alcoholic liver vs hep c damaged liver

[pjhep80]

if someone is stage 1 cirrotic with alcoholic fatty liver  and someone is stage 1 cirrotic with hep c, is the liver damage the same?  does a hep c liver become enlarged, like an alcoholic liver?

just wondering...

i have a friend who was dx'd with fatty liver, he looks very bad, yellow skin, enlarged stomach, etc he is still drinking, he didnt have a biop but the dr's told him he will be dead in 5 years if he doesnt stop drinking, i dont think he will last 5 years...im guessing he is stage 1-2 cirrosis, if you ar that stage with hep c, would you have the same symptoms???

[pjhep80]

You would have to be living under a rock to have hep-c and not heard the 'gasoline on a fire' analogy.  However in my opinion, progression of hep-c has way more to do with genotype and individual immune system response than drinking.  I am well aware of what causes problem drinking and I know what an alcoholic is; I don't need AA to tell me.  My 16 year old stepson died from a brain aneurysm 2 days before Thanksgiving; if I was an alcoholic I think I would have crawled into a bottle and not come out 3 weeks ago and still be there.  I miss him so much it feels like someone ripped my heart out.
I did toast his beautiful memory with friends & family... one shot of jack... dont think that makes me an alcoholic.

Everyone I know drinks.  All my family, all my friends, and everyone I have ever met.  Alot of them drink too much every now and then.  Alot of them have problems with alcohol, but very few of them are alcoholics.  This friend that is ill right now is one of them and none of us knew how much he was really drinking.  He hid it well.

Control is an illusion.  When its your time its your time.  You might be able to increase your odds of survival with this disease by not drinking, but it's all a ******* crap shoot if you ask me.

[medicmommy]

I'm sure you've heard this before, but I'll say it again...Mixing alcohol with hep c is like throwing kerosene on a fire. If you want to accelerate your disease, this is the way to do it...I'm sorry about your friend. Alcoholism is often caused by underlying problems like untreated clinical depression that the individual unconsciously "self-medicates" because it's numbing and gives them an escape...I don't know if you've ever called Alcoholics Anonymous, but if you do, you will find a support group who could help you understand your friend's (and yours?) behavior better...Good luck and best wishes.~MM

[pjhep80]

he is in the hospital now, they had to drain fluid from his abdomen... now they are telling him 6 months to a year if he quits now and he will prob still need a transplant to survive..they have someone from rehab going to see him at the hospital try to talk him into rehab...

its so f'd up i thougth he had more time... but i just saw him las sunday and i knew it was really bad, he looks just like my friend billy about a year before he died...

all from drinking beer... i think he drank alot more than any of us knew...

[pjhep80]

thanks for the replies, that is pretty much what i thought...i just wasnt sure if hepc could give you a fatty liver like alcohol... its hard to believe he is that bad off, he is 45 (2 years younger than me)... no hep c but i would guess he has been drinking a least a case of beer a day for the last 25 years or so... i have had my issues with alcohol but i was never an every day drinker, more like a binge drinker...but it is still amazing to me that i am not in worse shape right now, drinking heavy for like 20 years and having hep c... just had biop #3 few days ago, so i will find out soon if i am still stage 2 or what ... its sad he doesnt care he is hiding the drinking now because he doesnt want to hear it from people when he drinks ..

[Mr Liver]

Even though alcohol and HCV use different pathways the resulting damage can be identical. Advanced liver disease caused by alcohol abuse or HCV can result in an enlargement of the liver. I agree with you that given his symptoms a prognosis of 5 years is too generous timewise in all likelihood. At his stage of the disease a biopsy would expose him to an unneccessary risk as he is displaying symptoms of advanced cirrhosis.
Jaundice appears most frequently as one nears complete liver failure. If the alcohol use were to stop immediately his condition may improve. If his condition continues to decline a tp may be the only medical remedy. A transplant candidate generally has to have several months of abstention (3-6 months depending upon tp center) before they will be given any consideration. I hope your friend can find a reason to live and will stop the ongoing destruction to his liver.
ML

[rexx73]

my doc told me once,that an alcoholic cirrhosis could stay more longer stable/compensated than an hep-c cirrhosis

she said poeple with cirrhosis who can clear the virus with tx,can not stay as long as an alcoholic cirrhosis(of course the alcoholic has to stop drinking alc.)

[jusjames]

broken eggs are broken eggs my friend , the only difference is your friend can stop drinking with will power hep c takes a lot more