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[stellatoshine]

Hi all, I've been randomly coming in and out of this site for years. After a lifetime of drink and drug abuse I was finally rushed into A&E about three weeks ago. I called the ambulance myself as I knew I was really ill. Have been drinking 3 bottles of strong white wine a day. They said I had an irregular heartbeat and I was diagnosed with alcoholic hepatitis.
They said they would keep me in for a week. They detoxed me and had me on saline drips. I was on 120 ml of Librium a day and liquid morphine for the pain in my liver.

On the 4th day an influx of emergency's came in and they needed my bed so I got kicked out with 10 mg a day for 4 days! Big drop. I managed to do 14 days sober but am now back drinking. My liver is "killing me" literally and figuratively. I'm in so much pain it feels like it's going to burst through my ribs. Wine is the only thing that stops the pain.

Waiting for my doc to phone me and tell me what pain killers are safe to take.

When I came out of hospital I swore "Never again" How quickly alchie me forgets. I know I'm killing myself.

Nice to have a place just to let it out :upset:

[almost free]

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Hi Stella,

Welcome! I was looking for a post I did a couple of days ago, responding to someone who was very concerned about their liver also, and had normal test results, too. The person had other responses, about getting a CT scan, etc. Darn, I can't find it......Anyway......

This is something that is worth a try, in my opinion. It costs about $12/month, has no side effects, does not interact negatively with any meds and I say: what do you have to lose?

Two things that are very healing to the liver, lots of water with fresh lemon squeezed in and Milk Thistle. It's available at the health food store. Get a good quality one, (not generic) and it should say: standardized to contain 80% silymarin, the active ingredient.

The theraputic dose is 750mg, divided into three doses. I was taking 150mg capsules, so I took 2 in the morning, 2 at noon and 1 at night. It is a powerful herb that protects the liver from the toxins of alcohol and helps to re-generate new liver tissue. It has been around for over 2000 years and does not interact negatively with any meds.

There are some formulas that contain other ingredients, but the other ingredients might interact with some meds. I just stuck to the plain milk thistle. I have done some pretty serious drinking and have never had liver problems. I even took it while drinking, to mitigate the damage the AL would have done to my liver.

Don't expect your doctor to be enthusiastic over it; they just aren't trained in remedies, other than pharmaceutical. Just my two cents worth. Good luck.

[almost free]

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Heal your liver and you won't need the painkillers. Milk Thistle is almost miraculous. I will never forget a line I read about it: "It does its best work on an alcoholic liver....." Like I said, what do you have to lose? You can get some today. Hope something helps you, whatever you decide. Good luck.

[almost free]

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Oh, cross-posted with you merlot. Glad you are back. Try, try, again. We don't all get it the first time. Some of us have to try numerous times before it finally 'takes'. Need to run, but I'll be back later. Read the longer post I made above, to Stella, about the Milk Thistle. Maybe it will help. Good luck to you, too, merlot!

[paula]

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Hi Stella, Almost is right, milk thistle is good for liver repair, also omega 3 fish oil will help. Please try to stop drinking though our liver can only take so much. Good luck.

[paulywogg]

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yes please stop drinking! one of my customers at work had to rush his wife to the e.r because she was super swollen in her abdomin all the way down to her knees,she was a heavy drinker and her liver was shutting down,they had to put some kind of drainage thing in her liver,if youre having pain you dont want to be drinking,i know its hard but you dont want anything serious to happen

[Alcoholic]

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Oh stella: I hope you can find a way to quit alcohol....

[NewOne]

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Alcoholic hepatitis means alcohol induced liver damage. But I'm sure you know that already.

Here is where it all goes wrong....wine is the only thing that stops the pain.

I used to have alcohol induced anxiety & beer was the only thing that helped.

See how that works?

[struggles]

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@ new one..THANK YOU! I needed that. I too had alcohol induced anxiety and did the cycle of xanax early morning to get to work only to drink at night..then it was just beer, beer and more beer. Unfortunately, I am back to drinking and the struggling to stop. But, I did have my liver results come back high and since then, almost two years ago, I take milk thistle and drink seltzer water with lemon.....I like the carbonation. Again, thank you!

[pixie]

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Stella, So sorry to hear you got kicked out of the hospital early. that had to be frustrating. You've got to quit for real, I know you know that, but your liver is going to give in eventually. Can you ask your doctor about meds to help with detoxing? The painkillers only mask the problem. Please keep us posted.

[stellatoshine]

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Thanks all. I was taking Milk Thistle almost religiously untill about six months ago. I don't know why I stopped. I will get straight back on it today. @ Merlot 100 - I have been suffering from bad pains in my right hand side for about two years, maybe more. I have been to the doctors about it repeatedly, I thought it was probably my liver. All my blood tests, including one I had in October of this year came back clear. I also had a liver scan in October which didn't even show any signs of fatty tissue. I was relieved and decided to put it down to Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Less than two months later I am rushed into A & E and told I have alcoholic hepatitis which is likely to progress to Cirrhosis even if I stay of the booze. The other symptoms I have experienced have been fatigue, bloated stomach and lack of appetite. If you have any concerns about your liver then you really do need to keep on at your health care professional.

I have got back on top of my drinking, although not 100 % there as I had a bottle of wine over christmas EVe and Cristmas day and some fizzy. But not a lot at all by my standards. And the majority of days are alcohol free Just need to maintain it this time. Soon to start a 8 week day programme in Jan which will help I hope.

It is madness...I know I am killing myself when I drink, and my dad died of liver cancer last year. For all the pain it causes us we should want to smash that bottle to pieces or jump up and down on that can!!

Thank you all for the replies, and I hope you're all doing well. I shall definitely try to come here once day from now on as I know I will get the truth and no bull shit! x

[stellatoshine]

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I can understand your confusion Merlot, I feel the same. I can't remember the amount of blood tests I've had over the last year, but it's been at least 5-6, all coming back within healthy levels. The only high result I had was about 3 yrs ago, but it wasn't unreasonably high, and after doing a librium detox for 3 weeks another test showed it had returned to normal. The scan I had in Oct showed no fatty tissue or enlargement and my levels where normal. I remember saying to the nurse when I got my results that it was more than I deserved, and she replied that the liver had an amazing ability to heal itself.

When I was taken to A and E this month my AL level was 240, the healthy level for a woman is 37. They moved me to the critical assessment ward, which is where I had my infusions and scan. this time the scan showed fatty tissue and quite an substantially enlarged liver. I don't actually know at what point fatty liver changes to hepatitis, I have researched a lot on the net but have found quite a bit of conflicting information. All I know is that is what they have diagnosed me with and what they wrote on my discharge report for my doctor.

When I went to see my doctor after being discharged he was clearly shocked by my results and said they were not at all good. He gave me some more librium to take at home and told me to go back to the hospital in two weeks for another test. I did, and my second test showed that my AL level had dropped down to 105, which was good. (Then I fell off the wagon badly for a week, but am back on it now, so will have another test in a fortnight).

I now have an alcohol worker who I see once a week until I get a space on the 3 day a week programme. Last time I saw her she said she wanted me to read a passage from her book (the bible for alcohol workers). It said that for women with alcohol hepatitis in the majority of cases it will progress to cirrhosis regardless of whether the woman stays of the booze or not. I'm trying to ignore that, or else what is the point of staying dry?? I must stress that she made it clear that this is something that usually happens to women, not men. I don't know why.

I have obviously thought about this a lot since I was diagnosed and my question to everyone has been the same as yours - How on earth did my previous blood tests not pick up on this till now?? Especially as I had been complaining about pain for a long time. The answer I keep hearing is that fatty tissue can develop and progress very quickly.

All i can think is that this was waiting in the background. My drinking had escalated to 3 bottles of wine a day in the months leading up to my admission, so maybe it just tipped my liver over the edge? I really don't know! I'm 34, normally eat quite healthily but I am small built and way about 8 stone. It may be something to do with all the librium detoxes I have done at home (about 15). The last two did not work and made me very sick and I was told to come of them and keep drinking until they could find me a supported detox. Its called the "kindling" effect . Every time you detox and then start drinking again it gets worse. My alcohol worker has told me that she will not allow me to do anymore detoxes on Librium as they are killing me. I am seeing her later today. Hopefully she will have my scan and blood results from the hospital and will be able to clear up a little what has gone on. I'll let you know what she says.

Sorry for such a long reply. The more I think and write about it the more surreal it is to me. Like I said I fully understand your confusion!

[Kradle123]

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Hi Stella:

I believe it's the BASE LINE for the Liver measurement that is mostly the problem and why you come back looking 'normal'
I am looking into The Longevity Clinic here in WA which has a very different approach to western medicine and ' blood tests'

Basically the MD who runs the facility talked a lot about how traditional medicine in this country has a screwed up view of what is Normal because they always use the general populations count to determine the so called barometer for everyone.

When I really thought about that it made sense how silly that was as everones physiology is of course so different and specific.
Granted, this clinic is much more expensive and insurance won't touch it because it is tailored t the individual and so much more in depth...read expensive.

But I am saving up and would truly like to give ths a try. This doctors approach is all about the prevention of disease/illness, not about just managing our illness..

Anyway...just my 2 cents,

:l

[mama bear]

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Stella.....

just sooooooooo sorry!!

[paulywogg]

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do keep us posted stella,what a shitty thing to be going through