Anybody got to the point of liver disease? Where do you go from there?

[Freefallingintotheabyss]

I'm terrified that I have given myself liver damage after 20 years of heavy drinking yet I'm too scared to actually see my gp and ask for a liver
function test. The last one I have had in 2006 was fine.

Hi there. Can I recommend another thread with loads of support on this issue? DRY-6 (under relationships for some bizarre reason). There are loads of people there who have/are in the process of ditching the booze. Plenty of stories to identify with; no judgement - just support, sympathy and ideas of how to do it. Good luck.

Have name changed as my drinking problem embarrasses me although I agree that secrecy just fuels the addiction and last weekend I did mention something to my sons and daughters in law.

Freefalling I'm also very frightened for my liver although I'm not feeling nearly as ill as you are.
My children are grown up but I hate the thought that as my grand children get older they will relise that I have an alcohol dependency problem or that if I develop liver disease through drinking I'll be a burden and embarresment to my wonderful family.

tribpot is an example to follow as has been through this herself and knows the pitfalls we all face. Great advice there

I bought a program before Christmas (which I really seem to like as the lady who has produced it uses terminology which resonates with me) however I haven't even started on it as always give myself excuses.
First the Chritmas season was around the corner, then birthdays coming up, I'll wait for the warmer weather as the cold evenings I really like (need)my wine and so on and on. Always an excuse

A few days ago I saw myself in a shop mirror and didn't recognise myself, couldn't believe how my looks are deteriorating. I look like a drinker. Sad and sick

On a positive note, an acquaintance has a big drinking problem and his doctor told him that his liver is very damaged and that if he kept with the drinking he would not live long. He has stopped drinking alcohol and when I saw him recently I could not believe the change in him. He looked so much healthier.
Not saying that liver damage can be fully reversed but at least maybe can be stopped from getting worse. I expect if he started drinking again he'd be right back to where he was before.
Seeing how much healthier he looked gave me hope.

Wish you all the best

My MIL is a heavy drinker and we have been watching out for liver dysfunction for years - but as other have said it is often a silent disease - and she has had no obvious problems to date.

However she has developed "alcoholic leg" - which started as pain/numbness/pins and needles in her feet and has moved up her legs over time. Her mobility has rapidly declined and she is now housebound.

She "only" started drinking wine 20 years ago in her 40's. At her worst she got up to 2 bottles on a bad night - mostly a bottle - nowadays 1/2 bottle.

Posting this as everyone thinks that liver disease is the worst thing that can happen - but her chronic pain and irreversible disability is truly hideous to endure.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholic_polyneuropathy
www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000714.htm

Freefalling. It caught my eye that you know you drink too much , like two bottles of wine on a school night..yet can't stop..but are worried about your liver. It reminds me of my parent who did the same...a functioning intelligent alcoholic for many years, none of us wanted to label her. We just wanted her to stop. We didn't know much about it or what to do. For ten, twenty, thirty years she kept drinking and it was always mentioned but noone took charge and she didnt do anything and wouldnt agree to drying out. In the end she got nerve problems in her hands and feet at first, peripheral neuropathy, and then muscle weakness , proximal myopathy, and couldn't get upstairs. She started to walk with a stamping gait holding onto my father. Everyone thought she had cancer but she didn't. Further on from that she developed something called Korsakovs dementia and lost her memory but was still mobile wandering around..it was awful. She still remembered to drink though. Her liver tests were out of range but not dangerously so..alcohol affects every organ in the body, she was unlucky it affected her brain. It happened slowly but the writing was on the wall..she just wouldn't stop.
I am only telling you this to urge you to go to the GP and get a blood screen and if you drink heavily yu would have to go into hospital to get medication to prevent symptoms of withdrawal..this makes it much easier to stop. Don't bury your head in the sand because if you are healthy now, you could have many happy years ahead of you instead of ending up like her. I can remember all the parties and friends all used to drink too...but she was the only one to develop such a severe problem, and no one wanted to admit it.

Eventually she was put under mental health sections ..she did not have mental health diagnosis, it was because of cognitive impairment and vulnerable behaviour and being at risk and impossible to manage. Sadly there are some things that are worse than cirrhosis.

Idiotdh - so true. I was drinking 1/2 bottle a night until the realisation that I have been doing this for 30 years and not far behind MIL (she drinks more volume than me - but actually over less time than me) and her irreversible health problems have made me stop. I had no clue that there were worse outcomes than cirrhosis. And that it is worse for women.

My MIL i believe is also experiencing symptoms of Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome.

A friend also told me about her friend (early 40's, 2 young children) who had developed polyneuropathy as well - hideous.

OP, come join us on DRY 6 in relationships. I've recently given up drinking, was on 2 bottles of wine a day at times. I really finally figured out I had to change...it can be done, have faith, being sober is a relief, a gift...not a curse

My brother was a binge-drinking for years. He could go weeks without a drink then drink and drink and drink for days, on a total bender. We knew he was in trouble but we didn't realise how bad. He didn't look well, but wasn't jaundiced. My mum found him dead on his bedroom floor nearly four years ago. He had suffered a massive gastro-oesophageal haemorrhage, aged 45.