Liver disease

hi. yeah i assumed it would be different from person to person but as a rule of thumb for the average joe.

i was diagnosed with fatty liver and gallstones last june. in november my lft's were normal so i assumed i was healed. since december ive had a horrid dull right flank back ache. its never gone away and my stools have been pale (even though ive never seen or cannot find a stool colour chart to what a bile contaminated stool looks like) so i had a ct scan last friday. i have been drinking but only really at weekends. i was drinking 7 days a week up till last year. im just worried ive done too much damage to my liver now and its scarred.

Presumably you've had some liver function blood tests recently. If they're not too far out of range the chances of permanent damage are not large. Obviously you can go from fatty liver to fibrosis and cirrhosis but I would have thought it would take longer. Fatty liver normally requires complete abstention from alcohol for a few weeks. There are some quite knowledgeable people on here so no doubt you will get another opinion soon.

ive put a couple of posts on in the past but never got any replies. it scared me half to death back in june. im 42, 5'9" and weighed in at 17st4lbs which was what put me in this situation. i had an ultrasound which confirmed fatty liver. i never drank a drop for a month then went on holiday and had a couple of drinks as you do. i cut down my drinking massively afterwards. i kept on getting pains though (not alcohol related) in my chest. i suspect pancreatitis from the gallstones. i went to see a consultant and had an mri which confirmed no blockages. had bloods done in december and i was told they were normal by the consultant. i started getting pains in my right flank like a really dull back ache. i was told this was the gallbladder so ignored it. i took myself to a different consultant last week privately who said my symptoms were not gallbladder related. had the ct so now im waiting. ive started to occasionally feel sick for 1-2 minutes but thats it other than the ache. still have an appetite, sleep ok, no high temp etc etc. im tired but due to having anxiety, im putting it down to being mentally exhausted with worry. i am worried as im scared ive knackered myself right up!

Unfortunately we attribute any pains to our liver in these circumstances. I know I did but I turned out to be all right. The liver has no nerve endings so you don't feel cirrhosis,although you can feel an enlarged fatty liver.The chances are you'll be okay.

i hope that is correct. my stools are very pale today. ive emailed the consultants secretary to ask them to ring me with the results. i cannot wait until the 13th for my follow up. its as if im just waiting to go jaundice now as it seems to be worsening each day. back ache and very pale stools is all im currently experiencing. my paranoia is waiting for me to get worse and unfortunately, ive been right up to now. very scared is an understatement.

It's easy for me to say don't worry but if the doctor is aware of it and isn't too concerned you can perhaps take it as a good thing.You can get a lot of good information from typing pale stool into your computer.I can't put a link or the mods will take it down.It does say that if there are other symptoms such as dark urine,vomiting,turning yellow or fever to seek urgent treatment.I once went to A&E because I felt I needed seeing right away but all the tests came back all right. All the best. Post again when you get the ct results.

any word?