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Liver repair

cripkeeper

cripkeeper

Bluelighter
Joined
Oct 24, 2008
Messages
395
Location
Midwest, United States
Ok, so I have searched on here and have found related questions, but not quite what I am looking for.

I had some blood work done this week, and my doc says my liver enzymes where pretty high. I am pretty sure this is due to that fact that I have been drinking heavily since I was 19 (32 now).

I am prescribed hydrocodone/apap for a legitimate back problem I only take as needed. My doc isn't so much concerned about my pain meds, but the acetaminophen it contains.

It was a real wake up call and I am ready to stop or at least cut way back on drinking. I have another appointment in two weeks. I know abstinence and diet will help, but was wondering if anybody knew anything about otc supplements that can help my liver even faster. I have heard mixed reports about milk thistle and a few others. Has anybody had good results with anything such as that? Thanks.

BTW, I never drink on my meds, and the only other scripts I take daily are clonazepam and vyvanse.
 
If I remember correctly, the problem with alcohol and apap is this: when you drink alcohol, you induce a set of enzymes which metabolize apap. These metabolites are toxic to your liver as well as the alcohol itself. However- it really depends on how much you drink/ how much apap you take per day. Even if you take the apap when you're not drunk, those liver enzymes might still be around.

I used to drink pretty heavily on the daily. I stopped and it wasn't too hard. The problem for me was boredom.....
 
Increasing glutathione content in your diet from foods such as beets will aid your liver's endogenous detoxing ability.

If the liver problem is not accompanied by blood deficiency of any kind (such as anemia, B12 deficiency, vitamin D, etc.) then you can use dandelion tea.

If there's deficiency then milk thistle would be better.
 
Why don't doctors ever seem to recommend milk thistle or dandelion root to their patients dealing with liver issues when these herbs are cheap and evidently seem to work?
 
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I am positive it's alcohol related. No signs of anything more serious yet. The enzymes are just really high. My pharmacist said (whom I'm quite close t0), that nothing but time would help, but just this once I think he might not know everything.
 
Ok, bought some milk thistle. The bottle says to take 2 a day at 24o mgs. Shall I take as directed or should I be taking more. I have more blood work in a few days and would like to see better results that an enzyme level 0f 147. What do you guys think?
 
crip- I did a very brief google scholar search on milk thistle trials in the last three years. There is no overwhelming evidence that milk thistle is going to help (or hurt) your condition. At best the data is conflicted and I would side with it being of limited value. If you want, just take the recommended dose.

If you want to help your liver out, you've got to figure out a way to stop/ reduce drinking. The liver will heal by itself but it will take some time. Also, have you found out if you've been exposed to some viral hepatitis strain?
 
I had Hepatitis C high liver enzymes and lots of other stuff I use to drink and drug but gave it all up 20 yrs ago. I got very sick and liver was sick was told to take interferon and ribovan or get liver transplant or die. Well I did non of the above I did Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture but the best simple otc things are Alpha Lipoic Acid, Milk Thistle and Dandelion root. In the beginning I did not know how much to use. I am now at a point where I know how much to use as needed. It is not like western medicine where you take a pill for the rest of your life. ALA is amazing at detoxing the liver! 1 pill 3 times a day with food and plenty of water is like a miracle. Milk thistle at least 80 mg a day and drink dandelion tea it is bitter. You cab grab a plant and rinse the dirt off and boil the root. Add honey for taste. Eat danelion green leaves add massive greens daily to your diet spinach swiss chard broccoli. Vitamin C is also a good heat reducer 1000mg 3 times a day for a week should help clean out your system. PLENTY of water to Flush out the toxins. Hyrdocodine with acetaminophen can be changed to ibuprofen. It is stronger on the stomach but less on the liver. I am an acupuncturist and herbalist. Plus my last lab work 9-2011 no Hepatitis viral load detectable and Liver blood work is normal. They asked what did I do? and I told them Chinese Medicine and they walked away not caring about my cure.
 
Artificial Emotion said:
Why don't doctors ever seem to recommend milk thistle or dandelion root to their patients dealing with liver issues when these herbs are cheap and evidently seem to work?
Click to expand...

Same reason they don't recommend most herbs. Their educational institutions trained them to avoid traditional medicines in favor of pharmaceutical approaches. It's an inter-professional conflict that pre-dates the American Civil War, back when scientific medicine came into conflict with the school of the ecclectic herbalists. They were essentially in staunch competition. The third school was the homeopaths. So altogether there were 3 institutions of medicine in the early U.S. operating concurrently.

When the American Civil War happened, industrial medicine was able to send soldiers back onto the battle field more rapidly than any other type of medicine because of its triage ability. After the war, this branch of medicine was given full endorsement by the U.S. government and the AMA was formed, which then systematically stamped out the homepaths and ecclectic herbalists as charlatans and dangerous practitioners. (Midwifery would suffer the same fate in the early 1900s.) The homeopaths fled to Europe (and returned 50 years ago). The ecclectic herbalists as an institution went extinct because their knowledge was tied to American plant pharmacopia. Their volumes were recently unarchived and converted to digital format online, which modern herbalists have been combing through extensively.

IMO it's about money but MDs will say it's about safety, despite hundreds of years of proven use. Modern medicine should not be involved in care of chronic illness. It is battlefield medicine and always has been: suppress the symptoms and get the soldiers back out into the field.
 
I would love to stop drinking, it has caused me many problems. The dullness in life is my issue. I work out, play sports, etc., but often times I get bored easily with even the most enjoyable activities. IDK if I mentioned I have add, and take vyvance for that. Very frustrating situation.
 
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