Bigjess question and hopes

[Bigjess530]

Hi there. I'm new to blogs. This is my first so please bare with any ignorance. I was researching berberine's effects on the liver and came across this site. It looked like an Indian version. I don't know which this is. My question is this; does berberine damage the liver or does anyone know of any other harm it may cause? I am curious because I read that it may because it behaves like metphormine. But I have not found many other warnings such as this elsewhere. On the blog I was reading there seemed to be many doctors and those who conduct trials so my hope is to share my experiences in hopes they may spur an idea or prove useful to someone. I have had blood sugar issues such as that of type 2. I started having anxiety shortly out of high school. I have high blood pressure and am a smokeless tobacco user. Though I have not been diagnosed with heart disease herbal supplements have improved the way I would rate heart function. With background out of the way I will proceed. I have been taking citalopram clonazapam, lisinopril, and carvedilol for a number of years. I have always only used herbs for blood sugar. Herbs used have generally only been Ceylon cinnamon and a supplement called metaphase. No I am not here to advertise. But this past fall while working harvesting my fields I got caught up in my work and started to forget to take my herbs. I don't check my sugar often but I felt alright so I just stopped taking them. Well this winter my doctor wasn't happy with my sugar levels. I told her I had slacked off on my herbs and promised to do better to keep her from putting me on insuline. So I bought more of the same herbs and took a full bottle in its time and my home results showed no change. So I went for more powerful herbs; bitter melon, banana, ala, chromium, magnesium, fiber, cinnamon, berberine, I can't remember it all without looking. But it made no difference. Well about that time I noticed I had been retaining water. It is winter and as a farmer I have a more sedentary winter. So I took one of my mom's water pills, urinated a lot, and the next day my fasting went from 180 to154. Took another, urinated a bunch, next day was141. So my first theory is this; that since excess sugars are excreted through urination that if you retain water, the sugars are retained throughout the body in the excess water solution. But anyway I began taking the herbs again and today fasting was116. But since I was worried about the effects of berberine on my liver, I quit taking it a few darts ago. I have many reasons to be concerned about my liver; I drank heavy for many years, smoked weed years ago, been on prescriptions for many years, and have been exposed to many chemicals over my life through farming. But also a few weeksw ago I quit taking my anti anxiety and antidepressants because I felt good and after a few days of readjusting I felt as good as I did when I was taking them. Also while taking the afore mentioned herbs I noticed a reduction in heart rate and a softer more pleasant beat. But when I quit the berberine within a few days my anxiety began returning. I had not read anything about berberine effect on mental improvement and still have found nothing but I was doing good without those meds for a month and a half until I quit the berberine. Also my heart began running harder and faster again. I think I will try taking the berberine again but I found that interesting. But I want to take you back to when this all started. I grew up fine. I have always been obese. Currently 520. In high school 380 to 420 depending on football season. Felt fine. But after high school I began smoking, chewing, drinking more. I had had blood sugar tests done score because of slow healing but proved good. About a year after school I began having anxiety on occasion. I had quit the smoking drugs and drinking and improved my diet. Then I started having bad anxiety and depression. It really sucks to make the kind of life changes just to wind up with anxiety and high blood pressure. Later found to have high blood sugar. But I say these things to make the point that these things came about in a short time frame and it makes me wonder if there is a connection. With berberine it is said to help inhibit the production and release of glucogon and thereby lowering blood glucose. So it makes me wonder if an excess of glucogon may relate to anxiety. Also it makes me wonder if elevated glucose levels may cause aniety such as how too much sugar can cause children to become hyperactive. Maybe it causes increase in brain activity. I know I'm not a doctor and do not claim to be so for those in the know, please pardon my ignorance but I think you can get what I'm saying. But also,like I said before, my heart better performed while on the berberine so I also wonder if the glucogon or excess glucose may be causing hyperactivity in the heart the same as I wonder about its effects on the brain activity and anxiety. But the one issue I have with the thought of the glucose being the cause is that my glucose wasn't terribly high when I had the anxiety. But if there are any researchers reading this I think it would be worth while to study berberine, the hormones, enzymes and what not that it effects in relation to the heart and brain function. Also I have long theorized that tobacco use is a cause of diabetes. I did not start having sugar issues until I started using tobacco heavy and when I quit a couple of times for a few months my diabetic symptoms vanished. At that time I did not know I had sugar issues so i did not test but looking back I can see. Also I have read that inflammation is a cause/side effect of diabetes and I read that tobacco use can cause inflammation. Inflammation causes some water retention and as I showed earlier, when you rid the excess water, glucose levels drop. But also it is said that toxin build up can cause organs to not function properly and tobacco is full of toxins. So if your organs are not functioning properly then how can they be expected to properly regulate glucose, hormones, neurotransmitters and other things properly? I have some other thoughts but am tired of typing. Hopefully this will spark a thought in someone and lead to good things. God bless and peace out.