What can I do to combat alcohol damage to my liver?

Question

I did a lot of binge drinking, all through out college, so.. for four years. I still held down a full-time job, and had almost a 4.0, so I wasn't that worried about it. Now I'm worried that I could have damaged my liver. I drank heavily about twice a week. Is there anything I can do now to help get my liver healthy?

Answer 1

There are a few things you can do:
(1) Go to the doctor and have blood work done. The doctor
can tell by your liver enzymes and liver function test blood
work, how the liver is functioning and if any damage has appeared.
(2) Don't drink alcohol. It has been known that if people
stop drinking alcohol, and the cells of the liver just have
inflammation in them, that the liver cells can heal. There
is a 50% chance of your liver doing this once you stop
drinking. The doctor can give you medication to stop
the inflammation. However, once the cells of the liver
start to die, then all the doctors can do is try to slow
down the progression of more cells dying off.
(3) Eat well balanced diet so your body gets all the
nourishment it needs to heal. I
(4) Don't take any medications without checking with
the doctor first about it, this includes over the counter and
herbal medications. The reason is that all medications
go through the liver first to be broken down before going
to the rest of the body...many medications on the market
are harder or more toxic to the liver than other ones.
The doctors know which ones are. Taking alcohol and
over the counter pain medications can cause serious
damage to the liver.
(4) Try to wash your hands often and if you don't have a
way to wash your hands, use purell or germ X. Wash
all fruits and vegetables others have touched in the store,
don't eat from displayed salad bars and don't eat from
communal dips that people stick their food into like chips
and vege. If you do have any liver damage, you want
to be sure that you don't contact anyother illness that
may require you to take medications that could harm
your liver more.

I hope that your liver is fine. Not everyone who abuses
alcohol has liver disease, but there are many on the
transplant list now that wish they were that fortunate.

Best wishes to you.

Answer 2

At the level of drinking you are talking about I would be more concerned with brain damage than liver damage. If you really want a healthy liver/lifestyle than stop drinking. If you need to drink to have a good time then you seriously need to take a look at yourself and your motivations for heavy drinking. Alcohol is directly related to more deaths than any other legal drug except for tobacco and as such you need to have a respect for it and yourself

Answer 3

You should go get liver levels done at your docs to see if you really do have liver damage and talk to them. Once you have liver damage, im pretty sure its not reversable, thats why there are so many people waiting for livers.

Answer 4

to settle your concerns the dr is the best bet. have the dr run tests and check the standard levels for the things that the liver produces. i expect that your liver is in fine condition and that you will not need to worry about it anymore. if anything shows up then the dr will be able to tell you what to modify in your diet, daily activites to promote healing in your liver.

Answer 5

No, your I.Q. won't drop. But some of your brain cells have. I'd recommend some help with your drinking before it gets any more out of control.

Answer 6

Don't ever drink again - ever.