What is the point of going to the doctor? - Liver & Pancreas Disorders Message Board

hassleproof · 10-19-2006, 01:43 AM

Greetings,

I suspect I probably have alcoholic hepatitis due to high liver enzymes (upper 100s) and a long history of heavy drinking. I have no other symptoms of liver disease. At any rate, my question is, why see a doctor about it? From everything I have read, there is nothing that can be done about it except change your lifestlye. If it is still early enough, the liver will heal itself. And if it is too late, there is still nothing that can be done except to change your lifestyle to prolong your life. In other words, what will a doctor be able to do that i can't do myself? Or tell me that i don't already know? Stop drinking, exercise, improve your diet and take important herbs for your liver. To the best of my knowledge, there is no cure for liver disease except lifestyle change... regardless of how early or advanced it is. The only thing a doctor can do is tell you how advanced it is, right? I am planning to go visit the doctor to check my enzyme level, just to see if my liver is responding to the lifestlye change. But i don't see much point beyond that. Certainly not in going through the torture of a liver biopsy. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

KJ

feelbad · 10-19-2006, 06:42 AM

I just have to ask this,just how old are you?honestly,with your current additude,why even bother seeing the doc at all?believe me,there are alot of things that you can do and your doc can do to even stop the possible progression of the destruction,but your additude leaves me to kind of wonder.if you think the pain of a little liver biopsy is "torture'(which it really isn't)just wait til your untreated liver problems hit the fan.even my 12 year old son went thru many many liver biopsies and many procedures while he was in liver failure,and was amazing during the whole thing.if things should go bad for you,there is always a liver transplant.my son is only here right now because of the one he was lucky enough to have gotten back in 2000.

you,at the very least here need to find out what it is you may or may not actually have.the only way to find that out is by seeing your doc for the proper testing.It really isn't all that bad.i am sure you are scared about the prospect but honestly,you DO need to know what you have going on inside of your own body.it may not even be as bad as you may think it is.please see your doc for a full liver workup to find out what you really have going on.you really DO need to know.sorry if i came across sounding harsh.you just sounded like you have given up here without even knowing what it is you may or may not even have.i wish you luck and hope this is something that can be brought down and your liver will return to more normal in numbers.just make that appt,K? take care,Marcia

andy19096 · 10-19-2006, 02:13 PM

Actually, I can understand the thought process. Unlike other forms of liver disease, there is not much to do except stop drinking and eat a liver healthy diet. There really is no medication that will resolve the problem - only medications that can help with advanced symtpoms.

One reason to go is to check for varices, which could cause sudden death if they bleed. If you have them, the doctor can band them to prevent a bleed and give you meds that lower your heart rate to prevent more varices. IF you were to advance to end stage, seeing a doc now can provide for a game plan that can pro-long your life by addressing life threatening symptoms and get you set-up properly for a transplant if needed.

On the other hand, you may end up being fine just by stopping drinking and eating well. I was conflicted about this and you can read about it in the attached link.

[url]http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=427158[/url]

feelbad · 10-20-2006, 06:56 AM

hi andy.i too could totally understand that thinking process(we did go thru this with our son and were very helpless to actually DO anything but wait for the total failure and the transplant)BUT this man states that he only has high enzymes but no actual Dx.you know as well as i do that high enzymes don't actually mean there is a definitive type of actual liver disease going on.there just high enzymes.thats why i couldn't quite get why he had already basically Dxed himself and resigned to that fact already.you know what i mean/so far,all he knows that he has drank alot,and his enzymes are high.seeing his doc at this point is rather crucial,just to find out what the cause of the high enzymes actually are,thats all.he appears to have already just given himself over to a disease that he doesn't even know for sure he even has.ya just need some more actual facts here before you can decide to do nothing.

ya just gotta go see that doc hassle and find out what the real deal is.it may not be as bad as you think,ya know?good luck and please let us know how things are,K?marcia

gudewan · 10-20-2006, 11:25 AM

Well geez, its only your whole life that is at stake....

Atleast you could get on the liver donnor list sooner if you got a biopsy, etc., and they saw it was crap.

-Jenn