Spplements after Treatment

[bbj2856]

I was wondering if any one here takes any type of supplement after finishing treatment. I have read about Milk Thistle and lots of other things .Does anyone have any advice or been told by their treatment Dr.'s to take any thing.
If so what.  I got SVR in Dec 2012

Thanks bbj

[WyoSue]

Can you cite any valid, peer-reviewed medical research demonstrating how milk thistle "cleanses" the liver? I'm not comfortable taking a supplement that is recommended only by anecdotal evidence.

[zoda53]

Standardized Milk Thistle works wonders.  It is great for cleansing the liver of toxins, allergies, cholesterol etc.  Go to SwansonVitamins.com.  my husbands blood count is good since he has been taking these since 2001 and I use them for allergies.  It helps.  We both take one in the am and one in the pm.  If you squeeze one in the afternoon that is great.  His hep c doctor actually told him of this and his regular MD.  That is the only good info his hep c doctor told him.

[orphanedhawk]

I started taking vitamin B12 liquid. It seemed to help with my energy. I was already taking  a multivitamin w/o iron and calcium.

Turmeric is wonderful for the liver. I used to take capsules and put it in tons of my food.

[crossroadsec]

I also took Vit D while treating, along with a multi. I cannot get away from using my green powder blend for very long. I just find that my energy level is better when I take B vitamins, and it also contains probiotics and other things that I get in my diet. I cook and eat very organic and get a good supply through diet. I am thinking about what ceanothus said though.
Malnutrition is something that cirrhotics have to deal with and I feel better having the insurance of a safe vitamin "back up" even though there are varied ideas from the medical community.
I am going to ask for a vitamin panel when I have blood work done in a few weeks. I take very little vitamins and supplements because of potential harm to the liver. This question of nutrition is a vital one. I wish there were a pat answer. I guess my best advice is ask your doctor follow their orders.
Thinking out loud, Karen:)

[FiFiLamour]

I can't comment about personal experience after treatment. But having had Hep C for 15 years, I have been taking St Mary's Thistle for two months and I have noticed a difference to my overall feelings of wellbeing.  I recommend you read an article which I found on the Internet called Naturopathic Medicine by J. Lyn Patrick, ND; Sorry I'm not sure how to provide the link to this.....  It specifically states that for Hep C, it is vital that the extract of St Mary's thistle or Milk thistle as it is also known, contains Silymarin..  Some don't.  Herbs of Gold is one brand that does and again, worth the $34 AUS, for sixty tablets.  It is part of my regime which includes 50 to 100mls Aloe Vera daily.. Aloe Vera is bio-available.... Can't go wrong with this.

[ceanothus]

I have an internist who may be the best doctor EVER. Well, I've had her for 25 years and I continue to be amazed at her level of dedication to keeping her patients healthy. She actually limits her number of patients strictly enough to be able to spend sufficient time with each one AND to keep up on all kinds of current medical research. She recently recommended I stop taking my usual multivitamins without iron, citing a number of recent studies indicating (for reasons not yet known) that people taking daily multivitamins statistically have shorter lifespans. She said she thinks perhaps we don't know as much as we thought we did about supplemental vitamins to warrant adding them when there is no known deficit, and she would prefer I get them all from healthy foods. On the other hand, she has not yet rescinded her recommendation for vitamin D3 or for omega-3 fatty acids. I do also take a turmeric supplement daily and I recently added a daily probiotic supplement, both with doctor approval, though not specifically recommended. I took milk thistle in the past but was eventually convinced it was a waste of money. Cheers!

[bbj2856]

I have been told by  my family Dr. many times supplement don't usually help . He said some are stored up in your body when you don't need them  others you pee out. He said if you low on something then you can add what you need other wise forget it.
At the present I don't take any thing but a cranberry pill after finishing the  HIP C meds. I got bladder inf. a lot so I  drink the juice  for awhile and there is so much sugar in it. I switched to the pills. Thanks for all the input .
You all are great
bbj

[Dee1956]

Funny about the yellow hands, glad it was just a funny story
Dee

I take a multi vitamin...no iron and a hair and nails supplement

[ActingBrandNew]

"You can't go wrong with adding turmeric to a lot of your dishes, just try not to spill it on your clothes!"

Haha...or just handling it in general! After I finished TX I started taking Turmeric regularly. The palms of my hands turned yellow so I went to my doc thinking I relapsed because my hands were jaundiced....come to find out it they weren't jaundiced at all....just dyed from the Turmeric.

Now I handle it very carefully:)

[asle]

I took VitD3 during treatment, and about a week or two later I found other usually stable vitamin loads in my body were getting very out of control. Very low Calcium, Potassium, I stopped the D3, and 2 weeks later everything returned to 'normal'. I mention this, as not everyone needs a D3 boost if your diet is adequate. I guess over 50, one may see if a boost is necessary. Also, if you eat well, and get enough sunlight (hard to do on treatment with rashes though), you don't need D3.
If you are going to take supplements, read up on the side effects of having too much, as we can introduce new problems to our bodies.
I took D3 on advice from quite a few treating on this site, and now I am much more prudent.
You can't go wrong with adding turmeric to a lot of your dishes, just try not to spill it on your clothes!
-try to eat organic if you can. Pesticides place a lot of stress on our bodies, and the liver is given the job of cleaning them out.
-kale, spinach, green vegetables
-onions, garlic, egg yolks (but not more than 4 a week ideally)
-cinammon, turmeric
-Licorice Tea is really good.

[BoceprevirGal]

  I take a vitamin d3 5000 mg, daily, as it is supposed to help with the immune system,and a sublingual b12, for stress. I also pay attention to eating veggies, like kale~

[ActingBrandNew]

I take Curcumin 3X a day and its supposed to have many benefits.

CURCUMIN AND LIVER FIBROSIS

Liver fibrosis results from chronic damage to the liver due to excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix proteins and is considered a wound healing response to chronic liver injury. The main causes of liver fibrosis are considered to be chronic hepatitis C infection, alcohol abuse and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. The major collagen-producing cells during chronic liver injury are hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) but the cells also include portal myofibroblasts and myofibroblasts of bone marrow origin and are activated by fibrogenic cytokines such as TGF-β1, angiotensin II and leptin. In recent years, it has been shown that advanced liver fibrosis can be reversed, thus prompting the development of antifibrotic drugs. It has been shown that curcumin can protect HSCs against activation by leptin and leptin-induced oxidative stress[142,143] by interrupting insulin signaling[l144], by attenuation of oxidative stress[144,145], by inhibition of LDL-induced activation[146-148], by inhibiting TGF-β1 induced α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) expression and collagen deposition[149] and by activation of PPARgamma (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma)[150,151]. At higher concentrations, curcumin induced apoptosis in HSCs[149,152]. Increased expression of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) in HSCs increases ECM production and is mediated by NF-κB. In these cells, curcumin suppressed gene expression of Toll-like receptor-4, thus inhibiting NF-κB and suppressing CTGF expression[53].

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3097964/

[asle]

There are foods and supplements out there that can benefit the liver.
It's horses for courses. Some things will be of benefit, and others won't do anything.
For instance, echinacea does nothing for me when getting or having a cold, but other people swear by it.
You MAY get some benefit from a liver supplement with Milk Thistle. You may get some good results with Dandelion, either tea or roasted granules.
You may also look up liver-friendly foods, and go down that path.

[rivll]

I take Hep Tech and my Hepa is fine with it.
It has a number of very liver friendly supplements plus the reg. vit. and anti oxidants.
Pricey though.

[dontworry_behappy1]

I take a good senior health multi-vitamin.  Good Multiple Vitamins for seniors don't include iron supplements.  I take Centrum Silver to make sure I'm getting all the support I need.   My doctor approved taking a multiple vitamin with out iron.

DWBH

[can-do-man]

As for Milk Thistle I was told by my doctor not to waste my money, the only thing he suggested is a multi-vitamin without iron........ Some supplements are good, the best thing to do is talk to your doctor and put a plan together that works for the amount of liver damage you have......... Good luck