u/Ok-Letterhead-1388

Well after a long bout with blood loss (rectal bleeding during bowel movements), anemia, weight loss and fatigue (which I attributed to the anemia) I went in for labs/exams.

Not good…

Officially got diagnosed via Ultrasound with fatty liver (for now) the doctor said my liver was full of echogenicity. So I’m assuming really bad fat build up?

Also had a colonoscopy and endoscopy - showed mild gastritis and mild diverticulosis. But GI didn’t seem to think it was bad and didn’t detect any source of the bleeding aside from some grade 1 hemorrhoids. and said see you in 10 years 🤷🏻‍♂️ heck at this point I hope I’m here for the next one!

So here is where I’m struggling and want to know if I should start facing reality…

Labs came back a mixed bag.
ALT -16
AST -28
ALP - 66
GGT - 95
Platelets - 358
RBC - 3.9
Hemoglobin -11.8
Albumin - 4.9
Bilirubin total - 0.4
Total cholesterol - 255
HDL -57
Triglycerides - 614

Background - haven’t taken care of myself in years. Stressful job that keeps me sedentary and depressed. Heavy drinker in particular the past few years. Last year in particular a daily drinker. Like half to a pint of liquor daily. Extremely disheartening when I think how I got to this point…I had so much promise and goals and life got out of hand and now I’m seeing the affects of it.

All I can think is fibrosis at best and cirrhosis even a strong possibility. I know everyone is different but looking at all this…I just don’t see how it can’t be worse than just fatty liver (which is bad enough)

Next steps:
Cutting alcohol - already started
Cutting red meat
Eating better - lean protein/fish
Vitamins

Doctor ordered an Elastography I guess to see how bad the scarring is at this point.

I’m already a thin person - underweight even. So between not eating well, when I did it was garbage and all the alcohol…I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Just never thought it would catch up to me so soon like this…appreciate any insight or advice at this stage and what to expect or how bad it looks.

Wanted to post for guidance and experience as I’m floored as to how I’ve been so neglectful of my labs and shocked my PCP never intervened and now I’m in real bad shape.

I’ll try to be brief but in 2020 I was strong and healthy lipids were all in line. Pandemic and life took its toll…have been very inactive and poor diet and turned to bad vices (alcohol and vaping) dumb I know and no excuses. But death and financial stress is a hell of a thing to overcome.

Anyways fast forward to 2024 after some GI issues I had labs run. That’s the first time I knew I had issues. Cholesterol ran from 190 in 2020 to 285 by 2024. More concerning triglycerides was sitting at 590! While high my doc thought I just needed lifestyle changes. Probably true…but didn’t really take action.

Then by end of year total cholesterol was now 298 and tris 1080! I can’t recall my mindset at the time but I did try to cut some stuff and take a few more walks. I retested 5 months later and dropped tris to 537 still high but better than over 1000 and cholesterol slightly better at 287.

Thought I was on the right track so left it alone.

Retested in November of 2025, here is where I messed up. Lost access to lab portal and never really checked. Until today when I went in for a lipid panel (part of general testing for an upcoming visit) and realized I can now see those previous results.

I see it was total cholesterol of 298 yet again and tris 698. So got worse. Now I am on edge of what today’s labs will be…I can’t believe how bad shape I am in. And how after years I never put the priority into looking into it more. But from what I see I’m in dire shape!

I think I’m past diet and exercise.

For reference lipo (a) in 2024 was 94 if that helps. CAC was 0

Heart scan was good. Recently had US and CT scans. Pancreas shows normal.

I guess I’m wondering how bad am I and what risk am I in if things are worse.

Thanks In advance for any input

Sitting on 25k of debt at the moment.

21,500 CC -21%
3,500 personal loan -18%

I’ve made so much progress recently and very proud of myself. Literally cut my debt in half since December last year. Paid of 2 loans and 1 CC. It hurt sending in the payment for 8k but felt good to see a 0 balance when I was close to getting hit with a 1,800 interest (balance transfer set to expire)

Sadly the progress of cutting my debt from 50k to 25k came at a cost. I depleted my emergency savings. I was torn and know how important it is to have but I just needed to get a hold of the crazy debt and interest in a major way as I felt I was sinking and couldn’t keep seeing 90% of my check monthly going to 5 different bills.

Question now is what do I attack? I have 3k I can put towards these right away. So clearly I’m leaning towards the loan and pretty much wipe that out. Which frees up $500/month.

Or the other option is to just ride it out the next 7 months and just pay the monthly to preserve the 3k to have some emergency funds.

Normally this wouldn’t be a question but I feel my job is in jeopardy in the near future.

Having said that I’ll be in big trouble so want to have as little debt as possible, but on the other hand I want to have some cash on hand.

Would it be wise to pay off what I can while I can or just keep at monthly at this point and save as much as I can?

Thanks

It’s been a great 6 months as far as paying off debt but still have some work to do and need the best approach.

Been in debt for so many years that despite steady employment and good income, it really held me back. I am now really seeing the end of the tunnel and want to keep pushing but want to make the best decision moving forward.

So far this year I’ve managed to pay down 21k which includes closing out a personal loan balance of 6k, another closing out a credit card of 8k while the remaining went to other credit card and personal loan. While making extra payments.

So where I stand now is:

Credit card at 22k 23%
Personal loan at 3k - 19%

While 25k is still a ton at this time last year exactly I was looking at 58k!!!! And 2 years before that 76k so I’m feeling good about that.

Unfortunately I still have work to do and looking at options. I hate paying $450 monthly on interest for the CC (which i have stopped using)
And at about $60/month on the personal loan at this point.

I have offers for a credit card balance transfer or a personal loan at about 11%

Both seem like no brainers but I feel if I can be aggressive I’d really hate to open yet another account. Pay a balance transfer fee or a loan origination fee.

Question is, are the options still worth it or should I just suck it up and continue being aggressive?

Again, don’t want to leave savings on the table but also don’t want another account on my credit “moving debt around” or a hard inquiry etc.

Currently sitting on 35k debt.

23k - credit card at 22%
8k - credit card 2 at 0% now but will go to 17.5% in a month (estimated back interest if left at current balance is $1,800 extra added)
Loan - 4,100

Question is should try and consolidate these? Got an offer for an 8.7% which could wipe these out. But 36 month term requires $1,300 payment which is fine since I’m already doing that now.

Or should I look for yet another 0% 21 month Credit card. (Not sure if it’ll cover the total balance) but would give me wiggle room.

I really do not want another personal loan but feel like it’s hard to pass up. And the $1,300 monthly while rough would help me buckle down.

Kinda lost on what the best approach is.

Pay off the loan of 4k and get another 0% card to buy time. Or just suck it up and consolidate?

So I’ve been struggling with HBP but have been avoiding going on meds. Sounds like a stupid reason but felt like having that on my profile would eliminate me from getting life insurance 🤦🏻‍♂️

Anywho I’m 44M, daily drinker, vape, high stress job and full of anxiety much of the time. 24/7 so I have a perfect storm going on. Not active due to 12 hour work days and stress.

Not surprisingly my BP has been high for years but I’m starting to see a peak now. I’m around 150/100 consistently.

But last week I went into urgent care for a minor injury and my reading was 156/113.

They immediately put me on BP meds. Just prescribed it without asking me (so now it’s on my profile and I’m kinda upset about that) didn’t even talk to my primary about it. I got a 15 day supply as they felt it was high enuf for possible stroke territory.

So I’m wondering if I should take them or really try to focus on lifestyle changes first before there is no going back.

I know I need to cut the alcohol as that I am sure is my major issue. Horrible diet (actually don’t eat much) even lost weight. But the drinking and smoking I’m sure are big culprits. Can’t do much about the work stress at the moment but have to really figure this out.

Just took readings since and am around 150/97 on average.

Any advice or best approach? Is it ok to take the meds and then get off them if I can start making changes? Or is this my new reality?

Thanks

So some semi good news in my quest to pay off debt.

Have a little over $3k coming in from a work bonus (Net pay)

While frustrating that I can’t put this in savings or invest at least I hope to get a chance to chip away. Not large enough to pay any one thing off so wondering if I keep liquid and have that cushion on the month to month payments for breathing room or just suck it up and dish all out to one of the debts (my current pay is able to keep me paying everything needed but leaves very little after)

Here are the options and where I stand now:

Loan 1 balance @24% - 5,100

Loan 2 balance @17.99% - 4,100

Credit card 1 balance @ 0% - 9,000 (note here is balance due by July or remaining will be at a 20% interest. However plan to roll over again for another 12 month interest free…thought I’d have it by now but clearly not.

Credit card 2 balance @21% - 22,000

All in I’m about 40k in debt.

Feel loan 1 is the play as it’s the highest interest and low enough but really want one of these off the books. Feel I can muster an extra 1k from savings and wipe loan 2 completely off.

Any suggestions on best approach?