I just got two interesting replies on another forum... I'll put them here in case you are interested... more knowledge is a good thing, right?
Quote:
I asked my PCP about liver cleansers. She showed me a couple of articles she had tucked away on Milk Thistle.
In one 1980 study (Fintelmann and Albert) "The extract caused more patients to normalize than controls". Another double blind placebo control study (Flora, et al 1998) showed similar results. The "largest trial involved over 2500 patients" (Albrecht et al 1998) and all of the patients on the herbal formula normalized while the placebo patients did not. (quoted from Springhouse's Professional's Guide to Complimentary and Alternative Medicinesp432 isbn 0-87434-971-0)
The generic or chemical name for milk thistle is silymarin.
When I asked her what dose to try, she said to start with 75-150mg twice a day. That brought my counts down some but ultimately, I ended up on 500 mg twice a day and my enzymes normalized within a month. Over the past couple of years, I've dropped the dosage on a couple of occasions and the LFTs rose again. Maximum recommended dosing according to the above resource is 600mg twice a day.
One thing I have noticed that seems to correlate with this elevation is that my injection sites seem to react more strongly when enzymes are up. I have not experienced any negative side effects with this supplement but one of the warnings on the supplement is that about a third of users initially experience increased bloating and gas and some have loose stools.
and
Quote:
saw your post. i didn't want put the name of the product i use, because i didn't want people to think i sell it. which i don't.
about 3 years ago my dr told me my liver function was low. no particular reason why. at that time he didn't even recommend i do anything. i have never taken much meds, so it wasn't from that.
this last year i could tell a difference in myself in many areas. skin...lack of energy...pms...even tenderness in the liver area.
i did some research. asked the owner of the health food store that is next to our business ( we own a health club....but don't carry products...and i didn't want to take 10 pills!) what she might recommend. she told me about Mega Cleanse and gave me liturature and their website.
it's not like colon cleanse. it does that, but liver, kidneys, lymph sytem, lungs and skin too.
it worked great! hubby had brought me home a bottle of 240 tablets. i reminded him before i ran out. he kept forgetting. i was out for a week. today is the first migraine i have had since starting it. thankfully he brought home another bottle today.
here is there website:
www.bodydynamics.com
the health food store by us sells it online too, but i thought you might feel mor comfortable buying directly or finding out if anyone sells it near you. the site give all the ingredients.
if you have any questions, feel free to ask. there are just single herbs that help with liver function too. milk thistle is the best. i have been taking that for 2 years.
