Hi there. Hubby has been a drinker for years and it appears that it has all caught up with him.
He had his 5 year MOT back in August and was prescribed Folate, B12 compound and Thiamine but no info was given during his telephone consultation.
About 3 weeks ago, I noticed his eyes were a bit yellowy and a day or so later, his skin started to turn too.
Managed to get him an emergency telephone consultation wuth GP and they decided to run bloods again and do liver scan.
Within 48 hours we had call from GP to diagnose advanced chronic liver disease (tho sometimes GP swaps disease for failure).
He has been referred to the substance abuse team to help with his drinking, but that seems to be it.
GP threw a lot at us (dementia, ascites, blood clotting or lack thereof, neuropathy) and to say that we are both scared and confused us an understatement.
Hubby gave up drinking and I know it has only been a couple of days but he seems worse, but that could be because I am checking him constantly.
Has anyone had success at this early stage in getting a GP to see the patient rather than just telephone consultations? Is it worth pushing for that or will his symptoms start to ease if I give him a bit more time?
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mrsstrider
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Some of this seems a little abnormal compared to what, in my experience, you should have been told and what should be happening.
Firstly, has the diagnosis mentioned whether the liver is decompensating (it very likely is)?
Secondly, if your husband has been a heavy drinker (how much?) for some time, suddenly stopping should be handled under proper medical supervision. Has he had any withdrawal symptoms? He might not if his alcohol intake wasn't too extreme, but really the SA team should be advising as the first few days are normally the most unpleasant.
Thirdly, the GP throwing all these other terms at you like ascites, neuropathy, et al isn't very helpful to you or to him as a patient unless they are actually diagnosed, or explained to you so you both know what to look for.
My advice would be to go to the GP back and ask for an urgent referral to see a consultant gastroenterologist/hepatologist. They're the experts who can really help you and your other half understand where things stand now, and then help both of you move forward and know what to look for as red flags. It can also help to ask for a copy of the blood test results, as they are shown on a graph with what the normal and abnormal ranges are, especially his bilirubin level as that will tie in with jaundice.
The conversations we've had are based on blood tests only at this stage, still waiting for the liver scan results. GP did say that there is a massive difference from his August bloods to his current results which is the first cause for concern.
Initially the doctor said bloods like this is what they expect when they are talking a month or less, but he has now taken a step back from that and said that with the right treatment this is not necessarily terminal.
All they have offered at this stage is contact details for the substance and alcohol abuse team and local Alcoholics Anonymous group.
I am hoping when the scan results come back it will tell us more.
Drink wise, he was a steady vodka supper through the day every day rather than downing a bottle in one hit, but effectively having the equivalent of 10+ double vodkas a day. He was still working throughout, but was made redundant in September and fell into a rut, tho his drinking didn't actually decrease.
How long did he drink that amount for? He sounds like a typical functioning drinker in that sense.
Some of us (ahem) were drinking more than that for sometime, although every person and their bodies and conditions are different, so what was safer for one isn't necessarily safer for another, far from it.
Does he have any oedema? Look for it and if so mention this to the GP and try and get him in to be seen.
On AA...it works for some, doesn't for for everyone, but definitely worth exploring if he feels like he wants to get some external help.
He and i have been together for 13 years and he has drunk like that as long as i've known him. He slowed down for a year when we had our little one 9 years ago as he was a stay at home dad,but once she started at nursery the drinking increased again
He hasn't been referred,but I think that is his doing. GP said there were a few different levels of support/treatment and despite my asking for the most intense, i am not the patient and hubs has opted for the middle of the road route.
I am trying to be supportive but also dealing with a lot of frustration and anger at him for not seeking the strongest support/treatment, but I guess it is his life.
push like mad and keep pushing until you see a liver specialist in the mean time keep reading this forum daily it will help you a lot we are all in the same boat. All the best
l woke up one day eyes yellow and skin it was yellow Jaundice they sent me straight to hospital l had de compensated liver usually not reversable i come out starting drinking again after it cleared up wish i never it come back 6 months later and never went it is bilirubin that sends you yellow it's when your body get rid of red blood cells, but the liver can't break them down it goes in to blood stream that how you end up yellow if he has stopped drinking make sure he does even if it goes away it's a early warning sign of de compensated liver disease mine did not if i new what i know now i would have stopped the first time too late for me l need a transplant now but needs to be seen by a gastro DR at hospital stay off drink till you know more my advice
I am disappointed to hear the manner in which your GP has dealt with your husbands' current situation.
It would seem abundantly clear that he has in fact confused rather than give some clarity and confidence about his situation and the necessary next steps.
Firstly, I appreciate that the prevailing circumstances post covid see most of our GP's trying to offer remote consultations. This is fine in the broader context of general health but in cases like your husbands the duty of care should see this escalate beyond a phone call. The GP is, after all - just that - a GENERAL Practioner. The prescribing of what is effectively a vitamin supplement is fine, but it is little more than an acknowledgment that anyone with some degree of liver damage is going to be deficient in Thiamine which is basically Vitamin B1.
There is no question in my mind that this needs to escalate urgently to a consultation with a Liver Specialist at your Hospital and that he should have been referred.
Do not confuse how he is dealing with alcohol withdrawal and physical health recovery. His liver does not simply "get better" if you just give it time. So, in short, I would encourage you to see his relationship with alcohol and his current health as two separate elements, regardless of the subject of Cause and Effect.
Throwing around words like Ascites without diagnosis of his current condition is futile and distracting. You need to be dealing with cold hard facts and not maybes.
Like your previous response from Harting I would totally agree that all indicators would suggest that his Liver is Decompensating.
In my opinion and experience, if your husband has received a liver scan that should be examined by a Specialist and definitely not a GP. So, get a referral immediately.
A Consultant will get your husband a complete diagnosis, and thorough assessment of his liver and the extent of damage, including Decompensation and Cirrhosis. From here the Consultant will establish if Ascites is present too and most importantly look at the medical picture and design a plan to meet his needs.
Both of you need to understand that his drinking days are over and moderation is not an option. You will find your Consultant very encoraging and more enthusiastic to help if he sees this commitment. Sadly, despite the severity of some conditions they are jaded by the denial of so many patients.
Get help separately with drinking if he needs it, but most importantly get yourself in the right hands. If your GP wont refer you or you want to take the law into your own hands, you might consider going to A & E. I know they are busy people and sometimes out of guilt we remove that as an option, but your husband is a far more deserving case than a drunk teenager lying pointlessly in casualty after a Friday night bender with his friends.
I hope this helps and you take control now of the steps forward to getting your husband the help he needs. My best wishes and good luck.
A gastroenterologist/hematologist will know more about his results and set out plans to check for the extent of liver damage and the best treatment for him. I myself drank every day and I too woke up one morning and noticed my eyes were yellow. I had jaundice and was seen immediately by my GP, and was sent for CT scan. I was diagnosed with alcoholic liver disease, stopped drinking and smoking immediately and have been abstinent for 14 months now and have no symptoms or complications.Please...its important to push your hubby to get treated by the right team because this won't go away on its own. All the very best x
I think you should get a proper liver consultant to review and examine your hubby. Liver disease is highly complex and can’t be managed by a GP , keep badgering the doctor for an urgent referral. Good luck
My hubby is currently in hospital being treated for liver disease. He went to seek help from alcohol recovery team nearly four weeks ago. Seeing him jaundiced, they said he could be dead within 48 hours and sent him straight to A&E where he was rushed through, told not well enough to sit in the waiting room and was admitted straight away. He has a decompensated liver (meaning it can't cope) but it can recompenstate if he stays off the alcohol, eats well and gets better. It's a slow process but I'm hoping he will be well enough to come home from Christmas. If I were you, take your hubby to A&E asap. Good luck.
UPDATE: Liver scan shows moderate ascites so he is being prescribed diuretics (didn’t write down what it was called) and he is being referred to a specialist who will decide if it needs to be drained or not and will complete the dementia assessment.
It is so hard not to be angry at him at times, especially as he is acting like he has given up. Getting him to get up and dressed is a mission.
Although work has given me a coupleof weeks to put things in place for things like school runs and childcare, there is still an expectation that i return to full time hours come 5 December. I just don't know how i am meant to do make sure he is safe if i am not here. And now we only have one income, i really can't afford private carers to come in and make sure that he is up and about, eating etc.
Spironolactone is the usual diuretic in such cases. Moderate ascites doesn't always need draining, although if it gets infected then it will definitely need to be. Did they prescribe antibiotics in case as a preventative and test for SBP?
Not sure, hubs was cagier with this call to the last couple. He had been putting the call on speaker but he wouldn't today so was hard to hear all that was being said
Due to god only knows what issues, finally picked up hubbys prescription today, he has been given Furosemide 20mg and Spironalactone 25mg.His appetite is still non-existent and he suffers really badly with muscle cramps throughtout the night. I am exhausted never mind him.
I am becoming more concerned with the dementia side of things, took 20 minutes to figure out he was asking for his mobile phone because he genuinely couldn't find the word and was becoming frustrated with himself.
Despite him being alcohol free for 10 days, there has been no change in his jaundiced appearance, tho the edema in his lower legs and his stomach looks a little more swollen.
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I'm new here and very worried
New to this- very scared
Confusion and memory loss with cirrhosis 
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