Cirrhosis Support Group

The most natural way of slowing the disease is STOP ALL DRINKING.

Thetoot1,

I agree that you can feel peachy one day then have serious problems. I think this applies mainly if you keep drinking. Many people have no idea of the disease till. They are struck by a bleeding easophagas. You have made the important step in quitting. I have been sober just under 6 months and although my GI specialist thinks I have 'Cirrhosis' many of my early symptoms are now gone. I am certain if I had not stopped when I did then things would be far far worse a lot quicker. Keep the sobriety!

Hi Dwing - some years ago, I'd say about 4 years back I went through massive stress and started to have random muscle twitches, ignored at first but as they continued I began to worry, then I started having all kinds of sensations, felt like pins being stuck in my skin, worms crawling under my skin, visible muscle facilations. I ended up at 3 neurologists, 3 MRI's, finally Shands hospital getting tested for ALS (Lou Gerhigs) which is a very, very bad illness. I was finally diagnosed with benign faciculation syndrome. What a relief! All I had to do was exercise, mainly cardo 30 minutes a day, relax, yoga and the symptoms all but disappeared. Not to say you even had that. Just saying stress can do major things to us. To our minds and amazingly, to the body itself. They told me people that are athletic can be prone to it and it is nothing to worry about. Right now I am dealing with tingling and numbness depending on my sleeping position. Had some itchy feet one day. I do know that when I am nervous and focus on the problem it seems to get worse. All the best! Teri

Thanks Teri71. I do believe most of my issues are related to anxiety/depression/stress, etc. I am also a fitness lover. When my issues began I was spending 90 minutes a day, five days a week in the gym. Loved to run and lift weights. Now my energy levels have dropped and because I started to get brain fog and fatigue after my workouts I went back to my doc and some more tests were run (lyme, epstein barr, ANA, rheumatoid). Turns out I am positive for epstein-barr so he thinks I have mononucleosis. I just have the fatigue, drowsiness, brain fog, and low grade fever so I'm not sure if that is it or not. Liver numbers actually improved from the prior tests I had done. AST and ALT dropped even lower to 13 and 17. Bili went down to .7. It's been almost a year since I quit drinking. Hasn't been difficult as I wasn't a heavy drinker, just a daily drinker. Was pointless and a waste of money. If I do have a liver issue than I am fortunate in that I have gotten a warning and took it to heart. Even if my liver is 100% healthy I will never drink another drop of alcohol. I now consider it a deadly poison. It does seem as though many become deathly ill without any warning. If that is true then all the more reason to quit drinking ASAP if you have a problem. Life is actually better without alcohol.

Take care everyone and I continue to pray for all of you daily. You guys are a truly great group of people.

"I've been experiencing weird skin sensations. Sometimes it feels like my skin is burning, sometimes it feels like I'm getting lightly pricked with a pin at random spots all over. Supposedly this is a symptom of anxiety as well, but I never experienced it before. So I'm stuck right now knowing something is going on with my body, but none of the doctor's think there is anything wrong."

Dwing - i am experiencing the same thing! weird skin sensations. and my doctor is also clueless as to what i am trying to convey and i gave up.

i have quit drinking 3 months ago, and i figured alcohol somehow affects CNS (central nervous system) and my thinking is that alcohol suppresses nerves in the brain and once it is removed (by me quit drinking)there is nothing to suppress the nerves and nerves are going haywire until it finds the equilibrium again.

that's what I would like to believe and eventually it will get better. even if that's not true, it is obvious that doctors cannot help me in this regard. so it doesn't matter. just waiting for time to heal.

Forehand36 - You may be dead on. I have spent time reading user posts on alcohol recovery forums and have seen several people post about these skin sensations as well. I have also read a few documents about what the body goes through when you quit drinking. It goes way beyond just the initial 48-72 hour acute withdrawal phase. Just look up post acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS). Your body can take up to two years to return to normal after long term alcohol use. I did not have any acute withdrawal symptoms. I did have a few months of high blood pressure, panic attacks, insomnia, and that sort of thing. I still seem to have some residual mild symptoms such as the skin sensations but I think they are tapering off gradually. As frustrating as it is, time is really what it takes to get over this. I spent nearly 15 years drinking too much. I can't really expect to recover quickly.

I can certainly relate to the pin prick sensations. This didn't start until a month after quitting alcohol? I had balance issues and itching skin. All over muscle twiching is still a problem but after nearly 6 months sober the pin prick sensations have died down a little. I also get numbness in hands and feet. I believe this is alcoholic neuropathy? Never realised the damage alcohol does till I quit!

Well said Guitar

I've been paying attention to your post. You're a good inspiration for others with ALD on how much can change when you completely stop drinking. Keep up the good work !!!

Dwing - yes life is so much better without the booze. I am sad to have relapsed. I know I have done well in sobriety, every aspect of my life was so much better. I was told that if my liver did heal, it would never be "new" again and could not take the abuse I gave it for so many years. I do not know where it stands right now and yes, I'm scared. I had two big relapses....let's say 3 month binges of very heavy vodka drinking.

Those twitches I mentioned occured after having been sober three years, not a drop. They got progressively worse and then the pin pricks, some really hurt! Muscle spasms, twitching like crazy, my face, my glutes, legs.....my whole body was a neurological mess. I was scanned for MS and then tested for ALS. Finally, professor at Shands told me I was okay after some painful electric testing while I looked at a picture of Lou Gherig swinging a bat on his wall. He said....go do some cardio, 30 minutes at least four days a week. Through some yoga in there. I did and it stopped. It got very ramped up during the testing and I had a relapse from my fears. Turned out A-OK. I get twitches once in awhile. I do not know if this has anything to do with my drinking history, but it is nothing like it was. I had gotten to where I started to have muscle cramps and involuntary muscle movements. Scared me silly! My fear and anxiety took it there. It could be alcoholic neuropathy too. I would go with the anxiety and try to relax my mind and body. I learned by that not to panic and certainly not to drink and really get myself in a jam! Always makes things worse, never better. Alcohol does all kinds of wicked things. It's poison in my book. I have had a love/hate with it and I really do hate it. Hope you start feeling better. Oh, neurologist said B vitamin def and sometimes magnesium def can cause this stuff too. Alcoholics get those because some of us get very malnourished. Bloodwork perhaps? Wishing you the best!

Also, like Guitar - I get numbness in hands and feet, usually happens when I lay or sit a certain way, if I sleep with my hands to high up, have to keep them by my sides. It's not much fun.

That 48 to 72 hour detox period is more or less the "life and death" must be monitored phase to avoid seizures from Delirium Tremens (DT's) and usually needs medical supervision. I certainly didn't feel to great even after that. I had some issues writing and spelling for about a month into sobriety, though I felt better. That is just the most critical time usually, it can last longer. Depends on how much you drank and how often. Physical dependency is really rough because you can't just quit, it can be dangerous.

Post edited by: Teri71, at: 06/27/2012 04:29 PM