HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Not feeling well on milkthistle - normal or a sign of not tolerating it?

Support Forums
>
Lyme Disease
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 1/25/2017 1:55 AM (GMT -5)
Hello, I'm new at this forum. I was diagnosed with lyme and high suspision of babesia in october and started treatment with antibiotic and malarex in the beginning of november.

I have a question about milkthistle. I decided to give it a try because my liver enzymes got a bit elevated (which worries me.... but there is A LOT with this illness that worries me confused ). I took milkthistle for 2,5 weeks and I didn't felt well when taking it. I was very dizzy, very nauseous, very emotionally sad, my sleep got very poor and I got hot flushes. No I haven't taken it for two weeks and those symtomes are gone back to normal again.

My questions are:

1: Is this normal to feel like this when starting with milkthistel and does it go away after a while or is that a sign of me not tolerate it?

2. Is there anything else I can take to decrease the liver enzymes? I read about NAC? What is your opinion of that? Something else?

I'm trying to think of detoxing... taking lemon water, dry brushing, drinking a lot of water, eating a diet that supports the liver etc but it doesn't seem to be enough beause my liver enzymes still have increased.
Posted 1/25/2017 2:38 AM (GMT -5)
Welcome to our community, MariaS74


I didn't have any reaction to milk thistle when I took it.

But, I remember reading a post on here - someone said they herxed on it...
That may be what has happened to you.

Also, if you have an allergy to ragweed...you shouldn't take milk thistle.

There is another liver supplement you can take called Pekana Apo-Hepat.

My LLND had me switch from milk thistle to the Apo-hepat. My liver enzymes got elevated when treating lyme...I took a 2 1/2 month break, liver enzymes normalized...then switched the antibiotics and started taking the Pekana apo-hepat...my liver enzymes have been fine ever since...that is over a year now.

We encourage all new members to read through the thread at the top of the page titled: "New to Lyme?..Start Here!" Lots of good information in that thread.

For detoxing you can take a look at this site:

www.tiredoflyme.com/detox-methods.html

lemon water and dry brushing are great....
Here are some detoxes I do:

- dry brush - then have a warm epsom salt bath
- drink lemon water (be careful - it can damage the tooth enamel - try drinking with a straw and don't brush your teeth right after drinking it)
- liver support - Apo-hepat (Pekana)
- Take Nutramedix Pinella and Burbur (two separate tinctures) - can be purchased on Amazon.
- light exercise
- Alka Seltzer Gold ( needs to be the GOLD)
- Binder - eg. Activated Charcoal.

Be sure to only add a new one every few days...and gradually increase your methods until you are doing multiple methods of detoxing every day.

- Are you on probiotics?
I like to take four different types - I take two different ones in capsule form, Kefir, and bio-k.
Posted 1/25/2017 3:40 AM (GMT -5)
Thank you Girlie for your answer!

When I was on milkthistle it didn't really feel like when I'm herxing from my treatment but maybe the symtoms can differ.

I will absolutely read about Pekana Apo-Hepat! Did you have any reaction when starting with that? Do you know if it interacts with any medication? Can it be taken together with the antibiotic or separate?

Yes I am taking probiotic, a capsule with 20 billion bacterias two times a day and sometimes fermented vegetables. Do you think that is enough?

Do you think that herx can affect the liver enzymes or is it only the medications that increases it?

Many questiones smile. Thank you for the linked pages, I will read them!
Posted 1/25/2017 4:27 AM (GMT -5)
I took the apo-Hepat while I was on antibiotics. But, I didn't take it at the same time as the abx.

No reaction when starting it.

so, you're taking 40 billion in capsule, plus some fermented vegetables?
Maybe add in some Kefir, too. you can get it at the grocery store....dairy section.

I think the die-off of the bacteria can affect our liver...causing the enzymes to rise.
Also, I think the infections themselves can affect the liver.
I'm thinking maybe bartonella infection may have been in part causing mine to rise.
Posted 1/25/2017 5:44 AM (GMT -5)
Yes I'm taking 40 billion in capsule and some fermented vegetables. Adding Kefir is a good idea!

Thank you for your answers! I appreciate it a lot! smile
Posted 1/25/2017 11:16 AM (GMT -5)
Hi MariaS!
Welcome to our community! I'm so glad you found us.

Girlie already gave you a ton of good information, so I just wanted to pop in and agree with Girlie on this and say welcome!
Posted 1/25/2017 9:22 PM (GMT -5)
You could be allergic to milk thistle. I don't know how "common" it is, but it is common enough to be a "thing".

Also, milk thistle supports the liver, helping your body to detox. It "should" make you feel better, but some people don't detox well.

My educated guess, if it's not an allergy then it's not the milk thistle per se that is making you feel worse. It's just lyme and co. Lyme and co cause such a vast array of health issues, directly and indirectly, it's hard to pin point the way you feel JUST on the milk thistle.

I guess you can back off from it for the same period of time and see if that helps, then you might have a better reason to pin point it as being the milk thistle.
Posted 1/26/2017 2:35 AM (GMT -5)
@Traveler: Thank you smile

@dacarte3: I did stop with milkthistle and haven't taken it for almost three weeks and the symtoms have gone away... so I really think it is because of the milkthistle. Maybe it is like you wrote that I'm allergic to it.
Posted 1/26/2017 9:38 AM (GMT -5)
I'm one that can't use milk thistle as well. So I use turmeric (helps with inflammation and liver regeneration) and all natural liver cleanses as needed, as well as my 'fake coffee' has chicory -which also helps support the liver.

So look for alternatives - they are out there, and you will want to support your liver.
Posted 1/27/2017 9:46 AM (GMT -5)
Thank you Traveler for your answer! Turmeric... do you take it as a supplement or in the food?

I have never heard of chicory but know I have googled it and it sounds interesting. Where do you by that?

I have marked that I want notification when there is a reply in this thread but I don't get any email.... hmm now I saw why, it has been placed in the junk mail folder smile.
Posted 1/27/2017 10:22 AM (GMT -5)
Turmeric is a supplement that I take - I use too high of an amount to be able to get it all into my food. I take it 3 times a day.

For my fake coffee, I use Pero, which has only malted barley, barley, chicory, and rye. There are actually several brands of "real" coffee that use chicory as well though - for those of you lucky ducks that can have it!! LOL! Know that I'm officially jealous of you though!! smile

Oh no! LOL! I do that once in a while! Those darned folders!!! LOL! Remember, you have to follow (click on) the link provided in the email to keep the notifications coming.
Posted 1/27/2017 10:58 AM (GMT -5)
Unfortunately I don't tolerate caffeine since I got sick so I can't drink real coffee. A great sadness!!! Pero makes me curious! I live in Sweden and I guess it doesn't exist here but maybe possible to buy it online smile
Posted 1/27/2017 11:13 AM (GMT -5)
I just found this: /www.amazon.co.uk/Pero-Instant-Beverage-Caffeine-Original/dp/B0009H9SMU/ref=sr_1_3_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1485533495&sr=8-3&keywords=Pero
Posted 1/27/2017 11:14 AM (GMT -5)
Oh, and I add coconut oil to mine to help replace the oils that are normally found in 'real' coffee. about a teaspoon does that, but I add in more so that I am getting more internally.
Posted 1/27/2017 11:25 AM (GMT -5)
Thank you for the link! A will try that 🙂.
Posted 1/27/2017 11:54 AM (GMT -5)
It's not a 'perfect' substitute for coffee, but it's what I could get locally and could afford to continue to get.

Teeccino brand of coffee substitutes also have chicory in them, and they are supposed to be pretty good tasting, but they are more expensive. Oh, and zero caffeine in Teeccino brand coffee substitutes as well.
Posted 1/27/2017 12:09 PM (GMT -5)
Ok... maybe we do have something similar here in Sweden... I will check that out. Now days I drink herbal teas instead of coffee but still have a longing for coffee 🙂... so this option can be worth testing 🙂 and even better if it is good for my liver!
Posted 1/27/2017 12:24 PM (GMT -5)
LOL! I discovered when I had to give up caffeine that I was a die hard coffee fan! I just love the stuff, but can't tolerate caffeine right now. Herbal teas just weren't satisfying enough for me in the morning, so I started looking for alternatives and bugging people for what they used. I hope you find one you like!!
Posted 1/28/2017 3:23 AM (GMT -5)
smile I hope that too, that would be great ☺
Posted 1/31/2017 3:31 AM (GMT -5)
I struggle with milk thistle. A few years ago I tried it. I took it once and felt so bad I just stopped. I tried it again at beginning of this year and I could tolerate it but still had symptoms and so eventually I stopped. Not sure what caused this reaction. I thought my body was detoxing. But that's just my theory.
Posted 1/31/2017 11:16 AM (GMT -5)
TanyainJoburg, do you know if you have an allergy to rag weed? I discovered that I couldn't use milk thistle due to the relationship it has with ragweed, but I don't react to other members in that plant family.
Posted 2/1/2017 11:13 AM (GMT -5)
TanyainJoburg: I have also had that thought that it maybe is detoxing but if so I would have thought that more people would get that when starting with it. It seems to me that most people don't feel bad when starting with milkthistle. But really hard to know what is what.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply