Fibroscan in 12 Days.

[Qwertrew]

Hello all,

I received an ultrasound in early September 2021 due to some upper abdominal discomfort, the result came back with "Impression: Fatty Liver. with 'mild increased echogenicity and coarsening of the echotexture.'" I had a hepatic function panel blood test that came back with all values within normal range on Nov. 19 2021. I am scheduled to receive a fibroscan on Dec 2nd 2021 and am worried that I have seriously messed myself up. I have drank heavily over 8 years (averaging 6 12oz 5% lagers per day), I'm 29 years old but for over 3 years I've only drank heavy on weekends with at least 5 days clean in between. I found I have a baby on the way and really am worried that my abdominal discomfort is a sign of a grim future. Does anyone on here have similar precedence and insight to a situation similar to mine and what was the outcome?

Thank you,

Luis.

[Hidden]

Hi Luis

Firstly do not convince yourself you have a grim future. The one thing I have learned here is hope. No matter what the diagnosis, there is always a chance to stop it progressing and there are some wonderful stories here of people who have made their health and lives better.

You must stop drinking totally. Everything we do to help our livers, helps us. Healthy eating and exercise are two powerful weapons available to us. There are people on this site who have made their livers incredibly healthy and they were in a far worse position than you or I.

Positives.

You are young.

You have a wonderful reason (a future son/ daughter) to get, and stay healthy.

Your hepatic blood panel was good less than 12 months ago.

You are here on this site, which is full of good people with experience to guide us.

When I was waiting for my scan and results, I found music, gaming and youtube comedy videos kept my mind busy.... or else my mind would try to convince me I would have the worst outcome from my scan. It is just us fearing the unknown.

Once I got my results, I found it easier to deal with. If you do have a fatty liver, you can still live a very long life and even improve your livers health.

Dave

[Full1512 in reply to Hidden]

That is positive news. Having my biopsy on Monday. The nurse on the phone was very helpful and reassured me that they wanted to know why my liver was in the state it was in so they could give me the right treatment.

[Jebediah454]

I think a lot of your prognosis will depend entirely on the fibrosis scans.

You are a similar age to me and have went through a similar lifestyle so I'm going to follow your progress, I am still waiting on an U/S although I don't get abdominal pains , I get pain in my lower ribs and shoulder blade.

I've been on this forum for a few months now as its taken a VERY long time (6 months now) for the doctors to finally start looking at my liver, I just got told I would be sent for an U/S 2 weeks ago so I've probably still got another 2 -3 months left on my journey to find some answers to the pain.

What I've come across mostly on this forum are a lot of positive stories, a few negative ones, but those are mostly due to the affected not heeding the warnings and kicking the poison they drink daily. (this is mostly posted by the loved ones of the affected , i understand that alcoholism is a mental illness and isn't that easy to get over)

For example. one guy who is roughly our age drank 6 bottles of wine per day and was hospitalised, after I think 3 years, he is healthier than ever, works out daily and stopped drinking completely. Obviously the scarring to his liver is permanent but its one of the many stories that shows a few life style changes can make a massive difference.

I hope for a good outcome for you, hopefully you have a small amount of reversible fibrosis, but even if you have some scarring, its not the end of the world, it can be managed - people getting told they have 3 months to live with severe scarring are still here 20 years later - Life is only as grim as you make it in your head, think positive, take this as a learning curve and hopefully we can all improve our lives without alcohol

[Hidden in reply to Jebediah454]

Yes that is a good point Jebediah it is entirely up to the individual to heed the warnings and make a sustained effort to take control of their futures.

[Zukosmile07]

Please, please do not fill your head with doubts on the future. You are young and I was 1 year older and got diagnosed with alcholic hepatitis of the liver. I stopped drinking completely and changed my diet a little (not much) and made a full recovery. Keeping fit is a massive advantage just walking. You are going to be doing a hell of a lot of walking with a child on the way. Parks, shops, woods, prams. I think you are overthinking a little too much. Also remember always get straight on finding out results, piece of mind goes a hell of a long way. Good luck buddy

[lpass]

I agree with all of these replies! Your liver can heal. You are blessed to have caught it early. If you give up drinking ….you will see a huge improvement within six months to a year and even reverse the damage . Good luck and be strong.