sure it's done right. :/
Well it’s been an interesting two weeks for me. I was exposed on the 19th and started headaches and mild body pains on the 20th and thought no way I got it from my co worker that fast. Took a test everyday leading up to Christmas including an antibodies test that was negative for both and all tests negative. Headaches weren’t too bad the first week. Day after Christmas legs hurt like I have the flu and head congestion that lasts till Monday where I start testing again. 1 rapid test two pcr one Monday and one Tuesday both negative but legs still going with pain. Thursday headaches and leg pains get bad again and last night I couldn’t sleep cuz it felt like every time I laid down my legs lost blood flow. Went to urgent care today which day 14 since exposure and he told me everything sounded like covid to him so gave me a rapid antibodies test in the office. Came back positive for both antibodies and current infection. Said the antibodies line was strong indicating ive been actively infected for at least 7-10 days which is when the bigger pains started. Said the current infection line was a little weak indicating I’m almost over my infection or my viral load was very small which is why my symptoms haven’t been the bad ones. Said I’m lucky but to keep an eye on my symptoms and hopefully will feel better in a week but need to retest in 5 days to see if I’m negative and non infectious. I thought I had it the whole time but was convinced it had to be something else due to all the negatives but false negatives happen a lot compared to positives and it all makes sense now as to why my legs feel like they are on fire 24/7.
I want aware extremity pain was a symptom. I'm having some annoying headaches myself but attribute that to the lack of alcohol. Takes a while for the brain to remap and recover from what I've read. That's terrible though, you really can't catch a break. I've had three of my employees test positive for covid. Haven't had a symptom myself but never been checked. Maybe I should?
It’s probably not a bad idea. The headache was a big giveaway for me as I only ever had headaches if I was hung over but never on a regular basis. Detoxing would probably feel similar to some of current symptoms so I can see that. I always say it’s good to text because a lot of ppl are asymptotic and just don’t know they are spreading it. Sadly it’s not really the grocery store or basic things you do in your day that put you at risk. It’s definitely work. Your around those ppl for very long periods of time sharing work spaces. Work is definitely to me the hotspots for covid.
Update for anyone interested. The dull right upper quadrant ache is gone. Yesterday and the day before, I didn't feel a thing. Thought I was on the mend. Today, I'm having random sharp pains a few inches above where the dull pain was. Troubling. I have an ultrasound tomorrow. I'll post a reply when I get the results. Have a great night everyone!
Ultrasound results unremarkable per medical team. I've ran through them personally though and it looks rather fatty to me. Gallbladder was obscured due to my idiot self having a glass of water on the way. Not noted by Doctor. The test was not reordered. Abstinent now for ~1.5 months. Still no other symptoms other than RUQ discomfort. Scheduled meeting with gastroenterologist 2/26/21. Will update
Apart from the synthetic chemicals and plant things that could almost be identical to my story of being diagnosed with Cirrhosis age 30, it's a tough road but abstinence is key. Now 4 years later and not a drop of booze I feel in the best shape of my life. You're not an idiot, it's just the ways we have chosen to deal with the stress of life have not been the best options.
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