• H&R Moderators: VerbalTruist | cdin | Lil'LinaptkSix

Liver health - *Mega-merged*

The amount you talked about should not present any undue problems EXCEPT that you did mention taking lower dosages a
bit more regularly.

Many are not aware but repeated moderate dosages can hurt you just as badly as a couple of large ones.

If you have cause to be concerned think about speaking with your medical provider about getting a Liver Profile.
 
I had liver results similar to yours in 2003 (AST 39, ALT 82). I was consuming around 20 drinks per week for a few years before the test. At that time my liver was inflamed and I was having side pains. During that time I had a few more liver tests that still showed high enzyme results but the liver specialist I was seeing looked at all the results as a whole and told me to not worry and to take it easy on the drinking.

Since mid 2007 I’ve averaged about 7 drinks per week. I just had my enzymes tested and they were normal (AST 22, ALT 32, GGT 37). No side pains, no other issues.

The liver has the ability to regenerate itself to a certain point. Keep abusing and you might push it past that point – get healthier and your liver might regenerate back to normal.

There are a lot of things doctors will check besides AST, ALT and GGT so I’m not saying that my story will be the same as yours if you clean up – keep seeing your doctors and let them go through the process. But on the other hand don’t freak out. I freaked out when my results were high because I thought I had to live the rest of my life with a damaged liver and the last few years has shown me that this is likely not the case. I never found out what caused my high results but I’ve always suspected gallbladder sludge or a mild fatty liver (caused by alcohol abuse).

I’m not a medical professional so don’t take this as fact but I would target reduction/elimination of intravenous drug use and alcohol to lower your liver enzyme results. Were you taking the bupe intravenous, insufflating or sublingual?
 
I was told I had "sluggish/congested liver" in the past, so I did some research.

Basically, the liver is the body's waste eliminator--whether it's drugs, heavy metals, fats/food additives or whatever, it's the liver's job to filter out the bad stuff. The more crap you put into your body, the worse off your liver will be. Some things are particularly toxic to the liver, such as acetominophen, alcohol, and anything that could cause hepatitis infection (food poisoning, intravenous drug use, etc.)

Milk thistle is one of the most potent and only known substances that can reverse liver damage in the case of poisonous mushroom ingestion and other incidents. It's just a common herb, but its liver healing properties are immense. Dandelion helps cleanse the liver, while milk thistle regenerates liver cells and reduces cirrhosis. I don't know whether this is of any interest to you, but it's a cheap, easy way to improve liver function no matter the cause of poor function.
 
Relief

Hey Guys,

Thanks for your replies and concerns. I had a liver panel done and it came back normal. It was a scare but i learned a few lessons. Thank you BL.
 
What supplements would be good for the liver?

I've finally beaten my opiate addiction, and I can't even imagine how much APAP I've put into my system. I don't know that I've done damage to my liver, but chances are, I have.

Are there any supplements that could help my liver recover from all the abuse it took?

Sorry if this has been asked before, I've UTFSE, and couldn't find anything...

Thanks
 
Antioxidants and Liver Supplements
(Glutathione - The Master Antioxidant-an important enzyme for the liver)

Glutathione is an antioxidant enzyme often referred to as the body's "master antioxidant" due to its central role in protecting the body's cells from free radical damage.

Glutathione is composed of the amino acids: cysteine, glutamine and glycine and is concentrated in the liver, although it carries out its work throughout the body.

This important enzyme is involved in protecting cells from environmental toxins, drugs and alcohol as well as toxins produced by the body itself as a result of normal metabolism.
So, important to health is glutathione that it's depletion leads to cell death.

Supplements for the Liver

Herbs

Milk Thistle (Silymarin)
Burdock
Dandelion

Nutrients

Amino-acids & Fatty Acids

N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC)
Taurine
Methionine/S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe)
Arginine

Polyenylphosphatidylcholine (PPC)
Alpha Lipoic Acid

Vitamins

B Vitamins
Anti-oxidant Vitamins (A, C, E)

Other supplements

Undenatured Whey
Raw Liver/Raw Liver Extract
MSM (methylsulfonylmethane)
 
premier research labs has a great liver product (as well as a gallbladder one and a live B vitamin one I can recommend)! You can find their distributors online. Fantastic products for the liver.
 
dandlion root tea, get it at giant eagle, works wonders on the liver and cleans you out they also have a detox tea. plur
 
Milk thistle, dandelion, licorice. Bitter plants are usually good for liver health. Also, avoiding alcohol is probably the single best thing that you can do for your liver.
 
can you make product out of fresh dandelions yourself that would be effective liver cleanser?
 
can you make product out of fresh dandelions yourself that would be effective liver cleanser?

well, i have access to plenty of dandelions, but would have no idea how to go about making any sort of product from them. if you know a way this can be done, i'd definitely like to try it!

Hueristic- I don't have any signs of liver damage that I know of. No jaundice, and I'm not sure what any other signs would be (other than what bloodwork could reveal) I haven't spoken to my doc about it because he'd wonder why I was worried. I stopped using opiates now, but I don't want to risk being put on some sort of "drug-seeker" list (which my insurance has, and i've already been this close to being put on that list)

If I do notice any obvious signs or symptoms, though, I will go to my doc (though, in a week I'll be out of the state for the summer, so it'll be a different doc) I just want to help my liver just in case I did any damage to it, to prevent problems when I'm older, if that makes any sense...

Off to find some milk thistle...
 
can you make product out of fresh dandelions yourself that would be effective liver cleanser?

Here's what I know about dandelion:

The most active parts of dandelions are the roots. I've read quite a few studies indicating that they stimulate bile production. Bile is made by the liver to digest fats.

To collect the roots I get a shovel; one of those long and narrow tree-planting shovels and I get right at the dandelions that come up in my garden, which I dry and use to make a strong tea (it doesn't taste all that good). I use it to help clean my system out from time to time. The older the roots the better, but also the deeper, so be aware you might have to dig really deep. I try to get the whole root so it doesn't break, as the milky latex inside the roots is supposed to contain the goods, but it's not always easy. I imagine that a tincture or something could be made, but I don't really mind drinking the bitter, earthy tea all that much.
 
what about getting the roots and juicing them and then drying off the liquid and encapsulating the powder?

what are the compounds themselves that are supposedly good for liver cleansing? Maybe they are soluble in naptha or a similar solvent and then one could extract them similar to extraction process for DMT. Then one could end with a relatively pure crystalline product.
 
Drying the juice is a good idea, but dandelion roots aren't the most juicy things, even for roots. It might work though.

And DMT is an alkaloid while the group of active chemicals in dandelion are mostly lactones, which are fairly different chemically. The thing about alkaloids is that very generally speaking, a freebase of an alkaloid is insoluble in water, where a salt isn't, and this is the central principle to extracting most alkaloids. Lactones don't really work that way. A pretty crude but simple alcohol extraction or a tincture would be fairly effective I think, but I don't really see too much of a point going for a really refined product, as a whole cluster of chemicals in dandelion, and most herbal medicines for that matter are as responsible for it's properties as any one chemical is. In my opinion, taking herbal medicines as close to a whole form is desirable in most cases. Most medicinal herbs don't taste that bad. For cleansing the blood and liver, making teas out of things like red clover, milk thistle, dandelion etc. actually makes a lot of sense, as it keeps you drinking lots of water
 
Liv-52, NAC, SAMe, Milk thistle, ALA are all great calls. Grab yourself a couple of these and run them for at least a couple of months.
 
October - IMO you shouldn't sweat it too much, and don't go broke buying up too many food suppliments. Do the lemon water once or twice a day whenever you can - you'll do fine.

Lemons are cheap - even when you buy the good ones!
 
can you make product out of fresh dandelions yourself that would be effective liver cleanser?

I dig up the dandelions in my yard (they grow like crazy, all over, here in Tx) and I eat their roots with balsamic vinegar. :) If I eat them with milk thistle, and I add at least 10 grams of fish oil or olive oil, I can literally feel my gallbladder draining mad amounts of bile into my stomach.
 
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