If you live in the USA, and are interested in an inexpensive liver function panel (or any other lab test) that doesn't require a doctor's referral or insurance, please check out this website: http://www.directlabs.com

I paid $36 for my blood test, and the results were available on-line within 48 hours of having blood drawn at a local facility. The labs that contract with this on-line provider are the same labs that serve all the major medical establishments -- you're just paying up front by credit card (with an enormous discount) instead of relying on medical insurance. If it turns out that your liver panel flags any abnormal values, you should contact your doctor before taking Naltrexone.

What a useful link! However, I've decided to forego a LFT. Since I'm totally unable to stop drinking on my own, and Naltrexone is at present the only viable treatment option I have, what's the sense? Even if my liver is in a bad state, the only chance I have to improve it over the long run is to deal with the addiction via the Sinclair Method.

I pray a lot.

Hi All,

This whole liver thing really bothers me. Ever since I started drinking REALLY heavily - morning, evening, whenever I could get away with it, I knew I was jeopardizing my health, as well as everytning else important in my life. I could/can feel when my liver gets swollen after some really heavy drinking, especially with liquor. My favorite is beer (but couldn't hide the cans and bottles), and I don't seem to get such strong symptoms from it. I assume it's because the concentration of alcohol within a short period of time is lower, and less destructive? I sometimes get a dull ache in the liver region and between my shoulder blades, which I read was most likely referred pain - where something essentially hurts in the 'wrong' place.

I started looking up all this info 5-6 years ago, and the diagnosis that seemed to fit best was 'alcoholic hepatitis'. Sounds very frightening, and at first it was. Ever since, I started taking Milk Thistle almost daily, and Sam-e, whenever it was on sale, etc. Both are supposed to help the liver and potentially protect it from further damage, blah, blah, blah.... Again, I'm not good at research, or can't decipher fact from fiction - SO much crap to so sort thru on the Internet these days!

My question is - could this have protected my liver from serious damage? Alcoholic hepatitis should resolve over weeks/months with ABSTINENCE, but I never could comply with that. I even confessed to my primary doc that I was worried about my liver at one point, and he couldn't find anything obvious by feeling it or from test results. As long as I didn't drink for at least 12 hours before getting tested, the liver numbers always came out OK. My last test was GREAT, and even my cholesterol/tryglicerides were lower than ever. How can this be after years of regular/daily heavy drinking? Did the supplements help THAT much? OR - are the tests not necessarily indicitive of the truth? It makes me crazy...

Also - this whole 'detox' thing. I've had REALLY bad hangovers with shakes, etc. But to call it DTs or something potentially fatal? I dont' get it (in my case). How much does someone have to drink to get the withdrawal symptoms, hallucinations, etc. that can land them in the hospital? Maybe I'm just lucky because of my high tolerance to side effects from drugs in general, but it's hard to understand why I've never had to go thru real detox, based on my drinking when it was heavy and 24/7.

Sorry for all the questions, but I'm hoping some of you can help me understand. As always, thanks for the continued support. I don't know what I'd do without you all!

KrazyKris,
The liver is my abiding dread and it's fuelled by a kind of cultural fixation here in france.
I had toxic hepatitis back in 95 and here the enzymes go really high like five times to much for Gamma GTs in particular , that was very painful .
I too get that dull ache and have had "steatosis" coming and going for about four years , here the readings are not necessarily high but to know if you have it you need to do an ultra sound scan .
What I frequently read about this is that it goes away with abstinence of between two weeks and two months . I have occaisionally read (once ) that it goes if you cut down .
It does not systematically lead to cirrhosis but it can do often the liver swells bigger before that but again not always .
Alot of people swear by that dandelion leaf treatment , if you worry just do it .
I am .
Hope this helps some.

Guys, hope you don't mind, but I'm thinking Robert would be a good source for reliable information on what works best to maintain liver health when the liver is being continually abused. I too have been taking Milk Thistle. Also took Sam-e, until I saw it was a form of sulpha - and I'm allergic to sulphas, so discontinued the use. Thing is, I know most wines have some sulpha content - I get horrible headaches on sweet and/or cheap wines - but seem to be OK on most dry, better quality wines.

Kris, if you're like me (and WTE), you attribute every ache and pain and physical symptom to alcohol abuse, and imagine it's going to lead to a long, slow death. I so identified with WTE's eye symptom thing. While I didn't get black spots, my eyes have been terribly dry and burning the past few weeks, and extremely blood shot. I kept looking to see if they were really yellow, as opposed to red (they weren't). I decided it was probably alcohol related, and kept putting 'red out' eye drops in, which only made things worse.

Was visiting my elderly aunt, and knew she would notice my bloodshot eyes (I have very large blue eyes that are often commented on - so the condition was especially noticeable). I mentioned how dry they have been, and she just laughed and said, "Well you've probably got an allergy, goofy girl!" DUH. That had never occurred to me, even though I was also getting congestion.

I started taking allergy medicines, and the problem cleared right up. Guess I get to live another day. . .

I'm sure Robert has great links to share. Or, we all could do the same thing Robert would do: Surf the 'net for liver health. There's a ton of info out there. If any of you consider a liver cleanse, please read the reviews (e.g. quackwatch) and decide for yourself. BTW I don't always decide quackwatch is right after doing my homework. Whether we find our own links or Robert posts them, we are responsible for evaluating the credibility of internet sources or other publications. Since Robert is not a medical professional I am certain he would not be giving his own views beyond recounting any first-hand success he has had with his own liver. A few of us who are doing TSM have done that here and I've found it extremely valuable. Ocean had success with dandelion salads. It's getting dandelion season here so I'm considering that along with my milk thistle.

Lena,

Dandelion salad? Just pick the dandelions and eat the greens like lettuce? Cool - we're going to have those on hand soon.

Any other products you've used besides Milk Thistle that you swear by? I worry a lot about my kidneys. . .I tend to be chronically dehydrated, in spite of efforts to keep lots of water in my system. Suggestions?

ART
Lena says what to do with dandelions make a salad . I'm sorry I got lost in translation from the french as the word Dandelion comes from "dent de lion "apparently ( tooth of lion ) but what I take right now is a cocktail with chiendent (dogtooth !) which is couchgrass . I really have no idea if this is effective but I've trusted my pharmacist on many a thing here and he indicated these detox herbal liquids that come in an ampoule , I'll tell you the four ingredients and may be you'll find them
Black radish
Blackelderberry
Chicoree
couchgrass

Ocean says just pick 'm and make a salad. I'm concerned about insecticide and dog doo. There is some dandelion in the mesclun I get at the grocery store. I also drink Yogi Tea detox, which is mainly dandelion and burdock.