# So, I made this pact with the devil **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 15, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-made-this-pact-with-the-devil/653047 "2013-03-15T21:48:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-made-this-pact-with-the-devil/653047/1 "2013-03-15T21:48:57Z")
or it might have been god. I had this terrible pain where the liver lives. And I said to someone (devil or god-I dunno), “If ya make this pain go away, I’ll quit drinkin’.” Well, three days (no booze) have gone by, and the pain is gone! Well, today a beer is lookin’ pretty good, and I 'd like to partake. What’s gonna happen? Will I be punished? Anyone else had experience with this kind of stuff? ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-made-this-pact-with-the-devil/653047/2 "2013-03-15T22:04:18Z")
First of all, you probably should take a quick trip to a doctor - I doubt seriously that you would actually “feel” the liver problem (although I suppose it is possible) so it could be something else more serious or, more likely, less serious and perhaps just a spasm or something you needn’t worry much about. But only a doctor (and not me or anyone on the Internet) can tell for sure! Stopping drinking might have helped in some manner - who knows, maybe this is a kidney function or any number of other things. So that wasn’t a bad first step. You might want to try not drinking just for 2 weeks or a month - see if you can do that. This would show that drinking is not particularly a “problem” for you, and not drinking would be probably a good thing for just a short period of time. Especially if you do go to a doctor, as suggested, to find out the real cause of that pain. The body is a lot smarter than you would imagine. People often stop eating or drinking something they feel is not good for them, and often they are correct. Call it a “feeling”, but you can sort of sense when something doesn’t sit well and avoiding it for a time is a good thing. But go to a doctor. If they say it was just something that is not worrisome, you can go out for a drink after that if you wish! Until then - listen to what the body is kind of trying to tell ya. To your health! (And no - don’t raise a glass just yet.) ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-made-this-pact-with-the-devil/653047/3 "2013-03-15T22:21:10Z")
If you’re sufficiently worried that you’re making a pact with the devil, you may want to get this checked out. Also, how’s your guitar playing? ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-made-this-pact-with-the-devil/653047/4 "2013-03-16T01:30:27Z")
Thank you **DMark** for your concern. Given the tone of my post I wasn’t expecting any serious responses. Hoping we could just laugh about it. But, I guess you saw through that. And I appreciate it. Really don’t want to go to a doctor. I am one of those “no news is good news” type of people. However, I will continue not drinking. Thanks again. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-made-this-pact-with-the-devil/653047/5 "2013-03-16T01:33:15Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > If you’re sufficiently worried that you’re making a pact with the devil, you may want to get this checked out. > > Also, how’s your guitar playing? Thanks **3 D**. You are a pretty perceptive guy! I gave up the guitar when it wouldn’t fit into my suitcase. The harmonica packs easier. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-made-this-pact-with-the-devil/653047/6 "2013-03-16T01:58:10Z")
Well, if somebody shows up and challenges you to out-play him, if he’s got a golden harmonica, just say no. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-made-this-pact-with-the-devil/653047/7 "2013-03-16T02:21:43Z")
You shouldn’t laugh about it at all. Liver dysfunction is deadly serious even if you live through it. I went through it myself 4 years ago (I was 35 at the time) caused by a bad combination of prescription drugs plus a few a drinks. I went from perfectly fine to jaundiced, near death, and collapsed on the floor with little hope of survival within about 4 hours. I didn’t even know what year it was when the doctors revived me. They told me I was going to die that night and I had to sign all kinds of papers and give my last wishes to my family. It took a year of physical rehabilitation to get back to semi-normal and I would say that full normalcy took about 2 years. I had to go through the transplant procedure process in the mean-time to figure out how long I was going to live. I don’t need it now but hundreds of thousands of dollars were wasted in the process. Let me tell you one thing. Do not joke about this shit! It is as serious as it gets. Your liver controls everything else in your body and when it fails, you die a (usually) slow and painful death. The good news is that it is the most resilient organ in the body and the only one that can regenerate itself fully if you arrest the damage in time. Do yourself and your family a huge favor and don’t joke about this anymore. You are in dire need of medical attention and you have to get it. The cost will only go up the longer the wait. The great news is that if you stop what you are doing, you can be perfectly healthy in 3 - 4 months. You can PM me if you want. I know all about this stuff and how to fix it.