Quiet Liver, Loud Fatigue: Primary Biliary Cholangitis Stories

Inside this volume

Fifty first-person accounts describe primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), the long-term liver disease once called primary biliary cirrhosis. Some writers were found by chance through a routine blood test; others were told for years that their fatigue and itching came from stress, the menopause, work or age. Contributors include a school bus driver, a plumber surprised to have a disease seen mostly in women, a nurse on twelve-hour shifts, a bridal seamstress, a cellar-door manager in wine country who gave up wine, a short-order cook, a farmer an hour and a half from the specialist, a mother and daughter who both have it, and a husband learning to be a carer. They write from Ohio to Nairobi, Swansea to Mexico City. Treatments include ursodeoxycholic acid, a second medicine added when the first was not enough, a clinical trial, bone scans after a broken wrist, help for the itch, and liver transplants, one followed by the disease coming back. Writers also describe brain fog at the office, pacing, a sleep problem hiding under the tiredness, dry eyes, low vitamins, supplements bought in a panic, forms, early retirement, travel and support groups. Some outcomes are hard: one writer learned of cirrhosis on the day of diagnosis, and a seventy-two-year-old describes making peace with not getting a new liver. Others mark ten steady years.

Who it's for

For anyone newly told they have PBC or living with it for years, and for the partners, children and colleagues trying to understand a tiredness they cannot see.

Format · Instant download · PDF & EPUB · Fifty first-person accounts · PDF: 275 pages

A collection of personal testimony, offered as companion reading — not medical advice.

• 50 single-author testimonies from real people
• A short, plain-language introduction to the topic
• Editor's note, contents page, and curated resource list
• Professional interior typesetting and an original cover

Every purchase includes a print-quality PDF (best for desktop, tablet, and printing) and a reflowable EPUB (best for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, and phones). Files are DRM-free. You can download both instantly from the order-confirmation screen, and we email them to your inbox as well, so your books are always within reach.