How Long After Abstaining From Alcohol Do AST Levels Become Normal?

Posted on Fri, 10 Feb 2017

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

Fri, 10 Feb 2017 Answered on

Fri, 3 Mar 2017 Last reviewed on

Question : Hi, my blood test revealed an ast level of 213 and alt level of 94 due to excessive drinking over a long period of time. I am abstaining from drinking and currently taking milk thistle as a supplement and drinking 2 cups of coffee a day. After 2wks, will having a drink at a wedding reverse the lowering process or slow it down? At the time a Med student friend of mine said it wouldn't help but not hurt the process too much either. I am regretting having a couple drinks now and I'm wondering if I have to start over. Will it take another 6 more wks to lower?

Answered by Dr. Amit Jain (51 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
it will take another 6 to 8 weeks

Detailed Answer:
Hello. Thanks for putting your query in HCM. I can understand your concerns.

If you keep complete abstinence then it maytake another 6 to 8 weeks for normalisation of AST and ALT levels.

Few other medicines which I found useful in my patients are ursodeoxycholic acid and multivitamins which are good source of antioxidants. Also regular exercise do help.

Apart from this there are many other causes of increase in AST/ALT levels and that should be also ruled out like overweight, hepatitis B , hepatitis c and autoimmune liver disease. For which few blood tests are required.Also get ultrasound abdomen to rule out cirrhosis.For this I will advise you to visit a hepatologist.

I hope I have answered your query and this will help you. Wish you a good health

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Remy Koshy