Liver Pain and Causes

[andrea042473]

I am curious to know if anyone does any liver detox. I have read that castor oil can help reduce liver inflammation. I am willing to have my mother try this to help with her liver pain .

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Hello andrea042473.

Never heard of that one so far. Given castor oil is a fat I imagine it possibly not to be somehow though I am not medically trained.

We are taking ursodeoxycholic acid with having PBC and this componenet of bile aids the breakdown of fats in the body (urso was originally given for cholesterol gallstone dissolution). So in my mind something of an oil in a quantity that could be classed as larger than normal I think myself I would take caution.

I know that cod liver oil has been given to children for probably over a century as a saily supplement, even my mother used to give myself and my 2 siblings a teaspoon when we were little and sometimes she would buy a jar of malt extract that had this addition of cold liver oil.

I think if I am right castor oil can be used for constipation. Not sure if so how one would fair with taking this in a larger quantity though.

I do think with PBC you have to possibly take greater care of what you are ingesting as some herbals, even foods can cause that bit more stress to the liver. Most medications are toxic to the liver but usually the case from a doctor's point of view, that saying, "The benefits outweigh the risks...."

I think the best way of a liver detox as I found myself as I went through a few days of not itching was to just have a 24hr rest with just liquid. I didn't do my purposely I have to stress, I went through some bad times in the earlier days of having PBC (I was diagnosed Dec 2010) and about half a dozen times up until 2013 I did feel after a bad night I was pretty much whacked, hence I ended up remaining in bed until the afternoon (which tended to be Sunday when my husband and I were home all day) , the urso wasn't taken that day but I did notice I didn't itch the following day despite having food and the tablets again. I think my day of rest had actually flushed my system through and of course without fats/food in the diet no bile is probably required to aid digestion. Well that is how I thought.

Has your mother tried eating little and often by any chance? This might aid better digestion. It is actually one thing said in PBC it can be quite beneficial.

Regarding castor oil, it might be wise to approach a doctor for advice as there might be some pitfalls

of taking this in a larger than recommended quantity.

I only take urso myself. No other meds. I did experiment a bit with milk thistle for over a year but not had any of that since 2013 now. I did think for me it didn't actually make much difference at all judging by my blood results not on it and then on it for awhile.

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"There’s no such thing as ‘detoxing’. In medical terms, it’s a nonsense."

This is a quite a good article: theguardian.com/lifeandstyl...

[liver-bird]

I drink warm water with half a lemon squeezed into it each morning as I heard this very old tip has some value for everyone. Lemon is certainly cleansing. Suggest you ask PBC Foundation if the castor oil would help your mother. Best wishes

[andrea042473]

Thanks for the responses. You actually put a towel in the microwave with castor oil on it then lay is across the liver. You do not ingest it.

Why do they say tylenol is better than advil? When i took my mom to the emergency room for bad back pain they said take advil because it is filtered through the kidneys , however her liver specialist says take tylenol. I am confused.

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The post above is correct you do not ingest it. I read that you can massage the liver area with it. Not sure how the cod liver oil would help though.

I also drink warm water with fresh lemon every morning not sure if it helps but once I started it I found I enjoyed it more than the normal cup of tea,.

[dianekjs]

Castor oil packs are used as an old home remedy for various ailments but I can't speak to their effectiveness. However, castor oil comes from the bean of the castor plant , and the hull of the bean is extremely poisonous and is where deadly ricin comes from. I personally think if you focus on making sure your mom is eating a clean diet of real, high quality, nutrient-dense foods and drinking lots of filtered water you'll do more good than a so-called liver cleanse. No processed foods, little to no sugar, low carb, etc. eliminating wheat and/or gluten helps many people. The body needs to be well-nourished to be able to put up the best possible defense. Best of luck.

[Calogia]

andrea - is your mom on URSO?

[andrea042473 in reply to Calogia]

Yes she does

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I've read about liver cleansing with caster oil. My advice is don't try it. Not a good idea for someone with liver disease