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need advice
- Thread starter WolfGirl
- Start date
life on stage 89
New member
Alcoholic liver disease usually starts with hepatitis (inflammation not the virus) or "fatty" liver and then progresses to cirrhosis (scarring). Cirrhosis is the final stage of liver disease. It can be difficult for alcoholics, active or recovering, to get a liver transplant.
Liver disease in the early stages often has no symptoms. An inflamed liver might be sore to the touch or swollen. Blood tests might reveal elevated liver enzymes, anemia and poor blood clotting (causing easy bruising). Sudden weight gain or swollen ankles/legs might come from ascites, which is fluid in the abdominal cavity caused by cirrhosis.
Liver specialists (hepatologists) treat liver disease. You really need a good medical team to live, and live well, with liver disease. It doesn't have to be a death sentence but it is a serious chronic illness that will need to be treated and monitored regularly. I'm sorry to say for alcoholics who do not completely give up drinking liver disease is rapidly fatal.
This info page list all the many symptoms, signs and complications: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000281.htm
Liver disease in the early stages often has no symptoms. An inflamed liver might be sore to the touch or swollen. Blood tests might reveal elevated liver enzymes, anemia and poor blood clotting (causing easy bruising). Sudden weight gain or swollen ankles/legs might come from ascites, which is fluid in the abdominal cavity caused by cirrhosis.
Liver specialists (hepatologists) treat liver disease. You really need a good medical team to live, and live well, with liver disease. It doesn't have to be a death sentence but it is a serious chronic illness that will need to be treated and monitored regularly. I'm sorry to say for alcoholics who do not completely give up drinking liver disease is rapidly fatal.
This info page list all the many symptoms, signs and complications: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000281.htm
looks like leela pretty much covered the facts here. i have never ever heard or read about simply having bruising on the back of someones arms as any type of real or 'textbook' type of symptom of liver disease and i have liver and kidney disease and a son i had to watch go thru liver failure then transplant. you CAN, as leela mentioned above, have clotting/bruising issues, but something being specifically at the back of her arms as a symptom is just not a 'true" symptom of it just in and of itself.
the best thing she can do right now is simply see her primary doc for a physical and full blood workup,the liver, kidneys and metabolics should just be covered here since actual liver disease can impact a few different systems and functions. also obtaining an ultrasound on the abdominal area would really give a much truer overall picture combined with the labs, as to what really is or is not going on with her liver.
bruising easily can be a sign of alot of different issues not just a liver issue. her clotting factors do appear to be affected in some way if she is actually brusing easily. this could also be caused by any number of real blood disorders among other possibles too.
just so you know. the insane thing about how liver disease plays out is there may not be ANY real signs or symptoms going on until that damage within the liver just hits a certain point where the lab numbers actually change. damage has to really be starting to impact functions before any real changes occur there. believe it or not, my youngest son was actually down to having only about 20% of his actual liver function left before he actually truely 'presented' with a major sign of whats called portal hypertension happening from a closed off portal vein within his liver(by scar tissue/fibers) that were actually growing within his liver even before he was born. he was only 12 when this occured, and we did not have a freaking clue that he was even sick. and he also showed absolutley NO jaundice either despite how badly the liver was damaged. totally blew that theory i had always had about liver problems ALWAYS showing with that yellowing of the whites of the eyes and skin too.
but she realy does need to get herself checked out soon just so you both know what is going on inside her right now. if she is having a problem with alcohol this will also have to be addressed. she needs some help here. just what other symptoms is she displaying at this point? hopefully things are not as bad as you think with the liver, but she does need to be fully evaluated soon. please let us know what you find out,K? good luck to you both, FB
the best thing she can do right now is simply see her primary doc for a physical and full blood workup,the liver, kidneys and metabolics should just be covered here since actual liver disease can impact a few different systems and functions. also obtaining an ultrasound on the abdominal area would really give a much truer overall picture combined with the labs, as to what really is or is not going on with her liver.
bruising easily can be a sign of alot of different issues not just a liver issue. her clotting factors do appear to be affected in some way if she is actually brusing easily. this could also be caused by any number of real blood disorders among other possibles too.
just so you know. the insane thing about how liver disease plays out is there may not be ANY real signs or symptoms going on until that damage within the liver just hits a certain point where the lab numbers actually change. damage has to really be starting to impact functions before any real changes occur there. believe it or not, my youngest son was actually down to having only about 20% of his actual liver function left before he actually truely 'presented' with a major sign of whats called portal hypertension happening from a closed off portal vein within his liver(by scar tissue/fibers) that were actually growing within his liver even before he was born. he was only 12 when this occured, and we did not have a freaking clue that he was even sick. and he also showed absolutley NO jaundice either despite how badly the liver was damaged. totally blew that theory i had always had about liver problems ALWAYS showing with that yellowing of the whites of the eyes and skin too.
but she realy does need to get herself checked out soon just so you both know what is going on inside her right now. if she is having a problem with alcohol this will also have to be addressed. she needs some help here. just what other symptoms is she displaying at this point? hopefully things are not as bad as you think with the liver, but she does need to be fully evaluated soon. please let us know what you find out,K? good luck to you both, FB