u/Honest_Original7995

Hi everyone. I’m a 22-year-old woman from Canada, and I’m sharing my story because my doctors say my case is unusual. I’m hoping someone here has gone through something similar because this has been the hardest experience of my life.
It all started when I had my gallbladder removed because of gallstones. I stayed in the hospital for two days after surgery and was discharged. The very next day, I developed severe pain in my upper right back and had to return to the emergency room. At that time, I had no idea my liver was involved.
They told me it was probably a muscle strain, gave me medication for muscle pain, and sent me home. The pain never really went away.
The next day I went back to the emergency room because I was still in severe pain. This time they thought it might be a kidney problem. They gave me medication and sent me home again, but nothing changed.
I returned to the emergency room a third time. They thought it might be related to my fatty liver. They treated my pain, including morphine, but I was discharged again. The pain kept getting worse.
By the fourth visit, I was desperate. I drove about 45 minutes to another hospital because the hospital in my hometown wasn’t finding any answers. Every time I went there, I was mostly left waiting and then sent home. When I arrived at the hospital in the other city, everything changed. I was admitted immediately, and I never went back home after that.
For almost 20 days, I was treated mainly with morphine because the pain was unbearable. At first I received IV morphine every two hours, and later I was switched to oral morphine every two hours. I also received medication for constant nausea and vomiting. About three days before I was discharged, I stopped taking the morphine because, for the first time, the unbearable pain had finally improved.
The strange thing is that after my gallbladder surgery, I actually felt okay for about a month. Then suddenly the pain returned, but this time it was much worse than before. It felt like my liver was on fire. I had severe pain in my upper right abdomen and back, constant nausea, vomiting, intense itching, and eventually my eyes turned yellow.
The doctors performed what felt like every possible test: countless blood tests, CT scans, MRI scans, and finally a liver biopsy because they couldn’t figure out what was causing my liver injury. They even considered autoimmune hepatitis.
When the biopsy results came back, I was told I had drug-induced liver injury (DILI), most likely caused by antibiotics I had taken before all of this happened. I was also told I already had fatty liver disease, and one doctor told me my liver looked like the liver of someone around 70 years old who had been drinking heavily for many years. Hearing those words at only 22 years old completely devastated me.
Since this all started, I have lost about 10 kg (22 lbs). Part of it was because I was so sick, and part of it has been from following a strict low-fat diet during my recovery.
My doctors told me my case is still not closed. They are referring me to a liver specialist in Vancouver because they feel my case is unusual for someone my age. I am still having frequent blood tests to monitor my liver. I have another blood test and an appointment with my doctor on the 13th to discuss my results and what happens next.
After I was discharged from the hospital, something else happened that frightened me almost as much as the liver disease.
I developed severe panic attacks.
I don’t know if it was because of everything I went through, the amount of morphine I received, or simply the trauma of the entire experience, but I couldn’t stop crying. I became terrified of hospitals. I couldn’t sleep. My mind never stopped racing. I had horrible thoughts and even visual hallucinations. I had to return to the hospital because I truly believed something was seriously wrong with me.
The doctors prescribed medication for anxiety/depression and medication to help me sleep. Thankfully those symptoms gradually disappeared, and I have now stopped taking those medications.
Today I’m much better than I was. My yellow eyes are gone. The itching has improved but still comes and goes. I still have mild discomfort (about 2–3/10) on my upper right side, especially after eating. It’s nothing like the pain that put me in the hospital, but it’s still there, reminding me that my liver is still healing.
I honestly just want to know if anyone has experienced anything similar.
• Has anyone here had DILI caused by antibiotics?
• Did anyone need a liver biopsy?
• Were you told your liver was severely damaged even though you were young?
• Did you continue having mild pain or itching during recovery?
• Did anyone experience panic attacks or severe anxiety after a long hospitalization or after receiving large amounts of morphine?
• How long did it take before your liver tests improved and you finally felt like yourself again?
Thank you so much for reading my story. This has been the hardest experience of my life. I truly felt like I was going to die, and now I’m just hoping to find someone who understands what I’ve been through.