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Anyone ever have Hep C, or other liver diseases - or know someone who has - and decided to try natural treatments instead of the Interferon treatments?
I have a friend who is going to probly go thru the Interferon, and i hear that it's much worse than chemo.
Just wondered if anyone had any experiences to share.
Astragalus (as an example) is used in modern Chinese medicine to treat hepatitis.
The are other tried and true herbs (dandelion and milk thistle are two that come to mind) that are used to support liver health but i do not know if they are effective with a serious condition like Hep C.
Your friend, if he wants to go the alternative route, would ideally be (needs to be imo) consulting with an experienced practitioner ... ideally a holistic M.D. .... a medical doctor who has extensive knowledge in alternative approaches and who is willing to treat the Hep C alternatively.
I heard juicing organic fresh beets with I believe apple somehow helps. Drink water! Keep flushing out your liver.
Stay strong & good luck!
What you suggest might support an already-healthy, properly-functioning liver. Great for maintenence, in other words.
I would -not- recommend tossing the interferon in the trash and switching to juicing instead, if you have a diseased liver or hepatitis.
Also, interferon is a protein. It is commonly synthesized, but it also is naturally present in humans. The most common side effects of taking interferon as a treatment for hepatitis are similar to a mild flu, minus the sniffling/sinus problems. Basically, low-grade fever, chills, sweats, nausea, headaches and muscle aches. If you can get through the initial side effects and continue the interferon, those side effects will fade even while you're still taking it.
Personally, if I had hepatitis, I'd want the most aggressive treatment possible and will endure feeling like crap for a week, if it means my body will be healthier as a result.
Personally, if I had hepatitis, I'd want the most aggressive treatment possible and will endure feeling like crap for a week, if it means my body will be healthier as a result.
Most people with Hep C have no health issues and most die from something else,never knowing they even had Hep C
Pippy, your information is ALMOST true. And that's what makes it dangerous. You left out a couple of very important words: who are recently infected.
People who are -recently- infected - meaning, they haven't had it for awhile - have no symptoms. This is absolutely true.
However, if it isn't caught in time, it leads to cirrhosis, which can be deadly. People infected with Hep C don't usually know there's any need to even go to a doctor until they're at mid-stage. At that point, they develop any or all of many symptoms: jaundice, dark urine, fatigue, itching, loss of appetite and nausea, and others.
So yes, early on in the initial stage of infection with Hep C, it's unlikely to have any symptoms at all. But to say that people with Hep C don't have symptoms, without that "early phase" qualification, is absolutely untrue.
It's a tough disease to know what to do with - when you have it.
Yes he's had it for years, with no symptoms - but it was found in his bloodwork.
Now the liver bloodwork is coming back more "dangerous" i guess you'd say - where his doctor feels he needs treatment.
I have read up on it a lot (becuz i like to learn about such things), and many people feel the treatment is worse than anything you'll ever suffer from the disease - except for death - of course!
The treatments can supposedly affect your mind very much also. And yes you get severe body aches and weakness, but as people who go thru chemo know - sometimes you do what you have to do to stay alive.
My sister has gone thru chemo twice and made it, and still isnt cured from cancer but lives a good life. So i suppose you gotta try.
(and the interferon treatments (along with another pill that goes with it) go on for almost 11 months - you give yourself shots each day and see the doc once a week - it's a LONG treatment)
Most people with Hep C have no health issues and most die from something else,never knowing they even had Hep C
most have no health issues but they die from something else?
say what?
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