Alcohol and Cirrhosis
There is a huge cirrhosis risk when you develop alcoholic hepatitis, and you run the risk of kidney failure. Reducing hepatitis symptoms can only be achieved if you give up alcohol and begin introducing a healthy lifestyle. If you are having trouble stopping drinking, the threat of alcoholic hepatitis alone should be enough to make you question your drinking. It may be uncomfortable to go through withdrawal symptoms, but that’s nothing compared to the pain of alcoholic hepatitis.
Managing Alcohol Withdrawals
When you are grappling with withdrawal, it can quickly lead you right back to the bottle.
There is nothing more uncomfortable. It’s very difficult to explain to someone who hasn’t gone through it. When do withdrawal symptoms begin? Typically within one day after you stop drinking. And they come on very strong and very immediately.
And if you’re using along with drinking, there are substance-specific withdrawal symptoms for each drug. For example, some drugs may take longer to withdraw from. Some may include more emotional stress than physical stress. Although there are differences, there are more similarities than anything. It’s a lot of physical and emotional turmoil no matter what.
Signs of Alcoholic Hepatitis
The most common symptoms of alcoholic hepatitis range from malnutrition, nausea and vomiting, abdominal tenderness, enlarged veins, and varices. Severe alcoholic hepatitis symptoms include fluid accumulation in your abdomen. This is a condition known as ascites. If you are experiencing ascites and abdominal discomfort, you are most likely a late-stage alcoholic. At this stage, you can be at-risk of many health complications from drinking, including alcoholic cardiomyopathy, and other serious consequences.
At this point, you are physically addicted, and quitting cold turkey can actually kill you. Certain types of hepatitis can be prevented. Prevention of hepatitis A can be achieved by getting a vaccine. Alcoholic hepatitis can only be prevented if you quit drinking. Long-term hepatic recovery is possible if you nip the problem in the bud.
Choosing Alcohol Treatment For Your Health
You would think hearing all these horror stories about alcoholism would make more people quit, but it’s not the case. Addiction is an escape more than anything else. You aren’t thinking about your mortality when you are abusing drugs or alcohol. Choosing to get clean will typically only come when you hit rock bottom. It usually takes an extreme event for people to consider recovery.
There are many addicts who never have a moment of clarity. It’s sad to think of all the people who lose their battle with addiction, which is what makes the success stories so special.
Liver damage and cirrhosis are inevitable for those who drink heavily into old age, drinking chronically on a regular basis. It’s rare, but there are cases of individuals who have had liver damage very young. This usually results from mixing alcohol and other drugs.
I used to mix opiates and alcohol all the time due to the enhancement of the high. One made the other one more powerful. Luckily for me, my liver was able to recover from the damage I did to it. Your liver is vital to your survival. If your liver is shot, there’s no coming back.
Is Alcoholic Hepatitis Reversible?
People get clean for different reasons. It can take one person one thing to get clean while it can take another person something different. I decided to get sober for the sake of my health. I saw the older members of my family wilt away due to alcoholism.
I didn’t want to end up like them. I knew that I was at a crossroads. Being later in my thirties made me realize that I was at a teetering point. If I continued drinking like I was, my body was going to go downhill very fast.
If you are in the older crowd, you are within the at-risk population for hepatitis. Beyond alcoholic hepatitis, there is a hepatocellular carcinoma risk. This is liver cancer. Liver cancer has a high mortality rate and you do not want to get to that point. There are plenty of people out there with liver cancer who were tortured with the idea that they could have quit drinking sooner to save their lives. If you make the decision to quit drinking sooner rather than later, you will avoid this outcome.
Please reach out to the compassionate team at Pathfinders Recovery Centers if you’re facing consequences from drinking you’d rather avoid. We can help guide you (or your loved one) on the path to lasting, long-term sobriety and back into healthy enjoyment of living. Use this moment as motivation to change, and speak to our Admissions team today.