Cirrhosis LFTs came back as normal but still worried

[thelad73]

I spoke with my consultant today as I'd not had my blood results from last month.

He told me my Liver function tests showed now as normal but said I'm probably still border line decompensated as LFTs don't matter. I asked him about hypertension as I have normal portal vein flow and normal flow through the hepatic veins according to the scan, he said not sure but would be surprised if I did have it. I thought consultants worked on more than "not sure probably". Have I got it or not?

I told him I'd cut the booze right down but all he could say was pack it in. I know I have to but a little bit of encouragement would have been nice.

I don't no whether to be happy or still be down.

[AyrshireK]

Having your LFT's come back as normal is good news it means your liver is stabilizing and doing better. If scans say you don't currently have portal hypertension then that's great too.

Your liver will get much better if you stop the booze completely.

My hubby started with decompensated liver disease in April 2012 (in fact ended up in HDU and could have died), in 2014 listed for transplant but improved enough to be removed from transplant list 10 months later and here we are 7 years on still stable and still going good - cycling many days a week and generally doing ok. I only tell you this by means of encouragement that life with cirrhosis doesn't have to be all doom and gloom.

Katie

[thelad73 in reply to AyrshireK]

Thank you Katie, really pleased to hear about your husband. sometimes we just need an arm round us and be told keep it up.👍

[Ewife]

Hello! I'd say, be happy......possibly what your consultant is saying is - although good news, you're not out of the woods yet, and it's not worth it with any liver complaint to drink alcohol. (I'm not discounting how hard abstinence is) Well done for getting as far as you have though. You've made a promising start - but grab your chance of recovery, ditch the drink and embrace your new lifestyle!!! Remember you are in a position many here on this forum would love the chance to be in, but sadly it's too late for them.

ATB

Ewife

[thelad73 in reply to Ewife]

You're correct. I'm drinking even less now. Down to 6 cans of 3.5% lager a night from 10. Want to hit the 4 mark then I know I can kick it. I need to do it not just for me but for my Father. When i was in hospital it's the first time he kissed me since I was a kid. He's started going to church again as he promised God that if got home he'd go again. It would break his heart if I died

[Ewife in reply to thelad73]

What a fantastic motivation for you!🤗 Pin a photo of him on your fridge

[Cat-B]

If you had de compensated liver disease and you haven’t stopped drinking, why on earth are you expecting sympathy? The doctors can’t stop drinking for you!

[thelad73 in reply to Cat-B]

Thanks cat, but how do I know it's decompensated if the consultant isn't sure about hyper tension, has relied on one ultrasound scan done when I was admitted and I have zero symptoms and my bloods are normal? I'm sure the consultant knows what he's doing but the fluid build up was due to heart issue that runs in the family. Could you please explain as you seem to be "on the ball"

[Lils2019 in reply to thelad73]

Hi there,Do you have any symptoms at all?

My husband is decompensated and has a lot of symptoms, portal hypertension, chronic fatigue, feeling unwell most of the time, jaundice, varices which bled which he was admitted to hospital with, twice, had two blood transfusion’s, 9 units of blood on first admission and 7 units when he was admitted the 2nd time, has chronic HE and ascites.

Whilst in icu they did bloods daily, however they were completely normal, as they were not matching what the CT scan revealed, this was June 2020 and it wasn’t until sept that year that he had abnormal bloods.

This was all caused by alcohol, despite us trying to tell him that he needed to cut back he carried on drinking at very dangerous levels, until hospital admission, however they did detox in hospital and he has not touched any now for over two years, however the damage has been done and is irreversible, and sadly he was declined for transplant due to other health issues.

If you can quit the drink please do, I would hate for others to go through what my husband is going through and us, his family, it’s very difficult, and exhausting.

Take care x

[Cat-B in reply to thelad73]

From what you wrote, your consultant was trying to tell you that your at risk, if you don’t stop all alcohol. Please believe me that your don’t want your liver to fail ( decompensated) I nearly died and it has taken me 7 years of very hard work to get some of my liver function back! It’s an incredibly long and difficult path , fighting for your liver every minute of every day! I still have do “ lockdown “ if I get stressed, I can’t risk going near a shop! I still get cravings which is scary. Please look after your liver, I wouldn’t wish liver failure on my worst enemy! You can’t take any painkillers, lots of medicines are banned! Good luck

[Roy1955]

Even if you don't have cirrhosis (you probably do!) drinking will probably hasten your demise from heart failure.All a Dr can do is advise you to quit.

If you don't follow that advice and keep looking for excuses why your Dr's wrong the result will be an early death.

I ignored my Dr 10 years ago.

Now theres no denying I have what was avoidable cirrhosis.

[thelad73 in reply to Roy1955]

Thanks for that. I'm coming to the realisation that I am poorly and need to stop denying it. It's far too easy to say I'm ok, I'll be fine. I have a date set(next week) that is important to me that I will look at myself in the mirror and say enough is enough. I've lived with drug and alcohol addiction since my late teens and just about managed to get to here. I've decided coffee and toast with marmalade is better than booze and opiates when you wake up.