A Fall That Left Its Mark
“In 2019, during a hill run, one misstep turned into a cascade of injuries. The immediate damage was clear: a fractured patella, a break above my right eye, damaged vision, and a hidden fracture in my hip. Recovery was slow and incomplete, with pain lingering long after the visible wounds had healed. For years, it was manageable, but just barely. Every run, every day on my feet, carried a constant reminder of what my body had been through.”
When the Muscle Relaxant Became a Crutch
“The pain didn’t go away—it became part of my life. Sometime after the fall, I came across a muscle relaxant called Mobizox. It wasn’t a prescription drug I used daily—it was something I kept on hand for those particularly tough days when the pain refused to fade. Mobizox, a combination of a muscle relaxant and an anti-inflammatory, seemed harmless at first. It was the kind of thing you’d take after a race or a long day, just to help your body recover.”
“At first, it was rare—a pill after a particularly tough run or during a flare-up. But slowly, it became routine. By the time I realized it, Mobizox had become my go-to for managing pain. And because it worked, I never stopped to think about the strain it might be putting on my body, especially my liver.”
“I even consulted a doctor friend to ask if it was okay to use during a race. His casual ‘Yes, it’s fine’ felt like a green light to keep going. And so I did—taking Mobizox whenever the pain crept in, usually toward the finish line of a race. I wasn’t dependent, I told myself. I was just managing.”
The Numbers That Warned Me
Liver Function Test (July 2022): A warning sign I didn’t take seriously. Elevated GGTP, AST, and ALT levels were my body’s way of sounding the alarm.
“In July 2022, my routine liver function tests painted a picture I should have taken more seriously. The results were clear: AST was 151 (normal is below 40), ALT was 50 (just above the normal range), and GGTP—a critical marker for liver stress—was a shocking 559 (normal is under 73). Even alkaline phosphatase and direct bilirubin were elevated. These numbers were screaming that my liver was in trouble.”
“But here’s the thing: no cirrhosis was found. ‘Just fatty liver,’ I told myself, convincing myself it wasn’t a big deal. After all, I wasn’t experiencing major symptoms. The fatigue, occasional pain, and discomfort were easy to blame on stress, running, or anything else. As long as there was no cirrhosis, I thought I had time. But I didn’t realize how close I was to the edge.”
The Crash That Brought It All Together
“By December 2022, the choices I’d been making—drinking socially, relying on painkillers, ignoring my body’s warnings—caught up with me in a way I didn’t see coming. I crashed. Not metaphorically—physically, completely. My body gave out, and I was rushed to the ICU.”
“I wasn’t conscious for most of it, but what I know now comes from my family. They told me how the doctors inspected every substance in the house, looking for answers. Mobizox was one of the first things they flagged. For a moment, they even suspected substance misuse, unable to reconcile how quickly my health had spiraled. It wasn’t just alcohol. It wasn’t just the pills. It was the cumulative toll of years of ignoring what my body was trying to tell me.”
When One Weakness Becomes Many
“The liver is an incredible organ—resilient, adaptable, capable of withstanding more than we give it credit for. But even it has limits. In July, it was struggling with fatty liver. By December, it had spiraled into cirrhosis. Years of drinking had already weakened it, and the addition of Mobizox, a muscle relaxant that I thought was harmless, only accelerated the damage.”
“What I’ve learned since that crash is that a single weakness—like a struggling liver—doesn’t stay isolated. It amplifies everything else. The pain I tried to mask, the fatigue I ignored, the pills I popped to get through—it all came back to the same root problem. I wasn’t taking care of myself.”
Lessons From the Crash
- Everything Adds Up:
“The choices you make don’t exist in a vacuum. A drink here, a pill there—they might feel insignificant, but over time, they add up in ways you can’t ignore.” - Weakness Isn’t Isolated:
“A weak liver doesn’t just process alcohol poorly—it struggles with medications, infections, and even your energy levels. When one part of your body suffers, the rest of it follows.” - Listen Before It’s Too Late:
“Your body is always talking to you. Pain, fatigue, dependency—they’re signals. Ignoring them doesn’t make them go away. It makes them louder.”
A Message to Others
“If you have a known weakness—whether it’s your liver, your heart, or something else—take it seriously. It’s not just one part of your body at risk. That weakness opens the door to 100 other problems. And every quick fix—every muscle relaxant, painkiller, or drink—has the potential to accelerate the damage.”
“Take the time to ask yourself: What am I masking? What am I avoiding? And what would it look like to actually heal, instead of just coping?”
Closing Thought
“For me, the crash in 2022 was the breaking point I didn’t see coming. But it was also the wake-up call I couldn’t ignore. The July numbers warned me, but I didn’t listen. Now, I’m learning to approach my body differently—not as something to silence with pills or push past with denial, but as something to care for, listen to, and protect. Because the choices you make today are the life you live tomorrow.”
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