supplements

[hairyguy]

hi ,have had hepatitisC
since 1969, liver thankfully thru biopsies show i have stage 1 ,fibrosis only. just took my yearly blood and there was arise in my ALT from.  80 to 194 .My alphafero protein went from 6 to 11.  last year i started taking massive amounts of herbs and vitamins . ,like 35 per day. 10 were to try to get rid of psoriasis , the others were anti oxidants. i took them all at once. could this have taxed my liver as far as metabalizing this amount and could that have sent my alt's up . i feel fine no change in me at all. other than these numbers. i took another blood test today. it's only been a week since my last test ,but they wanted to baseline it. your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. thanks
             larry cohen

[Trish77]

Ha...I meant I'm not saying this to DIScourage you.  I should wait to have my coffee before posting first thing in the morning. :)

[Trish77]

I'm glad your treatment is going so well so far.  It may stay the same..it may not.  For alot of us the first few weeks were the easiest part as it takes about 3-4 weeks for the ribavirin to get settled in.  The hemogoblin seems to take a hit about that point.  I did a 10K run the first weekend after I started treatment. By Week 4, that was impossible and I didn't go on a run again the rest of my treatment.  I'm not saying this to encourage you, just so that you don't get too blown off course if things begin to get more difficult as treatment progresses.  

I also thought that perhaps I was tolerating treatment better than some due to my good physical health but that was quickly dispelled by those who relayed they had a difficult time and were in excellent health also when they started.  No respecter of persons, this treatment.  It will be what it will be.  I will tell you this much, while attitude doesn't change how hard the side effects will hit, it changes how well you roll with what comes your way.  I wish you success as you roll with whatever comes your way throughout your treatment.

Trish

[jazzy578]

Diane, thanks for the site.  I checked it out and interestingly, the herbs that have in the past given me trouble were on that list.  I took Ma-huang for low energy and had a real bad reaction to it.  I am not taking any herbs while on tx, except melatonian and vit C.  

I have found that the FDA's recommendated safe limit for vitamins is so much lower than recommended by the manufacturer of those vitamins.  For example, the FDA states a safe dosage for vit C is 120 ml, but I take 1000 ml, or 1 gram daily which is recommended by many vitamin experts.  So in the past I really relied on vitamins to stay health, but also  took the dosage amounts that they indicated would give the best results.  I could have hurt myself, but I guess I will never know since I have not had a bx.  

My only goal now is to do tx and hope that it works.  My treatment so far has gone really well with little sx and my husband is convienced that it is due to my previously healthy lifestyle.  I don't know and I could have sx later on as I am only on week 2.  We will see.

Thanks.

[Diane12855]

Here's a link to a list of herbs to be avoided.

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-C/List-of-Toxic-herbs/show/744042

As was stated above... don't overdo anything.

Hope this helps

[RobertBeWell]

Here's how I look at it - moderation in all things. Nature doesn't like extremes, and always works to bring things back into balance.

So, don't overdo it!

Remember - just because something is "natural" doesn't mean it's not dangerous. Naturally occurring chemical compounds can be just as deadly as the worst toxins man can brew up.

Take care.

[jazzy578]

Your situation is somewhat similar to mine.  I also have had hep C 1b since 69 and was just diagnosed 2 years ago.  I never had a bx so don't know what stage my liver is in.  My VL is around 1/2 M and my ALT in the 120's.  I have taken tons of supplements due to various issues such as pain, energy level, ect. It appears that some of those may have been related to my HC.

Anyway, I  went to a natural MD first so see what he might do because I was afraid of regular treatments.  He was shocked at the amount of supplements I was taking and told me to stop them all immediately because he said I was way over-working my liver.  After he ordered more blood tests his recommendation was for me to take the regular prescribed treatment and later supplement herbs and such to build up my body after treatment.  By the way, I would do a 10 day lemon fast twice a year to rid my body of toxins and he told me that people with Hep should never fast as it causes fatty liver.

I'm just passing this on because for the past 35 years I have been a health freak, taking all sorts of vitamins and doing all sorts of extreme health routines and thought I was really helping myself.  I believed all the literature I  was reading.  But it took a doctor who really knows body chemistry to set me straight about HC.  I am now on treatment because this Doc told me that if he were me, he would pull out all the stops to get well.  Those of us with HC have to be very careful what goes into our mouths, our noses, and what passes through our skin because it all lands up in our liver.

I wish you much success in your journey to wellness.

Jaz

[desrt]

What exactly are you taking?