Any advice about being a alcholic confused.

[November13]

Hi people i sorry i feel abit let down by my hospital and doctors atm. I went into hospital last year may liver had failed, it was fouch and go 4 abit, so they say coz i cannot remember being in hospital. I was as in for a month and got let out on 5th of dec last year, since then i have seen my consultant once had no test or anything, i go back on 21st of april. I have stopped drinking bt i am unsure at what i should be eating and things like am ok to use alchol mouth wash n things like that can i drink alchol free things. Basicaly i feel so confused n abit like a fraud. Coz even people who know me think im lieing about aving somthing wrong with my liver coz all consultant has said we will b runing further tests im so confused xxx

[Tia2021]

Hi welcome to the forum, I certainly would make an appointment with your GP write down all the questions you need answering in view of the fact you were so poorly and in hospital for so long they will of no doubt of done the necessary bloods , scans etc. Do you know if you have had an Endoscopy. Your consultant usually forwards a referral to the dietician to advise you of as little salt as possible and healthy diet etc. I'm sure others will be along to add there experiences but you certainly need some answers from the hospital, take care xx 🧚‍♀️

[November13 in reply to Tia2021]

Thank u love xxx

[AyrshireK]

Hi November, you are very early in your liver journey and your next hospital appointment isn't too far away.

If you've seen the doctor once already since discharge then you've done better than most in the current climate (my hubby saw his consultant face to face for the first time since June 2019 just this week).

Obviously you need some help understanding your condition and where you go from here. The British Liver Trust has a page all about cirrhosis which you might want to have a read at and it explains a bit about living with the condition.

britishlivertrust.org.uk/in...

There is also a page specifically about Alcohol Related Liver Disease - britishlivertrust.org.uk/in...

Learning a little bit will help you steer the questions you need to ask doctor at your consultation in April. You have to be your own advocate and make sure you push for answers and appropriate treatment. If you have someone who can go with you to appointments (as a carer or chaperone) then you normally are still allowed them even in the covid era. Two pairs of ears are better than one.

It's a good idea to get yourself a notebook and before every appointment write down a list of any medication you are taking, any symptoms or concerns you've got about your health and a list of all the questions you want to ask. Having them written down helps you to remember what you want to ask and stops you from leaving the consultation saying "Oh, I wish i'd asked that!"

Obviously, at this next appointment you want to establish just what is your diagnosis? Was it acute liver failure or do you have cirrhosis i.e. chronic long term liver damage. You want/need dietary advice to make sure you are eating correctly for your stage of condition - no good filling up with fruit and veg if carbs/protein are more important. A dietician should go through all that with you.

If you do have cirrhosis then you'll need a minimum level of monitoring going forwards - 6 monthly ultrasound scans and bloods are the norm.

ALSO, ask about contact details for consultant's secretary and establish a pathway for contacting them between appointments if you have any major concerns regarding liver symptoms.

From what you've written, alcohol has been the cause of your liver damage so you really need to try avoiding it at all costs.

If at some point you were being considered for transplant then you wouldn't be able to use alcohol mouth wash, food cooked with alcohol and even the zero free versions of alcoholic beverages - the problem with the latter is they will never 'come up to scratch' as regards the flavour or effect of the 'real thing' so they can be seen as a trigger to resuming alcohol consumption. They also don't show a desire to pull away from the alcohol PLUS as you say your friends don't see you as having a liver problem and we've had people on here recently who have gone out socially with pals and have either had friends buy the the 'real thing' rather than the alcohol free version and even someone had ordered the alcohol free and been served the alcohol version.

Best to stay away from them.

If you were going to require transplant then you need to have been fully compliant with all alcohol services and have a PROVEN period of 6 months abstinence before even being considered for transplant so it is best to get into that habit now.

No question is a silly one and you'll always get help and advice here from people who have experienced the full gambit of symptoms, treatment etc.

All the best,

Katie

[November13 in reply to AyrshireK]

Thank u so much love i will look into this all as i a new just alittle unsure atm lol xxx

[Richard-Allen]

First of all, welcome November.

You have certainly been through the mill of late. But you have done something that you may not realise, you have had that "wake-up" call and have stopped drinking alcohol. That in itself is a major step and achievement. Not only that, but because you are now questioning what is safe and what isn't means that you are taking your recovery seriously.

Many people who end up going down the alcohol road, can become so depressed and melancholy they stop caring and just wish that one day they could just fall asleep and never wake up. You have now managed to break that cycle and now want to fight to live.

So where do you go from here?

It goes without saying that alcohol is one of the most addictive substances out there. But around 84% of people who develop an alcohol problem and end up with end-stage liver disease, aren't actually addicted. They are still drinking because they want to. The more we drink, the more familiar we become to the taste. Our brains associated the taste just as much as the alcohol itself, so a person can have a craving for the taste just as much as craving the alcohol itself.

In this way, the non-alcoholic drinks, beers, spirits, and wines can be just as much dangerous as the real stuff. (God forbid it ever happens) but if ever your liver condition reached the stage that you were in need of a liver transplant, you'll have to convince a team of specialists people that you are worthy of this second chance of life.

You'll need to show that you have not drank any alcohol drinks, or alcohol-free beers, wines, or spirits for at least six months. It is deemed that if a person is drinking alcohol-free drinks, they are still drawn to the taste, and then it's an easy road to slip back into the old ways. Friends can also make mistakes, "I'm sorry, I brought you a glass or real wine by mistake". It's really not worth the risk.

Any amount of alcohol can show up on certain tests. "The hair follicle" can for example can show alcohol for up to five months: dnalegal.com/blog/hair-alco....

Also just a tiny amount of alcohol can tip the balance and start off a craving. So avoid alcohol mouthwash and use alcohol free mouthwashes instead.

Finally, our brains tend to respond to certain visual signs and smells. Try and have a plan to deal with these triggers.

The way I often describe this is like this.

If you take any town or city in the country, if a person was to walk from one end of the high street to the other, it is reckoned that their brain has witnessed over 2000 advertisements. Many of these have no relevance to us so our brains just ignore them (unless something catches our eye of course).

Now, if a person with a drink problem was to walk down the same high street, they would see the same 2000 advertisements only the alcohol one's would scream out. Words like Heineken, Teachers, Gorden's, would all be screaming out. Once the trigger has worked, the craving starts. Having a way to respond to these triggers is a personal thing, as what works for one person may not work for others.

There was a gentleman on this site a few months ago, who decided to name his damaged liver "Max". I advised him to go one better. Whenever he came across a trigger (say a Heineken sign) he would substitute the image of Heineken bottle with one of a Pepsi-max bottle instead. After a while, his brain would only see only Pepsi-max bottles, and not the alcohol bottle so the triggers stopped and after a while he no longer had any cravings. Thinking of Pepsi-max, also reminded him of his liver, so it worked as a double whammy.

(I've been involved with an ongoing study run by Plymouth University called "Functional imagery training");plymouth.ac.uk/research/psy...

Try and come up with your own way of dealing with triggers.

Above all, don't forget to be proud of yourself. You've confronted your demons and are now dealing with them that is a fantastic achievement.

Well done you.