Anyone Recovered?

[FlippinOut]

Has anyone recovered from NAFLD/cirrhosis by losing weight and drastically changing your lifestyle? Or have you managed to stop the disease from progressing? This is the only treatment plan my doctor has for me, as though this is going to make a difference.

[Shelterdog]

I suppose I did recover. I lost 43 lbs-down to 156. Went from F4 fibrosis to F0. My liver enzymes went from the hundreds down to 17 and 20 (normal) and my liver went from being grossly enlarged to normal size. I have continued to eat healthy (no fatty meats, nothing white, mostly whole food plant based , lots of fruits and veggies (no starchy veggies though).

[FlippinOut in reply to Shelterdog]

Wow that’s awesome news! Thanks for the encouragement and keep up the good work. I’m eating healthy too now. Low fat, low carbs and nothing prepackaged. Hoping for results like yours.

[Stewarpa]

I can only share where I am in my journey. It took me years of eating poorly to take me to F3 fibrosis. Some of this is very hereditary, as my sister faced the same issues, only had 1-2 glasses of alcohol a YEAR, and she had a liver transplant at 68, 7 years ago. Over the past 16 months I have vastly changed my eating habits to remove beef, fried foods, nothing white, only whole grains, fruits and veggies. With approval from my doctor I have 2-3 alcoholic drinks per month, usually when I am at a party or very special dinner. I can make a glass of wine last an hour and half! And an occasional sweet, maybe once a week. These two are just so I don't feel deprived and did not introduce them until I had lost about 20 lbs. I have currently lost from 209 to 179. I am 68 years old and believe me, loosing weight at this age is tough, but doable.

I have had difficulties in getting my exercise (walking and biking) as I had a knee with no cartilage. Had my knee replacement 9 weeks ago, so on the road to recovery. I am starting this week to either walk or bike 30 min 6 days a week and tighten up my diet. Right now its about decreasing the amount of food (lower calories) since I have "cleaned" up my diet.

My AST and ALT were 75 and 130 in October 2021. They are now both at 19. In May of 2022, my ferritin was 509. It is currently at 368, but that could be a combination of inflammation in my liver but also in my knee after complete knee replacement. Hopefully, in 6 months, this will be down as well. I had an MRI done in March of 2022, reflecting my liver to be at F3 state fibrosis. We will run my test again in October to see if my fibrosis has reduced. Because my numbers are showing improvement, my physician has decided to not do a biopsy. And by the way, my physician is my sister's liver transplant doctor. When she shared I was having issues, he took me on as a patient. He said that for my sister, she was too far down the road when she came to him. He is committed to make sure we turn my circumstances around and I don't end up in the same place as she did.

Right now my goal is to lose another 10 lbs by the time I have my test in October, but my long term goal is a total of 30 more lbs of weight loss.

Unfortunately, your doctor has given you the "cure" to this life threatening diagnosis. The key is exercise and diet. The fat in your liver is stressing the organ and causing inflammation. The inflammation leads to poor function and eventually scarring of the liver, taking you into cirrhosis. If you can impact the liver BEFORE scar tissue is formed, it is reversible. Scar tissue does not reverse, at least that is what is known so far. You cannot exercise or take medications to remove the fat from your liver. If your liver issues are due to belly fat which has infiltrated your liver, then the only cure today is to reduce fat in your belly area. When it goes from your belly it will also start to decrease in your liver. I am sure a few people are exceptions, but this is the general rule.

My explanation is probably over simplified, but if you focus on these key facts and make changes that you can live with long term, you can make a difference. I do have some periods of weight loss, but focus really hard on maintaining the loss long term. This is a long journey. Even once you remove the fat from your liver, it will need time to heal and reduce or eliminate inflammation. I felt the same frustration as you in the beginning, but this site and other peoples stories were invaluable to me. I thank everyone on this site for your support and motivation. One of the fantastic "side effects" of taking this journey of change is that it improves so many other aspects of your life. You feel better and become stronger. It is so much fun to fit into clothes that I couldn't wear -- and this is just a side benefit. It is not your reason for the work. Good luck to you. You can do this! Many others have done it before you. There is no magic pill. You just need to plan your work and work your plan. Be patient with yourself and you find encouragement around you.

[FlippinOut in reply to Stewarpa]

Thank you so very much for your response and very informative answer. It’s great to hear stories like yours. I hope you and your sister continue to do well. You are both lucky to have found a good doctor who is concerned about you.

[Cats2018 in reply to Stewarpa]

How is your recovery from the knee joint replacement progressing? You are probably younger than I am, but I’m curious as to how it has been as i am probably facing knee joint replacement surgery very soon. I would have preferred to have been in better condition for it but because of the knee and arthritis in both ankles from previous ankle breaks and repair surgery, and current recovery process from foot surgery I have not been able to take my hikes and walks. I’m not in great conditionto help with my recovery when I have the knee replacement surgery. I know it’s considered to be a longer recovery than hip replacement which my husband has had. Thanks for any info you can give me. I hope you’re doing well.

[LindaC]

I got rid of fatty liver with Intermittent Fasting - no problem = gone, along with Type 2 diabetes. It can work well. Best of xox

[FlippinOut in reply to LindaC]

That’s great you were able to cure your diabetes too! How long did you fast between meals? My blood sugar is highest in the morning when I haven’t eaten in 14 hours. Two hours after meals it’s normal and sometimes even in the 70’s between meals. I’m stumped as to why. Can you tell me exactly how you did the fasting?

[LindaC in reply to FlippinOut]

19 hours - 2.30 then 7.30: eat well twice each day. It works great. I never took meds for T2D - knew I'd 'fix it'. Best of, if you want - next couple of days until I find it - I'll post what I eat to you?? xox

[FlippinOut in reply to LindaC]

That would be great, thank you.

[Str8jacket in reply to FlippinOut]

If you have cirrhosis, your dietary needs are likely very different from someone who has just fatty liver. A fasting diet might be very counterproductive, lead to massive muscle loss, or worse. Check with your doctors before starting a diet, even one suggested by a well-meaning commenter on a liver forum.

[FlippinOut in reply to Str8jacket]

Thank you for your concern. My doctor told me to lose 15 lbs. I will check with him about the fasting diet but I’m currently eating healthy and exercising for several weeks and have not lost any weight. I’m wondering what I’m doing wrong. I’m eating low fat, low carb, mostly veggies with some lean protein. I’m feeling like this is all a waste of time since I already have cirrhosis.

[LindaC in reply to FlippinOut]

Soon xox

[Shelterdog in reply to LindaC]

I’ve always known that intermittent fasting does wonders for T2D. After all, they did it in biblical times probably out of necessity .

[Newdeck]

yes! I have gone from an over 15 score to a 8, an A1C from 7.8 to 5.6 and have great ultrasounds now! Stage 4 NASH and early cirrhosis (from liver biopsy) 2 1/2 years ago- now doing great. I just wash carbs, walk and play pickleball, and have lowered stress😉.

[FlippinOut in reply to Newdeck]

So glad you are doing well. Thank you for providing me some hope.

[Realy in reply to Newdeck]

That’s great news! All your hard work is paying off! So now your at just fibrosis?