Any Advice is Greatly Appreciated!!

[Andy500]

Hey Guys, hope everyone is well during these tough times.

Just need some advice from you guys if possible.

Bit about me

30 years old

Male

Height - 5'6 - (168cm)

Weight - 52-55kg (114lb-120lb) - always been a slim guy, but recently weight has increased and been more around 55kg most of the time, I have always paid close attention to my body, so when I look in the mirror I look exactly the same as before but with a bigger abdomen. (weighed at same time every morning after using the toilet)

Been drinking excessively - around 60 units per week for 3 years straight - no breaks

Symptoms

- Pale/white stools in May 2020 - (on and off for about a month then disappeared)

- Abdomen area looks very big compared to the rest of the body and very similar to ascites pictures (first noticed in May 2020 also)

- When I poke/push abdomen area with fingers/hand it goes in and comes out and kind of "flubbs" like if you would push jelly.

#

- Weight Gain - 3kg (but still look the same in the mirror)

I started drinking around October 2017 and stopped in October 2020, and drank 60units per week on average for the 3 years, without breaks. Prior to that I hardly ever drank, the main reason was difficult times, I wasn't really addicted, it was just to relax, and I stopped completely - cold turkey, and have no urge to start again.

When I saw the swollen abdomen, I told my GP, who booked me in for a CT scan or Ultrasound (I can't remember which one) in July 2020 and the results came back all normal. Are ascites hard to detect if they are small/very small? When I look in the mirror, my abdomen looks huge compared to my body, but it keeps fluctuating every day (some days big, some days smaller, but overall nothing like I have ever seen in my life before)

I am really worried and unsure what to do, so any advice from you guys is greatly appreciated. In regards to what tests to request from my doctor, and also being in this coronavirus pandemic and also having asthma, being scared to go to any tests in the hospital.

Thanks guys, Stay Safe!

[CarpeDiem11]

Ascites are a symptom of decompensated cirrhosis, so it is much more likely that other symptoms would present first. In the first instance best to be up front about the drinking situation with your GP, express your concerns and then the doc can run a liver panel of bloods.

Fluid (or ascites) are easily seen (in my experience of many ultrasounds) on ultrasounds. Most likely to be an ultrasound- they put jelly on you and push probe over abdomen. 3kg weight gain isn't much. I've had swollen abdomen before now- many times, but no fluid seen and been told it's gas- even with weight gain more than yours (and I am not overweight, eat well etc etc)

It is safe to visit hospitals, although currently no-one is being allowed in without referral, so you can't just "rock up". I've been for many procedures etc and the precautions are in place.

Good luck. Try the helpline- you will find the details under pinned posts to the right of the page.

britishlivertrust.org.uk/

Helpline 0800 652 7330

[Andy500 in reply to CarpeDiem11]

Hi CarpeDiem11,

Thanks for replying, much appreciated.

I will contact my GP next week, in regards to blood tests I read that they don't give an overall picture and only give a snapshot of the current moment i.e. if you had cirhosis but didnt drink for couple of months, they for some people can turn out normal, however if you went on a 7 day alcohol booze but had never drunk before, it would flag up. Is this the case?

well 3kg is alot since its around 6% of my total body weight, also as I know bloating/gas doesn't add any weight on the scales.....so I am confused on how I gained 3kg+, but look the same in the mirror + weigh myself exactly the same in the morning before food, surely it must be fluid in the abdomen then right?

I am really worried at present, and I need some more advice, I will try this helpline, Thanks!

[Yarkis in reply to Andy500]

Fluid is super easy to detect from ultrasound. How an US works; They use a probe to send sound waves through your body and they build an image of what sound waves bounce back. Fluid in general scatters sound waves like crazy so they appear as black spots or voids on the US. Now that that bit is out of the way, I'm sure you can see why it would be pretty hard to miss that on an ultrasound. As for your weight gain, could just be muscle. Weighs a bit more. Or general water retention. Which happens from time to time. Acites is normally pretty stiff when you poke it.

Benders like you're talking can certainly cause liver damage from what I've read. If there is damage though, it's most likely (and harder to diagnose via US) alcohol fatty liver which can resolve in as little as a couple weeks of abstinence. Also I'd like to note that anxiety is the absolute worst side effect of short term alcohol withdrawal and can last months in some cases. Hope that helps. Stay clean my friend

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