Aa
alcohol and liver pain
I HAVE RECNTLY COMPLETED NINE MOS. OF TX. MY VIRALS ARE ALL NEGATIVE BUT I STILL HAVE ABOUT 11 WEEKS LEFT OF SHOTS AND RIBAVARIN. I HAVE BEEN HAVE EXPERIENCING PAIN IN UPPER RIGHT SIDE, GOING TOWARDS MY BACK. COULD THIS BE ATTRIBUTED TO MY HAVING A GLASS OF WINE 3-4 TIMES A WEEK?
The tx is so costly that lots can't even afford it and of course if you have insurance,,,,you are totally amazed at how costly your 6 months to a year or longer will cost you and thankful you aren't writing the check. I wanted to do it one time only and went so much by the book...it was probably over parenoid but I didn't want to have to repeat due to maybe taking some drinks. Would a dr recommend this? Honestly wouldn't surprise me as lots of drs don't feel it would harm but for everyone that says ok to drink during tx,,,,I bet there would be a 100 that would say no.
Best of Luck to you...
Best of Luck to you...
WOW. This has been quite the little string of comments. Of course lvmysts, you know that when someone says they have 3-4 drinks we're each multiplying it by the factor we'd use if we were telling someone how much we drink. Just sayin' I mean, in my mind, you're chuggin it out of a box like I did when I was in college and the cartons are piling up behind the house. Ok, I'm being a little hyperbolic because the truth is, I hardly ever drink. I still have bottles of alcohol that I brought to Alabama when I moved here from Texas seven years ago, and they're still full. Drinking's just not a big deal to me. It makes me too tired to get everything done that I need to do in the evening. Zonks me right out. So not drinking during tx is absolutely no big deal for me.
However, I'm on medication that I am positive is probably not all that great for my liver. And, some of it I don't have a choice about. Or I do, but I'm choosing to take it if I need it.
Here's my bit of wisdom on drinking. Just try to be honest with yourself. A lot of times, I think that's what gets people into trouble with drinking and various substances in the first place, an unwillingness to face the truth, or at least, a desire to deaden the feelings associated with it a little bit. How's that for some psycho-babble? So, if you decide to drink during treatment, your treatment is probably not going to be as effective, particularly the heavier your consumption is. Hands down, that's a given. There is contention over whether its ok to drink during the first six months after treatment stops, but one thing about that period is certain. During that time, your liver is still trying to rid itself from the toxic effects of the treatment itself, so just be honest with yourself that you are piling on if you drink, especially if its frequent and/or to excess.
After those six months have passed, I still say the same thing. Just be honest with yourself. If you're drinking what the normal person might consider to be too much and you want to do it anyway, fine. But announce the fact to yourself and with it, the fact that you're giving your liver a lot of toxins to screen. Don't try to sugarcoat it or rationalize or whatever. The last person you need to lie to is yourself. And by the way, I don't think that one drink every once in a while at any point is going to make a clinically significant difference. The reason I don't recommend it is that I have a feeling that the people who NEED one drink that badly aren't going to stop at one and it isn't going to be every once in a while. Otherwise, why would you do it at all during this phase in your life when you're working through the hep c virus.
And by the way, just so I can make everyone angry in an equal opportunity sort of way, I don't think drinking is the only area in which hep c'rs are sometimes in denial. I think they are in denial over treatment at times. I think people put treatment off and rationalize it with all sorts of excuses when really, they just don't want to deal with the side effects, or maybe they just don't want to admit that they are sick. They feel like their liver is "ok" because they are at this stage and this grade when a host of new studies show that hep c has an impact on other systems in the body. If you have hep you are sick. And there is new research coming out all the time showing just how damaging hep c is. That old adage that you don't die of hep c, you die with it? That is becoming increasingly less true as the role of this disease in renal failure and other issues is being shown.
And in parting, I don't think that because someone chooses to drink or not to drink, or hell, if they're shooting up heroin up every day, that they deserve the support of this forum any less. If there is a perfect person here, then gee, I'd like to meet you. But to my knowledge, nobody has made me a deity yet. I've got plenty of opinions, but nobody has given me the authority to judge other people or to say whether or not they deserve to be on treatment or deserve answers to their questions. This is a medhelp board. To berate someone for having the honesty to talk about something that perhaps (I don't know, just speculating) others are doing in private instead of educating them and answering their question is not terribly helpful. In my view.
.
However, I'm on medication that I am positive is probably not all that great for my liver. And, some of it I don't have a choice about. Or I do, but I'm choosing to take it if I need it.
Here's my bit of wisdom on drinking. Just try to be honest with yourself. A lot of times, I think that's what gets people into trouble with drinking and various substances in the first place, an unwillingness to face the truth, or at least, a desire to deaden the feelings associated with it a little bit. How's that for some psycho-babble? So, if you decide to drink during treatment, your treatment is probably not going to be as effective, particularly the heavier your consumption is. Hands down, that's a given. There is contention over whether its ok to drink during the first six months after treatment stops, but one thing about that period is certain. During that time, your liver is still trying to rid itself from the toxic effects of the treatment itself, so just be honest with yourself that you are piling on if you drink, especially if its frequent and/or to excess.
After those six months have passed, I still say the same thing. Just be honest with yourself. If you're drinking what the normal person might consider to be too much and you want to do it anyway, fine. But announce the fact to yourself and with it, the fact that you're giving your liver a lot of toxins to screen. Don't try to sugarcoat it or rationalize or whatever. The last person you need to lie to is yourself. And by the way, I don't think that one drink every once in a while at any point is going to make a clinically significant difference. The reason I don't recommend it is that I have a feeling that the people who NEED one drink that badly aren't going to stop at one and it isn't going to be every once in a while. Otherwise, why would you do it at all during this phase in your life when you're working through the hep c virus.
And by the way, just so I can make everyone angry in an equal opportunity sort of way, I don't think drinking is the only area in which hep c'rs are sometimes in denial. I think they are in denial over treatment at times. I think people put treatment off and rationalize it with all sorts of excuses when really, they just don't want to deal with the side effects, or maybe they just don't want to admit that they are sick. They feel like their liver is "ok" because they are at this stage and this grade when a host of new studies show that hep c has an impact on other systems in the body. If you have hep you are sick. And there is new research coming out all the time showing just how damaging hep c is. That old adage that you don't die of hep c, you die with it? That is becoming increasingly less true as the role of this disease in renal failure and other issues is being shown.
And in parting, I don't think that because someone chooses to drink or not to drink, or hell, if they're shooting up heroin up every day, that they deserve the support of this forum any less. If there is a perfect person here, then gee, I'd like to meet you. But to my knowledge, nobody has made me a deity yet. I've got plenty of opinions, but nobody has given me the authority to judge other people or to say whether or not they deserve to be on treatment or deserve answers to their questions. This is a medhelp board. To berate someone for having the honesty to talk about something that perhaps (I don't know, just speculating) others are doing in private instead of educating them and answering their question is not terribly helpful. In my view.
.
One of the first things I noticed in your post was that you had quadrupled you dr’s advice. I did not want to rub your face in it on your first post and I’m thrilled that you saw it yourself.
Please do not be a stranger here. Come back often and ask questions or just let us know how you are doing.
Please do not be a stranger here. Come back often and ask questions or just let us know how you are doing.
I think I'd rather contract amoebic dysentery at this point...lol...anyway, hope youre well though...miss your music stories on the other side, wherever...
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Hepatitis C Community
Learn about this treatable virus.
Getting tested for this viral infection.
3 key steps to getting on treatment.
4 steps to getting on therapy.
What you need to know about Hep C drugs.
How the drugs might affect you.
These tips may up your chances of a cure.
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Condoms are the most effective way to prevent HIV and STDs.
PrEP is used by people with high risk to prevent HIV infection.
