Has anyone gone through this?

[Cb1993 9]

I drink quite a bit. Sure sometimes to deal with my anxiety but mostly because I'm 24 and my friends, family, and husband all engage in activities mostly involving alcohol. For example you can find me at bar trivia and bar bingo once a week (my absolute favorite thing) usually a beer tasting on the weekend or a bonfire, house party, etc. I love these things in my life because they keep me involved instead of at home anxious. 

This last week I began to have a swollen and painful feeling in my right side. My first thought was probably liver damage because of the drinking. I somewhat ignored it and had a regular weekend. A couple days later it was worse, I did a little google homework and found that people that often drink can get fatty livers (I am overweight compared to my friends, which could be why they do not have issues). I am currently paying off two er trips and multiple dr visits (thank you health anxiety) and so even though my instinct was to rush to the er I knew I couldn't. I've gone 4 days without drinking because I am so anxious that I've done irreversible damage. I'm scared because I'm already so depressed, probably partly because I'm weaning off alcohol but mostly because I've already missed my favorite bar trivia (you have to drink to play) a friends birthday (on a party trolley) and then tommorow I will miss bingo. These things keep my sane. I'm to the point where I don't know if I'll be able to get out of bed tommorow to go to work.

I know a lot of people have drank to ease anxiety, has anyone ever experienced liver or right side pain? Did you stop drinking?

Or for those of you that have drank a lot and had to quit, how did you feel after? 

I don't know if I can lose my favorite activities, but my anxiety isn't letting my go for fear of liver failure   pls help

[lofwyr 215]

As a guy who quit drinking almost two decades ago because I knew it would kill me if I didn't, I have seen quite a few people die from alcohol related issues. Liver failure is not something many 24 year olds deal with. In fact, the only young people I know who died alcohol related deaths were s****des (way too many) violent crime, and vehicle accidents. 

Liver failure is usually something you see at the soonest in the late 30s, but usually the guys I see dying from it are older than that by a good margin. And liver failure is more than a little pain on the right side, these guys are very sick,

In the long run, drinking was not good for me. I knew it would kill me. I also was dependent on it, and knew that it was not a healthy way for me to deal with my anxiety, or anything else. In many ways it would make my anxiety worse the next day. I started to think the party would not be fun unless there was booze, and then I realized I had a problem. I was 28, and have to admit, I am sure I would be dead by now if I did not sober up then. I am 46 now, almost 47. 

So, while no doctor, I would say liver failure is unlikely. As a recovering alcoholic with anxiety disorder, I can say that it is not the healthiest thing for me, and I have no regrets not drinking.

[MARC 431]

I got an esophageal ulcer in 2003, from drinking a glass or two of wine a night and that cured me from drinking as the ulcer was very painful. The GI physician told me to not drink and I have not. 

[NervUs 140]

When I was about 19 (yes, underage, I know, lol), drinking just started making me feel sick almost everytime I did it. So, I stopped. In my case, it wasn't hard as I had lost the desire on my own. I think I understood, at some level, that it was bad for me, and it got to a point where it just seemed dumb.

Maybe you are at a similar point in your life, but worry about losing a social life. There's no reason you can't ask your friends to do different sorts of things with you. I can't imagine they would say no. Believe it or not, a few years from now you will  probably be giving yourself side eye for thinking beer pong or pub crawling was fun, :-) 

I have no idea if your liver is damaged, but the fact that you are interpreting this situation through that lens suggests that you might be questioning why drinking is so important to your life. It might be a good idea to listen to that internal voice and branch out in your activities. Good friends will follow you where you ask them to go.

[Cb1993 9]

Thanks for the answers guys! I do not know for sure if it's really my liver, but my anxiety has been telling me it is. I also read online how unlikely it is that I'd have liver pain so young but I don't know what else to think and I can't seem to shake the idea. I'm not so much worried about losing my social life because I am aware of things like mini golf and dinner parties, however it would be a little tough to convince all of or even some of my friends to forgoe the things we've done and loved every week for the last 3 years. So naturally this worries me. I think the hardest part for me is I can't feel if this is a real concern or anxiety playing tricks on me. Or if my liver anxiety is now so high that I'm missing why my side is actually bothering me and it could be a serious health concern? 

 

 

[Lucid 41]

When I was in my early 20's I drank a....lot.I did plenty of other things also. Really alcohol is a bad mask.And I'll be straightforward with you. In my experience and just observing others your social life would take a hit. Not trying to be negative but birds of a feather fly together or something lol.Idk alcohol just isn't healthy at all. 

[jonathanhayashi 0]

Cb1993, 

I’m sorry to hear about the real struggle and battle that you have been facing with the problem of alcohol. I’m glad you’re here and sharing openly. As you know, it is quite common and there are definite consequences to alcohol, myself drinking quite a bit starting a young age quite understand this. 

Once again, I think the struggle is real. There is a sense of you are wanting to overcome this addiction as you see some of your physical body falling in part which is more medical expense and also knowing that you are young, you want to overcome it. However, there is the sense that you don’t want to lose your social life and the activities you once had that you’ve enjoyed so much. It seems like to me you have a mixed feeling about this both positive and negative about it. Is that how you’re feeling? 

Have you thought about maybe joining an AA group already? Or going some social group? Yes, I think boredom is the worst thing and actually I don’t think it is healthy for people to be lazy and not do much. Have you thought about maybe some other options that you can begin that could be affordable and easy? When I was overcoming my addiction I went to the gym, began to go to church, got involved with activities that were healthy for me that were not around people who caused me to stumble. Our minds are actually quite incredible that if we keep it busy and active one way, we cannot think other activities at the same time! It may be good for you to distract and overcome this addiction. Well, there are a lot of other factors that plays in, but I think it may be a good starting point. 

I hope these are helpful! that your daughter is facing. Praying for you! 

 

[MsLLL 413]

Hi CB! 

I had pain on the side where my liver is yesterday for hours, it was pretty intense. I don't drink alcohol but was a little worried why I got this pain. It just happened all the sudden. I put a heating pad on and went to bed. Today there is no pain. Maybe it was from exercising or from anxiety, not sure.

I know a guy who drinks regularly for many years. He was recently in the hospital for something and got completely checked. I was worried for him that his liver had taken a hit so to speak, in all those years of drinking too much. But nothing! Everything came back clear. But since you have the wish to quit drinking and are young, I think it's pretty doable. Maybe you can tell all your friends you've made the decision to stop and need their support. And you could still go out and drink virgin cocktails or something like that? I know it's tough if you are in a crowd and everyone is 'bonding' through alcohol and having a great time but I too, believe what lofwyr said, it can make anxiety worse. When a friend of mine came over from the States we drank a little and it was always worse the next day We both have anxiety. 

Best Wishes and let us know how it goes. 

[MARC 431]

I have a client of mine who is a retired Nephrologist/Cardiologist. He said the key to longevity is heredity and more so luck. My internal medicine and GI physicians agree with him for the most part. 

[Gilly 1086]

The medication I take for my crohns makes my liver freak out from time to time. I have my liver enzymes monitored because of it, on a few occasions I have had an inflamed liver, that means damaged, thankfully because the liver regenerates removing the issue, cutting my dose or stopping the meds for a few weeks, it has returned to normal. When it has happened I have never had any physical symptoms, no pain, no discomfort, nothing. I wouldn't know if I didn't have the routine blood work done.

It's more likely to be muscular, or indigestion or gallbladder pain.