worried about my liver

Hi Guys, reading all of these posts has really been an eye opener & made me want to change my drinking. I had a liver blood test two years ago & everything was normal besides raised GGT. After that I cut down my drinking to only weekends (drinking at least a bottle on those 2 nights). A year ago my relationship ended & I've been drinking to cope, only at night. Throughout the last year I had two separate months of not drinking. If I drink too much I get pain in my upper back. Other than that I have no other symptoms. I'm 32, could I have ruined my liver? I'm too scared to get another blood test until I've had a longer break from drinking (hoping that will give my liver time to recover). How bad does drinking have to be & for how long until permanent damage is done? I know each case is different but any thoughts?

Cut out the drinking. I have a cousin who developed cirrhosis at age 39. Like Ziff said, get checked out by the doctor.

Thank you all for your responses! The pain goes away when I don't drink. Does Hep B or C have any warning signs? Em

Thanks David! I will get tested

Hi emc81...welcome to the forum.

There is no need to panic quite yet.

But I'll give you my welcome speech:

Liver problems can have many causes...from alcohol use, to various of the hepatitis viruses, to something as simple as your body attacking its own liver -- auto immune hepatitis, which is not simple at all...you just don't have much control over its acquisition...it just appears. Poisons can cause liver problems -- too much copper, too much iron, certain mushrooms, AND TOO MUCH TYLENOL.

Did you know you could die of too much acetaminophen...the active ingredient in Tylenol? Happens often...take 3 or 4 when you feel crappy and then take some sinus pills or other cold remedy that also has that ingredient...then maybe drink some booze and add few more Tylenol to stave off the headache, etc...it can be really bad.

And there is something important to know about alcohol...some people can drink a lot but only some are prone to cirrhosis. There is a statistic that I can't remember exactly...something like 16% (or some such) of drinkers get it...and thus the 103 year old mountain man who drinks and smokes his whole life vs sweet beautiful 23 year old who dies of liver cancer and cirrhosis.

If you were tested some years ago for viral hepatitis and were negative, you would have to have acquired it recently. Sex is generally not a transmitter of Hep C but for those who engage in anal sex with a carrier. It is a blood to blood transmission and the risk factors are IV drug use, sharing nasal straws for inhaled drugs, home made tattoos (Most reputable parlors now use new needles and new pots of paint for each customer...which was not the case at one time and not the case of home make tattoos), medical mistakes, battlefield transmission, dental equipment that is not properly sterilized, crimes -- where needles are purposely switched -- as we have seen in the news recently -- a hospital employee/drug user took clean needles and replaced them with used ones! Hep C can be transmitted at birth and through transfusion (though this would be for those transfused years ago before the blood was tested for Hep C and other diseases). Many with HIV virus are co-infected with HCV.

I do now have first hand experience with Hep B transmission but here is a good article from the cdc:

www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/b/bfaq.htm

Let us hear from you after your appointment and/or when your labs come back.

Best,