Do too many prescription and natural supplements take a toll on your liver?
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 at
11:11 am
I used to be a heavy drinker but cut way back. I think my liver is OK.
BUT, I take extra strength Advil daily for back spasms, and two other prescription drugs.
Plus, I take a few natural supplements, mostly for digestion.
Am I damaging my liver?
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Tagged with: liver • many • Natural • prescription • Supplements • take • toll
Filed under: New Age Medicine
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Do you take Soma?
Advil is not as bad as Tylenol/acetaminophen products as far as your liver goes… I hope you are not taking too much at one time. I used to take 3 advil a couple times a day when my back hurt because it was easier than taking 2 every 4 to 6 hours. My doc said it’s much better to take two at a time, a little more often. He said it’s the high spikes in bloos levels of advil that stress out your body. Some supplements can stress your liver, but I would think the digestive ones should be safe.
There are some foods and supplements you can take that are very good for your liver… Eggs have lots of Lecithin, B vitamins and cysteine. Nuts are spozed to be very good too.
Lecithin supplements in perticular is supposed to be very good for your liver. Cheap, and no side effects. There’s even a polyunsaturated form of Lecithin called PPC / polyenylphosphatidylcholine(brand name PhosChol and HepatoPro) that can make your liver bullit proof. Protects against alcohol and even carbon tetrachloride.
“Polyenylphosphatidylcholine protects against alcoholic cirrhosis in the baboon and carbon tetrachloride-induced cirrhosis in rats. This study addresses the possible mechanism of the protective effect of polyenylphosphatidylcholine”.
Anyone who drink alcohol and takes medications
should have simple lab blood testing done to see
if there is any damage being done to the liver cells.
All medications have side effects and can
interact with other medications and alcohol.
Though some supplements, herbs, etc are
considered to be safe…they have not been tested
enough with other medication or alcohol to determine
if they interact with it.
The liver is very quiet about damage being done
to the liver cells until they are no longer able to
do the necessary functions to keep the body well.
The only signs that may develop early on can be
mistaken for just being tired or having the flu…
because fatigue comes first and then maybe
flu like symptoms. In some patients this doesn’t
even occur and there is still damage.
If you want to have peace of mind, it would be
best to have your doctor check your blood for
liver enzymes results, liver function test result,
liver viral infection results. This way you can
be positive that your liver is fine.
If a problem with the liver is caught early on…
then the cause can be stopped and any
inflammation that may have developed in the
liver could be treated and the liver cells may
heal. If it isn’t, it could lead to where the liver
cells die off and form scar tissue in the liver
and then it becomes an irreversible
progressive disease known as Cirrhosis of
the liver. The doctor can then only try to slow
it down…there is no cure other than a liver
transplant.
Hope this information is of help to you.
I would be more concerned about the natural supplements. Natural supplements have a higher rate of liver damage than most prescription medications. As long as you take the advil as directed, you shouldn’t worry.
You should get your liver enzymes measured.