silly question but I was wondering if anyone ever was told that they have cirrhosis and one day it all got cleared? Is it possible for the liver to heal once it has cirrhosis and if anyone has the experience of this then please share the treatment or life style changes you may have adopted. Many thanks in advance.
Sorry, forgot to mention, autoimmune cirrhosis rather then alcohol induced.
Cirrhosis is slow to develop but once there doesn’t really go away. There’s a huge debate on whether it’s reversible and most now agree that to some degree it is. Once the cause is removed/treated then the liver can improve but will remain scarred once the cirrhosis stage is reached. My consultant explained to me that it’s not dissimilar to skin. It’s highly regenerative. When the skin is cut, it forms scar tissue when healed. The scar tissue remains but over time it becomes less prominent and fades. The liver is the same once cirrhosis has developed. Earlier stages can completely disappear, but cirrhosis changes the architecture of the liver to such a degree that complete recovery isn’t possible. That said, there are many examples, me included, who still live a very full life with cirrhosis. I have normal bloods, take no meds and apart from a little tiredness if I’ve done too much, have no symptoms. The only time that cirrhosis can disappear is if it was never there! There are examples of people who have had an exaggerated diagnosis when they have acute hepatitis. The symptoms are similar and normally there’s a lot going on, which can lead to an overdiagnosis. The key to liver health, is no alcohol, good diet and exercise. It’s worked for me...I run a couple of miles a day and feel great.
oh wow! Thank you so much for the detailed reply. I wish I can move too. I feel so tired and now the whole body aches. It’s becoming knock on effect. When you can’t move then no exercise or can’t plan hraly diet either. Although, hubby helps a lot but having a full time job. It’s difficult for him too. I’m 53 and dreading the next years to come probably going to get fully crippled 😔
Hi Aotea, out of interest, when you say you have no symptoms (beyond being a bit tired) do you pretty much mean you’re feeling largely how you did when healthy? And you still work, right?
I think that’s what happened to me considering my Fibroscan result today.
Good news I hope.
yes,my Fibroscan scan is 8.8kpa
I’m no expert on the tech and scoring....but I think the lower the score the better and the top score is in the seventies. So that’s fantastic news. You’ve done a great job since you were unwell, so that’s well deserved.
Hi
I’d agree with the comments above. Once you’ve got it there’s no going back really, although, through doing the right things like diet and trying to keep healthy, you can improve the health and function of your liver, which then helps your general fitness and health. And maintaining it is inportant too!
I was diagnosed with cirrhosis (alcohol related) back in Iune 2021 and was really quite poorly. Everything was explained to me (potential transplant if it get worse, lifestyle/diet etc). I took everything on board and in my first proper appointment with my consultant three months later, my liver health and function had improved significantly. I had lost all of the ascites/oedema and went from Child-Pugh A-B. All scans and bloods are now coming back showing continued improvement.
I probably have more energy and strength now than I have in many years, bearing in mind how alcohol had made me feel over many years. I’ve really felt the benefit over the last few months. I am able to teach 4 days a week (it would be 5 but I’ve taken one day a week to do stuff for me!), I’m constantly out and about walking/gardening. I honestly (apart from a bit of tiredness) feel completely normal and wouldn’t think I have cirrhosis! It was tough at first and the muscle loss meant that I was quite weak and got really achy/stuff. It felt a bit like growing pains I suppose as my strengths was staring to come back.
So, if you really stick to the ‘rules’ it is quite that you can live a fairly normal life. Post diagnosis, it’s probably better now than it was before!
I appreciate your response. Maybe I've given up on myself. While the liver damage may not be severe as in the scans and such they always say it's coarse but never mention that I have ascites or fluid. Three times since my diagnosis I've had severe reactions to immunosuppressants. My experience was similar to that of people who undergo chemotherapy. Within 3 weeks of taking the tablets I would lose my hair (completely bald) and white blood cells. This time, Advagraf was prescribed and I didn't experience those side effects, but I didn't feel well either. I am still taking the pred 2mg and advagraf 3 mg daily. My liver alt was on 24 last few times checked but the other day it was 117. Couple weeks later it started to go down again now 89. I do not understand the raise as I don’t think I’m doing anything different. Definitely need to change my lifestyle though.
I’m sorry to hear you’ve been having such a tough time with everything. It’s sounds exhausting and frustrating for you. You’ve really got to take care of yourself and try not to let it get you down too much (easier said than done, I know). Hopefully things will start to settle down for you over time and you can focus on feeling/getting healthier, fitter and stronger.
Take care x
Hi, my husband was diagnosed April 2019 he was very very poorly and eventually sent for transplant assessment but deemed to poorly for surgery due to his weight, his arteries and lack of fitness. He was referred back to a different consultant (this was due to our postcode I won’t ore you with the whole story) who identified the anti nausea meds he had been on for two years were responsible for most of his symptoms, confusion, slurred speech, tremors, falls and extreme tiredness he would go off mid word. Overnight he was much like his old self. Cut to the chase we saw the Heptologist last week he has stated he is now compensated, gone from Child’s Pugh of C to A taken him off all meds bar diuretics and beta blocker (which he hasn’t been taking) scan next month well tell us if he should go back on it but he feels great apart from his sleeping or lack of sleeping. I suggested Melitonin and the doctors have agreed so fingers crossed that works for him.
So it is possible to dramatically improve but his liver is now very well compensating before he was like a 100 year old man and now he is much like his old self the consultant even sad he was good to travel.
It's great to hear that! Thanks for sharing. What a difference a doctor can make from one to another. Without medication one can’t survive but at the same time I feel it’s a slow poison, (my personal opinion).
The story of Kelvin who came back from cirrhosis with fibrosis 25 to fibrosis 4 and I had a comeback that I did not maintain with fibrosis 19.5 to fibrosis 13 and now unfortunately I have reached fibrosis 22..
AIH and Cirrhosis 
decompensated cirrhosis?
Cirrhosis / not cirrhosis
Chronic cirrhosis 
Newly diagnosed cirrhosis
