Milk thistle while still drinking regularly?

[username1]

If you're still drinking regularly (every day) can you still take milk thistle? A while ago, I had posted on craigslist for advice (this site has way better info!) and I was told to take milk thistle, and they told me a couple other things like magnesium, dandeloin root and i had bought some pills from gnc called, 'cleansing formula'.

Well after a while of taking these everyday and continuing to drink I started getting cramps really bad, in my foot and calf in my sleep every night a couple times and then sometimes in the day as well. I posted again on craigslist and was told that Milk thistle is only for when you're detoxing not when you're drinking they said I'm getting cramps since it's my body fighting the poisons (alcohol) but, then I saw in the update.pdf on this site which states the supplements you should be taking and how much each day, says to increase milk thistle if you're still drinking. So, I just wanted to confirm if I should continue taking milk thistle at this stage?

When I stopped taking all those supplements, I stopped them altogether and my cramps did reduce greatly, I only get cramps rarely now it was nothing like it was before. Since I quit them altogether, I don't know which one was giving me cramps. I would like to continue taking milk thistle to try and reduce liver damage if it's safe to take if you still continue to drink. After finding all the great info on this site, I'm going to try to take some days of abstinence using the suggested supplements in the update.pdf


Thanks

[Angelcakes]

Milk thistle while still drinking regularly?

Hi there,
I think cramps are caused from not enough water or too much salt - very common for drinkers. As far as I know milk thistle is a great support for your liver while you are drinking.
Try to cut down on the al maybe?
Good luck.

[username1]

Milk thistle while still drinking regularly?

I drink a lot of water throughout the day and in the middle of the night, I'll wake up 2-3 times and drink some water every night. I haven't made any changes to my diet so I'm not sure what it is, I think I'll continue the milk thistle again.

I have cut down quite a bit, I used to drink every waking minute, morning, night, at work, all the time. I was drinking a 1/4 liter of vodka a day I think. After I stopped drinking during the day, and only at night I had started to have abstinence days but, then a couple years ago I started drinking every night again, I'm at about 6-8 beers a night. I've pretty much cut out liquor completely except for a shot or two occasionally.

After reading about how effective l-gluatmine and gaba can be for some, I'm looking forward to trying those. I have problems with being really tired and un-motivated to work unless I drink, I have no energy. I think I'm a functioning alcoholic which makes it worst to quit, since I can get a lot more accomplished it seems if I'm drinking but, sometimes I'll slip up, lose control and say the wrong things, or get angry and depressed at times if things aren't going right. Things like that I regret the next day and make me feel like I have a problem.

I started drinking due to insomnia, unless I drink it's basically impossible for me to sleep. I've tried all kinds of otc pills, meltanoin, valerian root tea and nothing seems to work. The last time I had a sober day since the weather was really bad and I couldn't go to the beer store, I made two huge glasses of valerian root tea, i forgot the name but, it's one that pretty much everybody says is effective, I probably drank 32 oz. or 64 oz. I used 4 bags and I couldn't sleep until 5am and was only able to sleep for a few hours, I also took melatonin and from so much of the tea my mind felt cloudy the next day.

Normally, I can only sleep every 48 hrs. and I like to have my sleep or the next day I feel tired and can't focus as well. I don't know how well it's going to work for me not getting sleep but, maybe if I can get a day or two of abstinence it could be a start. I'm concerned about my health since my digestive system is messing up from drinking so much for so long, and then also concerned about my liver.

[Seethepony]

Milk thistle while still drinking regularly?

Hi Username, you might want to try baclofen. It knocked my daily beer habit on the head - I've made the transformation from getting drunk 13 nights out of 14 to drinking roughly 1 night per month. Without any effort on my part, apart from ordering the pills and taking them. A lifesaver in the truest sense of the word. Check out the meds section of this forum for more info.

[username1]

Milk thistle while still drinking regularly?

Seethepony;1098475 wrote: Hi Username, you might want to try baclofen. It knocked my daily beer habit on the head - I've made the transformation from getting drunk 13 nights out of 14 to drinking roughly 1 night per month. Without any effort on my part, apart from ordering the pills and taking them. A lifesaver in the truest sense of the word. Check out the meds section of this forum for more info.

thanks for the tip, did a quick search sounds like it's going to be worth a try

[sunshine2002]

Milk thistle while still drinking regularly?

milk thistle

milk thistle is great when you are abstinent but if you are drinking it makes your liver work even harder, which is already being damaged. the leg and feet cramps are withdrawl. I was sober 10 years and im dealing with all of this and its murder. I don't know when your post was from but I hope you are well....hang in there, im trying to as well its not easy....

[Slid]

Milk thistle while still drinking regularly?

I've read studies on milk thistle involving people taking milk thistle regularly while drinking alcohol regularly and it was found to protect the liver... or more specifically the livers of the people taking the milk thistle while drinking were healthier- this is, of course, an assumption that this milk thistle is the actual cause of this result without further testing. My point is that I've run across info like this and also have known people who drink regularly who take milk thistle. To just say something like milk thistle should be ignored while drinking and will be harmful or stressful to the liver is presumptuous. I've stressed my liver doing some crazy detox involving very high doses of milk thistle and that high dose of milk thistle definitely stressed my liver. My eyes became a deep bloodshot red that resembled being extremely stoned on THC but really scary looking. The eyes are very directly related to the liver so I'm fairly sure that this is what was going on. Does this mean never take any milk thistle while drinking? Who knows? I personally doubt it.

My point is that I feel milk thistle can be beneficial while drinking. What would be worth considering would be a question like-
Q- Have I ever taken milk thistle before... or ever done any sort of specific (perhaps professionally directed) detox on myself?
A- If not then be cautious. From my experience taking liposomal glutathione I've discovered that even after 6 months of sobriety and "clean living" that there were still a great amount of toxins in my system because I hadn't done a detox that could truly be considered therapeutic. A body that has never gone through any type of true cleansing can easily be stressed by the addition of a detoxifying substance. Simple abstinence and diet fail to count for my definition of cleansing or detox.

The main thing I'd want to draw attention to is gauging your own body. The original poster was possibly having a reaction to the milk thistle that required more water and less booze. He/she might also have been going through some other bodily process that required more water. Who knows? I'd feel it's safe to say that when cramping that more hydration is generally the rule. I would have also left the milk thistle alone for a few days OR lightened the dose down to an 1/8th of what I was originally taking. Perhaps staying with that dose for a few days and then putting it to 1/4th then 1/2 (depending on what my body felt like). There's no need to jump into the hot jacuzzi if it's going to be unpleasant and shock you. Feel free to put your toe in the water, then the whole foot, etc.