Jul 21
my boyfriend is an alcoholic he is 25 and has been one since 15. he recently was in a alcohol program (sober house) for 6 months and was going to the doctors regularly. the doctor was running tests and told him he could possibly have cirrhosis of the liver and was shocked when my boyfriend told him that he hadnt had a drink in a year and a half and said that it looked like he was still drinking til this day.. it really scared him and he never went back. Needless to say hes been drinking since he left the program 6 months ago everyday, what could happen to him if he really has this? can he just drop dead? how long can his drinking and surviving last if he really has cirrhosis of the liver?
Tags: cirrhosis, drinking, everyday, liver, possible, still
He won’t last too long if he keeps drinking, the cirrhosis will eventually kill his liver, then he’s screwed unless he gets a transplant, and no offense but alcoholics aren’t ever too high up on the list.
he won’t drop dead, he will get sicker & sicker and eventually die an ugly death. I don’t think anybody can predict how long that will take. he may have kidney failure.
The liver is one organ that can regenerate, I’m surprised it still looked that bad if he really didn’t drink for 1 1/2 years.
He should discuss Atenolol with his doctor. Among other things, it is used to stop a person from drinking. I found it very successful.
Your boyfriend needs to get help to stop the drinking NOW. Otherwise, he is not going to live much longer. Cirrhosis is often a progressive disease that is accelerated by continued damage that is occurring. Dying from this disease is a slow, difficult death and can take years – he can slow this down if he gets off the alcohol. You need to read everything you can on cirrhosis because he is going to require lots and lots of doctor visits soon and someone to care for him when he can no longer work which is going to be a major financial burden. These people do not usually drop dead – it is a slow process as the liver gradually shuts down. Go to WebMd and MayoClinic for more information. Avoiding medical care is working to his disadvantage for quality of life issues. Also, there is no alcoholic that is ever put on a transplant list. They have to be alcohol free in order to even be considered.
If your boyfriend does not stop drinking IMMEDIATELY, he will not live much longer.
Alcohol is the number one cause of cirrhosis
of the liver. The liver is a very quiet organ
when it comes to having damage. Many
people are walking around with liver problems
and don’t even know it. What happens is
that for people who are sensitive to the
alcohol, the liver isn’t able to handle the
consumption of it well and it can turn into
a toxin in the liver and cause liver cell damage.
When the cells of the liver become damaged,
the immune system of the body responds and
this causes inflammation. The liver is located
in a capsule membrane…this inflammation
only causes more pressure on the liver cells
and then the liver will start to enlarge in size.
The doctor can see this on blood work he
does that shows him the liver enzymes:
that rises when there is damage to the cells
and the liver function tests: that shows that
the cells are dying and not being able to
completely do the functions to keep the
body healthy. The doctor may feel the upper
right hand portion of the abdomen just under
the rib cage…he is feeling to see if the
liver is enlarged. If he thinks it is, he may
order an ultrasound to show how the blood
is flowing through the liver, if the liver is
enlarged, and if there are any growths in
the liver.
If the inflammation is caught early on and
treated and the alcohol is stopped…then there
is a good change that the cells of the liver
will heal. However, if this doesn’t happen…
it can progress to where the liver cells start
to die off and then this is known as
cirrhosis. When the cells of the liver die off,
scar tissue forms inside the liver that blocks
the flow of blood to the other cells…stressing
them by them not getting enough oxygen and
nourishment they need and they will die also.
It is a progressive disease. The liver then
will start to shrink in size and become hard in
texture.
The best doctor to be with is a gastroenterologist
(a person who deals with the whole digestive
system) or a hepatologist (a liver specialist).
The doctors can tell if a patient is taking alcohol
by doing a blood test known as GGT.
Once the cells of the liver start to die off,
this is known as liver failure…cause the
functions that the cells do for the body
start to deteriorate. This is usually when
signs and symptoms really start to appear.
The main first sign might be the yellowing
of the whites of the eyes and skin…
known as Jaundice. ( Right from the beginning
of having a liver problem, though, the patient
may feel tired and maybe have flu like symptoms)…As more cells die off, the
patient may observe spider like veins
developing on the neck, shoulder, and chest
area…red palms and soles of the feet…
muscles start to waste away…encephalopathy
which is confusion in thinking and reasoning…
ascites which is abdominal fluids forming
and expanding the abdomen…varies develop
that can break open in the esophagus and
cause internal bleeding or complete bleeding
out (an emergency) and other things.
This disease is really like a nightmare that
you don’t wake up from. Here are some
links to help you understand better about
this disease:
http://www.medicinenet.com/cirrhosis/article.htm
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cirrhosis/DS00373
Cirrhosis can progress fast or slow.
If there is anything the person can do to
prevent this from either occuring or going
to a point where they need a liver transplant…
they should do it right away.
Alcoholic usually have to hurdles to cross over…
the one is becoming clean of alcohol and
the horrible side effects from coming off the
drug and the other is to face that they might
lose their life unless they have a transplant.
They need all the support they can get to
go through this.
A liver transplant costs in the range of
$250,000 and up. The drugs to prevent
rejection are extremely high also. Alcoholic
patients are taken on a case by case basis
of whether they will be placed on the
transplant list…it used to be they had to
be free of alcohol for a period of six months
in order to just be considered for a placement
on the list.
Here is a link, from one of the transplant
centers that give a patient an idea of the
transplant process:
http://www.surgery.usc.edu/divisions/hep/patientguide/index.html
I hope this information is of some help to
you and your boyfriend.
If your boyfriend quit drinking and there is no improvement, his cirrhosis could have possibly progressed to the point of no turning back and the disease is severe enough and the scarring of the liver bad enough that it continues to progress even if he does stop drinking. This type of progression requires a transplant to get well again.
Someone mentioned the GGT test as showing proof if one is drinking alcohol or not. Alcoholics frequently do have high levels of this, but it’s not proof that they are drinking. I had cirrhosis and a liver transplant. My GGT was always at least 10X the normal amount, and I never drank alcohol throughout my entire life other than an occasional beer in the hot summer. The GGT can be greatly elevated and it have nothing to do with drinking.
Your boyfriend is so young to deal with this, but he must deal with it or it will kill him. Needless to say, nothing will stop his disease unless he stops drinking forever. Whether or not he will need a transplant depends on how far advanced his cirrhosis might be at this time. Every time he takes a drink, it is damaging his liver more. If he is scared right now to see a doctor, he is going to be terrified when he sees what cirrhosis is going to do to him in the future if he continues to drink and ignore his problems.
Some of the health problems with cirrhosis is filling up with fluid until you look 9 months pregnant and having to go to the hospital and get tapped to relieve the pressure and fluid. This can happen every week or two when the disease is in the final stage. Bleeding problems from veins that grow trying to get blood to the damaged liver that can leak and burst internally. If bad enough, this can be fatal and a person can bleed out in a short time. Confusion and hallucinations from high ammonia levels. People can get violent at times with this. If these get bad enough, it can lead to coma. There are many more problems, but these are just a few of the major ones. If your boyfriend does not want to go to the doctor now, tell him to get ready to see a lot of them in the future.
Good luck to him since he is going to need it if he continues on the path he is on right now. It’s not going to be easy for you either since you will end up being his caregiver. Taking care of a confused, belligerant, violent at times alcoholic while they are sick and dying is not much fun. If he doesn’t straighten up his act and I were you, I would get as far away from him as fast as I could and get me a better life because he is going to put you through hell.
first jaundice then cirrohsis my brother gave up his life.he had wounds all over his tummy and legs.
thats the end of life we never thought this will happen .