I also have been experiencing neck cramps..could this be related also?
My name is Jennifer and i am living with Hep C. i just started to take it seriously. I need a menu of sorts to follow to help me change my eating habits. I love fruit, cherries watermelon strawberries black berries and ect...i just started drinking carrot juice. I have know about the disease since 1996, but still just lived my life as usual. I have drank alcohol up til yesterday, caffine, sugar and the such. my motto was "atleast i will die happy"..i don't find that so cute these days. I am experiencing some pain, dry eyes, purple marks on my skin, brusing,tired all the time,depression. I don't know what supplements to take or foods i need to eat..love the artichokes post..
Thanks for the information, I didn't think I'd get such a great response!
Barb541
Thank you for all the info. it's always nice to receive help.
Barb541
I am a competative triathlete/marathon runner and have been for about 15 years. I was diagnosed with hep c back in 1990. I just started treatment for the 1st time in Jan. 2008 and I always ate pretty healthy, I don't eat much meat, I eat fish, chicken, tofu, xtra virgin olive oil, whole grains, no caffine or alcohol or cigerttes and eat lots of veggies, fruites, drink lots of water, bottled water. take multi vitimans and milk thistle, get plenty of sleep and try to stay stress free. I belive exercise has kept me healthy all these years. Now that I am on the treatment I can not compete in races, I am very slow, but I still get up at 5am to work out before work and work out again after work. I just have to take it easy and go slow.
I still have my snacks on the weekends. choclate, crackers and cheese.
Organic artichokes with a flax/olive oil and lemon juice is the bomb! ....and good for your liver...so "they" say. I believe it's (artichoke) in the milk thistle family and has something to do with the glutathione which is produced in the liver and detoxifies harmful things so they can be excreted through the bile. I don't think it's effective to take glutathione orally. It (glutathione) is what is destroyed when you take tylenol I believe.
Marcia's got it all down. I believe that Maximum Milk Thistle has helped a lot to keep my enzyme levels down. I'm not sure what the relationship to enzyme levels and liver damage is but it seems like if they're down it would mean less damage. The harder your liver has to work to detoxify the less energy it has to heal itself by making new and healthy cells. Cooking oils is a big one I believe as Marcia said. Grapeseed may be o.k. because like coconut oil it can be cooked at a higher level. Anytime oils are rancid or oxidized it is not such a great thing. I also think that enzymes may be important to add to your diet especially if you eat meat or eggs. Protein is harder to digest. Keeping your bowels moving regularly and easily is way, way important to decrease the amount of toxins in your system. Staying away from chemical cleaning agents and deoderizers is probably another hidden toxic source in our environments. Best wishes!
I think that really depends on what you believe in.We have been vegetarians for many years. We only cook with virgin coconut oil. Use virgin olive oil and sesame oil for salads and seasoning, don't heat them though. I have cut all milk products, cause I started feeling sick each time I had some. I take absolutely no sugar, feel sick when I have that, too. No alcohol, no smoking, no coffee, no refined salt, either celtic sea salt or the Himalaya pink one and no refined flour etc. Only eat organic produce incl. spices, filtered water, and use a shower filter in the bathroom. I have eliminated all toxins from my diet, including products I put on my skin and hair are organic. Even changed all my cookware, to non toxic materials. It might seem extreme to go to that extend to some or maybe to many, but everything you put on your skin and into your mouth has to go through the liver at some point. So I figured I might as well eliminate all the toxins I can from my diet and have dragged the whole family into it. They are actually really enjoying the healthy food. I'm not saying you should become vegetarian :-) I think it's best to make sure that the meat, chicken, fish ... you buy is not contaminated with hormones, antibiotics, mercury, etc. Chose the lean kind. Brown whole rice is also really good. A healthy balanced diet is important. Hope that helped.