0.0 beer

[Rawai]

Hi,I had a bleed november 2022,since then nothing untill 2 weeks ago.

I have in that time drunk a couple of heineken 0.0 beers a week when out.

My Doc says no soda based drinks my stomach dosnt like it.

Just wondering how i managed sone 14 months with out a problem.

I see him every 3 months for blood tests.now following a ultrascan he wants me to come every 6 months for one.

Do i dare have anothe zero?

Dave

[Ilovedavid]

Your problem is with the gas, not because it's beer. I drink 0% Stella regularly with no problems. Liver nurse said this was OK, which is great seeing as I hate squash and soda pop drinks of any kind (I drink a lot of water). Stick with the non carbonated drinks if it's upsetting your stomach

[Rawai in reply to Ilovedavid]

So no zero?

[Grassroots112]

Some non alcohol beer or zero alcohol do have trace alcohol in them, but if you look into the ingredients of some of these drinks, there is stuff in there that won’t sit well with a damaged liver. If they are giving you issues when drinking them, the best thing to do is simply not drink them. I’m over a year sober and have tried a few of these drinks and thankfully I just don’t like them so can take or leave them and I find if I’m in a bar or restaurant I don’t need to have a non alcohol beer just to feel normal in a bar environment, it’s a habit I didn’t want to get into anyway. As someone else mentioned these drinks can make you feel gassy and bloated which they do to me so that could be an issue.

[Rawai in reply to Grassroots112]

Noted,thanks

[AnxiousPete]

We are often advised to avoid all of these products by the medical people as they are seen as a potential 'gateway' to 'falling off the wagon' and resuming the real thing. If you are assessed for transplant I think that these are also on the forbidden list. I understand that some people with severest alcohol addiction might experience this but personally I find these blankets bits of advice somewhat patronising. If you eat ripe fruit there is probably more alcohol in it than even a low alcohol beer and certainly more than a 'zero' one. If acidity is a problem with the CO2 gas that is another matter and I don't think that is helpful if you have oesophagal or gastric varices so I would check that with a hepatologist. I find the zero lagers pretty tasteless so don't drink them but there are two 'zero' beers that I can highly recommend. Leffe Zero (but this is still a gassy one) and the best IMHO is Guinness 0.0. This has very little gas and is indistinguishable to most people from the real draught version and also has the benefit of being low in sugar, which is not the case with many no /low alcohol variants. Good luck for the future.

[Greengal314 in reply to AnxiousPete]

Good recap of the relevant concerns in question.

[Rawai in reply to AnxiousPete]

Cheers

[Richard-Allen]

I'd like to sound a word of caution here Rawai.

No two liver journeys are ever the same. Once you’ve had a variceal bleed, it’s important to have routine follow-ups which should include six to eight monthly scans of your liver.

18 months following my variceal bleed, I went on to develop five tumours on my liver. Three of these were burnt off using Radio Frequency Ablation. Fortunately, because these tumours were benign, the remaining two tumours were left to grow larger.

Once these little devils start to appear, then a liver transplant is the best long-term solution.

Because my cirrhosis was caused by alcohol abuse, there are strict guidelines over there in the UK, as to who is considered suitable to receive a liver transplant. No one single person makes that decision. It is done by a panel of medical experts, who decide if a patient should be put on the liver transplant waiting list. One of the members of the panel will include a psychiatric nurse or doctor. They need to be convinced that a person has dealt with their alcohol problem and that the chances of a relapse are very small, or unlikely.

This can be a very stressful time as this is a life-saving moment. The psychiatric person will need to know that the alcohol triggers and cravings are no longer an issue. If a person was still attracted to the taste and was to continue to drink alcohol-free beers, wines and spirits, they would be deemed to still have an issue with the alcohol taste and the probability of relapsing is just too great. They wouldn’t be considered suitable to go on the liver transplant waiting list.

This may be reviewed again in a further six months when there shouldn’t have been any alcohol or alcohol-free drinks consumed.

So, the best advice is to stop drinking alcohol-free drinks completely.

I’m coming up to 10 years since my last drink, and now I don’t miss it at all. I can go into a pub and have a J2O or pour my wife a whiskey now and again. I’m no longer phased by alcohol and use my alcohol experience to raise awareness of this terrible condition.

Good Luck

Richard

[Rawai]

Thanks Richard,I dont have any cravings,i was only drinking them to be social.

Wont be happening again.