elevated liver enzymes, how high is too high?

[tracy_44]

I am a 44 year old female who has been drinking to some extent since age 16.  In the last 6 years, it has gotten way out of control and I am finally ready to stop with the help of AA.  I am a binge drinker and often ingest quite alot of alcohol in one day.  Like 2 bottles of wine or 10 shots of hard liquor.  I am really struggeling with not drinking at this time but have developed some probably serious medical conditions and I am going to do whatever it takes to quit before I kill myself with alcohol.

In January, my gastroenterologist diagnosed me with Gastritis, due to an upper GI exam.   She also told me that my liver enzymes were slightly elevated and could tell I had been doing alot of drinking, advised me to stop and return in a month for repeat labs.  Well, I did not stop or really even slow down and the one was slightly lower and the other slightly higher the second time.  I still pretended that I could handle it and hid it from everyone including myself.  Now 2 days after a particularly bad binge of shots and wine, I am really scared that I did some major additional damage, and wanted to discuss some of my symptoms with you while I await my 4-26 appt. with my gastro.  I have stomach pain, excessive bloating, nausea, left arm tingeling and numbness and just a feeling of overall illness. I have also not been able to sleep.  I have been trying to take care of myself through healthy choices for the last 2 days and am not feeling much better.  I know alot of this anxiety is probably due to withdrawl from alcohol and will be extremely honest with my Dr., but do you have any other advise for me in the meantime other than abstinance, AA, and healty lifestyle changes?

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

T


This discussion is related to Alcohol Abuse, Abdominal Pain, Rectal Bleeding .

[boogieman]

Hi. About all I can add to the good advice you've been given, is first to reinforce the likely need for medically supervised detox. Abrupt cessation is potentially fatal without help. As far as GI damage, especially to the liver or pancreas, these conditions can often be reversed, sometimes without treatment due to the regenerative properties of these organs. However, they will most certainly worsen If the drinking continues. Wish you the best, and keep posting, there's a lot of support here! GM

[ibizan]

You have been good good advice here and i'd just be repeating myself......but a very good movie by Spike Lee has the best title...and u should follow it......Do The Right Thing!

[rod44]

You need to be medically detoxed and need to be under the supervision of your GP. If this part of recovery is to be successful you need to be honest about your drinking, the amount etc. For now this must be your priority but you also need to get to meetings to start dealing with the emotional madness that goes with this disease. Here to you need to get honest, honest with yourself. Look at the damage your drinking is doing.

well done on recognizing you have a problem.

Good luck.

Ray    

[vicki595]

Hi~   I would get in to see the doctor MUCH sooner.  Do you drink a little everyday in addition to the binges?   It's not always smart to" just stop";you may need some help with detox...Also,if your liver enzymes are high...that IS too high.
Get to the doctor ASAP.
Good luck~
Vicki

[micheleTX]

Hello and welcome to this forum.  Lots of great people and advice here.  I also was a heavy binge drinker for years.  I was fortunate that I haven't done serious damage to my liver, but I live with a man who has had gastritis last year and elevated blood counts in his liver.  He was hospitalized for a week with it, and they want him to stop drinking.  He still drinks but very little compared to what he was back then.

I don't have any great advice for you, except abstinence, if you are concerned about your health, that is the first step.  Maybe get some aftercare to try to find out why you drink like that?  I wish you the best of luck, and keep posting. More replies will come...