stage 3 cirrhosis

[jazzy185]

last year i had a liver biopsy my doc said my liver looked good , last week i had a cat scan now they say i have stage 3 cirrhosis so i want to no the best foods to eat and what foods are  bad for me and what else i can do to help myself

[Dee1956]

Hi here is the thread on the anti fibrotics, they are supposed to help reduce the scarring that is occuring in your liver and will continue to scar your liver while you have hepatitis

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-C/Research-supported-antifibrotics---do-they-exist/show/346752

Again, good luck
Dee

[Dee1956]

While you do need to see a Hepatologist about treating before you go to level 4 some things to do:
No alcohol, it is like pouring gas on a fire as far as HCV
No red meat, lots of water
The following is an old post that is supposed to help, it has to do with prebiotics and pro biotics I have another one on anti fibrotics HR Reasercher and MD wrote much of the second one.  Mainly you need to treat before you get to end stage liver failure.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001355.htm

Hepatitis Researcher has posts down on the right hand side of this page and you can see his recommendations.  I will send another thread as soon as I can find it
Good luck
Dee

[HectorSF]

I cat scan can not diagnose the stage (the degree of liver damage) of liver disease only a biopsy or transient elastography (which is commonly used in parts of Europe) can. What kind of doctor said this? A general practitioner (GP)?

A CT scan can find liver tumors, bleeding from the liver, and liver diseases such as fatty liver disease and anatomical abnormalities. It is commonly used to diagnose liver cancer when used with contrast.

When you doctor said your liver "looked good" that is really just a general term and could mean many things. The liver is not going to change its stage in one year. You should get a copy of the biopsy report and find out what stage your liver disease was a year ago and that will be your stage now. Then find a gastroenterologist who understands hepatitis C and liver disease and work with them to treat your hepatitis C.

Stage 3 liver disease is not cirrhosis of the liver. Stage 4 is cirrhosis of the liver.

The fibrosis score is also assigned a number from 0-4:
Stage
• 0 = no scarring
• 1 = minimal scarring
• 2 = scarring has occurred and extends outside
         the areas in the liver that contains blood vessels
• 3=bridging fibrosis is spreading and
connecting to other areas that contain fibrosis
• 4=cirrhosis or advanced scarring of the liver

First you should be seeing a gastroenterologist to manage your hepatitis C and whatever degree of liver disease you have. They know how to diagnose the stages of liver disease properly. Also since you have hepatitis C you should treat your hepatitis C soon if you do have stage 3 liver disease. Changing what food you eat will not stop your liver disease from progressing. If you have stage 3 liver disease no changes in diet are needed. You should not drink alcohol as hep C and alcohol together cause more damage to the liver. Having chronic hepatitis C means that you have a viral infection that is slowly destroying your liver. You should try to cure your hepatitis C and focus on that before more damage is done to your liver by the virus.

Good luck.
Hector