In Dec. I had a CT scan, filled with bloodwork, and a liver biopsy. I was told I have full blown Cirrhosis - but that it is in the beginning stage. I don’t actually understand the terms Full Blown & then saying it is on the beginning stage. I picked up my paperwork from the GI doctor to my family doctor. It said the liver biopsy - steatosis/possible steatchepatitis and fibrosis; no obvious cirrhosis. However, there was hepatic modularity and splenomegaly on CT scan, so there may have been sampling error on the biopsy. Does anyone understand this that can explain it to me? Am I really in the beginning stage??? Or is it worse??? My doctor wants me to lower my sugar and weight, and come back for more bloodwork in 3 mos. Is there anything else I can do? He didn’t give me any diet to follow... what to eat or not to eat. Please help me! Thanks!!!
66yrscared: In Dec. I had a CT scan, filled... - Healthy Eating
66yrscared
I suspect what they mean is that your condition is clearly identifiable, but not irreversible.
What you describe is colloquially known as "fatty liver disease": the usual causes are either alcoholism (which I assume doesn't describe you!) or a diet with an excessive carbohydrate load (which unfortunately describes the average British diet).
Absolutely appalling that your doctor has just sent you home to "lose weight" without giving you any sensible advice. There are various different ways you can address this, but the most straightforward is known as a low-carb high-fat diet. It basically involves eating vegetables, meat, eggs, and dairy, while avoiding things like sugar, rice, pasta, white bread, breakfast cereals, and the standard array of junk food that we've come to accept as normal (crisps, biscuits, cakes, sauces-in-a-jar, etc). There are some people who will raise their hands in horror at this fearsome concept, but it's painless and it works. It isn't actually particularly high in fat, but it's acquired the unfortunate appellation "high fat" because it contains more than zero grams of fat, which doesn't meet the approval of the diet gurus in current year.
You might like to join the LCHF group. There are also some nice videos on YouTube explaining how it works: for example, look for anything by Becky Gillaspy.
You might also be interested in this, which addresses the application of LCHF (sometimes inaccurately called a 'ketogenic diet') to fatty liver disease:
HI 66yrscared
You might find some information from the British Liver Trust helpful - here is a link to their website:
Maybe you could go back to your GP and discuss your concerns - and get some more specific advice regarding your diet?
Zest 
Dear Zest, thank you for responding to my post. I’m not the best on these smart phones, this is the second time I’ve tried to reply to you. You are right my cirrhosis is from a fatty liver not alcohol. I wish that I could fine a liver doctor in my area not just GI doctor. I need someone to sit down with me and explain and answer questions . After the liver biopsy he called on the phone while o was driving to give me the results. I wonder after picking up my paperwork from my reg dr and seeing what the GI doctor had to say about his findings, am I actually on stage one or is it worse? I don’t see anything on here about people with FULL BLOWN cirrhosis. I would like to hear from them, how long they’ve had it, and how they are dealing with it. Basically how long do I have to live??? What types of food do they eat, Example of meals...calaries! I am at least 100 lbs over weight . I am trying to lose weight. At this point, I would not be eligible for a transplant. I sit up at night and read and cry! If anyone reads this that actually has stage 1 or 2, please write me back and let me know how long you have had it. Please let me know if I am able to keep it from advancing, how long do I actually have! Thanks!
Hi 66yrscared
There is also a Health unlocked community which is called 'British Liver Trust' - and here is a link to that community:
healthunlocked.com/britishl...
It may be that someone there can help with the queries you have.
They might be able to suggest who you could talk to - to get some clear explanations - and also give you some support - I very much hope that you are able to talk to someone about things.
I hope this is helpful - I hope you are able to get a better night's sleep tonight - I know you've been sitting up at night and reading and crying - that must be very tiring and upsetting. Maybe it would help your GP to know how you're feeling about all of this, and he/she could offer you some more support.
Zest
Please check Dr. JASON FUNG and the (free) IDM program. It will save your life
Stage 1: is simply fatty liver. This is where excess fat builds up in the liver cells but is considered harmless. There are usually no symptoms and may not even realise you have it until you receive an abnormal blood test result.
google.com/url?sa=t&source=...
Your doctor is right. Make a start on losing some of that 100 pounds and go back for more blood tests.
I am sorry you are so scared, it is horrible to be worrying and crying all night. Zest has made some good suggestions and hopefully you can find some useful support on the British Liver Trust community. Also go back to your doctor and tell him/her in words of one syllable how scared and worried you are, hopefully you will then get more sense out of the doctor.
At one point a doctor mentioned to me that losing 10 percent of my body weight would be very beneficial to my liver and when I started my healthy eating campaign losing that 10 percent was my initial goal.
I didn't really drink much alcohol but as I looked into how to improve my diet I realised I had been eating far, far too much sugar (and other processed carbs) for a very long time and this had to change. Theawfultoad mentions this above. Cutting out sugar was one of the first things I did and I honestly think I had an addiction to sugar.
Taking the first steps to improving your diet and starting to lose that 100 lbs (1 lb at a time ) can only be beneficial to your liver and your general health and wellbeing going forward. Wishing you well
Dear Sunny369, That’s exactly the way I am going to look at it! Even 1 lb a week would be 52 lbs in a year! Hey, I’ll take that.🙂 🙂🙂
exactly - that would be fantastic!
Steady weight loss wins the race
Well I understand your dilema as October I had several tests on liver and my liver dr says you have a fatty liver some fibrosis & some cirrohosis, because of my 18 yrs of diabetes, So he says I should have bariactrics surgery and start dropping 100# and come back in 3 mos. I thought about it with family and read all I could bout that surgery and thought about 3 of my friends that have died from the same surgery and decided against it, now waiting to go back to see what he will say next, may need a new Dr don't know, I do know 66yrsscared, these people here, have told me more than any of my Drs have so hang in there search people out with all the separate groups of the hub there is alot of knowledge that we can use to help us...I am 65 and scared too!
Please check DR JASON FUNG and the (free) IDM program. It can save your life and also get rid of your diabetes. A lot of people have.
Sorry I can't explain it to you, but I can see how it can happened, anything's possible? my mom was diagnosed with diabetes and turned out she didn't have it. Well great to hear that it was a mistake
Hi, I was diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. This is where excess fat is stored in the liver. Over a prolonged period this can lead to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis - which is where the liver becomes inflamed as a result. At this stage the liver disease can be wholly reversed through lifestyle changes. It is only when the liver becomes scarred that the damage is permanent. Unfortunately cirrhosis cannot be reversed, but the unscarred tissue can still recover. It sounds like the Dr thinks you may have a small amount of scarred liver tissue. The good news is that you can stop this from becoming worse, and restore the non_scarred tissue to normal function. I joined a program called OurPath, which may be worth looking at. The advice and mentorship on nutrition, health and mental well being means I have normal liver function after just 5 months. I know it seems scary, but take heart that there is loads you can do, and it's not as hard as it seems at first.
I should clarify that I am not a doctor, but it also sounds like good news that the biopsy found no obvious signs of scarred tissue.
Second the Dr. Jason Fung IDM website. He has lots of videos to watch! And don't be fooled--despite the fact that it is called FATTY liver, it is caused by sugar and simple carbohydrates like bread, potatoes and cereal. Not fat.
thanks for that info,will definately check this new info out
When I first became seriously ill back in late 2015 I was told by my doctor my liver was badly damaged. Scouring the Internet i found avocados recommended with lots of vitE. So i ate loads. Apparently the liver can rebuild itself in around a couple of months. My liver did recover, though whether it was the avocados I will never know.
For my money, knowing what I know now, i would choose a whole food plant based diet every time as the safest all round healing and weight loss lifestyle. It heals so many aspects of health with minimal downsides. It has even been proven to reverse atherosclerosis.
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