Hep C question between two herbal supplements

[sleepy]

Hi all wise BLers-

I'm hoping that someone w/ more bio knowledge than myself can offer feedback: I've been taking Livotrit and bet tcp for my Hep c - straight milk thistle would b a lot cheaper though.......I'll paste description of Livotrit below- both Livotrit and beta tcp r made by Biotech lab:

Nutrition Info

**Each tablet provides: a unique blend of specially prepared botanical extracts derived from the following: Bhringraj (Eclipta alba), Guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia), Kalmegh (Andrographis paniculata), Punarnava (Boerhaavia diffusa), Katuki (Picrorrhiza kurrua), Daru Haridra (Berberis aristata), Milk Thistle (Silymarin), and Saccharum officinarum.
Description

Livotrit Plus is an herbal preparation based on Ayurvedic principles with milk thistle and the trace minerals from raw sugar cane juice, which has been called the Wulzen Anti-Stiffness Factor. Livotrit Plus is usually used with liver disease problems, alcoholism, heavy metal body burdens, chemical or radiation damage to the liver, viral infections, hepatitis, mononucleosis, EBV, CMV, cirrhosis. Livotrit Plus is an absolute necessity in liver viral problems. Livotrit Plus will remove toxins quickly from the liver. If the route for the toxins is the bile tract you should also use Beta-TCP to help open the biliary tract Another use of Livotrit Plus in conjunction with Beta-TCP is with rheumatoid and osteoarthritis. The Wulzen Anti-Stiffness Factor (trace elements from raw cane juice) in the Livotrit Plus will help most patients with their joint pain and stiffness and will also help clean up the liver. We know liver/biliary dysfunction is a problem that is present in more than 80 percent of the patients with arthritis.

*******
as u can see Livotrit contains milk thistle - tho not sure how much


Ideas????

Thank u in advance for any input!

 

[Doomed2pain]

Hey op,

Have you not been offered the treatment for hep c? I'd look into it if I was you. But apparently it is very painful, my friend had it done and he ended up relapsing but he finished the treatment and it is gone, he couldn't do a detox until he'd finished the treatment, I went to visit him it was an awful shame. He is better now though

Hope you might be able to get it and I will try and get some info for you if you like?

 

[Thou]

Consult your doctor before you add anything to your regime, but heres a few things I've found that worked for me personally (alcoholic for 6 years).

I'd take a combination of Milk Thistle and N-acetyl Cystiene. The Nac is great stuff for hepatic health, it's even used to treat APAP/wild poisonous mushroom overdose. Its powerful stuff for an antidote, but pretty benign side-effect wise on the body and its functions. Both have other protective properties as well, just not quite sure what they are and I'm too lazy to look.

 

[Doomed2pain]

^ that is excellent advise

 

[sleepy]

Hey op,

Have you not been offered the treatment for hep c? I'd look into it if I was you. But apparently it is very painful, my friend had it done and he ended up relapsing but he finished the treatment and it is gone, he couldn't do a detox until he'd finished the treatment, I went to visit him it was an awful shame. He is better now though

Hope you might be able to get it and I will try and get some info for you if you like?

yes - i welcome any and all info. treatment...... it hasn't been advised yet, though the truth is i haven't seen a liver specialist in over ten years......i did get an enzyme panal drawn, though need to see the specialist for further direction. the panal was actually ordered by an urgent care doc., knowing i had it, knowing i needed to monitor it. i'm pretty sure they also drew blood (from my collapsed veins it was no small feat!) to check viral load. i'm sure all the number will be bad, much worse than last time, when treatment wasn't advised, as over a decade has passed, and i'm not a clean/sober as i had been at the time. i had a relapse, shooting dope, and while i've kicked and haven't shot anything since the beginning of the summer, even a bit longer actually, but, dealing w/the acute and long term w/ds i've developed a NASTY craving for alcohol, which is WEIRD, as i've NEVER liked booze, the effects, the after effects, the taste.... and now here i am, struggling w/it! KNOWING i have hep C and it's TERRIBLE for it...... btw, i'm involved in NA and working toward total abstinence; i have sponsor and commitments, just not counting days: insomnia is my problem, and the reason for the booze/benzos - both of which are hard on liver, though i avoid those benzos that are worse than others. i'd deal better w/the insomnia if i weren't the mother of an active toddler who, since the time change over here, wakes between 4 - 4:30 every morning. so when i wake at 12, and 2, and 3:30 i feel an urgency to get back to sleep. then to compound matters, a friend who's a doctor last night said, that because of my hep C i needed to make sure i get 8hrs of sleep a night! ha ha! i haven't had eight hours of sleep since the birth of my baby, sixteen months ago.

i've written too much.

to the moderator: i was taking N-acetyle Cystiene and ran out a few days ago. thank you for the reminder and affirmation! i've read a bit about Niacin, some of it scares me, but i can't remember why. but i will probably start that as well, after doing a bit of research. what dosage do you take? and i assume the N-acetyl Cystiene should be taken on an empty stomach, but the Niacin w/food? right? minerals, herbs, enzymes, amino acides on an empty stomach, and vitamins on a full stomach. is that correct?

thank you both so much! i'm always blown away at the generosity and knowledge of BLers!
best
g

 

[Thou]

Just take both every day in standard to high doses as tolerated.

You could take it on an empty stomach, to reduce the liklihood of nausea, but I don't think it's essential. Anything thats in a capsule greater than 100mg I take with a bit of food in my stomach, maybe a banana or a small sandwich.

Hope you feel better.

 

[sleepy]

thouart_that, i just read this:

"Others who should refrain from taking niacin, unless first talking with their physicians, are pregnant or nursing women those people with a known medical condition, and those individuals with liver disease such as hepatitis C or cirrhosis."

do you know why? why the contradiction??? thank you again for any help.
best
g

 

[Thou]

Again, I'm no doctor, so I'd ask him.

The more you read into the side effects on supplements the worse the information is you'll find. Have you ever read the contraindications and side/effect profiles for antidepressents by chance? Not listing them here of course, but I will allow one to breach the conversation; Prozac Side Effect: Depression. Try not to think about that one too hard or your head will literally leave your body in defiance of the paradox you're forcing upon it.

Longstoryshort: Be leary of warnings, really read around from the personal experiences of experienced, intelligent members not only on this forum, but others.

If you're doctor is giving you information thats faulty or that you find isn't conducive to your health, get a second opinion.

Why do you mention niacin? Avoid it if you're concerned. I would however stand by my suggestion about the milk thistle and NAC. If not the NAC for *such and such* reason or concern, milk thistle only.

I used to work at an herb shop that sold quality milk thistle, kratom, b. caapi, all sorts of great plants. Shop around, and also imminst.org is a great resource for supplements and nootropics etc. Hope this helped.

Thou.

 

[sleepy]

excellent excellent! thank you for the info. i see also a pm. thank you so much!
xo
g

ahah!!! i found the confusion. i confused your abbreviation NAC for niacin. i'll just do the NAC and milk thistle, though please do let me know if you think the more expensive, Ayurvedic combo might be more effective, and worth the extra cost.

best always
g

 

[Boku_]

Get intraferon treatment

I got hep c in my early 20's and had intrafuron (not sure how to spell it) treatment at age 27 and it worked, had to have a injection in the belly once a week and take tablet's everyday, the treatment gave me flu like symtons for the six month's i was on it but it was well worth it as my liver function test have returned to a normal person level, and i have schizo affective disorder so if i coped with it i think most people could

 

[sleepy]

boku - wow. okay. of course, i'm afraid of the treatment. and i've read that if you do it once, and it doesn't work, then the chances of a success the second time are lower. last time i was checked, shamefully, over ten years ago, my numbers were good enough that they didn't even think a biopsy was necessary. they did an ultra-sound, saw no inflammation, and told me to keep monitoring it, which i obviously haven't. at that time i had probably already had it about four years.....i'm curious, i don't know how old you are, but i thought that they only, relatively recently, got the treatment down from 12 mo to 6 mo, but i also know that they've also, less recently, added ribovarin to the standard interferon, so i'm curious why you had just the interferon, and for only six months? maybe it's because you live in a country that treats hep c differently? i've read that it such a slow moving virus that it takes 15-20 years to start causing damage. is that not correct? why did they want you to do the treatment after only having it for seven years? maybe your numbers were just really high?

but anyway - thank you for your response. it's encouraging!! i know three people who've done the treatment and HAVEN'T been "cured." one person has done the treatment twice, and i'm not sure of the latest update, but i think it also didn't take. another person tried to do the treatment twice, and couldn't handle the mind fuck. the primary side-effect is depression, correct?

as an aside, i'm less motivated to do the treatment at the moment because i'm so old, child-bearing wise, was told the other night that a woman my age (42 in april) has a less than 5% chance of conceiving, but i want to give it a good try.... i'd like my 16 month old to have a sibling. ideally i'd do the treatment, then get pregnant, but i simply don't have the time.

okay. that all may have been tmi! thank you for your encouraging response.
best
g

 

[Boku_]

sorry i didn't give u more info sleepy, i live in australia and i am 31 now, i started the treatment at the end of 2007 when i was 27, the liver specialist told me i was lucky cos the hep c type i had was one of the type they could treat with intrafuron. Thinking about it now i was lucky, my numbers were off the charts and i quit drinking for a 2 months before i started the treatment. I was drinking beer almost everyday before the treatment ( i was self medicating due to mental illness) I had the virus since the start of 2002. I now drink 3 or 4 times a week and only 2 glasses on beer most times. I do know a person who is in his early 50's and has the virus he has the same concern's as u........... YES the main side affect is depression, i also felt sick and like i had the flu for the 6 months, andi lost alot of weight. I hope u are ok in the future, i guess u know to avoid alcohol sorry i don't know any herbal supplments to recommend

 

[sleepy]

Boku - i'm sorry if i've already asked you this in a pm... i've been having technical issues because of an OS install..... do you know what genotype you had? i think i have either 1a or 2b ... i know it is most prevalent in N.America, where i live, and most difficult to cure... though i'm not sure which, exactly i have, and i suspect you had a different genotype...

thank you for your support -
best
g

sorry i didn't give u more info sleepy, i live in australia and i am 31 now, i started the treatment at the end of 2007 when i was 27, the liver specialist told me i was lucky cos the hep c type i had was one of the type they could treat with intrafuron. Thinking about it now i was lucky, my numbers were off the charts and i quit drinking for a 2 months before i started the treatment. I was drinking beer almost everyday before the treatment ( i was self medicating due to mental illness) I had the virus since the start of 2002. I now drink 3 or 4 times a week and only 2 glasses on beer most times. I do know a person who is in his early 50's and has the virus he has the same concern's as u........... YES the main side affect is depression, i also felt sick and like i had the flu for the 6 months, andi lost alot of weight. I hope u are ok in the future, i guess u know to avoid alcohol sorry i don't know any herbal supplments to recommend

 

[ronnie_p]

I have Hep. C and severe cirrohsis from prior alcoholism. I have used standardized 80% silymarin for many years and my liver disease is basically stable.I now take Siliphos milk thistle every day. It has like 8-10 times the bioavailability of the silymarin. I buy bottles of 60 through Swansons Vitamins. It has been studied at hospitals around the world and there have been possible benefits.

 

[sleepy]

ok- thanks ronnie- ill look that up right now! so glad youre okay- fucking virus..... i was so stupid when i contracted it - just didnt give a fuck and knew the rig was contaminated, but never planned tfo live this long.... and now i have son depending on me- so i have to keep my shit healthy.......