NEW & CONFUSED

[CHDE]

HI all

recently had a diagnosis of stage 3 liver disease and i am completely freaked out by not only the diagnosis , but also the level of explanation or advice i have been given.

my story!

7 months previous i had blood tests that showed i was type 2 diabetic and possibly non alcoholic fatty liver disease. a fibro- scan was also requested , but happened six months later .

in that six months i was determined to put this right and went on to lose 2 stone in weight , and was pretty confident going into the fibro scan.

i was given a result of

12.2 Kpa

CAP 275

F3

S0

So , fatty liver is gone , but i am left with what appears to be severe scarring of the liver.

a separate blood test showed that my Hbac1 levels had returned to normal (36), so diabetes is in check.

my questions are

is there anything else i can do apart from lose more weight and be more active?

is it possible to halt progression at this stage?

or even better, can my liver recover from stage 3?

what should i be asking my doctors?

are more blood tests needed ? what can they tell me ?

if any of you good people can give me help it would be greatly welcomed.

thanks all

CPD

[Shloma]

Its worth checking with your GP & GI or liver specialist, but include alternative health practitioner like nutritionist & maybe other options

[CHDE in reply to Shloma]

THX Shloma for the suggestion , i have made an enquiry to my local Hepatology Dept so i can ask some questions .

[taar]

Very many congratulations, on what you have already achieved. Spectacular, I wouId say. Others would probably be better on the advice front (AyrshireK is brlliant! I know she saved my life, literally!) Look for healthy liver diet (on British Liver Trust site I think)-- and keep up the good work. I have to say, I wouldn't go the alternative health practitioner route myself but everyone is different. Best wishes.

[CHDE in reply to taar]

hi Taar , thx for the support, as good as the results where for the Diabetes and fatty liver , i went into the fibro-scan thinking all would be ok and it was just a formality, how wrong i was!!!

[BritishLiverTrust11 Moderator]

Hello

[In addition to the suggestions from members of the forum] Here is a link to some information on our website about preparing for appointments, including questions to ask your doctor which you may find helpful.

britishlivertrust.org.uk/in...

Test results vary according to both the individual’s whole health and the laboratory analysing the results and should always be interpreted by the user’s own health care professionals.

We suggest talking this through with your own doctor or health care professional.

Best wishes

British Liver Trust

[Dionne19721318]

Hi CHDE

So sorry to hear but please do not freak out,

Stage three liver disease will not repairs itself but will be managed with meds.

take care and have faith 🫠

[AyrshireK]

Hi CHDE, super well done on the healthy lifestyle changes that have improved your fatty liver issue. I think the big question I would want to ask a doctor is whether they are certain on the initial fatty liver diagnosis and what are current bloods revealing?

Is there any sign of current inflammation based on blood markers (this can potentially falsely inflate your fibroscan score).

Could something other than NAFLD be at work here? In the absence of fatty liver is there some other issue that is causing the fibrosis?

F3 is often considered reversible if the cause is identified and treated - whether by lifestyle changes or be that by medication to get whatever it is under control (often things like the viral hepatitis, auto immune conditions etc. where damaged can be slowed, stopped or even reversed if the underlying cause is identified and treated).

You definitely would hope you'd get some feedback from your doctor as to what next steps are as regards investigations. It might be that you need further tests either by blood tests, scans or even a liver biopsy to look at the liver on a cellular level to see if there is some other issue happening that is causing the damage.

Best wishes,

Katie

[CHDE in reply to AyrshireK]

HI Katie

just wanted to thank you for your advice , i did indeed speak with a Doctor who cleared up all my fears with a very detailed explanation regarding the blood tests i had done.

turns out all my issues where caused by excessive weight gain and sedentary life style + the type 2 diabetes diagnosis i had .

.

no sign of autoimmune or any other complications and that although i will always have fat deposits in my liver , ongoing loss of weight will mean i can hope as a base line that my Fibrosis will not worsen .

thanks Again

Chris

[Lyliigirl]

Hello, fibroscans can be unreliable, especially if you are overweight. My husband had a fibroscan due to increased liver test values from a medication he was on for rheumatoid arthritis. The fibroscan showed that he had stage 4 liver cirrhosis (he was symptom free). The doctor did a liver biopsy (the gold standard for diagnosing cirrhosis). The biopsy showed that he only had some mild, resolving inflammation from the medication he had been on. Now that he has been off of the medication awhile, his liver enzymes are back to normal. He will still have a fibroscan once a year (not sure what the point is), but he does not have cirrhosis. You need a biopsy to be sure.