Pain in the liver after alcohol

The statement of "experts" that they have a liver ache after alcohol, requires clarification. First, alcohol is not a substance that causes pain. By action, he is close to narcotic drugs.

Secondly, the liver is an uneasy organ, its feature is the absence of painful nerve endings in the parenchyma. They are only in the capsule. A dense fibrous coating protects the hepatic cells and reacts only to tension or rupture.

It would be more correct to say that pain in the liver causes diseases accompanied by an increase in the organ due to inflammation or swelling, trauma, a growing tumor. On what grounds alcohol is attributed to these factors, we will try to find out.

Biochemical transformations of alcohol in the body

In the liver, alcohol comes in with blood after partial absorption in the stomach, then in the intestine. The main component of alcoholic beverages is alcohol (ethanol). Although a small amount of methyl alcohol, chemical additives, and vegetable components also have a negative effect. A significant role belongs to the quality of snacks.

In hepatocytes there is a special enzyme (alcohol dehydrogenase). Its biochemical transformation is controlled by strong coenzymes. As a result of the connection with ethanol, acetaldehyde forms in the cells. Further transformations are provided by oxidative cytoplasmic systems and enzyme catalase. As a result of the transformation, acetic acid remains.

The reserve of liver enzymes for decontamination is sufficient for several years. After exhaustion in hepatocytes, irreversible changes are increasing. The damaging effect of alcohol with regular use is proved. In terms of pure alcohol for men, the maximum dose is 80 ml daily, women - 20-40 ml, the teenager is 15 ml per day.

Complete restoration of liver cells is possible only at the initial stage of fatty disease

What pathology of the liver is associated with alcohol?

The International Statistical Classification of Diseases has the term "alcoholic liver disease". It includes several diseases, accompanied by a violation of the structure and function of the hepatic cells. All of them depend on violations in the liver after alcohol. Narcologists call them stages.

Steatosis (fatty degeneration) is the easiest option. It is found in all people who abuse alcohol. There is no pain. The presence of excess weight and chronic diseases with the pathology of fat metabolism increases the negative effect.

In the patient's body, the level of triglycerides is increasing, fatty inclusions in the form of smallest vesicles are deposited in hepatocytes. For a person it is important that at this stage the liver can fully recover after a month after giving up alcohol. Continued drunkenness leads to fatty degeneration. Cells are replaced with fat tissue, the organ loses its function.

Alcoholic hepatitis is an inflammatory disease of the liver. It is accompanied by dull pain in the right hypochondrium, a constant sense of heaviness. Possible acute form after a single use of alcohol-containing drinks and chronic course.

Under the influence of acetaldehyde, leukocyte infiltration is formed in the center of the hepatic lobules, hepatocytes are enlarged, and special protein inclusions from hyaline (Mallory's calf) are found in the cytoplasm. They surround the nucleus of the cell and cause irreversible changes in the form of fibrosis against the background of fatty degeneration. Bile duct stagnation occurs in the intrahepatic bile ducts.

The inflammatory process is actively supported:

• the production of autoantibodies and anti-inflammatory cytokines of immunoglobulin type on nuclear cell structures;
• oxygen starvation of hepatocytes due to the compression of arterial vessels with edema.

Alcoholic fibrosis is an option for the growth of connective tissue without disturbing the structure of the hepatic lobules. Leaves an undamaged part of the body's functions. The process of fibrosis contributes to the imbalance of the intestinal microflora. Some microorganisms are able to release endotoxin, which supports scarring.

Alcoholic cirrhosis - from previous stages is characterized by a gradual diffuse lesion of the whole organ with death of hepatocytes, replacement of functioning tissue with scars. The whole structure of the liver is broken, the lobules become dense knots. They grow to large sizes.

When the liver loses more than half of the hepatocytes, a person develops symptoms of hepatic insufficiency. Why do some patients develop cirrhosis with an alcoholic experience of 5-7 years, and in others after 10-15, explain the state of body immunity, individual protective reactions.

Who has the highest risk of pain?

In men, alcoholic illness with liver pain develops 3 times more often than in women. In recent years, prevalence in adolescents has been observed. The consumption of non-alcoholic beer containing 5% pure alcohol, in a large volume provides a critical dosage. It is established that with breaks in drunkenness for 2 weeks, the final liver damage is postponed for 10-15 years.

Women are more likely to develop alcohol dependence with subsequent changes in the liver due to the peculiarity of enzyme systems that break down ethanol

The liver is severely affected:

• with excessive weight, lack of protein in food, vitamins;
• not excluding the use of surrogates of alcohol, additionally affecting the body with toxic substances;
• (25% of patients respond positively to viral hepatitis C);
• having hereditary predisposition.

Characteristics of pain syndrome

If the liver hurts after taking alcohol, and in his absence, the person does not feel pain, then we can assume several variants of the lesion:

• activation of hepatitis with edema and moderate organ enlargement, congestion of bile and dilatation of the capsule;
• stimulation of fibrotic disorders in cirrhosis with the formation of portal hypertension, increased liver;
• acute poisoning, when pain in the right upper quadrant caused by gastritis;
• the reaction of the gallbladder and ducts to the failure of the functioning of the liver.

The last two forms answer the common question "can the liver be very painful after alcohol?" Intensive pains are caused by the liver only in case of rapid growth of the tumor, echinococcal cyst, abscess. In such cases the reception of alcohol stimulates the process, worsens the situation and the patient's condition. Cholestatic hepatitis proceeds with dilating pain in the hypochondrium on the right.

What additional signs indicate an alcoholic illness?

At the stage of steatosis, there is no pain, patients rarely feel malaise, nausea. Alcoholic hepatitis proceeds in different forms. The most pronounced symptoms are with icteric, cholestatic and fulminant.

• Jaundice - accompanied by severe yellowing of the skin and sclera, loss of appetite, weakness, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea.
• With cholestatic hepatitis - in contrast to icteric skin color expressed, urine dark, feces gray, the patient has severe itching of the skin, the temperature rises.
• Fulminant - rapidly progresses, accompanied by hemorrhagic manifestations, renal damage, increasing liver failure, toxic effect on the cells of the brain.

Intoxication of the brain is expressed:

• in violation of sleep (at night insomnia, in the afternoon - drowsiness);
• a feeling of fatigue, loss of efficiency;
• depression, reduced memory, increased irritability.

The bright color of the palmar surface of the hand is considered a symptom of chronic liver damage

On the beginning signs of liver failure can be judged by the presence of vascular "stars" on the face and body, redness of the palms and feet, the appearance of bruises from insignificant pressure, the transformation of the shape of the fingers into "drumsticks."

In men, the mammary glands are enlarged, fat is deposited on the hips and abdomen, legs and arms become thinner, the testicles become atrophied, and the potency decreases. The appearance of a large abdomen with an enlarged network of subcutaneous veins around the navel, enlarged spleen, vomiting with blood indicate an increase in pressure in the portal system.

What diseases cause pain in the liver?

Drinking alcohol can exacerbate the chronic pathology of other organs. This should be remembered in the event of pain in the right hypochondrium. Ulcer of the stomach and duodenum - pains on the right are characteristic for defeat of the pyloric part of the stomach, bulbitis and ulcers in the initial zone of the duodenum.

Pain will occur 1.5-2 hours after the start of drinking. Very intense, give to the navel, right side of the waist. They are accompanied by vomiting with bitterness, eructation, diarrhea. In acute pancreatitis - pain intense, are shrouded in nature, worried about constant nausea, vomiting with bile, diarrhea, bitter taste in the mouth, bloating, fever.

Acute or exacerbation of chronic cholecystitis - manifest cramping pain in the right hypochondrium with irradiation in the scapula, right lower back. The temperature rises sharply with chills and sweating. Repeated vomiting with bile. Distress or constipation worries.

How to help with pain in the liver?

The problem of what to do if the liver hurts after alcohol does not have a quick solution. Strong pain, as we have already seen, is caused not by the liver. For treatment, you need to see a doctor and examine the gastrointestinal tract. But it should be done on a sober head and do not go to a polyclinic with a hangover.

If intense pains bother a drunk person, do not be shy, you need to call an ambulance. It is necessary to see a doctor. Alcoholic intoxication significantly violates the typical clinic of diseases and contributes to errors in diagnosis. Possible pain due to food poisoning, an attack of cholecystitis, appendicitis.

Pumpkin dishes have many medicinal properties for the patient

You can not wash the stomach by yourself. To remove toxins, it is recommended to take enterosorbents (4 tablets of activated carbon, Polysorb, Smektu). The patient should drink more. Suitable alkaline mineral water without gas, broth of wild rose, tea with chamomile.

To improve the patency of the bile ducts and prevent stagnation, you can take a pill No-shpy, Platifillin, Spazmalgona. After the acute symptoms subsided, it is necessary to exclude the use of alcohol, for a week to arrange strictly dietary meals (oatmeal, cottage cheese, kefir, fruit, low-fat meat dishes, vegetable salads).

2-3 times it is necessary to relieve the liver from bile with the help of "blind sounding": in the morning on an empty stomach 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, Xylitol or Sorbitol, a glass of warm mineral water with the released gas are taken. Then you need to lie on your right side on a warm heater for an hour and a half.

What vitamins should be taken, hepatoprotectors should be discussed with the doctor. These drugs will not work soon, if you continue to drink alcohol, generally useless. The effect will appear after 2-3 months of the course application.

Pain in the liver is a good reason to stop and think about the advisability of continuing the habitual way of life. To replace the liver with cirrhosis can only organ transplantation, but with alcohol damage on it are very reluctant. Many people with other diseases need this operation.