Hepatitis

So I was googling Alcoholic Hepatitis. Since I've been a drinker for over two decades, and I mean an everyday drinker and caught Alcohol Hepatitis, can it turn into residual cirrhosis in due time? And what I mean by that is when the Alcoholic Hepatitis clears up, the symptoms kind of stays and it turns into cirrhosis I know that some Alcoholic Hepatitis clears it's self up but if the liver has scarring of fibrosis isn't that signs of cirrhosis?

mh....if you do not have cirrhosis, or if it is not everywhere, I agree with Ziff, and you can improve over time. Those cells still healthy can regenerate. This is why live transplants are done...they take a lobe of liver from a donor and both donor and recipient grow fine new livers. Once fully cirrhotic, this doesn't work.

I will send a note to a long time participant also who's hubbby, we call him Dougie, had/has alcoholic liver disease and was in a bad way for a long time. Bit by bit with sobriety he has returned to health, work, and a happy family life. The trick is staying sober...and how bad the liver was when you put the plug in the jug!

Best to you,

Mama Lama

No ppm guy, I took the results of the biopsy to my primary care doctor and I believe she said there is iron....but what I have to do is call the Gastro Disease Clinic and get an appointment with the Gastro Doctor and see what he says...I think what I will do is asked my VA doctor about seeing a Hepatologist to follow me. It's hard because sometimes the VA doctors want to throw things off on the PCP. My Primary Care Doctor I should have asked her...but the iron thing I need to asked about...what is the deal with extra iron in the blood what can it cause?

I know one thing MamaLama, Ziff, ppm, and a host of others on this Forum has been a burst of inspiration for me!!!!! and most positive for others as well!!!! Keep doing what you are doing!!! If it hadn't been for the honest replies, and the sound minded opinions I would had never made it! God is Good all the time, and all the time God is good!!

Hi mhump,
I'm Emma and my hubby is Dougie. Dougie was dx with alcoholic cirrhosis in the fall of 2010. This was after 40 years of drinking. Not crazy bar room brawl stuff, just drinking (too much) every day. His first trip to the GI doc and the advice was the best thing he could do for his health is to STOP drinking. Dougie had been doing that most of the time. In the last 5 1/2 years, he has had some slips and a big relapse. Right now he is doing well.

Dougie's labs are almost everything in normal range. It took about 18-24 months to realize these improvements. But these are no guarantees. The times that he has struggled with sobriety have sent his labs right back into the danger zone. His relapse in July 2013 caused him to go back into the daily retching and gagging that he used to experience relentlessly on a daily basis. It is a lesson that needs to be learned daily.

Dougie went thru a program in the chemical dependency unit with our healthcare provider. Until he got kicked out for drinking. He had attends AA now. I have gone to al anon and highly recommend the program for your loved ones.

Bottom line- do what your doctor advises and mist important NO ALCOHOL! You can regain your health and get your life back!

Be well,
Emma

Mark,

So good to hear that you are attending meetings and no alcohol.

Dougie thankfully did not have HE. Or the other issues you mentioned. What he did have: frequent bloody noses thst took a very very long time to stop, jaundice-yellow eyes and very yellow skin, sleep disturbances-he would get up in the middle of the night (and drink) and he could not fall back asleep, extreme fatigue at unusual times that were for no apparent reason-for example we were at s Labor Day cookout and he had to take a nap RIGHT NOW, he just couldn't take another step, the worst symptom that he had was daily unrelenting gagging. It was AWFUL. We also later learned after his first endoscopy that he had varices (vericose veins in the esophagus) weird veins in his stomach and portal hypertension.

The great thing is that once he stopped drinking the gagging stopped within a few days and he has never had a bloody nose since! The jaundice took over a year to calm down. His GI doc said that the high bilirubin is the labs that take the longest (if ever) to get back to normal. It got close to normal after about 18 months and about 4 years to get into high normal range.

It has been two years now that Dougie has been in s good recovery. He had been struggling prior to that for about a year. I pray daily that he chooses to take care of his health and to realize that it's a true gift.

Mark, I will pray for you too. I pray every day for the people and friends on this forum. HW and this forum were essential to me...support, education, etc. I hope tha you will come back, post often, ask questions. Everyone here is kind and knowledgable.

Hugs,
Emma