Milk thistle and Gilberts Syndrome

Dear Hannah,

Are you sure that the yellowing of your eyes never actually started before the ingestion of the milk thistle and you just didn't notice it? It took me a long time to discover that my eyes were yellow ( a so called school pal informed me nearly 30 years ago!) when I was diagnosed with Gilberts 'disease' as it was then known. I was also led to believe that milk thistle was supposed to decrease billirum levels thus leading to clearer eyes and skin. If what you say is correct , then I won't go down that avenue!! Hope your eyes look better now, Antz

I too, a Gilbert's patient, have my eyes getting worse after starting milk thistle. Weird... Obviously it boosts detoxification phase 1 and increases bile flow uping billirubin levels for us. We need to boost our 2 detixification phase. That is our problem. Thinking of discontinuing it.

I have GS and have noticed the same and what you are saying about detoxification 2 seems right, because I feel like my body is on hold when I take the milk thistle like it slows down the digestive process and causes the toxins to stay in the body longer. I'm not sure if this is true all I know is that when I take milk thistle for a couple of days that's how I feel. how do you increase the detoxification 2 that you are mentioning and what else helps with GS or is it exercise, diet and stress management like I've been reading about. I guess im looking for a helper to take, but not sure if there is one that is safe and effective. If anyone has had success with any other supplements or lifestyle changes let me know. Thanks

Hi All,

I've been doing some personal research on this and happened to come across your posts in the process. From what I've read about Milk Thistle, you should not take it (or any similarly functioning herb) unless you know for sure your problem does not stem from an obstructed bile duct. It could make matters worse and its consumption should be stopped. If you did not have yellow eyes before the Milk Thistle, but starting experiencing this symptom after consuming Milk Thistle, you might want to get checked out and make sure a duct isn't blocked. Do further research about Milk Thistle and its contra-indications (side effects or affects on liver and bile duct). Hope this was helpful.

Hello there,

I too was recently diagnosed with GS after years of fatigue, yellow skin etc. I read about Milk Thistle and started taking it and it made me feel worse! I did a bit more research and discovered MS aids phase 1 liver function and GSaffects phase 2. In effect, by taking milk thistle, I was speeding up phase 1 causing the liver to have more toxins to cope with at phase2 making symptoms worse. I have stopped taking MS and feel better for it. The things that have made the most difference to my well being are drinking a minimum of 2l filtered water a day. Unfiltered tap water is a no no, avoiding all processed foods and additives, avoiding peanuts, cutting down on alcohol. I can have a small glass once or twice a week. Avoid paint fumes, strong smells and chemicals, they all make me feel really bad. Stress is bad too. Areally good website is gilbertssyndrome dot com. Ithink it is a matter of trial and error to discover what helps and what hinders you. I am not one for taking medication. It only creates more for the liver to deal with. Good luck.

 

I've been diagnosed with GS since i was born. I am now 26. Through out my childhood and into my adulthood, i would find it hard to manage my GS until i found Milkthistle. i always take 1 week on 1 week off. I've always been told that drinking alchol and getting infections, it would make me have episode's of GS and go very yellow, tired and hard to concentrate (Brain fog) Sometimes pains in my up right tummy just below the ribs and by using milkthistle i have managed to keep the episodes down. Yes you will go very yellow when you start taking them but you will feel better in yourself. To get rid of the yellow i always use sunbeds every now and then if i do have an episode and the yellow goes away. Something to do with ultra voilet light helps with it. 

It has helped me greatly and sadly we will all look like a character from the Simpsons from time to time lol.

P.S. Look for diets to help keep it down. Greasy foods on a huge scale can cause you to have episodes however it doesnt hurt to have a treat every now and then

Milk thistle works as an inhibitor for the faze 2 detox so it's not good for Gilbert syndrome.

You need inducers instead. St John's Wort works as an inducer.

Milk thistle dont lower bilirubin. High bilirubin is a main problem of gilbert's syndrome. It messes up detoxification and leads to nutrients malabsorption and disbyosis. Instead of milk thistle i can suggest you to take copper supplement which will detoxify your organism and kill bad bacteria. Copper will help with magnesium retention (Magnesium is important for energy). Dont fear bad symptoms after copper ingestion they just mean that you are detoxifying. But if you will feel cold after copper it means that iron levels dropped (you just need to take no more than 5 mg of iron and do high intensity physical exercise). If you start sneezing after copper it means zinc levels dropped (take zinc:copper with ration 4-8:1 in favor for zinc). Be cautios with water intake after copper. Too much water will make you feel worse and will lower Magnesium levels. Copper prolongs erythrocytes lives and therefore lowers bilirubin (bilirubin comes with death of erythrocytes). Vitamin C can lower copper levels dramatically so you need to avoid food with vit C if you feel that your levels are low. After my copper levels dropped from 12 to 6 (reference 10-20) my bilirubin level rose from 40 to 66. And you need all B vitamins for energy especially if you do physical exercises and eat a lot of carbs