Organic Apple Cider Vinegar

[sandgroundergirl]

I've had PBC for about 5 or 6 years now. Touch wood I have been ok. No itching and def no tiredness, in fact just the opposite, I hardly sleep at all. 3-4 hours a night is normal with the exception of 1 early night now and again ! I take 500mg of Urso daily. My specialist was very pleased on my recent visit, saying whatever I'm doing , too keep it up. I do stay clear of too much fatty food and alcohol. But what I do take about 3 times a day is a teaspoon of Organic Apple Cider Vinegar in a glass of water. Does anyone else have this ? If so do you think it has improved the health of your liver.

[Ktltel]

Sandgroundergirl,

I know 2 elderly women, one 92, the other 93, who swear by taking vinegar in a little water daily. My grandma did too for years and years along with cod liver oil. She lived to be 94. There is definitely something to it. What? I don't know. But if it's working for you,.... stick with it!! Glad to hear your doing well!

Stella

[Hidden]

Hello sandgroundergirl.

I have once read about cider vinegar but haven't actually drank it myself. I have bought the organic myself in the past and used it in the bath (I am a PBC itcher, have been now 7yrs., this is how I got diagnosed in 2010).

Personally I wondered myself about taking a bit of cider vinegar but never got round to doing so. I did actually read something about it being good for acid/alkaline levels. Might give it a go as after all to be truthful I can't see it doing any harm whatsoever. It can be used for allsorts of things from food use to household use. Not sure if it will improve the liver but I think anything that isn't going to do harm is worth a try.

Glad you are doing well with the PBC even though we all wish we hadn't acquired it. Though I don't have fatigue, I do find I get tired later in the afternoon certain days due to broken sleep at night as for me these days I itch from 11p.m. until around 6a.m. every day but have to say it is far better than early days when it was really all the time and I did have fatigue in 2011 but some point 2011 it vanished. I am now 53 shortly and so far the menopause I think I have now completed hasn't been too bad going, didn't seem to have symptons but last couple months, on/off I have the hot flushes. AND the PBC doesn;t seem to have changed due to it all.

Look forward to anyone else posting a comment on your post. Hope you continue to feel as well as you can.

[Biddyb in reply to Hidden]

Looks like there will be a rush on Cider vinegar as you say anything that does NO harm is worth trying. I have read that coconut oil taken daily is also good, I take it liquified with orange juice,

[PBCRobert Partner]

I am not aware of any data re PBC but I know many have found it of benefit for their RA.

[Hidden]

I've not tried apple cider vinegar but have recently been reading about acid/alkaline balance and it's reportedly good for that balance. I used to drink warm lemon water every morning and although lemon is acidic it is also alkaline in the body.

I may give this a try it can't hurt, I've recently cut added sugar out of my diet, I was definitely having too many sugary snacks and I think the sugar spikes were adding to my feelings of sluggishness and fatigue.

Which is different than tiredness and is not relieved by sleep, but Iam definitely sleeping a lot better. That could be not having the sugar, or the additional exercise.

I like to walk in the mornings so I just started up to 15 minutes on the exercise bike, in the afternoons it's hard to start with, as that's when I feel the most fatigued three weeks in and I have noticed that Iam getting a good 8 hours sleep most nights now, I Just need to stay up beyond 8pm though.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hello candy12.

Yes lemon is supposed to be good first thing in the morning with hot water to cleanse the system.

I have a book on food and it gives nutritional values and states what it is supposed to be good for. Contrary to popular believe lemons and also oranges though acidic are supposed to be good for balancing the alkaline/acid levels.

I tend to have high energy foods myself in the morning as I find for me I feel famished that part of the day. Probably due to if I am itching in the night and awake I fidget and then get up a few times briefly so I probably burn energy during the night. I do my own home baking (scones, buns for eg) once a week usually and though I don't add sugar to hot drinks, etc I do find a few plain biscuits can keep me going, even bananas I enjoy as they are supposed to have a high nutritional content. I don't eat much chocolate and even less since PBC diagnosis due to the hgih fat content.

I find it bizarre at times that on certain days I don't have to do anything (yesterday being Good Friday plus it was raining most of the day, typical UK weather!) even though I did my upstairs of the house and didn't actually sit down much even though I was home all day, I did actually find I got a good nights sleep which never seems to occur when I am out of the house in the day

[Mg40]

I was like you but my liver function test were not too high but higher than normal. Alt was 240. What are your results? Recently my doc put me on 5 mg of ocaliva along with 1000mg of Urso so things have not been so nice as I feel tired, slightly itchy and sleepy like I sleep for good 9 hours. But my liver function tests are becoming slightly better like 174 now.

[Biddyb in reply to Mg40]

Mg40 what do you think has bought down you ALT

[Mg40 in reply to Biddyb]

I am pretty sure it is New med Ocaliva but I have some side effects. When I used to take apple cider vinegar, my liver tests results were high and almost constant for five years.

[Hidden in reply to Mg40]

Hello Mg40.

ALT was 202 January this year. Due for next set of bloods soon. My ALP and ALT seem to see-saw each check, one up, one down and vice-versa. BUT they were in the 400s back in late 2010 just prior to diagnosis. ALT has in the past come down less than 202 but mine seem to have remained 'stuck' for some time.

Although I've read about the Ocaliva I am dubious myself. I started off itching early 2010 and by December that year ws informed I had PBC at aged 46. The itching has altered over time with taking urso and now it is confined to late at night (around 11p.m) and then by 6a.m. vanished. I did read that in clinical trials the itching was one side-effect of this Ocaliva and I do not want to experience how the itching was back in 2010 as that was awful and I had to endure 9 months of it before I was informed I had PBC and the started the urso. I only hung on after starting urso to see if the itching would alter but it did take some time.

[Emer1986]

I have some lemon, organic honey (my dad has bees) and cider vinegar with the mother in warm water most days! I was going for Accupuncture before and was told it's a very good liver cleanse! Don't know if it's making a difference but it's tasty! I don't tea or coffee so it's nice to have it as a hot drink substitute

[Biddyb]

At last a useful post, I have interest in Cider Vinegar as my DIL tells me that it is good also for arthritis if taken with molasses and honey

[littysgirl]

I have been drinking a cap full of apple cider vinegar with a little warm water once or twice a day for about a year and a half. I don't mind the taste and I think it helps keep me normal. I was having two problems, both of which, when I read extensively on line mentioned apple cider vinegar as a potential solution. One issue: I had to start using a steroid inhaler twice a day and despite following directions and rinsing out my mouth after using the inhaler, I was getting thrush in my mouth and throat. Medicine made the thrush go away but it would come right back again when I stopped taking it. I didn't want to take yet another medication every day for the rest of my life. And then, maybe around the same time, I developed diarrhea (sorry!) on a regular basis. I could not figure out what the cause was. I stopped eating really basic foods that I recognized as being triggers. I went to two allergists to see if I had developed food allergies. Nope. I had a battery of tests through a gastroenterologist - all we did was eliminate what was not the problem. And I still had all my complaints. I mentioned to the gastro that maybe I had too much yeast in my system. For reasons I do not understand, he kind of brushed that aside. I started reading on line for a non-prescription solution. Popular suggestions were to eliminate sugar and yeast from my diet and then various other foods. I looked at that and thought that I might be able to do that for a short period of time but I knew I would not keep that up for any length of time. The vinegar - I thought I could handle that. I started drinking the vinegar and played with how much water to add to make it palatable. It's working for me. If I drink the vinegar, I do not get thrush. Sometimes I drink more than others. Sometimes I forget and I might get by one day but by day 2 or 3, I see the thrush coming back. And I have stopped taking Immodium daily. I believe that is the vinegar also. There's lots to read and you should do it if you're thinking of this.

I'm just giving a testimonial that it is working for me for these two issues - and who knows, maybe it's also helping my liver. I do need to emphasize that we are not talking about the white vinegar that people use to clean. This is the brown vinegar that is cloudy when you shake it. The cloudy part is that part that works I think. Most people seem to buy a brand called Bragg that has "with the mother" on the label which I'm guessing is the sediment on the bottom of the bottle. Sorry I rattled on so long. I always do that but when I go back to delete something, I always think - no, I think I need to keep that. Oh well.

[gwillistexas in reply to littysgirl]

littysgirl...I too have had mouth thrush as a result of antibiotics. My dr tried to give me the pill but I wouldn’t take it. I now use Nystatin liquid if needed. You can swish & swallow and let it go down to coat your throat and stomach or spit out. It’s almond flavored & safe enough they give it to babies for thrush. Just a thought for future reference 😊