After years of tests and admonitions that I am fine, I have a diagnosis. NASH, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. A form of hepatitis that forms because of fat infiltrating the liver, common with conditions where fat is stored abnormally (PCOS and Hypothyroidism). I’m in the beginning stages of cirrhosis so very little damage. But damage nonetheless.
In 2018 I started having abdominal pain. I went through a ton of tests and scans ending in an endoscopy/colonoscopy. They all told I had a bunch of inflammation but that’s all. Goodbye. Maybe it was stress. There was a lot of stress. Crazy old job, fast paced new job. Moving twice. Then 2020. Whopping cough, surgery, again, but I kept having abdominal pain and it was worse.
Because I just had surgery, doctors sent me in for another scan. This time with barium and contrast. They found nothing. No. That’s not right. They found nothing wrong with the surgery. They found a badly inflamed very very fatty liver. One fibroscan later, and it’s lose weight, come back next year, just hope.
I can’t take milk thistle, the only current treatment, as it blocks thyroid function, and insulin. Other drugs are in testing and if approved only for the later stages of cirrhosis. I’ve lost a lot of weight this year due to being sick. But that was before this.
I don’t have any plan. Don’t plan to.
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