Hello, just received a letter from the gastroenterologist from UK about Fibroscan results, and I was so anxious that I had to phone 111, phoned hospital, went to GP and pharmacist, went to A&E, and couldn't eat anything until 6pm, some strawberries and apples, then at about 11pm ate low fat cottage pie, cucumbers and lof fat chicken breast slices... I am afraid to eat anything... Now it is 3.15am at night, and I can't sleep, so worries. Also, I have yellow feet, a bit of yellow colour inside the bottom eye lid, fatigue, tiredness, weakness, a bit of mild pain, on and off under ribs, eczema, maybe RLS.
Is it curable? How many years am I going to live? What is the life expectancy for my diagnosis?
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CryoArthur
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I have to wait until 28.8.24 Sunday 15:45 for the appointment with the gastroenterologist to discuss the results and what next, but I am too anxious and I don't know how to manage my anxiety, sleep, tiredness... The A&E said if it was an emergency, they wouldn't send a letter... Asked to speak with the Doctor, they said he is not abandoning until next week, and they can only email him, and I have to wait for 48 hours for reception to contact me... I thought I can call and ask to speak with another gastroenterologist who replaces Dr who checked my results... Or a gastroenterologist can contact me via phone quicker, and the I would have peace of mind... I want also to contact Liver Disease Trust to see what the nurse can say... The results attached are 8 months old, blood test, I am not sure of it is relevant, because I had more blood tests, but O can't see my recent medical records for blood...
You shouldn't be panicking about this result - concerned yes but a long way from talking life expectancy etc. It is imperative to start work on lifestyle changes - a healthy balanced diet, no booze and exercise is key.
Anything below F4 (full on cirrhosis) is considered reversible so with a bit of hard work and clean living you could/can turn this around.
The British Liver Trust website has loads of information on NAFLD/MASLD snd dietary advice etc.
You can turn this around, NAFLD isn't any sort of 'death sentence' .... it is a reversible condition but you must tackle it to prevent a worsening of the fibrosis.
It’s always scary when you receive results which you weren’t expecting after tests have been done. As Katie says - don’t panic. You can do something about them and reverse the fibrosis by avoiding alcohol, eating a well balanced diet and doing some exercise. Even with cirrhosis the liver can improve if the thing causing the damage is taken away. At F3 there is the potential to fully reverse the damage. If you can speak to your doctor then it will reassure you but they are not treating your result as the need for an urgent appointment. It’s obviously not an ideal result but there’s time for you to do something about it. So see it more as a warning than a catastrophe.
It's time not to give up and get to work. It's not good news to have F3, but right now you have two enemies to face. You can fight one with a healthy diet, exercise, and medical help to determine if there are any other underlying conditions to address. The other enemy is your thoughts. There is room for improvement in your results.
Every person is unique and not like any other. In my family, we have a genetic condition called hemochromatosis that damages the liver, in addition to a tendency to develop fatty liver. I don't know how long I'll live, but for example, my grandmother, diagnosed with cirrhosis in her mid-50s, lived until she was 85. You are young with room for improvement, and on this forum, you will find people who have been living with similar liver conditions for many years. Many of us know that feeling of loss of control and fear very well.
You still need to talk to your doctor and interpret your results ; The liver is complex to diagnose. We are at a point where treatments for your condition are starting to be marketed, treatments that didn't even exist five years ago.
Why is it not urgent? Why do I have to wait until 28.7.24?Because of that, I slept this night about 4 hours only... And I can't stop worrying... How can I exercise if I don't sleep well? I don't have energy to do it? Do you just do it even without the energy?
And also, I had FibroScan on 25.6.24. I am afraid that f3 might have progressed to f4, which you can't reverse. How can I know that it is not too late? How can I know that withing this month I'd didn't progress to f4?
It's not urgent because it's not going to develop that quickly. If you only had a fibroscan in June you wouldn't anticipate much changes in only one month - you most likely will get a repeat fibroscan in a years time. There is no treatment for fatty liver other than what you can do for yourself. There is a pathway in place for the diagnosis and monitoring of fatty liver disease and these are outlined in the NICE guidelines. nice.org.uk/guidance/ng49
Am I allowed to show you how the poo sample looks like to find out if it is still f3 or to moved to f4? I am trying to understand what is tarry looking poop... And if it is very dark or not... What is the difference between those stages?
No, there is no need to give us a photo. You have a new diagnosis and it will take time for all the pieces of the diagnosis to come together. With F3 you can reverse this situation (even early F4) is reversible. Black Tarry Poo only comes when you have full on decompensated cirrhosis with all it's associated symptoms and it happens when you have internal bleeding from varices in the oeosphagus.
Your blood tests would be deranged and would indicate if you'd hit a state of advanced cirrhosis.
I think you are sending yourself down the health anxiety worm hole here. You have a diagnosis of NAFLD and that's what YOU need to concentrate on and start treating.
Please try not to panic. Also, from my understanding ,a reading of 11.4 only just puts you into the F3 range. According to this the range for F3 goes from 11 to 19.
On that basis you are pretty unlikely to hit F4 at all if you look after yourself well. If anything you could soon tip it down to F2. It has not been classed as urgent because it isn't medically urgent (even though of course it will feel urgent to you).
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Hello again, just a little update and advice welcomed
Not sure if this is liver or gallstones...
Not sure what to think
What is high, and what is dangerously high?
Preparing for Transplant
