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Autoimmune Hepatitis
Hello....I have recently been diagosed with Autoimmune Hepatitis and on 30mg of prednisone daily...within the last month my levels are dropping and I am doing great. There was no damage to my liver at all just the inflammation and high levels of course....My question being....I do know that drinking alcohol is totally not recommended but was just wondering if 1 or 2 glasses of wine per week would do harm to me....
Thanks for any info,
Thanks for any info,
My hepatologist told me alcohol was like adding fuel to the fire w/ hep c, so I will not take a sip, If I get it in a prepared meal from somewhere so be it, but I will not consciously take it as long as I have hep c. or until they find out differently.. There are some good non alcoholic wines too... that be my choice.. good luck
Hello Holly. I was diagnosed with Autoimmune Hepatitis four years ago. I was lucky it was caught really early, so I don't have it as seriously as some people. I am on a dose of 75mg of Azathioprine a day, which I understand is the minimum maintenance dose. My liver also escaped unharmed.
At the risk of a torrent of disapproval, I shall confess that I do drink alcohol, moderately. BUT, I take care of myself properly on every other count. Too much saturated fat in your diet can be as dangerous as excessive alcohol consumption. There is even a type of Hepatitis you can develop from just being overweight.
Obviously, I didn't resume drinking immediately after I got out of hospital. I didn't touch a drop for a year, and then started having the occasional very weak white wine spritzer at special occasions.
Over several years I have gradually started to drink again, but I stay WELL within the recommended weekly consumption and I'm very careful. I have regular liver function tests and check-ups and I am currently healthier then most 'healthy' people. Definitely don't touch alcohol while you're on steroids!
In my opinion if you keep healthy- regular exercise, really healthy food, and you're a happy person, moderate alcohol consumption will not kill you, or even do very much damage to your liver.
There are also lots of different foods that help to cleanse and assist your liver, artichoke and brown rice, for example. It's well worth researching how you can eat yourself better- its fun too.
When I do have a drink I only drink good quality alcohol, preferably organic, and only clear drinks like white wine or gin, as they contain less impurities than say, red wine. I also drink lots of water all the time and take appropriate herbal supplements ( not Chinese medicine!) which I won't recommend because doctors don't really support them.
I AM NOT SAYING YOU SHOULD DRINK! I mean to share my experience with you. I educated myself as much as I could about my condition and about liver health generally and I think I have enough information to make sensible, informed choices. Auto Immune Hep is different to normal liver disease.
As an aside, I would advocate switching to organic produce. The liver processes toxins, and fruit and veg are sprayed with awful chemicals that your body really shouldn't have to deal with. This is even more important with meat. Intensively farmed animals are pumped full of chemicals and are full of stress hormones- you don't want to ingest
this stuff.
Good luck and be sensible.
At the risk of a torrent of disapproval, I shall confess that I do drink alcohol, moderately. BUT, I take care of myself properly on every other count. Too much saturated fat in your diet can be as dangerous as excessive alcohol consumption. There is even a type of Hepatitis you can develop from just being overweight.
Obviously, I didn't resume drinking immediately after I got out of hospital. I didn't touch a drop for a year, and then started having the occasional very weak white wine spritzer at special occasions.
Over several years I have gradually started to drink again, but I stay WELL within the recommended weekly consumption and I'm very careful. I have regular liver function tests and check-ups and I am currently healthier then most 'healthy' people. Definitely don't touch alcohol while you're on steroids!
In my opinion if you keep healthy- regular exercise, really healthy food, and you're a happy person, moderate alcohol consumption will not kill you, or even do very much damage to your liver.
There are also lots of different foods that help to cleanse and assist your liver, artichoke and brown rice, for example. It's well worth researching how you can eat yourself better- its fun too.
When I do have a drink I only drink good quality alcohol, preferably organic, and only clear drinks like white wine or gin, as they contain less impurities than say, red wine. I also drink lots of water all the time and take appropriate herbal supplements ( not Chinese medicine!) which I won't recommend because doctors don't really support them.
I AM NOT SAYING YOU SHOULD DRINK! I mean to share my experience with you. I educated myself as much as I could about my condition and about liver health generally and I think I have enough information to make sensible, informed choices. Auto Immune Hep is different to normal liver disease.
As an aside, I would advocate switching to organic produce. The liver processes toxins, and fruit and veg are sprayed with awful chemicals that your body really shouldn't have to deal with. This is even more important with meat. Intensively farmed animals are pumped full of chemicals and are full of stress hormones- you don't want to ingest
this stuff.
Good luck and be sensible.
PS
I think we tend to forget that moderate alcohol consumption has a demonstrated beneficial effect on cardiovascular disease and, as an overall generalization, heart disease is more likely to kill you than liver disease.
I think we tend to forget that moderate alcohol consumption has a demonstrated beneficial effect on cardiovascular disease and, as an overall generalization, heart disease is more likely to kill you than liver disease.
as you point out, most of the literature on alcohol as a risk factor is for heavier drinking (>50g/day, a drink is about 12g), for example <a href="http://hepatology2.aasldjournals.org/scripts/om.dll/serve?action=searchDB&searchDBfor=art&artType=fullfree&id=ajhep036s220#head1">see</a>. However, more recent studies have found a correlation between even moderate drinking and increased liver damage see <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12694085&dopt=Abstract">this</a> or <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12135040&dopt=Abstract"> this</a>.
Basically, procesing alcohol in the liver, promotes steatosis (fatty liver), which leads to build of scar tissue. On the other hand the liver is a big organ and the universe is a random place - based on the above numbers I kind of doubt doubt that the impact of 1-2 drinks/week would be detectable.
Basically, procesing alcohol in the liver, promotes steatosis (fatty liver), which leads to build of scar tissue. On the other hand the liver is a big organ and the universe is a random place - based on the above numbers I kind of doubt doubt that the impact of 1-2 drinks/week would be detectable.
GEEZ...dont crucify me for gods sake.....its just a question I am newly diagnosed and just learning!
which part of NO are you having trouble with, the N or the ZERO. give the liver a chance to live say no to the grapes. good luck
Hi Holly, I usually just lurk on this forum and read the postings from others here that suffer from liver disease. I am on my 4th week of treatment for hepatitis c. i dont think anyone was trying to crucify you, its just that alcohol mixed with any type of liver disease cannot be of any benefit by making the liver work harder. about a year ago, i asked my doctor pretty much the same question you asked here. his response was 2 words, "Not Good". i understand that your situation might be completely different than mine, but if you do decide to drink, ask your doctor first. i am curious to hear what he has to say it. 57 Chevy
Noone was trying to crucify you, calm down. YOU asked for opinions and you got them. We all have different ones here and we have no problems letting you know ours. If you don't want to hear everyones than don't ask. That is the chance we all take here. I have heard and been yelled at for some things but you take it with a grain of salt. As far as your question I did ask my doctor if I could drink anything while on tx. (had 2 of my childrens weddings this year) while he did say a glass or two of wine wouldn't hurt once in awhile (for my counts anyways) he would not recommend it. We are on tx for a reason and that is to be cured so why would we do anything to risk it. (by the way I only had one glass and felt SOOOO guilty
i am not preaching just trying to make you understand that boozze is not good for you. most of us will die form something else than liver. i have cirrious and i use to drink so i am just giving you a heads up. but it is a slow diease and i know you must be old enough to make your own choices. like i said goooooood luck
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