I have a friend who is 45 and suffers from liver disease. He is overweight and has loved his beer for many years now. Ihave never thought of him as an alcoholic as to me that is someone who loses control and does horrible things while under the influence. Ed just maintains a happy go lucky attitude no matter how much or little alcohol. A wonderful family man with a wife and two daughters, can make you laugh when you're in the worst of moods. They have him on Chemotherapy for one year, some kind that he gives himself a shot of each week??? I wish I had gotten more details on it and will tomorrow. He is struggling the worst with being lightheaded and weak. He is trying to work still and struggling. At times he will need to pull over to the side of the road as he feels like he will pass out. His doctors tell him this is "part of the treatment". I'm finding that hard to believe after learning all I have on this board about chemo. What medications are there for chemotherapy that control the nausea and the extreme fatigue?? Any help would be wonderful.
Minnie

Minnie,
I was an alcoholic for many years - mainly a beer drinker and never had a DUI, always held a job and was what we call in the program, a high functioning drunk. This wino in the doorway, days of wine and roses shit is a little passe and very naive view of "normies". More and more modern day alcoholics are professional people. And yes, we are usually quite charming and lovable, contrary to the typical Hollywood stereotype. The moral of the story is that things often aren't as they appear.

That said, since he is dx'd with a liver problem I hope that he is able to abstain from drinking -forever (I too have a serious liver problem known as Hep C).

None of the medications they gave me worked really well for nausea and the fatigue had a mind of its own, although since I had radiation also, it's apples and oranges. The best thing he can do is talk to his doctors and nutritionist and start finding some solutions to these problems. He may have to try different things such as Zofran, compazine or others. This is all complicated by the liver issue. All meds will have to be carefully scrutinized for potential for liver damage so no one can really advise you here what to try.

This sounds a lot like a hep C treatment protocol (interferon). It is done a lot like chemo and has the same effects. My doctor told me that there are over 5 miilion undiagnosed cases of people with hep C walking around America today. He said it was the "new frontier" of medicine. Since there is a stigma to having hep C maybe he doesn't want to go public with it.

The liver is a vital organ, you can't live without one. It is critical that liver disease be held in check -even if this means taking some down time. As far as the passing out thing while driving - he should not be on the road. This is a clear and present danger to the rest of us. I didn't get behind the wheel of a car for over 6 months because of the very same issues.

Hey Gary,
Thanks for the advice, I will pass it on. I understand your point about an alcoholic stereotype. I guess I was comparing him to my father who was a raging alcoholic and turned into a demon a few hours after the first drink. To answer your question, Ed does realize that his alcohol use is the culprit, although he is quick to say "it is not cirrohsis". I think he mentioned something about his doctor wondering if he had contracted hepatitis in childhood?? I will ask him for more details.
Why such shame in admitting to having Hep C??
Minnie

Hep C is considered a sexually transmitted disease. In my case I supposedly had hep A back in the 70's and they told me (last year) that it was probably actually hep C and misdiagnosed since they didn't have accurate test methods back then and hep c hadn't been discovered yet. Hepatitis can lurk for many years before becoming active and noticeable as well. The current test is a antibody test which, if positive, they should then do a PCR and/or DNA test which is 98% accurate, In some cases they will also do a liver biopsy.

It is the leading cause of liver cancer and transplants as well.

And yes, there are those kinds of alcoholics as well, not to minimize by any means, your ACA experience. I'm very sorry you had to endure that. Your childhood must have been a living hell.

minniea, don't know what your friends blood levels are, but I found that Procrit helped me a lot when I was just finished with treatment. I don't know if it shouldn't be used during treatment or what, but he might want to check into it. All of Gary's comments, of course, regarding care given the liver problems, should be observed, but he could at least inquire about Procrit with his doctors.

Gary,
It is interferon that Ed is taking and his wife said his main complaints are severe headaches, backaches, nausea with cramping and overwhelming fatigue. How were you able to control the side effects, if at all? Thanks for your advice in all of this, they feel as if the doctors are blowing him off.
My childhood was the stuff books are written about, classic alcoholic tale. Wife that enabled it all, damn good mother but weak and unable to stand up to the man she loved, the same man that abused her and her children in ways tough to even talk about. There wasn't as much help available to her or us back then so she stuck it out for 18 years, not like the small town we lived in was going to get involved.........everyone, including the school officials, knew what was going on in that house with four small children. My father was by far the wealthiest man in the area I grew up in. She left when my brother and I found out our father was having an affair with his brothers wife, we told mom either he was leaving or we were, and she finally took the strength we offered her. We were 15 and 16. His brothers wife became our stepmother and even with a divorce he continued to contaminate our lives and make my mother miserable. To this day she will tell you that she still loves him, go figure. He is alive, unbelievably healthy, and blissfully drunk 1000 miles away from me. Last time he saw me he had to ask my childrens names. I spent years agonizing over the hurt feelings it created in me until it dawned on me that he is a sick man, that he has an illness. From that moment on I learned to accept my father for what he is and to take what he has to offer me. He's not all bad, no human is, and in some strange way I know that he loves his children. One things for sure, there is NO alcohol in my house!! My husband played around with drinking beer when we were having a stressful time about 10 years ago, I put an end to that real quick.
Thanks Gary,
Minnie

Minnie,

I am really sorry you had such a rough time growing up. I grew up with what I call a second-generation alcoholic family. My grandfather was a horrible drunk but the Chief of Police in a small town. He kept a bottle of Old Crow under the seat in his police car. As you know, there are tons of stories growing up with alcoholics in the family. I am glad you see the illness side of it and don't dwell on the person. It may not make it easier but it is much more practical.

I went through the interferon treatments for a year. It is very debilitating but a bit different from chemo as we had it. The cramping and almost passing out are most likely the result of dehydration. As a general rule, if you take the weight (in lbs) divide by 2, this is the MINIMUM number of ounces of water to drink per day. More is better but not taking this much will guarentee muscle cramps and lightheadedness. I also had headaches so bad that I went in for CT scans and MRI's more than once. Each time I was dehydrated as confirmed with electrolyte deficiencies in blood work.

Diet is also very important with the interferon. I am assuming he is also on the Ribavirin or combo therapy as it is called. As with any liver ailments, proper diet is essential. The focus is on a non-greasy, low-fat, high alkiline diet. Avoid all citrus fruit except lemons. Lemons are known to stimulate and regulate the production of liver enzymes. Blueberries are good as is cottage cheese. All other cheese and dairy products should be avoided. Egg yolks (as in sunny-side up or in drinks) are good but cooked eggs are not. Protein supplements are good but only whey and not in excess. Apples, bananas, veggies, etc., are all good. There are some good Spirulina/Whey drinks out that will give more energy and protein. Excercise in moderation is necessary. With the Ribavirin and Interferon, white blood counts go real low and are supposed to be monitored at least once per month through the treatment. Red blood cells also dip down and stay down, often after treatment ends. Procrit is used in extreme cases as is Nupogena in extreme cases of low white blood counts.

There is a great book called the Hep C Primer that goes into great detail and a few Hep C websites that explain why the diet has to be altered, etc.

I hope this helps. Doing nothing will not only make it worse but end up destroying the liver. As Gary points out, hep c is the main cause of liver transplants.

Ed

Minnie,
at this time they don't think that I need any treatment for it. My liver function is fairly normal and stable. My viral loading is relatively low, 20,394IU/ml (normal is >615). Maybe they're expecting me to die from the cancer so they they don't have to invest any more money on me ;-)

I would have thought that the Tx for cancer would have exacerbated the liver issues but apparently not.

Quiting drinking over 9 years years ago was probably a really good move in more ways than one.

I feel very blessed that my parents were both "normies". I had to learn how to be an alcoholic all on my own.

Ed - thanks for the tip on the Hep C primer.

There is no alcohol (or tobacco) for that matter allowed in our house either.

Gary,

My load was 1,000,000 and the doc thought it best to treat. It was undetectable at the 3 month check and now almost 2 years later it still is. I was fully expecting the virus to resurface during treatment but I had it checked every other month. My lymph node in the neck started swelling 2 weeks after treatment ended. My wife's OB/GYN thinks there is a connection to the interferon and cancer but what choice do you have? I would be curious to look at everyone post-treatment and see if others had any type of cancer from the immune suppression.

Ed