How long can I live for?

[forevermen23]

Hello. I am an alcoholic. I am 27 and have been a nightly drinker for 7 years. Since November of last year, my ALT and AST have been high due to drinking. Last year, ALT was 206, AST was 176. April of this year, ALT went to 264 and my AST went to 171. My drinking didn't really decline any. All the other numbers in the test were within normal range, including INR. In August of this year, I started to cut back, and with a week of not drinking, my ALT dropped to 170 and my AST went to 113. All other numbers remained normal once again. Hepatitis was ruled out by tests. My CBC didn't seem concerning in April.

I then joined an outpatient program in September, and my drinking reduced quite a bit. 20 days sober in August altogether, Held a week sober here, slipped for 2 days, 2 weeks sober, then slipped for 2-3 days, and its been a similar cycle with some sober days and some drinking days. I now have a home group and a sponsor so I really want to work on trying to save my life, but I am concerned I am too late because I have continued to drink with high enzymes for a year.

As far as symptoms go, my gums bleed. My dentist did diagnose me with gingivitis, so bad to the point where she didn't bother even running any tests when she saw my gums.I read that they only bleed if you brush your teeth with that condition, though, but I wake up with blood in my saliva(small amount) and a metallic taste in my mouth and sometimes theres a small amount of blood in my saliva during the day when not brushing. I also have broken braces on too(I've neglected my dental health so much due to my addiction), but if I am not brushing and this happens, I am concerned it's due to cirrhosis. Maybe esophageal varices?  I don't have any nosebleeds, but when I blow my nose, there is typically a small amount of blood on the tissue.

I am not yellow. My stomach is not swollen. I don't think I have had any hepatic encephalopathy. My stool and urine appear normal. I don't think my legs are swollen, although one calf is a little bigger then the other. My appetite is definitely there, and there are no problems with eating food. My fingers don't looked clubbed. I have stretch marks, but have had them for a while, don't think I have spider veins. My palms aren't red. I haven't discovered any bruises on my body. I check for these symptoms every day. I constantly spit onto a tissue too in order to see if I am bleeding. Most of the time, there isn't any blood, but once and a while there is and I think it's coming from my gums most likely, but can't say for sure.

My doctor doesn't seem concerned(I haven't told him about the gums thing yet). He hasn't sent me for an ultra sound, CT scan, biopsy, or anything. I have brought up that I am worried about cirrhosis but the last time I saw him he didn't think this was of any concern at this point. He wanted me to be sober for 6 weeks before running another blood test. Worst case scenario, if I couldn't pull off 6 weeks of sobriety, to wait 4 months before doing another test. I have continued to drink with these elevated enzymes for a year! How can I not be concerned? The next test and next time I see him is December 17th.

If I remain sober, is there a chance I could live for a while? Or because of the high enzymes, and the blood in saliva, is there a chance this will catch up to me, progress, and I will get more symptoms and not have much time left? I am concerned that I now have cirrhosis and in my mind I am doomed.

Sorry for the rant. I am very concerned and scared.

[rpooo]

Once scar tissue forms it is there to stay. Scar tissue begins to form during fibrotic stages of liver disease which is pre-cirrhosis. This is still okay because the liver can still be able to "Compensate" for the damaged portion meeting your body's every demand even if cirrhotic. This is called compensated cirrhosis. Again as mentioned ^above^ further progression can be avoided. If you are cirrhotic then you must maintain your sobriety to avoid advancement to "decompensated" cirrhosis. This is the final stage of liver disease. I hope this helps you feel more confident that everything is going to be alright, notice all these messages are telling you in different ways the same thing, no more alcohol.

It sounds like you are doing just that! I am really glad to hear you are involved with AA now WOW great job on getting those numbers back down! Stick with it my friend, it might take a while but you will realize life is much better through sober eyes. You will feel more motivated and confident than ever before. I hope you will let us know how your doing from time to time. Take care.

Randy

[Advocate1955]

Congrats on your sobriety.  Glad to hear that your liver enzymes are now lower and that you are committed to a healthy lifestyle.  If I'm understanding everything correctly about alcoholoic cirrhosis, you should be able to stop the progression of your cirrhosis with stopping alcohol and the lifestyle changes mentioned above (avoid red meat, reduce sodium, do not take vitamins that have iron, do not take NSAIDS, do not take any supplements, medications, or herbs without approval of a hepatologist, etc.).  In fact, as ceanothus said, if you follow all of those guidelines regarding alcohol and other things that harm the liver, it is possible for your liver to regenerate.
Advocate1955

[ceanothus]

Congratulations on sobriety and on the dramatic lowering of your liver enzymes! Your liver should not continue to develop more scar tissue as long as you refrain from alcohol. The scar tissue is a response to injury or injurious substances; if you remove the injurious substances you generally will stop the process of forming new scar tissue, and in most cases the liver will slowly regenerate itself and grow healthy new tissue. None of this is going to happen if you go back to drinking though, so keep up the hard work of sobriety!

[forevermen23]

Thanks for the check in. I appreciate it :-)

Sobriety is going a little better. I am more involved with AA and taking action against my strongest triggers.

I got my results and all of my numbers are in normal range(ALT, AST, billirubin, albumin, alk phos etc). My ALT was reported as 31 and AST was reported as 23.

I know this doesn't necessarily mean I don't have cirrhosis. I have an imaging test on Thursday so I will hopefully have a better idea of what shape it's in or at least how it looks.

Question, though. With alcoholic cirrhosis, does it work in such a way that it starts off with a small scar on the liver, then more alcohol causes the scar tissue to spread until its completely covered? And if it works that way, the scar tissue continues to spread on its own without alcohol, but just at a much slower pace?

Just hoping I'm not at that point. Thanks again :-)

[rpooo]

Just checking with you to see how sobriety and your lab testing went? I hope all is well.

Randy

[forevermen23]

Thank you for the advice and support. I am going to commit to living a healthy lifestyle...alcohol free(its going to be rough but I have to do it). Just today I went out and bought a bunch of fruits, vegetables, green tea, lean meats(like tuna), unsalted nuts and almonds, high fiber bran cereal etc. I am also going to force myself to go to the gym(also hard) and walk/light jog, and just try and take care of myself the best I can and just pray I am not at a point where I am doomed. I guess the only other thing I can do is leave it up to God.

I will let you know how the blood test goes in 2 weeks as well as see if I can ask my doc to get a CT scan done. I just get a LOT of anxiety over this.

[rpooo]

P.S.
As usual Dee has given some very good advice, read it carefully and start helping your liver now.

[Advocate1955]

The most important thing is to continue to stay away from alcohol and anything else that could harm your liver (NSAIDS, drugs, certain medications, iron, sodium, etc.) Try to eat fresh, organic fruits and vegetables. Avoid red meat.
Be sure that you see a hepatologist regularly, at least every 6 mo or so.

[rpooo]

Hello and welcome to the Cirrhosis community.

I am sorry you feel so scared but right now you are presented with an opportunity to save your own life. Sadly for some of us alcoholics it comes down to just this before we find the motivation we need to change our life and unfortunately for some they still can’t find the strength. It’s up to you to make the change. It sounds like you are on the right track, maintaining your sobriety is key. Symptoms of liver disease often don’t manifest until the liver has become cirrhotic. It’s great to hear your AST/ALT are dropping but they are still very high as it will take time for the liver to heal. You are very young to have developed cirrhosis but this does not make you exempt, further testing (CT scan) should be considered. Either way if you continue to drink as you have in the past you will eventually develop liver disease if you have not already and without sobriety it will advance. Remove the cause to stop the progression. Once you have developed decompensated cirrhosis stopping the progression quickly no longer is an option. Normally six months of documented sobriety is required to be considered for a liver transplant, without the individual will expire.

Party is over my friend, your no longer 21. Do this for not only yourself but your loved ones that need you in their lives. Think about the people you do not want to let down when you’re tempted to take that next drink. Nearly four years ago I was diagnosed with cirrhosis and have maintained my sobriety ever since. It has not been easy living with cirrhosis and knowing the worry I have put on my family. It’s time to start thinking about how your health and drinking effects those that care about you, at this point not to would just be selfish. Sadly I did just that for many years and once your diagnosed with cirrhosis there is no undoing it. I wish you the best and hope you will keep us posted. You got this!

Also there are some wonderful people in MedHelp’s Alcoholism community I hope you will check it out:
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Alcoholism/show/158

Take care,
Randy

[Dee1956]

Hi I think if you stop drinking, start to eat healthy, drink water, you can improve your health.  The liver has the power to regenerate if given the right care. i.e. everything you eat, drink, put on your body in your eyes has to pass through the liver.

You elevated enzymes are telling you that your liver is irritated, maybe inflamed.

If you can follow your doctors orders there is no reason that you can't improve.  It is very smart of you to stop now, to pay attention to what your body is telling you.

Don't give up the hope
Take care
Dee