Does anyone else on here take milk thistle? I recently started taking milk thistle it sits well with me no side effects i.e - nausea, allergic reactions (rash etc) My question really is should I or shouldn’t I take milk thistle?? Any pros/ cons ? .
Milk thistle?? : Does anyone else on... - British Liver Trust
Milk thistle??
I take it but I asked Dr if it was safe and he said it’s ok if I wanted. Along with other natural products. Fenugreek seeds neem leafs and turmeric... but consult your Dr or Dietitian before.. just in case x
Hi DanEverything I have read on here about milk thistle advises against using it , even the BLT says not to use. Also my doctor told me to stay away from it .
Ok, thank you Angel46, duly noted, thanks for your input
Regards Danny.
NO ... it can cause more harm than good
Ok, how do you know this, is that your opinion, or do you have some kind of evidence ( literature ) etc ?? Only asking what evidence your post is based on? Thank you, Regards Danny.
Read the liver trust info. Listen to people with liver disease who used it believing it was going to cure it but went on to have a transplant.
Ok thanks Danny
There doesn’t seem to be many positive comments about milk thistle think I will speak to a G.P about it now I thought it was completely harmless but having second thoughts now 🙁
Great stuff. Your liver doesn't need stuff like that to have to work so hard to process. Take care.
Laura
It’s hard to believe the true information given from DR or health professionals is 100% accurate..
I’m confused to why were all being told different things
If you try and buy milk thistle in a health shop they ask if you have any medical conditions, and once you reply with liver disease they will advise you to check with gp. Then in my situation the gp told me to stay away from it. Maybe the confusion is different stages of liver disease, I don’t know. My husband used to take it before we met and it did him no harm but his liver was healthy .
Hello Dan2434,
I have included a section from our website regarding complementary and supplementary therapies- It includes a section about milk thistle.
britishlivertrust.org.uk/in...
Trust9
i would be careful with it if i was you, i had a fatty liver for years and took milk thistle for about 10 years, now im diagnosed with pbc, i am convinced the milk thistle has helped cause it, so use it with caution
Hi Jennied66Milk thistle wouldn’t have played any part in your PBC, it may have caused other issues though .
yes i thought that too, but i took very high doses of it for about 8 years or so, thinking it would protect my liver, but it seems weird now that i have pbc which affects bile ducts and what Milk thistle does is help create Bile, i sopose its just coincidental. But i would always as the gp now before taking anything, i never told him about my milk thistle , i do believe maybe small doses of it would not cause too much damage but not for long periods of time .
Pbc is an autoimmune disease and it’s genetically within your DNA, so yes I would assume it’s a coincidence. I don’t know why it is advised not to take if there is damage to liver , just know it’s a taboo, I don’t understand it all, I just stay clear. 😁
Even though we may have a genetic pre-disposition to any condition, whether autoimmune or not, it will still need to be triggered in order to develop. Jennied66 may well be correct in her assumption in this case.
Yes, they say it’s is brought by triggers, some say environmental and some say hormone change can trigger. Never heard of milk thistle triggering a genetic condition but I’m no scientist
Can I ask what dose you were taking? Curious because I have been taking it for about 7 years.
Reading about it is very convincing, but it’s not accurate and has never been medically proven to do anything. It was convincing enough for me to waste my money and believe that I would avoid serious liver problems. My transplanted liver works perfectly fine with a healthy diet etc.
I'd like to make a general comment here, without alluding to Milk Thistle or any other agent in particular. Many complementary therapies make a lot of use of words like 'natural' and 'organic' in their literature. However, ethanol is perfectly natural, resulting from organic activity, along with potent toxins such as ricin. Just because something is natural doesn't make it inherently good... Comments above, and elsewhere on here, referring to need for sound, scientific evidence are well-made.
Richard
Here’s a strange bit of info. My best friend’s cat was recently diagnosed with liver disease. It had lost almost a third of its weight. The vet prescribed milk thistle! Six months later, the cat is surprisingly fatter and healthy. So I suppose it’s safe if you’re a cat.
At one point I was taking every alternative or herbal medicine that I could to help me get better! Eventually when I was admitted to hospital with cirrhosis I gave in to Science! My consultants said no to everything that is herbal or alternative.
Firstly because there have been no proper scientific trials and no data.
Secondly because we have no idea what else is in them, where they have been made and the conditions they were processed in!
It also cost a fortune 🥴