Divorced, Lost Job, Drinking 10-20 Units Of Alcohol, Liver Damage. Treatment ?

Posted on Fri, 29 Jul 2011

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 Answered on

Sun, 27 May 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : HI. I recently got divorced after 16 years and lost my job at same time. For the past 6 months i have been drink 10-20 units each day albeit a couple weeks of here and there. i am worried my liver is damaged? if so can it repair itself. Otherwise healthy and no previous liver issues. thx you

Follow up: Dr. Robert Galamaga (6 minutes later)

Sorry what i ment is every day for 6 months but stopping for a week or two here and there. Worried my liver may be damaged. If i stop form now on abd then have liver function tests will they be ok?thx

Answered by Dr. Robert Galamaga (1 hour later)

Hello and thanks for the query.

The answer to your question is a very clear and strong YES. Your liver has a tremendous capacity to heal itself. Drinking as much as you have for 6 months certainly can cause temporary damage but as long as you make a firm and strong commitment to quit drinking then your liver will certainly make a complete recovery of normal function. This may take a few months but that is of no matter as long as you are no longer ingesting alcohol.

It may be difficult to quit drinking so I encourage you to seek support of good friends to give you help through this tough time. Good friends and family will help you overcome almost any obstacle in fact.

Lastly I recommend you also take a daily multivitamin which will help your entire body recover from this.

I thank you again for your query and I hope you found my answer to be helpful. Should you have additional concerns I would be happy to address them.

Regards,

Dr. Galamaga

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T