Health anxiety and liver worries

[Stardust7264]

Hi I hope it's ok to post in this thread.
I have had bad health anxiety for many years which I get counselling for.

Recently I've had a very sore throat that feels dry, and scratchy when I swallow.
I do have acid reflux.

Recently I have been drinking a few bottles of wine over 3/4 days for about 6 ish months and had a vacation where I drank most days.

I had a routine blood test done last month including liver function which was normal.

I'm 36.

I'm now fixated and very worried I have Oesophageal Varices due to drinking alcohol.
My mind is spiralling 😭

Get some support for your anxiety. You absolutely will not have oesophageal varices from drinking what is a relatively normal amount for an adult in the UK.

I’m an alcoholic and sober now, but when I was still drinking, I was drinking 3 bottles of wine a day for a least a year before I stopped (and still quite heavily for 20 years before that). I don’t have oesophageal varices or a permanent damage to my liver. My liver results were abnormal when I was drinking, but perfectly fine now.

If you have acid reflux though, that is tightly linked to stress. I’d deal with your anxiety and I bet you’ll see a considerable improvement in your symptoms. It would also help you a lot to stop drinking or only drink very rarely. Alcohol only worsens anxiety and it definitely will be causing your stomach issues to flare up, even if causing no lasting damage. There’s no reason to feel rubbish when you could address the likely causes and feel a lot better.

Thank you for your reply and for your kind message, I hate when I get like this I go so long being fine and then a symptom sets me off again and I go into the same vicious cycle 😩

I appreciate you putting things into perspective, and very well done for getting sober and turning your life around 🫶🏻

@Stardust7264 - my DD has horrendous health anxiety so I appreciate how over whelming it can feel.

there is no way you have varices from that level of drinking - plus they wouldn't even give those type of symptoms.

This is your health anxiety speaking! And as @mindutopia says, alcohol will worsen both the gastric reflux and the anxiety.

I listen to Huberman Lab podcasts - he's a well respected neuroscientist and does an excellent free podcast. there is one about the effects of alcohol including those which are less talked about. One of these is the effect of alcohol on neuropathways from parts of the brain to the adrenal glands (kidney) and the production of cortisol (stress hormone) - he explains how alcohol and this pathway mean that people are more likely to feel stressed and anxious even when they are not drinking. I think this is really important - its not just the hangxiety effect - its the increase in anxiety even when a person hasn't drank owing to the damage caused to the brain!

I hope you can get the help you need with your anxiety as it is an awful way to live.