fibrosis/drinking

[youngfella21]

Im 21 years old, stage one level one fibrosis, about to start treatment. I have been told that my fibrosis can go back to zero in time if the disease goes away.... im sure i cannot go back to drinking like a normal human being, but would it be acceptable to have a couple if this was the case?? and also if I did cure the hepatitis, and drank with the level one fibrosis, how quickly does that escalate? I do not plan on going back to my old habits what so ever, but I have been curious about this

[Forseegood]

hey, how about those Giants! not to confuse you youngefella, just a private joke...sure someone will come along to answer this, too nice a day for me though...hope youre well....

[mikesimon]

This question always gets a lot of emotional responses with divergent opinions. When you say: "im sure i cannot go back to drinking like a normal human being, but would it be acceptable to have a couple if this was the case??" it occurs to me that you might be one of those people who should never drink again, even if you do manage to cure yourself of HCV. I am not trying to denigrate you but, if this is your state of mind now, you may have a serious problem with alcohol. I believe that a lot of people here have abused alcohol but I think the vast majority are so concerned with their health that they aren't worried about drinking when they are contemplating treatment or while they undergoing treatment for hepatitis c. Having said that, there are some who believe that moderate drinking once a person has reached SVR isn't significantly injurious to one's health. Then there are other people who believe that any alcohol intake presents a significant risk of liver injury. I personally believe that SVRs with little or no liver damage and who do not have an alcohol problem can drink without incurring further liver related injury. But, I am just a patient and I really don't know for sure one way or the other. I do believe very strongly that people with an alcohol problem should never drink alcohol again - not one drop - and I think most responsible people would agree with me on that. I wish you good luck and good health. Mike

[mikesimon]

When I said "I personally believe that SVRs with little or no liver damage and who do not have an alcohol problem can drink without incurring further liver related injury' I should have made it clear that I was talking about very moderate alcohol intake - like a drink or 2 now and again. Mike

[mikesimon]

When I said "I personally believe that SVRs with little or no liver damage and who do not have an alcohol problem can drink without incurring further liver related injury' I should have made it clear that I was talking about very moderate alcohol intake - like a drink or 2 now and again. Mike

[R Glass]

You do have minimal liver damage that can heal it self in time. At the age of 21 I am sure you are scared about what all this means concerning the rest of your life. You didn’t mention what Genotype you are. Regardless of the Genotype, you have a tough battle ahead of you. Absolutely, no drinking during tx or before reaching SVR. The questions you ask are very controversial because, there is no rock solid evidence about alcohol consumption for persons reaching SVR with minimal liver damage. We could post studies for probably weeks contradicting each other on this issue. In closing (and this will be my only post on this thread), my advise to you is to keep the horse before the cart. Win your battle to reach SVR and then figure out what comes next concerning living your life.

[Forseegood]

great posts! certainly a lot better then mine! lol....

[KDH59]

Are you for real..... You have a chance to save your liver and you will consider drinking....What is the #1 most damaging thing you can do to it???  I  had HEP C for over 20 years before i found out. I would give anything to get the chance you have. And you are going to throw it away for a drink????   WAKE UP>>>>>>>>> Kirk

[Lady Lauri]

Awwww c'mon. The kid is 21, what 21 yr. old wouldn't ask that if told 'never drink again'. I was a moderate drinker, had Hep 30 yrs. and never knew and of course quit immediatly, and had I known 20 yrs earlier, would have quit than. But if I was cured at that young age, with little or no damage, I'd probably wonder the same thing.."can I ever have a beer again". How 'awake' were we at 21?? Plus he's about to have to 'grow up' in a lot of ways a 21 yr. old shouldn't have to yet!

NO, do not drink now or during tx AT ALL! Like RGlass said...get SVR and figure out life from there. Like MikeS said...Too much drinking is NEVER good, Hep or not.

Good luck young man, LL

[nygirl7]

When I said "I personally believe that SVRs with little or no liver damage and who do not have an alcohol problem can drink without incurring further liver related injury' I should have made it clear that I was talking about very moderate alcohol intake - like a drink or 2 now and again. Mike

------------------

Right I am very antidrinking with liver damage but it does depend on how MUCH liver damage you have and if the virus is active or if you have reached SVR.  With the virus active you certainly shouldn't be drinking one drop EVER.  However if you have beaten it and have a very low viral load a glass of wine now and again won't kill you. Just don't let that make you believe it can be a regular type event of a couple times a week and 3 or 4 drinks each time.  That would be a lot of booze for anybody even without liver damage.
Try to be smart and use common sense with this situation you know?

As far as your liver "healing" itself - it sure can.  Thank God it is only of the only organs that can do it but it sure can.  Sometimes after treatment people have found themselves down a whole stage say from a 3 to a 2.  But remember -  no one can chart HOW LONG it takes to get from one stage to the next. You could take 20 years to go up one stage and then only a year to go up the next.  There is no way to know without frequent (yearly) biopsies.

Be careful.  You have a long life to enjoy ahead and you want to take advantage of every thing that life has to offer you.  You can go back to drinking once you get rid of this disease but will just always have to temper it.  It's not the end of the world.

Good luck.

[FlGuy]

Your initial post was perfectly clear to me.

[l-horn]

First things first. Absolutely NO drinking while you have the virus as it is pouring gasoline on a fire.

Secondly, absolutely NO drinking while on treatment as it significantly decreases your chances of the treatment working. In fact so much so, you may as well not even be on treatment.  So, if you drink on treatment, be honest about it and tell your doc because you'll be wasting your time and suffering needlessly doing the treatment.

Thirdly, alcohol, unless your really pounding down a lot of alcohol, it isn't going to be nearly as harmful to your liver as the virus but the combination is deadly.

Finally, I treated for 48 weeks and have done some drinking post treatment and I feel fine. I am currently waiting for my 6 month PCR and blood tests so we'll see how that goes. I am in the camp that does not believe alchohol will cause relapse any more than it causes the virus itself. I have had or 'had' had hcv for close to 30 years more than likely and during this time I drank about as much as a person could and still function. I was a partier. When I had my biopsy before tx I was a 2/2, right in the middle.  My liver enzymes were high, the ALT in the 300's when I started treatment.  After just a few weeks of treatment, my liver enzymes were normal as well as at my 90 day post tx tests.

I still have a few beers every now and then, nothing like what I did before treatment but more than 1 or 2 'every now and then'. I probably drink 6-8 beers a week. I go a few days and don't drink at all, then maybe go out and have a few beers at a game or out with my buddies and I feel fine. I had a bout of the flu earlier in the year and that kind of freaked me out but I recovered fine and have felt fine since.

Of course, if I relapse on my 6 month, you can throw this all out the window and say....'what a fool' but personally I'd never associate a relapse with alcohol. Others will and tend to have strong and perhaps 'judgemental' opinions but remember young buck, it's your life to do with it what you wish.  Just make sure you have all the information in your decision.

[FlGuy]

Still eagerly awaiting your pcr results.  Hope you will start a thread, or refer to your prior one, when you hear something.  Good luck.

[scratchinghead]

And don't think that you can smoke pot either with HCV. I guess it increases the chance of fibrosis abut seven-fold.

[l-horn]

Never heard anything about the pot deal. It's hard to say, when you have the virus what % of what causes what. The weird thing about HCV, apparently, is that it can really take off on you after years and years of doing no or moderate damage.  Bottom line is, within some parameters, everyone is different.  Genetics and all I suppose. God is such a prankster.

[Lady Lauri]

I want to drink wine, beer and a martini, party...smoke pot and have sex till daylight, and than do it all over again!

okay, not really into the pot...but want the other ones!
And I'm gonna! (in moderation, the alcohol, not the sex :}

Oh yeah...and be 30 again! (NOT 21!!)

Tx silly again :}  :}  :}  :}

LL

[Lady Lauri]

Do you ever notice that MANY times a 'not so regular' poster post a question, we all answer, keep talking and they never come back?? LOL!

youngfella....reply. Your not 'in trouble', grounded, going to get yelled at by your elders!

LL

[comeagain]

i know a guy who  got SVR geno 3 about 2years agoo hes a real alcoholic started to drink emediatly after tx so hard he even got drunklegs kind of weard way lifting up his leg when walking. that guy is still SVR still drinking as well. I meat him 2 months agoo he had a terrible "hangover" he was in real bad shape but I told him u have nothing to complain about u cleared HCV I did`t , and he agreed and started to feel sorry for me instead of him self  thats avesum I think

[youngfella21]

haha Im here, and I know im not grounded for christ sakes haha, thanks though, I did actually post a few other questions, but my ******* apparently didnt know you could do it on the same thread

[Lady Lauri]

........ I did actually post a few other questions, but my ******* apparently didnt know you could do it on the same thread ..................

Well if you'd sober up you could do it right!
KIDDING!

Seriously, ask anything you need. Tx can be rough, stick around here!
We'll help you with a lot coming up. And when your SVR, and we are, we'll all go have a beer :}

KIDDING again...I'm getting tx goofy lately...better than ragey I guess!

LL