AF Daily - Friday, March 2

[FlyAway]

AF Daily - Friday, March 2

Passed my physical. Yippee!

[Almostfamous]

AF Daily - Friday, March 2

Kaslo- much thanks for the wealth of info. Now if I could just commit it to memory.....

Fly- Woot! Woot! Yippee!!!! I'd do a cartwheel for you if I wasn't afraid of landing on my head.

[FlyAway]

AF Daily - Friday, March 2

Cartwheels are definitely a thing of the past in my book! :H

[westiesrock]

AF Daily - Friday, March 2

Thanks Kaslo! Very informative.

[SAUSAGE]

AF Daily - Friday, March 2

It was tough once again tonight, but the support of MWO got me through another difficult evening. Such support , such inspirational quotes and useful info on here.

Hope everyone doing OK, about to have a cup of tea and off to bed now.
Wishing everyone a great AF weekend.

[sugarbeat]

AF Daily - Friday, March 2

well almost 11 days off, I'm getting there, Im still a bit wavey on how I feel.

Trying to make the best of each day and not jump the gun overwhelming myself trying to solve everything in my head

Over and out for now and thanks for listening

[Kaslo]

AF Daily - Friday, March 2

Lav, ha ha ..no tests. No. But when Im asked I will try and answer. Not the whole story either.
Also I am only talking about how to know if you have liver problems, what you might do about it.

If Det is reading any of this, I am not endorsing or denying any dietary regimine following recovery from AL toxicity. I do however believe the toxic effects of AL dependancy last well into a year following completely stopping AL. That includes psychological effects, which are very hard to predict for each person, what the expected outcome will be.

Lav, its interesting you mention liver pain. I am pretty sure the swelling / hardening doesnt feel good. I swear I could feel it when I bent over to tie my boots up when I was at my worst. Up high on the right side, unmistakable, but I have no proof ofcourse. And early symptoms are very different from end stage as you know. I dont have your wealth of experience with end stage cirrhosis in patients but I learned from my recent experience with Helen, that it is very uncomfortable, mostly an overwhelming feeling off being completely toxic, I think.

Its kind of hard to know because they treat liver patients with various pain killers. They denied Helen pain relief btw, which was very hard to watch. They punished her, I was sure of it. I hope that is not wide spread.

Kaslo

[BlondeAFAmbition]

AF Daily - Friday, March 2

Good evening Marvelous March Aberonees (Ok, that sounds kind of like some sort of tribe to me but hey, that's not too far from the truth is it!),

Couldn't go to Bedfordshire without saying hi to my "tribe" and wishing you a peaceful evening. Had a great day...my bosses were a bit stressed out but I didn't let it get to me. Today is payday which is always nice! Then off to the gym where I met my mom and we worked out for a little over an hour. My goal is to get a solid hour in when I go. I'll admit, dragging my butt to the gym on a Friday night after working on my feet all day was a bit of a downer until I got on the stairmaster and my blood started flowing and I got my second wind! I am wondering how many other gym goers there on a Friday night are also in recovery??? Interesting. It was pretty busy tonight but not as busy as Mon/Tues nights I noticed. Anyway, came home and had a yummy din din and now nursing my second cup of herbal tea. Ran out of Sleepytime (gave last bag to hubs as it's his favorite...although he puts a shot of whiskey in his....grrrrrr. Good think I never liked the hard stuff...just wine and there is none of that in the house for sure!). Now here I am and playing catch with you all!

Lav, 3 years on the 26th???? We gotta make oodles of cakes for that one!!! Just you wait!

I figure since the cake is "virtual" we can just imagine eating it...I don't want it to spoil anyone's hard work on dieting since we all seem to be on one lately! We can still keep the "fit" theme going, right?

MyLife, good going on day 2 for your diet, glad you are feeling better on it.

LVT25, you are taking a great array of supplements. Just curious on your fatigue struggels...are you supplementing with any iron supplements or is there iron in your multivitamin if you take one of those? Lots of time this is linked to low iron in women and I am curious if it may be the same for you? On the Safflower oil, I have also heard of it for reducing belly fat specifically. We sell a drink at the store I work at (health food store) that contains safflower oil and is supposed to help you loose weight. Not sure if it has the same effect as the coconut oil. I simply love the taste of CO...it's more like a treat than a supplement. Did you have success when you were taking the Saff. oil regularly at first? It does sound interesting. So ironic that all of these "fats" are supposed to make us loose weight...one never knows what to eat anymore!

ALMOSTFAMOUS...clearly I cannot count days cause you are right, I do have 10 days. Well, that's a great way to end my day...feels like I fast forwarded AF time and that's not bad. So onto day 11 on Sat! I have enough diet soda and selzter water to sink a battleship. I made a drink tonight out of diet tonic water with a lime flavor and mixed it with diet pomegrantie selzter and let me tell you, it looked like one of those pretty and expensive looking martini's that you get in a sophisticated restaurant. So, I am going to jot that one down when I need something cool looking to take to a dinner party when everyone else is guzzling down booze! I even put it in a martini glass garnished with a lime and it was very satisfying on a Friday night. Didn't even want wine cause this AF sparking concoction was so damn refreshing!

Gotta get up early in the AM as I'm the one to open shop tomorrow at 8 sharp...which means I need to leave my house around 7:30. Coffee is prepped and waiting to be started first thing in the morning!

[BlondeAFAmbition]

AF Daily - Friday, March 2

Kas, thank you for those great nutritional posts and what to look for in liver disease...I would actually love to hear the explanation of how milk thistle works with getting the liver back on track. I'm sure other would too. I added that to my daily regimine even when I was drinking heavily but now I feel I am actually getting some real benefit since the herb doesn't have to mess with the AL's damage on a daily basis! I wish you worked at our store, Kas! You are such a wealth of info. I passed my physical a few weeks ago, wasn't honest about how much I drank (again) but luckily things came out normal. Was low on some electrolytes, especially sodium, so I had to be retested cause if that gets too low it will affect your heart negatively. Good news, I was retested just the other day (after NOT drinking for about a week) and I am back in the normal range. I think maybe it was off cause the first time I had the blood draw, I had drank the night before. Stupid, I know. It's nice to see it move in the right direction and it could definitely have to do with getting the AL out of my body.

Also, Kas, just reading the statements of how AL does such damage in general is motivation to stop it right there, isn't it guys...the drinking I mean...

Shue, lavender tea, yummy! Have a sound sleep and knock em dead on the slopes tomorrow! (Just make some French press first, heee heee. Now we're getting spoiled!)

Library Girl-I want to check out the book you are reading right now about the woman's love affair with AL. Right now, based on dear Papmom's recommendation, I am waiting for "Lit" to be sent to my local library for pick up. Still have another few chapters left in "Unwasted, My Lush Sobriety", which I am really enjoying! I know I posted this link the other day in the General Discussion board when I prolly should have posted it with you guys in this section of MWO as the "Wolf Pack" she talks about in the end definitely reminds me of how I feel about you guys...that there is someone always there watching my back and cheering me on. Anyway, here is a funny cartoon about that book I just mentioned. For those who haven't read it, I highly recommend, but I know many of you already have read it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rje_uWfk2uU[/video]]Unwasted: My Lush Sobriety by Sacha Z. Scoblic Book Video Trailer - YouTube

Alrighty, getting past 10PM and this chick has got to get to bed. Have a fabulous Friday night everyone!

[mylife]

AF Daily - Friday, March 2

Blonde that drink sounds delish!! If it weren't so late I'd run out to the store and get the ingredients!!

I have been thinking I need to come up with a menu of AF drinks to order when I'm out or on vacation that feel like drinks but are not. Obviously I can get a virgin colada or a virgin dacquiri, but I'd like some other ideas...I saw a woman one night drinking what looked like 7-up with something pink in it at a bar - for some reason I had a feeling it was an AF drink I don't know why but probably because she was sober and everyone around her was drunk! LOL.

Anyway, before I'm in the hotseat on vacation or out with friends or something I want to have a list of alternatives to order.

[Lavande]

AF Daily - Friday, March 2

Kas,
Denying anyone pain relief is inhumane, I'm sorry to hear about that.
Actually, I found most patients really needed more for anxiety than actual pain as they neared the end. Providing comfort measures means addressing all the issues. :l

Blondie, I'm looking forward to the upcoming anniversary but I'm going to have to insist on low carb cake :H

[Kaslo]

AF Daily - Friday, March 2

Okay one last herculean effort, Im on the Pacific Rim so Shue is fast asleep, nine iron tucked by her side. However, Blondie has asked me to try to explain the mode of action of Silymarin the main ingredient of many in Milk thistle seed oil.

So...

On Milk thistle seed oil, its been in use for centuries as a variable cure for a number of ailments and the mode of action is complicated possibly because of the variable biochemistry. The active ingredients are variations on a flavinoid complex callled Silymarin. And just looking at the polyphenolic structure of the various derivatives I can see why its so exciting as an antioxident. It actually remindes me a bit of a DNA molecule, except its just a series of phenolic chains...anyway not to ramble on the chemistry too much...

Silymarin is thought to concentrate in hepatocyte (liver cells) and compete with various toxins for binding and penetration, that is its a physical protection. It obstructs damage done by the free radicals, highly reactive biproducts of the metabolism of AL in the liver. It may be simply blocking, but also denaturing. Its thought to block a key enzyme in cholesterol synthesis and block the production of molecules in the inflammation process.

I read a few results of clinical trials, and it has been used successfully to help heal cirrhosis of the liver. There is no question this is an interesting and very old natural remedy that has a lot of work yet to be done on its pharmaceutical value.

Now if only I could shake this sinus infection. Rest fluids, nasal drenches (ew!) breathing hot steam with eucalyptus in it, and drugs. Up the wazooon. Well, maybe NOT the wazoon, but you know.

Love to all

Kaslo

[Determinator]

AF Daily - Friday, March 2

Kas, great material and I agree on your findings and advice. I'd just add that the diet I'd recommend to someone with a history of AL abuse (but no detectable ALD) would be quite different from one I'd recommend to someone that has developed cirrhosis. it is not animal fats alone, but the combination of 'bad' fats (industrial seed oils and trans fats) and fructose that combine to form a chain of toxic conditions in our bodies. There are many real-world population studies of native populations such as the Inuit that consumed an extremely high fat and protein diet and had almost zero liver or heart disease or obesity, but as soon as the western 'white death' of sugar hit their shores incident of both arterial plaque and non alcoholic liver disease suddenly went epidemic along with the waist measurements. hmmmm!
in fact eggs and organ meats are perhaps the most potent dietary sources of phosphatidyl choline which is critical for preventing as well as treating the pathology that produces 'fatty liver' (inability to clear lipids from the organ). in the case of someone with advanced liver disease things change dramatically and intravenous nutrient support may be necessary.
the real dietary 'bad actors' for liver disease are alcohol, sugars, trans fats, and industrial seed oils.

ok wake up everyon!

another very late work day and I'm beat. off to get in my hiking and shooting fix up in the mountains tomorrow. can't wait! my boots are at the ready.

be well everyone

[Determinator]

AF Daily - Friday, March 2

sorry, more nution-geekiness:

this discussion reminds me of part 3 of Chris Kresser's interview of Chris Masterjohn that I posted in the Paleo diet thread. here's some freaky facts for you: approx 1 in 3 Americans has fatty liver disease. and it's perhaps the largest precondition to heart disease that there is. really, check out this article it's quite an eye opener:

Chris Masterjohn on Cholesterol and Heart Disease (Part 3)

a little excerpt:

Chris Masterjohn: Sure. So, the best sources of choline are liver and egg yolks. There are also a number of other nutrients such as folate, for example, that reduces the need for choline. So, it you’re increasing your intake of liver, egg yolks, and leafy green vegetables — you know, a general increase in nutrient density in your diet — it’s very likely that if you do have fatty liver you are going to contribute to its resolution, because choline is the key nutrient that is needed to package the fats in the liver and export them into the bloodstream so they can be metabolized by other tissues. Now, like you said, one in three Americans might have fatty liver, and the best way to diagnose fatty liver, to get certainty, the least invasive way is with an ultrasound. It can also be diagnosable with MRI or biopsy.