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Any success stories healing from bad ascites?

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Posted 12/31/2017 1:47 AM (GMT -7)
Hello all,

New member here, so greetings! I think I may have a number of questions, but to begin, I would like to ask people to share their success stories about beating or reducing cirrhosis/fibrosis with diet and such. Especially when someone was able to reverse a bad ascites problem.

My liver function has improved much since January and I often feel like I am perfectly normal except for the ascites. I have no varices in my stomach, and lately my blood pressure has improved. Was usually around 80 to 90 at the most, now usually around 100 or more. So in light of this, I am wondering how long I can live like this, feeling basically healthy, able to gain muscle too. I think I'm too well to have any major procedures, but I hate all the big belly problems. After a paracentesis, my belly goes from flat to round again by the same night, sucking up edema fluids from my body. So I never get a real break from this.

I know that every case is different with dozens of different details, causes, effects, etc. But I mainly want to hear more about reversing the portal hypertension, ascites, and edema. Did you overcome this? And what you think played a major role in it.

Thanks!!
Posted 12/31/2017 12:11 PM (GMT -7)
Hi Johnny-o and welcome, . I was diagnosed with hep c and alcoholic hepatitis in 1992. I had significant liver damage at the time. my liver enzymes were 360/alt and 290/ast. I was stage f2 to f3, liver damage. I quit drinking, and stared a better diet. But there was no cure for hep c.. by eliminating alcohol and eating a healthy low carb diet, my enzymes dropped to 80/alt, and 65/ast. By 2012, I had compensated cirrhosis. meaning my liver was still full functioning . in 2012, I cured my hep c. My liver regenerated. by 2014 my biopsy(fibroscan), showed I was f-1.

In your case, you have changed your diet, and eliminated excess sugar. you have removed the source of inflammation, that drove your liver disease. Very glad to hear, you are feeling much better, and you have improved your liver function.

I can not think of a better place to get the help you need. UCSF has done wonders for a few folks ive met on this and other sites..

Please let me know, how your visit goes. best of luck Johnny-o
Posted 12/31/2017 5:53 PM (GMT -7)
Thanks, ppm guy.

Here are my most recent liver function test results, from October 17. My ALT and AST are much lower than yours were. Bilirubins were around 3 for a long time, with a peak in January at 5. My numbers on the whole have been improving. But so far, no change yet in the ascites that I can tell.

May I ask, how bad was your ascites, and was it a problem for all those years between 1992 and 2012? And also, was there actual scar tissue that went away after regeneration? Or was it a very bad case of fibrosis? I think you may be giving me some room for hope here.. heh heh


PROTEIN, TOTAL 6.0 g/dL
6.1 - 8.1 g/dL L

ALBUMIN 3.2 g/dL
3.6 - 5.1 g/dL L

GLOBULIN 2.8 g/dL (calc)
1.9 - 3.7 g/dL (calc)

ALBUMIN/GLOBULIN RATIO 1.1 (calc)
1.0 - 2.5 (calc)

BILIRUBIN, TOTAL 1.3 mg/dL
0.2 - 1.2 mg/dL H

BILIRUBIN, DIRECT 0.3 mg/dL
0.0 - 0.2 mg/dL H

BILIRUBIN, INDIRECT 1.0 mg/dL (calc)
0.2 - 1.2 mg/dL (calc)

ALKALINE PHOSPHATASE 58 U/L
40 - 115 U/L

AST 21 U/L
10 - 35 U/L

ALT 10 U/L
9 - 46 U/L
Posted 1/1/2018 1:15 PM (GMT -7)
hey johnny-o, I never had belly ascities. When I progressed to cirrhosis, my lower legs would swell up like bowling pins. I still get ocassional swelling, but I think it is from loss of mobility now. I also have MS.

Hepatic scar tissue is not reversible. You will find out more when you are evaluated at UCSF. you have done what you can control, with diet, and I hope with no alcohol at all.

My liver enzymes are higher than yours. They stay at a high normal level. I have to take many medications, that are not liver friendly; statins, anti covulsants, and narcotic pain meds. But my liver can handle that load now..

hope your visit goes well... let me know
Posted 1/1/2018 10:01 PM (GMT -7)
Thanks again. Anyone else? Or even to tell a success story that you heard about, even if it wasn't yours?
Posted 1/4/2018 5:31 PM (GMT -7)
go to the search bar above and put in a key word...ascites..,and you will see many posts..,good and bad

or look up "ziff" he has conquered terrible ascites for years

mama lana
Posted 1/28/2018 9:13 AM (GMT -7)
Hello again! Here is an update on what's happening....

I saw my doctor (Hepatologist) in San Francisco about 2 weeks ago, and she said I will have some more tests and scans before they decide to do a biopsy. There might be another cause for my condition, besides liver cirrhosis. Maybe my heart is leaking. Not sure about that yet. But ---

She said to discontinue my diuretic, only 25 spironolcatone/day anyways, and no more 10mg of propranalol twice daily either. I wasn't too happy, because I was hoping for something, probably diuretics, to help control my ascites. Well.....

Here's where it gets interesting. After I got home I was reading more online and found out that fluid restriction is not prescribed for ascites unless you are low on sodium. And I realized the doctor had not mentioned fluid restriction to me. So I thought, why not? Just give it a try.

I began drinking as much water as I wanted, and it was great to not be thirsty all the time. I have been on fluid restriction and/or diuretics for about a year and a half, so lots of dehydration for a long time. Anyhow, once I was drinking a lot more, I was making more urine. And when I had my next paracentesis, I gave only 9.3 liters for the week, down from 9.7 the prior week. Then - another week, this past friday, another procedure, and I only gave 7.94 liters of fluids!

It might be too soon to start dancing, but I can say that besides the fluid amounts, I am feeling much better overall. Maybe it's the fluids resurrecting my long-failing kidneys back to life, or my liver getting adequate fluids to function better, or both. But I will post another update after this Friday's procedure. I'm hopeful that the fluids will stay down.

Thanks to all!
Posted 1/29/2018 11:44 AM (GMT -7)
hey Johnny-o
glad you are getting the help you need, and feeling better. I would email your dr about fluid intake. Probably no big deal, since you feel better.. but, just to be safe, ask your dr!!!
are you by chance, seeing dr Terrault?
Posted 1/29/2018 12:50 PM (GMT -7)
Hi ppm guy,

No, not that doctor. Maybe a new one there, not listed in the staff directory online yet. I forget how to spell her name, but it's like Xiang.

As for fluids, part of my reasoning was that I calculated my then-current 10 liters per week being drained at about 1.5 liters per day. Well, I had always tried to drink 1.5 per day, although I could not ever do it. well, no wonder about that! That's just what I need to lose as ascites! So since my fluid intake does not affect the rate of ascites, my only worry would be the edema buildup on my legs or torso. But it isn't getting worse either. But it's well known that kidneys love to have hydration. And even this week so far, I seem to be filling up with less ascites fluid again. Things are going very well.

But the doctor will be calling me for a consult soon. I'll mention these things.

Thanks!
Posted 10/17/2018 12:33 PM (GMT -7)
UPDATE: Major plot twist! My liver wasn't the primary cause. On July 2, 2018, I finally got a liver biopsy done, at UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco. It was supposed to be a one day in and out thing. But I ended up staying there for 6 and a half weeks - they had to do an open heart surgery on me! Turns out that there was no portal hypertension and no cirrhosis of the liver after all.

My liver was failing due to poor blood flow from the heart, which in and of itself was fine (clean coronary arteries). But the outer lining of the heart, the pericardium, had gotten infected or something, and had been swelling and getting hard, restricting the heart from pumping properly. The docs said most likely after they remove the pericardium, I would heal and eventually be at full health again, as if I had never been sick to begin with, and could live out my life accordingly. (the pericardium is not essential to life or longevity).

So in my case, all the liver problems were secondary, caused by the heart, and also the ascites as well. Here I am, 12 weeks after the surgery, and my healing is going as they expected. But there was a major complication. My kidneys failed after the surgery, and I have been on dialysis 3 days a week since then, but improving. Now they are about to discontinue the dialysis as I no longer need it.

When the blood flow is bad, the liver can get congested and that is what they say happened to me. All I can say now in retrospect is that I had been praying and believing for a miracle somehow, and I got one! Through a plot twist, and a very difficult surgery, but hey, I'll take it!

I hope this info will help others. I would say, if you have a difficult to diagnose liver problem, ask them to check your pericardium. In my case, if the various doctors had been quicker to get a biopsy done, or if they had known to consider the pericardium, then maybe this would not have dragged out for two years.

Like others have said, if you have liver problems, it is up to you to seek out the best medical care possible. Just doing what the doctor says is not enough. You must push to get the best doctors, and learn as much as you can about your specific condition so you are informed and in some cases, you might be able to suggest things your doctor didn't consider. Anyhow, may God bless you in your journey!
Posted 10/17/2018 3:41 PM (GMT -7)
Hey Johnny-o
Great news!!!! Good thing you got that biopsy in time. Best wishes for continued good health
Posted 11/27/2018 8:43 PM (GMT -7)
That's good news Johnny. Glad to see ya got down to the bottom of things and you are so right about complete knowledge of your ailments. While I support surfing the net for info it can be too much for some folks. Feelings of doom and gloom can result from your searches. Particularly when folks don't actually see a proper doctor (Educated in the field). The patient that has himself/her for their own doctor is a fool. I'm no doctor, It took me a while to figure that out. Science and prayer along with a support group is the only way to survive the horrors of this disease. I wish you and yours the best. Congrats on your determination and health.

Ziff
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