Alcohol-induced liver failure– what's the prognosis?

Posted by cherrycompote @cherrycompote, Mar 3 2:18pm

Trigger warning– this post is pretty bleak. I would have put it in the discussion group for liver disease if that existed, but maybe putting it here is apt.
The subject is a fifty-six-year-old male who has been an alcoholic since he was nineteen or twenty. For most of this time he was a binge-on-weekends-function-on-weekdays alcoholic, but he started drinking almost every day about a year and a half ago, when he stopped working. Now, for as long as three or four years, the subject has complained of a generalized malaise, as well as having regular diarrhea and drowning in phlegm in the mornings– he says he gets sick with "the flu" quite often. However, this condition seems to have snowballed and new symptoms have emerged in just the last few weeks. They are as follows:
- fatigue: sleeping more, complaining about being tired all the time
- not thinking as clearly, forgetting things
- loss of appetite– at one point remarking that his meal looked delicious but tasted awful to him
- nosebleeds
- petechiae (flat red spots where blood spilled under the skin)
- his wife said that his urine looked like it had protein in it; granted, I didn't ask for details
Also, the "phlegm" thing started as him clearing his throat a lot in the morning but progressed over time to gagging and just recently to violent vomiting sounds. However, I've never seen anything actually come up, which is odd.
I suspect he has some sort of pain because I've heard him breathing heavily and sometimes grunting and swearing behind closed doors. However, he's pretty stoic (relatives who don't live with him still have no idea anything worse than "the flu" is wrong with him) and probably wouldn't admit this to me.
Based on my research, all these signs point to alcohol-induced liver failure. This will be deadly in the long term. There is no chance that he will quit drinking– in fact, there seems to be a feedback loop where the worse he feels, the more he drinks. He has been repeatedly told to see a doctor about this (from as far back as when he first started getting "the flu") and refuses. He's the kind of person who can't be made to do anything. Months ago one of these in-the-dark relatives asked him about his retirement plans, saying that he was probably going to find himself out of money by his eighties. His answer suggested to me that he knew he wasn't going to live long enough to have to worry about that.
My question– and it doesn't feel great to ask this online, but I really want to know– is how long has he got to live? The Internet says people who keep drinking and don't seek medical help can live anywhere from a few months to three years after liver failure. Where I'm concerned personally, there's a pretty big difference between three months and three years. So I was wondering if anyone could give me a more precise estimate based on his exact symptoms?

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Hi @cherrycompote, you probably already know that your question defies a definite answer. It is impossible to give a precise estimate of how long someone has to live based on details of a message, especially from fellow members here who are not medical professionals.

It sounds like this is someone you care about. It is hard to see someone destroy their health. Unfortunately, you can't change someone's behavior or force them to see a doctor. It might help to keep in mind that alcohol abuse and addiction doesn’t just affect the person drinking—it affects their families and loved ones, too.

How does their drinking affect you? Do you have someone you can talk to about it?

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I like this comment! Yes, that IS a good question....how does his alcoholism affect you????? Have you been to al anon??? U can't change HIM. But u can change how you think about HIM and his disease. Ive been in recovery for 30 yrs and worked in the field for decades. Start going 2 meetings. Get yourself a same sex sponsor just as an alcoholic would do if he wanted to stop drinking. Get a home group to help you feel at ease and comfortable. Good luck, sobriety or this path for u as his wife will incredible!! U will learn soooo much about yourself and grow. Journal, then occas read it to compare your growth. You'll be amazed!!!

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>>There is no chance that he will quit drinking– in fact, there seems to be a feedback loop where the worse he feels, the more he drinks. < <

Dr.---------why do you drink?
Patient---because I'm ashamed.
Dr---------what are you ashamed of?
Patient---I'm ashamed of my drinking.

Thus is one of the pardox's of alcoholism.

How long does he have to live? Nobody knows for sure but not long if he does not change.

I have a lady friend who needed a liver transplant because of alcoholism. But first she had to quit drinking and smoking for a year before Mayo would put her on the transplant list. She now has 7 years clean and sober. And has a new liver.

If your friend has given up there is nothing you can do. But the most important thing YOU can do is take care of yourself. Try alanon, it will help.

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Your friend needs to see a psychiatrist to treat this. I knew 5 people who drank like your friend and 4 of them were dead by 66 and my neighbor was dead by 55. A lot of kids are raised in families with people who drink excessive amounts of alcohol and then the kids take it up.

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