Alcohol and the liver

[Megsd, BSN, RN]

The thread about the patient taking extraordinary amounts of Tylenol having normal liver test results reminded me...

My mom is, by my estimation, an alcoholic. She only drinks white wine, for the most part, but she drinks every day and she usually finishes off a bottle of wine every 2-3 days (to give you a general idea of the amount). Once I got my driver's license (and therefore she no longer had to be sober to drive me around) she would regularly drink from about 2 in the afternoon until 10 at night and sometimes later.

My dad drank for a long time and sobered up about 9 years ago, and told me sometime afterward that part of how he got himself to quit was he had to go to the doctor for a physical for work and they did general blood tests and found that his liver function had decreased. The doctor prodded my dad to admit the amount of alcohol he drank, and this started my dad on the road to complete sobriety, and he's been happier ever since.

Anyhow, a few years back, due to issues with mom's increased drinking and issues in their marriage, he decided to ask my mom to go to the doctor for a general physical in the hope that they would do the same blood test and find mom's liver with issues due to alcohol, which might convince her to at least cut back on drinking. Mom went to the doctor as planned, and said her blood tests came back just fine -- her liver was fine and dandy. We were shocked, amazed, and very disappointed, because this gave mom the confidence to keep drinking even more, and eventually played a role in my parents' divorce and my move halfway across the country.

I haven't kept an eye on the amount she drinks for the past 3 years because I haven't been in her presence much, but the thread about the tylenol reminded me that I had always wondered if mom had lied about the results, or if, after probably 30 years of heavy drinking, if her liver could be in THAT good of shape. Does this sound normal?

Meghan

[chris_at_lucas_RN, RN]

It doesn't sound "normal," but unfortunately, unless her drinking behavior is causing you problems (like she puts you at risk or embarasses you by showing up at public places in her underwear or something), you'll be hard pressed to convince her she's alcoholic, and she's really not going to want to make any changes.

The best way you can help her is to hit a few Al-Anon meetings. I did, some years ago, and it was the easiest and best fix I've ever had in my life.

Good luck--email or PM me if you like. I've been there, with the alcoholic parent thing.

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

Me too.......I'll never forget my own mother telling me one time, "Your dad and I think we may be drinking too much". Well, you know what they say, if you think you have a problem, you already do. But they decided, within a few days, that they DIDN'T have one, so they went back to their usual routine of a beer with lunch, a couple of martinis before dinner, wine with dinner, and a brandy at bedtime. (Me, I think they just didn't deal well with being completely sober, and it was easier to deny the problem because they were your basic upper-class lushes who were more or less pleasantly stewed all of the time, instead of your basic falling-down binge-drinkers, like yours truly.)

What kills my soul is that even now, 12 1/2 years after I stopped drinking, I still have elevated liver enzymes.......not enough to warrant any interventions, but I have to watch my Tylenol intake and I get blood drawn every 6 months to make sure my liver function isn't deteriorating (so far, so good). I certainly hope your mother doesn't use her normal LFTs as an excuse to keep doing what she's doing. Only two things save anyone with an ETOH problem from killing themselves: luck, and high tolerance......and neither is good, because luck always runs out eventually, and a high tolerance means you're already pretty far down the road to addiction.

Best of luck getting your mom to consider stopping.......trying to save an alcoholic from herself is like shoveling sh** against the tide. :stone

[Megsd, BSN, RN]

Yeah, I've not really tried to do much with her. I'm hoping that some other changes made in her life the past few years will give her things to do besides drinking, but time will tell. I'm dealing with it by living in Kansas rather than California where she is, and not calling if I don't know 100% that she's sober.

I was just curious, in retrospect, if it was really possible for her results to be normal considering the amount she consumes, or if she'd just lied about the results to get dad off her back.

Meghan

[leslie :-D]

[quote=Megsd

I was just curious, in retrospect, if it was really possible for her results to be normal considering the amount she consumes, or if she'd just lied about the results to get dad off her back.

Meghan

hi meghan,

yes, your mom could be lying about her lab results, as denial is a powerful player in the alcoholic relationship.

but even if her labs were normal, that also does mean that the liver is free from disease. our systems can compensate for a long time before any actual damage is shown.

the bottom line is that it has to be your mother's decision and no one else's, or it just won't work.

i agree about going to al-anon....living with alcoholism can indeed destroy the entire family unit.

wishing you peace,

leslie

[CHATSDALE]

If alcohol consumption intervers with your day to day life (you and your dad left the picture) then you have a problem.....of course this can be an excuse to hit the bottle...about the tests if is possible for people to twist an md visit to please themselves....and it is also possible that the ehol is affecting the brain to such an extent that she is losing a grip on reality....

nevertheless===it is not your problem and there is NOTHING that you can do about it...live your own life and lease the door open but you cannot change her and you can not take responsibility for her care PERIOD

[Dr. Gonzo]

I drink 4 beers every day i dont think its doing my liver damage i drink alot of water aswell my dad used to drink alot he quit now and he doesnt seem to have a liver problem even though he has drank hard liquor for most all his life i must of told him to quit like a 100 times but he didnt he only quit because he slipped and hurt his back while he was drunk hopefully something that serious doesnt happen to your mom you can tell her all you want that you want her to quit but it has too come from her sorry i cant really give you any real solution too your moms drinking problem i guess all you can really do is talk to her and pray.