Fatty liver help please

[RubyMurry22]

I had my last alcoholic drink on Christmas Day 5 months ago. I was drinking far too much wine (5 ish bottles of wine a week) and thought enough is enough. Three months later I had some blood tests for something that turned out to be menopause related (dry mouth) but one of the blood tests showed one of my liver enzymes was a bit raised.

I’ve just had an ultrasound of my liver and the sonographer said my liver looked a bit bright and fatty.

I’m obviously a bit worried about this and have made a GP appointment to discuss, but it’s not for a few weeks. I’m overweight and trying to lose 2 stone - giving up alcohol didn’t seem to help with this ax I overcompensated with cheese!

Does anyone have any experience of this? Is it likely to be reversible? I’m planning on never drinking alcohol again, especially after reading The unexpected joy of being sober last week. Hopefully losing weight will help but it seems more tricky now that I’m post menopause and recently started on HRT. Thank you for any insights.

My mum had the exact same thing recently, has massively cut down drinking after finding out she had a fatty liver. The liver is the only organ that can repair itself, so don't worry too much about it. Well done for cutting down

Thanks for your reply and glad your mum has managed to cut down.
Hopefully my liver can recover but I would have hoped that might have already happened after 5 months with no alcohol?
I’m feeling much better without alcohol but maybe shifting some weight will help?

As has been said, the liver is amazing. I wouldn't be worried now, you've said you're overcompensating on cheese (which is understandable). I was drinking far, far more a week than you (3-4 a day) and my liver is now in perfect health. Give it time, give it rest. Healthy, moderate eating, some exercise and you'll feel the benefits. Two weeks is a while to wait when you're anxious but it won't be long and then they'll be able to discuss the ultrasound with you. Don't worry yourself now.

Yes losing weight should help. A fatty liver can be caused by being overweight even if you don’t drink. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/non-alcoholic-fatty-liver-disease/

Well done for giving up alcohol. As pp says, your liver can repair itself and having caught this at an early stage is a really good thing.

Congratulations on getting sober!

But you need to cut out cheese I'm afraid. The key to stopping all kinds of cravings is cutting out sugar in all its forms, including dairy, as well as refined carbs and UPF. They are all very addictive and very bad for you.

Small amounts of full fat cottage cheese and Greek yoghurt are fine, but can you try to eat a Mediterranean type diet? Lots of vegetables, moderate amounts of lean protein and small amounts of healthy fats (EVOO, coconut oil), unrefined carbs (quinoa, lentils) and fruit.

The great thing is that such a diet is very satisfying and you won't feel hungry.

Dr Mark Hyman wrote a very interesting and enlightening book called The Sugar Solution. You can find it free on Internet Archive.

My DH recently had an ultrasound and had similar feedback about his liver. Was told it's nothing much to worry about and incredibly common. It's not alcohol related as he hasn't drunk regularly for 30+ years and only has the occasional beer. Speak to your GP but it's more likely fatty foods in your diet. As others have said, it can and will sort itself out with help.

Thank you everyone. I started WW about 3 weeks ago, so haven’t eaten much cheese since then and have lost a small amount of weight - only 4 pounds - but at least it’s a start.

This might be good health advice generally but it's not necessarily the right advice in early stage sobriety. Slow and steady is fine, the priority should be sobriety rather than changing everything all at once which can lead to crash and burn. @DetoxedAlcoholic gives good advice here.

Of course a radical change can be difficult and it's best to introduce changes slowly, but it is good to have a goal. And OP has been sober for 5 months, which is great.

The fact is that sugar addiction is a key factor in unhealthy eating and cutting out sugar and UPF makes sticking to healthy eating infinitely easier.

I would start by cutting out all UPF and be mindful about sugar intake generally. Living without sugar in all its forms is so much easier than I had anticipated and is life-changing.

I gave myself some leeway with food for the first few months AF bug it’s time to try and sort out my weight now. Hopefully the fatty liver will be reversible.

I had fatty liver, it came as quite an unwelcome shock! I was also alerted to it from blood tests. It did reverse itself. It's a while ago and I can't really say how long it took as I never went back for another private scan. Just had a public one when I was in for something else and my liver was fine by then.

Also as others have said it is from food too. Non- alcohol related fatty liver is on the rise - according to Dr Google!

I was diagnosed with a fatty liver last year. A couple of stone overweight, daily drinker but 'only' one or two drinks. Diet pretty good but on reflection probably a bit too much junk and sugar.

Have massively cut back on drinking over the past 6 months. Now have a drink 5/6 times per month but always trying to bring it down further. Have lost a stone and diet is better.

Doctors advice was to cut down or stop drinking, didn't say anything about diet which I thought was a bit odd and didn't say that I needed to have another scan.

Hi op I’m the same in that Iv had some routine blood tests and it’s picked up alt of 52 does anyone know if this is something to worry about

@Flowerandweed I had a phone call from the GP yesterday about onset of fatty liver. My blood test 3 - 4 months ago was 44. They retested my blood after 3 months and it had increased to 67.

GP said he will refer me for an ultra sound and repeat bloods in 3 months. In the mean time I have to lose some weight (I am obese) and cut down on alcohol to see if this helps.

Did your GP not say anything about repeating blood tests? Apparently the level should be under 40.

gingeristhenewblack43
iv yet to see my gp I have an appointment on Monday to discuss the results .I have been drinking a lot more in the last 9 months or so after having a break for around 2 years .Before that I drank a lot for about 10 years so I’m really worried I’m also obese and have put a lot of weight on in the last year .did they offer you any help on losing weight ?

@gingeristhenewblack43
sorry I’m new here and not sure how to reply properly

@Flowerandweed yeah they did. The GP (who was new to the practice) initially suggested weight watchers or slimming world, both of which I have done before.

He rang back later in the afternoon asking if I wanted to be referred to a healthy hearts group which is run by the NHS. He said the group is ran by dieticians and other health professionals (he mentioned psychologists). So I've agreed to that but obvs there is a waiting list.

I think at this stage, purely judging on how long it was between my blood results and my telephone appt with the GP (3 weeks), then it's not urgent per se but does need addressing before things progress too far if that makes sense?

@gingeristhenewblack43 is your down to alcohol or being obese or a combination.Yes I get what you mean it’s not urgent however it’s certainly anxiety inducing .

im sorry op for taking over your thread .I hope your doing ok .

I'm sure you have read up on fatty liver. It can either be from food, alcohol or both. As others have said the liver at the early stages of this can repair itself really well.

I'd only add that when you quit alcohol, many are inclined to up the sugar to replace the sugar in the booze! Nothing is easy is it?

@Flowerandweed it's both, but I feel I can only tackle one at a time. I'm going to gradually reduce my alcohol intake. Once I feel I am managing / have drastically reduced / stopped then I will need to face my eating issues.

I e managed to get a GP appointment tomorrow, so will find out more then. Still hoping line is reversible. I haven’t had a drop of alcohol since Christmas, so can’t cut down on that. I’ve managed to lose 1/2 a stone in 3 weeks, so feeling encouraged by that. Have also upped the HRT and that also seems to be helping with how I feel.

@RubyMurry22 hope your appointment goes well today .Do you mind me asking what and how much was your liver enzymes raised by ? Was it alt that came up .

well done for abstaining for 5 months that’s fantastic.I think a low carb diet can help with fatty liver .Also are you taking an supplements like milk thistle ?

@RubyMurry22 being AF since Christmas will have massively helped your liver and given it a rest. Hope all went well.

Bless you. Well done on achieving sobriety. And as other posters have mentioned you can be totally sober and still have a fatty liver.

Fingers crossed you make some head way today, the liver will regenerate so try not to worry and hold the cheese! Good luck for today.

Thank you everyone - it did go well. Just a fatty liver which I should be able to reverse with the changes I’ve already made!

I’ve got to go for repeat blood tests in 3 months. My ALP was raised - 150 with range 30-130. My ALT was normal 29 range 10-40.