• HEALTH & RECOVERY
    Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules Thread Directory 1 Thread Directory 2
    Mindfulness Links Addiction & Mind
    Sober Living Partner Program (SLiPP)
  • H&R Moderators: VerbalTruist | cdin | Lil'LinaptkSix

Liver health - *Mega-merged*

SAM-e has also been touted as having liver-protective properties.


psyly said:
Taurine is getting a lot of good press for protecting the liver from alcohol as well as other causes of problems. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4563760.stm
Click to expand...

/\ Haha, yeah - it's one of the ingredients of the remedy I am currently using. Might mean that drinking Vodka & Red Bull (energy drink with heaps of taurine and caffeine in it, popular in Europe) might actually be better than drinking alcohol alone :) That's not to say it won't stress the whole system though, what with people getting drunk and still moving about when it should be time to collapse and having insomnia when it's time to recover from the binge...
 
mm..
milk thistle as mentioned above,
and reishi mushrooms from china + goji berries

i am surprised that nobody has mentioned these
 
^ Yep, it was me that mentioned Goji berries :)

Ultrapsyber said:
Also consider getting some Goji berry juice or dried berries... they are good for just about anything and everything... having a helping of Goji berries each day I would consider only a bonus on your entire body... I discovered these around mid-last year and think they're one of the best things on this planet! :)

http://altmedicine.about.com/od/completeazindex/a/goji.htm
http://www.sydneymusicweb.com/goji_usa.htm
Click to expand...

They are amazing... :)
 
Ximot said:
/\ bodies have natural cycles... I think CC is right, I've heard this before. No studies at hand to back it up though.

I am cursed (or blessed) with a sluggish liver, and I've just done 3 full days of cleansing by just eating one thing.... brown rice (the round short grains, not the long grains) with nothing else ... no salt, no oil, nothing except for a bit of cayenne pepper and occasionally a splash of apple cider vinegar (both of which are also cleansing). And today I feel great - it feels like there's a load off my liver :) I should really go on and do it a few more days, but I think I'll start eating normally again tomorrow. I shall be doing this again soon though, it just feels great after the first day has passed.

My mood has cleared dramatically (irritation threshold way up!) and I just know it's because my liver is better.
Click to expand...

The liver is supposed to be a big "emotional" organ..really effecting/being effected by stress and anxiety and depression. Just something I read somewhere. Have you ever done a liver flush? I havent yet, but Im planning on doing one later this spring.
 
Yes, I have. In the framework of detoxes/cleanses/fasts I have done, so after not eating a number of days beforehand.

I think there's a number of flushes out there as options.

One 'easy' flush consists of (up to) half a glass of olive oil (cold-pressed virgin obviously) topped with lemon and organge jiuce with ginger, garlic and cayenne pepper. Works best if not fat whatsoever was ingested for 2-3 days prior. Liver will be kickstarted into overdrive apparently.

Another I have tried is the epsom salt one... a bit more elaborate and I forget the details, but IO think it's based on Dr Hulda Clark's findings. I think she got her place on Quackwatch, but I'm a sucker for these things anyway :D I'd advise caution with that one though as I have had mixed results. Firat time I did I felt super, second time (couple years later) I felt truly awful. I think the reason may be that my timing was off... you're supposed to have cleansed extensively beforehand and then gone back to eating normally more or less prior to doing it -but also not to have had any fat for a day.And there was somethign with starch... in any case I got it all wrong second time I did it due to being pressed for time and I think I ate a starchy meal too soon after my cleanse or too close before the flush -and I felt irritable and unwell for 3 days. YMMV.

Castor oil applied topically, along with a hot patch, is also good for the liver. The oil stimulates detoxification, and keeping the organ nice and warm is obviously good.
 
I used to take massive amounts of downers, drinkies + other recreational goodies, and was slowly turning yellow. On some days I couldn't sit up from bed because my liver was painful. I was 90 lbs at 5'7". I had enough and went to an integrated clinic, with Western + Eastern doctors.

I'd been vegetarian for a few years already, but I stopped eating high-fat stuff, and stopped (almost) all drugs. At this point, it was more out of necessity, because I'd vomit at every downer I'd take, and I'd pass out on uppers. I would poke my liver and it would hurt.

So I started 20 sessions of acupuncture. And they say it won't hurt, but I could feel my whole body twitching and some funky stuff going down when they'd put those needles in. It was good though... every session made me feel great.

I also dug into my garden for some turmeric + Tinospora (I'm a herbal hobbyist I suppose), both are great for the liver. You can find them at ayurvedic stores. The latter is particularly good for detox and removing even heavy metals from your system. I dried them in the sun and put them in capsules and took them every meal or so.

I started sleeping early everyday.

All those put together and I'm a healthy girl now! I've gained about 30 lbs and I'm no longer yellow, and can take the occassional substance without adverse reactions.

In all, I'd say don't overestimate your liver's capacity for chemicals. Love it like your mother, or girlfriend, whichever you prefer. It's just not worth the hassle
 
Last edited:
Ximot said:
Yes, I have. In the framework of detoxes/cleanses/fasts I have done, so after not eating a number of days beforehand.

I think there's a number of flushes out there as options.

One 'easy' flush consists of (up to) half a glass of olive oil (cold-pressed virgin obviously) topped with lemon and organge jiuce with ginger, garlic and cayenne pepper. Works best if not fat whatsoever was ingested for 2-3 days prior. Liver will be kickstarted into overdrive apparently.
Click to expand...

You should not do the Epsom flush if your kidney is fucked in any way.

I did a light one with olive oil and grapefruit juice. Can't say I'm curious enough to put the sieve in the toilet, but I felt much better afterwards.
 
almost everyone said:
Go to GNC
Click to expand...

Don't fucking go to GNC.
GNC is for suckers. Everything is way overpriced.
You can get the same quaility shit at Wal-mart or your local drug store much cheaper. I usually shop at wallgreens and they often have their shit buy one get one free.
 
They don't react well to it for some reason I don't recall. I think it was vomiting or some other adverse reaction.
 
Liver Damage?

I am extremely worried about liver damage. I've been taking advil by 3s or 5s since I was 13 (switched to tylenol, then aleve because they seem to stop working after awhile). I also binge drank on anti depressants and depakote (on depakote due to a misdiagnoses of my PTSD flashbacks as psychosis) for about 5-6 years. And I mean like 5ths of 151 at night to go to sleep and then beer or wine in the morning to get me going. I also used to be a cocaine addict... But I quit about 2 years ago.

I have been "sober" for about a year. And by "sober" I mean I'll have a drink or two maybe every 2 weeks. And absolutely no more cocaine. I over did my uppers and thinking of doing them makes me want to vomit.

I have pain on my side and suffer from recurrent UTIs.

Can anyone give me some input? Anyone know anything about liver damage?

I'm going to the doctor on Friday and I'm going to ask her to check my liver function out. I'm worried I've raped.
 
I don't know much about liver damage but they should have checked your liver and kidneys with one of your uti's. I get them alot for something unrelated-and i've taken ALOT of ibuprofen - I had been taking them and vicodin off and on since i was 13 for pain(i'm now 28).....it gave me an ulcer.I can't do ib's or advil or any of that anymore.....
Where on your side is the pain? Do you feel the pain when you have a uti?
 
Pains on the right side... Sometimes I have it on the left too tho. But Depakote is known to rape your pancreas which I believe is on the left (but that stopped bothering me for the most part after I stopped taking the Depakote)... Maybe it could be my kidneys, but it's mainly where my liver is.

Def. feel pain with the UTIs and blood usually comes with them. I spent about a year ignoring them as well due to no health insurance. Fun stuff.
 
That sounds like my uti's....eeek i hate them. Well- if you feel the pain on both sides it could be kidneys. I think your pancreatic pain would have been more in the middle-under your ribs. Before I found out I had an ulcer they thought it may be pancreatitis....because the pain was in the center.....I really don't know about the liver though. My kidneys give me pain during utis- more on one side than the other, though the other side will hurt during some. BUT not treating your infections with antibiotics is scary.When was your last uti? It may be left over bad stuff from that? I wish I had something more to tell you but I don't. Good luck with the Dr....Please let us know what he/she says.
 
Yeah I'm sure it's just the same one... They seem to come back for a week or two at a time every couple of months. It's so annoying. Hopefully my doc will kill it. I'll keep ya posted. Thanks for the insite!
 
Go to a doctor.

Liver pain is extremely rare...its an organ that rarely causes you to feel pain even when its disintegrating from heavy alcoholism. Its probably something else you got there (maybe pulled intercostal muscles).

Does it hurt more if you breathe in REAL deep (or exhale all the way?)?
 
I just looked up the muscle thing... I've had bruising on my back along the middle of my back and this tearing/ripping feeling in my muscles when I move the wrong way for a bout a year now. Last feb I fell down the stairs and they haven't been able to figure out what the ripping is bc I can't get an mri (I have steel harrington rods).

Along w/my vit. d deficiency I wonder if I tore something (I know I tore something because that's what it feels like at least) and it hasn't been able to heal properly.

I think you're probably right... I have an appt. Friday so I'll talk to my doctor about all that and see if she'll make me jump through hoops like my surgeon did. Yay, I so hope you're right.
 
Abnormal Liver Function Tests

Hi,

Im concerened about my Liver, Maybe i can get some answers here, maybe this is the wrong place.


I have drunk fairly heavly in the past, still drink a little bit, also worried regarding injestion of drugs that may put a strain on the liver.

Now, i have had 4 Liver Function Tests.

1 was a few days after a heavy drinking session(like a bottle of vodka between two people)

the results were
GGT 136 U/L
ALT 64 U/L
AST 42 U/L

after this i had liver function tests in another country the results were better
I had started to look after myself
GGT 14 UI/L
and another one was
5 UI/L

im not sure of the different measures, but it seemed that this was within the normal range.

recently I stopped using buprenorphine, within about 1week of cessation, i took another liver function test, at the same place i had the orginal Abnormal results

the results were

GGT 59
ALT 48

everything else was in normal range, i did get a liver ultrasound and the person who performed it said he did not think there was any problems.


I guess im just looking for a bit more input on it, i dont have access to a doctor where i currently am, and pouring over the internet give varying answers,

one question is would recent actvities such as the heavy drinking cauase the rise in the first test ? and is this rise indicative of Liver Disease/Damage ? or just what happens when the liver deals with toxins.

also, would being in the process of withdrawal(even if it was quite mild withdrawal) from buprenorphine cause the small rise on the second abnormal test result ?

since all this i have tried to change my lifestyle and know i take a liver tonic.

Im just hoping that someone can shed some light on these results.

Thanks
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top