alcohol question

I'm not really an alcoholic but I have an alcohol related question.  I'm a 23 y/o somewhat overweight college student.  I drink only about once or twice every 1-2 weeks, but when I do, I drink pretty heavily(usually at least 7 drinks).  I notice that on the next day I have a dull soreness in my upper/right abdomen/rib(liver) area. What could cause this? Is this common? Also, am I doing permanant damage to my liver? P.S. - about 3 months ago I had an abdominal CT scan for a different abdominal issue and it said that I had fatty infiltration of the liver and "a small statistically benign, low attenuation lesion."
Thanks,
rr

[Enoch Choi, MD]

that's your liver, you've beat it up drinking.  more than 5 drinks at a time is considered binge drinking and you are an alcoholic.  you need to avoid alcohol to prevent any more liver damage.  the liver is very resilient, but enough damage to it and you can have liver failure.

[mommo56]

Hi freedom, I have heard that a diet with lots of meat and fat, what you might call an unhealthy diet, can cause liver damage, unrelated to drinking. If you are hitting the burgers alittle heavy and you thing corn, carrots, and potatoes are vegetables you could go see a neutritionist. There is probably one on staff at your schools health services office. BTW -  I think its a pretty blatant omission by the medical professional who responded to your question.

[vic_m]

to answer your question about permanent liver damage. without knowing too much about your medical history, and so assuming you don't have any other problems, the damage you are doing to your liver is reversible. but, as dr. choi mentioned, there is a point after which it becomes irreversible.

i can understand that with the stress of college and the social events it's easy to get carried away sometimes. a lot of people can get away with what you're doing and not complain of right upper abdominal pain. given that you are experiencing this, and usually after a night of heavy drinking, you need to get this under control before it becomes a major problem.

in addition to dietary changes mentioned above, you may want to explore other ways of 'blowing off steam'. maybe you can become more active, if you're already not. this, along with cutting down on drinking and making dietary changes will help you bring your weight to a more healthy one. this will benefit you a great deal.

good luck.