Another alcohol SVR question (not what you think)

[mremeet]

I'm kinda hesitant to ask this, because I know it'll probably draw another round of "alcohol flame wars". Don't really want to do that, not trolling for another over the top "alcohol is bad" thread. But I would like input from anyone else who may have experienced this phenomenon (or would just like to weigh in on it). First as a quick refresher, I was in the VX950 trial and wrapped up my tx 4.5 months ago and tested UND on my 12 week PCR (very strongly foretelling an "official" SVR in another 12 weeks). Since recovering from my treatment I've been feeling very good, fantastic really. I feel much better than I did prior to treating, the HCV really caused a chronic fatigue sort of thing with me (although I know this doesn't happen with all HCV+ patients), that really seems to be resolved. This has been a very happy occurrence for me, I really didn't expect to be rid of the fatigue and malaise I've felt for so long now, I would have been happy to simply get my SVR with my old symptoms intact.

But let me get to the point of this post - since recovering from treatment, I've rediscovered both food and alcohol. I've always been a fine beer enthusiast, first as a homebrewer in the late 80's early 90's (before finding out I had HCV) and then later but in a much more subdued sense after learning of my HCV+ status. But as I got older, I found myself not only abstaining from alcohol because of my HCV+ status but also because drinking even just 1-2 beers would often just bring me down so badly the next day I just couldn't deal with it. I felt like I had some kind of hangover all spaced out and deprived of energy, just zonked out. Beyond what you would think 1, 2 or maybe 3 beers (on a banner weekend night) would do to a 185 lb person. So as time rolled on I drank less and less and was completely abstinent for many months at a time in many cases. That's how it's been for the last 5-7 years or so, alcohol was just too much trouble for me and it wasn't worth it.

Fast forward to today, almost 5 months after tx with an SVR status. I can easily drink 4 or 5 beers in a night and it just does not have a very profound effect on me at all. And I'm talking about quality microbrews which typically have 6-7% alcohol in them (as opposed to 4.5% found in typical American beers). I mean, I'm not suggesting I'm immune to the alcohol, because I'm not, but it does not give me nearly the buzz it used to. I have to drink more beer and faster in order to get the same feeling I used to get with only 2 or 3 beers over a longer period of time. Also, the next day? No hangover, nada. I feel fine, like I haven't had anything to drink. Basically clear headed and after a cup of coffee or two, I'm ready to go. I can easily repeat the higher alcohol consumption the next day and the next day too. I just don't feel the effects of the drinking like I used to, and I just don't feel the after effects of the alcohol the next day either. It's just damned odd.

All I can figure is that my liver is functioning in a much more efficient manner now. It has to be. It has to be processing the alcohol faster and more completely than it did before. It also must be managing and regulating my normal metabolic functions with more aplomb than it used to. That's probably why the fatigue is gone, and that's probably why I don't get hangovers the next day like I used to. Everything is better, it's just an incredible situation. I never knew how bad I had it, or how good it could be with a fully functioning liver. But it's made me realize something and left me with an unexpected challenge of sorts. Getting my normally functioning liver back has made me realize that my ability to largely abstain from alcohol in the past wasn't so much as a result of my sheer willpower, it was simply because I felt so lousy when I drank. And the reason I felt so lousy was because of the combined effects of HCV and alcohol on my liver. HCV was a sort of alcohol anti-abuse for me. But now that my liver is functioning normally, I can absorb alcohol like any normal healthy person can (for the first time since I was infected 24 years ago as a teenager). And I've still retained my liking for fine beer, and frankly I don't exactly dislike a nice beer buzz on weekends sometimes either. So it's presented me with an interesting challenge that I did not expect. I WILL have to employ willpower to sensibly regulate my affection for fine beers. The old built in governor I used to have is no longer with me. I'm glad it's not there, but it just seems odd to me that HCV was in some strange way actually protecting me from excess alcohol consumption. I'm confident I'm up to the job or regulating my drinking strictly on a voluntary basis, but has anyone else that's gone on to SVR experienced this strange situation?? It's something I really didn't expect after completing treatment and would be interested in hearing input from other "life after HCV" experiences.

[mikesimon]

The Medscape article I posted a few weeks back described a significant cardiac benefit associated with moderate alcohol consumption. "Moderate alcohol consumption" was defined as 2 drinks daily for men and 1 drink daily for women. I assume that the average weight for men and women factored into the prescribed alcohol consumption. The article did make it clear that exceeding the prescribed amount of alcohol intake results in a loss of the cardiac benefit and instead becomes a detriment, proportionate to the degree of excessive alcohol consumption. It would seem that your intake would probably not confer the described cardiac benefit - lower LDL, lower triglycerides and lower incidence of cardiac event - and may, in fact, be disadvantageous to your overall cardiac health. I think it is also a probability that alcohol does present a burden to the liver proportionate to intake. While moderate intake likely does not present a burden to the degree that would be injurious to a "healthy" liver, I would be concerned that continual exposure to alcohol in an amount more than what is considered to be "moderate consumption" might compromise your hepatic function to some degree. I would seriously rethink your consumption if I were you and I would stick to the guidelines for moderate consumption and play it very safe. Mike

[Willy50]

I always assumed that you were a "plant".  Now I know why; you work for lobbyists for Arrogant B@stard Ale  I knew this was too good to be true.


Sorry, I just couldn't resist.  : )

Now I'm 20% more serious.  This should get more people in to see their gastros so they can treat TODAY!!!!!  Maybe Anheiser-Busch could start writing some grants for TX to get some of us back consuming again.  : )

Threads like this make me a little wistful, but for now......I can only cry in my cofffee and green tea.

Perhaps Schering and Roche should change their advertising pitches......instead of showing us people with HCV that look like they've lost in a punching match....... perhaps they would do better showing us SVR'ed heppers drinking beer and having better (or any,  :) ) sex.

Why didn't I go into advertising.........

; )

Thanks a lot.  Now I want to be SVR so bad I can taste (in italics) it.

Willy

[miked]

My ultimate goal is to be declared UND in 6 months.

Paul Kwo leads IU Med Center's Hepatology. This guy totally has my respect for his knowledge and patient friendship (which is something I never experienced before; haven't cared much for doctors).  

With my very minimal live damage (less than Stage1); he's OK with the occassionl pop or two.  

I would LOVE to have one cold beer after a day in the yard & garden.  Or one glass of red over dinner out with friends.  Assuming I get my SVR; that's my limit.

Mike

[cruelworld]

i drank 7 beers a day for thirty years. i got hep c 30 years ago. i landed at stage 3
liver damage. i beleive that if i had one or the other only, i wouldnt have the high liver damage.
the combination of both was just too much. after i svr  and hopefully regain a stage or two due to liver repair i think i could go back to that level of drinking and do fine so long as i dont become weak and immunosuppressed. (no sleep, poor diet, overworking)   in reality i plan to not return to those
levels of drinking but i will feel comfortable with 3 beers a day. and hope that
i am satisfied with that. all the med info says 5 beers a day is the beginning of danger (for men). in my opinion, alcoholic immunosuppression is your enemy.
you cant afford to let your body get run down. also the
med studies say that binging is better than daily because of liver inflamation that never gets to resolve. find a reasonable balance of all these factors and if you stay healthy and strong you should be fine.
be fine.

[shastri20032003]

geno 10a=3,SOC= 24 weeks,45 years,UND at wk  4,wk 12,wk 24,appetite back to pretx and have sratrted a balance exercise program
now 9 weeks post tx
Heavy drinker before being diagnosed with hep c last year,havent' touched a drop since.august '06 but to be honest..the craving is still there
after reading so many threads and so many opinions pro and anti alchohol,my decision to drink or not to drink after SVR is swinging like a pendulum in fast motion..guess I will cross the bridge when i come to it...but threads like yours sure seem to be helping it swing it towards......untill another thread comes along which makes us think again
Cheers to a healthy life for you and wishing you the best in you exercising a control over your drinks..though this is one art i haven't learnt yet

[Lady Lauri]

Hey! Even being a 'weekend' drinker.... I miss my &^%$ beer, wine or martini. MAYBE someday soon! (2b, 24 weeks, in week 4tx)
BUT.... I WAS healthy, hyper, in shape all my life THAN  also had chronic, extreme fatigue past few years with muscle aches that had me going in my head from "MS"??" Fibromyalsia"???, "Epstien Barr"??? " WHAT is this" ? Before finally dx'd with Hep.....HENCE explaining why I -for @ 15 years-had hangovers from h*ll every time I drank (3-6 drinks when out and never could drink much, like everyone else),  which just wasn't that much for those kind of hangovers! Everyone else would be fine! Being a social outing gal, I'd just suffer for the fun night out. I totally believe my liver not functioning and processing as it should caused this.( Haven't had any since dx). My opinion.....yes, the liver working properly, better would have a huge difference in intake and the day after!
Without starting another one of 'THOSE' threads, you've given me hope for at least a future occassional 'fun night out' :}
                                                                             LL