Amen!
That wee bit of liver is all we need. If e give it the support it needs, and other harmful factors are eliminated, the amazing organ can - thankfully -spring back.
I am so very glad you were able to pull thru the peritonitis. M6 dear friend from DS was visiting here & fell down with SBP. At first thought just our usual abdominal pains, then maybe appendix or gall bladder. Unfortunately he did not pull thru, a kid of 54.
He continued to drink with liver disease. That may not have been the reason but certainly was a factor.
Thank you for the encouragement!

Congratulations lostonrye. I had a similar problem, not expected to survive, liver, pancreas and kidneys shutting down. Massive bleeding from varices and blood glucose of 750+.

Something saved me and I'm still here. Coming up on six years sometime in April. I was so sick I don't recall the date, so chose April 15, so a little over three weeks and I'm at year six.

The liver is an amazing organ and like you said, proper diet, lifestyle, exercise, etc. and it can recover a lot if you haven't pushed it to far.

Such things seem to be a bit different for each person, but does anyone have any general idea as to what constitutes "pushing it too far"? I've seen that expression used on several occasions. Is there any identifiable point beyond which any recovery is unlikely?

Pugdaddy, I honestly don't know what causes you to go "over the edge".

I knew I was drinking to much, but truly expected some warning signs that I was "pushing it to far" and would know it was time to cut back or stop.

Probably very nave to think that way, but I started to develop jaundice and ascites (over the course of about three days). I stopped drinking immediately, knowing it was liver related and thought I was okay, but it had gone to far.

I literally had no symptoms until it was too late.

Thought I had caught things in time, but ended up in the hospital for 11-12 days, four of it in a coma in the ICU. Hospital staff saved my life. I was told I wasn't expected to live and at the time they wanted to do a transplant, but the body is remarkable if you treat it well.

Love hearing these posts! There is always hope and good nutrition as well as lifestyle changes can make a difference! My husband is going on three years alcohol free. He too was very sick and in the hospital multiple times. He had ascites, multiple drainings, then the bleeding varicies which almost killed him. Then he had two ulcers. We were in the process on being put on a transplant list. Amazingly, his liver started to recover. He was released from the transplant doctor and kidney doctor. We are doing to just the GI doc and regular doctor.

Thank you too for sharing your inspiring story....I am trying really hard to take good care of my self. I think my issue was that I fried my liver because I am missing the glutathione gene in the liver that helps the liver to detoxify.
I had no idea too until my LFT's shot way up...but I have since found out that I can't metabolize regular Folate... I need to take a special one. Alcoholics are deficient in Folate and Thiamin plus Glutathione. Glutathione is what helps the liver to detoxify things through it. I didn't know what my poor genetics were doing to me...even smoking and trying other recreational drugs over my life have injured my liver, unknowingly.
I think there are many people like myself out there with these DNA flaws in their livers that should not be drinking or taking any drugs.
I have learned so much about my liver and health over the past 4 years. I am so amazed....and want to help others with this knowledge.
Having a damaged colon, gallbladder and intestines didn't help my liver either. I've been on a special diet to heal the intestinal lining but the diet is hurting my liver...go figure! I am eating bone broths with fat retained in them...this is healing to the intestinal lining. But this doesn't help my liver since it has always had problems with metabolizing fats....hence the DNA glutathione issues. I think my father is the carrier of this gene....I told him he should cut back on his alcohol consumption because he too could end up like me!
Take care everyone..

The above is so true. Give your liver the break it needs to recover some of its function, and don't to anything more that might damage it further, and your odds are better than many realise. There are, fortunately, plenty of people on here that are living testimony to that.

Unfortunately there is no sign of knowing when it is finally too late, other than the end itself. For anyone reading this wondering whether they can push it any further, please don't.

I agree....we walk a fine line with the "pushing it too far" thing. Nobody knows just how "far" is "too far" until you have reached it. These posts here should be very encouraging to anyone who has thought that they were beyond repair. Being diagnosed with liver disease/cirrhosis due to whatever the cause, does not constitute a "death sentence". It is a reason for most who take it seriously to wake up and take their health into their hands and those of capable medical professionals.

I was just telling my 44 year old daughter today that nobody can be held accountable for "lifestyle" but the person living it. The changes that need to be made have to be tackled immediately and the outcome rests largely with the person. Of course, there are those who find out that their livers have failed or have gotten cancer and their lifestyles and habits have been such that they didn't drink or do drugs or any of the other myriad of things that are known culprits in liver disease. But, many folks know earlier in the disease and refuse to do anything about it thinking that they are going to die anyway.....giving up as a lost cause. Those folks are the ones who truly need to be helped.

It is my experience and continued hope that anyone reading the posts on this forum will realize that "it ain't over 'til it's over!" and much can be done to arrest the rapid progression of the disease so as to allow a relatively "normal" life. If only one person is "helped" then the stories and the people behind them on this forum have done a great job. It feels good to be able to give a person "hope" where they may have had no hope.

Blessings to all here.............and have a good holiday no matter if you celebrate the resurrection of our Lord or if you are a firm believer in the Easter Bunny.........Hugs and prayers.........CarolLentz

I absolutely LOVE the inspirational stories on this thread and do hope that they serve as a reminder that nothing about LD is set in stone, (and as some have pointed out already) it certainly is not the 'death sentence' it once was.
LD is not a 'one size fits all' diagnosis. There are too many variables that can lead up to recovery OR sadly, demise. No one, including the Dr's, can say which befalls any particular sufferer, and no one treatment is the fast track to survival.

The human body is such a magnificent vessel. As the doctor's have told us specifically, the body is frequently able to re-set itself and LD sufferers end up with what they term, a 'new normal.' Never as good as what it was but, able to continue on with proper care moving forward. It then becomes the LD sufferers outright reponsibility to maintain this 'new normal' by watching diet, exercising, and taking every precaution to avoid any new liver antagonists, i.e.... medications, household cleaners, pollution, viruses, etc. Barring any unforseen setbacks, there is every reason to believe that many forms of LD are highly survivable these days.

Personally, we have nearly 5 yrs of survival under our belts and we continue to strive for more. Always cautious and always having tremendous faith that we WILL make it!

Many thanks and best wishes to all on this thread, and congrats to you, lostonrye!

Thanks to all - and I hope that we'll keep this thread going. Goodness knows we can all benefit from the 'praise reports' of others...and offer an ongoing window of hope to the terrified new people who peruse these LD support sites! Personally I'm getting some conflicting signals: the recent development of palmar erythema, along with worsening varicose veins in my legs, causes concern that I may be going downhill. Both are signs that the liver is struggling - and that estrogen levels are too high. Yet I still have good energy level - and seem to be a bit more mentally alert than I was a couple of months ago. Not to be indelicate, but for awhile my urine had a distinct ammonia odor...and that now seems to have normalized. Hopefully this means that my liver is now doing a better job of processing & neutralizing ammonia - and if so, then that's an encouraging sign!

In 12 days I hit the six year mark of being alcohol free. Not to brag but I'm proud of myself and others who have conquered at least one demon in their life.

Because of the estrogen levels and starting to develop "moobs", I stopped taking Spiranolactone/Aldactone. My doctor recently put me on "Amiloride" because of declining potassium levels and it doesn't cause the hormonal changes the other drugs do.

Might want to discuss this with your doctor. Also, if he does switch you over to it, get him to write the prescription to a Canadian pharmacy.

My scrip cost $275 and when I mentioned it to my doctor, he had no idea how high the costs were. He also uses a Canadian pharmacy for some of the higher priced drugs and they would have run me $25 plus shipping, big, big savings.

Some medications are basically a wash, but others can be much cheaper from Canada.

WTC, speaking of 'disparity in rx costs' here's a breaking news story that will curl your hair. The numbers are eye-popping - read it and weep...:

http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/04/02/2797292/nc-hospitals-reap-profits-from.html

Scary article PD. I'll definitely be shopping around a lot more in the future for the meds I take.

Thanks

Great thread. The stats for bleeding varices are: 30% die within 2 years of their first bleeding episode. It only goes up from there. So many here have beat those odds...including me. This thread reminded me of what the doctor told me before scoping me. "If the cat is out of the bag, you will have a rough go at it" He meant cirrhosis. I've had 7 full blown bleed outs and about 9 or 10 banding procedures in the last 5 years. I am very happy to say, my last ICU visit was in July!! It is the longest I have gone yet. Kale is king! Diet is everything. I am actually going to start trying to regain some muscle mass by exercising daily. I feel like crap on any given day mostly. Fatigued and weak. Moobs, lose of leg hair, spider angionomas on my legs and a gut that feels like a broom stick is perpetually stuck there. Red, fiery hot palms, all manner of skin spots and growths, some cancerous.
I'll stand and be counted! Glad to be here, glad to have some hope.

Do you know what percentage of your liver was till functioning. I ask because I've read we only need 10% to live but any less we are in danger of liver failure.