No Alcohol with Hepatitis C

Drinking with hepatitis C is like throwing fuel on a flame. This may not be a popular opinion. Some of you might even think that it’s too restrictive. I can tell you that as sure as there are stars in the sky, that drinking alcohol while you have the hepatitis C virus will cause increased damage to your liver. On the flip side, stopping drinking can help your liver to heal faster. I’m living proof.

An occasional drinker before my diagnosis

I never drank in my young adulthood. When I was in my early 50’s, I tried my first glass of red wine over the holidays. I felt so sophisticated, plus I loved the taste and the relaxed feeling. I had what I called a 2-inch rule. I would only allow someone to fill my glass with 2 inches of wine. Anything more than that and I would pass out. It made me kind of sad because I loved the flavor and I couldn’t enjoy it very often. I have to admit that after a lifetime of abstinence, I really felt all cool and grown up drinking from a wine glass.

Over the next 2 years, I had an occasional glass of wine with certain meals or while traveling. I got tipsy fast and fell asleep. I blamed my low tolerance to my body’s pure bloodstream. Turns out, it was just the opposite. My body was overwhelmed, only I didn’t know it. So I drank several times a year. I’m too much of a tightwad to drink wine in restaurants, and would only have it at home or a friend’s house. I wasn’t addicted. I just relished an evening with good friends, a nice meal, and a glass of wine. Then I was diagnosed with hepatitis C.

My doctor mistook my brain fog for being drunk

When I was first hospitalized with a swollen stomach, called ascites, the doctor didn’t know what was wrong with me. He thought I was an alcoholic. I was pretty brain fogged out. I had been bleeding from varices so my hemoglobin was low. My platelets were way low. My liver enzymes were all sky high. I acted drunk since I had hepatic encephalopathy.

My liver failed. It was tuckered out. I was dying.

What I knew for sure was that no matter what was causing my liver to fail, I would never do anything that would hurt my liver again. That meant no more wine. I would Never. Ever. Ever. Drink again.

When I learned that the hepatitis C virus was breeding in my liver, I vowed to help it as much as I could.

Making the decision to ditch alcohol

The hepatitis C virus circulates in our bloodstream. It chooses our liver to be it’s breeding ground. Day and night it keeps our liver filled with inflammation. Our liver cells are working to defend themselves by creating bands of connective tissue. While there is nothing you can do to reduce the viral load, you can help to keep inflammation down by doing everything you can to help your liver. One of the easiest things you can do is to stop drinking. If you need help with that, contact a local AA, counselor, pastor, or doctor. Look to friends and family to support your decision to drink NO alcohol with hepatitis C and liver disease. You will be glad you did.