Living with Cirrhosis and Near Death Experiences, does anyone else have Cirrhosis and what is your advice?

I am a male alcoholic who was recently diagnosed with Cirrhosis in my early 40s (after Fatty Liver Disease). I am wondering if anyone else in the community could share their experiences (positive, negative, etc.), advice, diet tips, anecdotal notes, nutrition, supplements to take, etc. I have more to contribute on this topic myself. I really look forward to everyone’s shares on this, thanks so much in advance, I need help as I almost died twice from cirrhosis but have been sober almost 8 months now. Any feedback is much appreciated, it could save my life and others going through this! Do NOT Drink, it will kill your liver eventually!

12 Likes

Welcome to the community :raising_hand_woman:

There are some people on here that have had similar experiences and may be able to tell you what helped them.
I’m not one of them, but I am on a sober journey due to alcohol addiction. Sorry I can’t be of help that way but wanted to welcome you and say Hi :raising_hand_woman:
I’m sure people will pop on to your post throughout the day when they see it :slightly_smiling_face:

4 Likes

I know @mleclaire has had a challenging but really inspiring journey with this. With recovery and healthy lifestyle, her liver has recovered a LOT even with cirrhosis. You can also search for threads about cirrhosis or liver disease, there have been a fair few over the years.

I haven’t had to deal with cirrhosis myself. However, if it helps, I can at least offer some more evidence of the liver’s recovery capabilities.

My liver: when I quit → one year sober
Fatty liver → completely normal liver
Gallbladder polyps → completely normal gallbladder
Symptoms of pancreatitis → disappearance of symptoms, and completely normal pancreas on CT
GGT: 1099 → 13
AST: 429 → 21
ALT: 148 → 8

It’s now been 5 years and then some. I feel like I have dodged a bullet. If I ever pick up a drink again, I know how fast my drinking would accelerate back to what it was (and even worse), and I may not be able to quit before the damage becomes irreversible (or something else happens).

16 Likes

Thank You!

2 Likes

Oh my Lord @ifs thanks so much for sharing! This is very inspiring as your enzymes were much higher than mine when I was diagnosed! I have been 233 days sober so hopefully in my early 40s I can recover it like you! Cheers and Thanks Again! This helps a lot, I really appreciate it. Does anyone else have similar experiences, or any advice?

7 Likes

If you are not using any kinds of meds you can help your liver a bit by using a supplement.
For example Milkthistle ore Liv52.
You can ask for advice in a drugstore (I work in one :wink:).

1 Like

Hey friend sorry took me a bit to get back on here. So happy to hear you’re sober. The only thing that will save you is not drinking-because it’s alcohol induced cirrhosis your liver can repair itself. I’ve been sober 5 years and after 4, I had an endoscopy done: I refused my liver cirrhosis at age 32. Workout, stay away from fried foods and live an all around healthy life and you’ll be ok. You’re young and have the motivation to never drink. Blessing and a curse but now I look at getting liver cirrhosis was my chance at a second life-you got this

13 Likes

Thank You Twizzlers!

1 Like

It’s been awhile. Nice to hear from you.
Great to know you’re still doing well

2 Likes

Dr. Ken Berry, MD