The following is offered for informational purposes only and in no
way represents a
recommendation by the author for anyone else's condition
It works for me!
(and lots of other dedicated folks with hep
C . . .)
written by Kev
Cofounder, NHCC
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Please Be
Sure To Check Out Kev's Most
Recent Update
Below
(Dated
October, 2006)
on
"THE
BENEFITS OF HERBAL VAPORIZATION"
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The most important part of
my regimen is a good healthy dose of prayer; prayers offered by others, and prayers of my
own.
Along with this, each day I take a good multi-vitamin (WITHOUT IRON)
supplemented by 500 mg. of garlic, 400 mg. of vitamin E, and 3000 to 6000 mg.
(and sometimes more) vitamin C taken at equal intervals throughout the day.
PLEASE NOTE: There are
differing opinions about many things related to
vitamin C and some believe that taking large doses of it is not always
a good idea. As an example: folks with high iron levels may
want to consider limiting their vitamin C intake. This particular
group might also want to consider reading the recommendations for
hemochromatosis
before beginning any regimen that includes large doses of
vitamin C.
Most probably already know that it's always a good idea for anyone with hepatitis C to drink lots of water to keep our
systems cleansed, but it may be especially important when taking large
doses of this particular vitamin.
In addition, I periodically drink a cup of green
tea which is believed to be a good anti-cancer supplement. (Drinking
multiple cups and doing so regularly is even better, but not always
easy to do).
Some believe
that one or two
cups of yogurt each day is good for immune stimulation
and I like it because it makes me feel better. Oh yeah, and I don't
drink tap water..........I used to buy the purified stuff from the
local store and now drink water we run through a purification filter.
The more I drink the better I feel - remember that detoxification is
vital and water works wonders!
Those with liver disease that
eat a lot of red meat might want to consider cutting back on it
because it makes the liver work harder to process it and
can often be high in iron. Those with cirrhosis or high iron levels
might also want to consider avoiding as much additional iron as
possible because it's believed that the hep C virus thrives in an iron-rich
environment (even cooking in an iron skillet can add iron
to food because of the leeching that occurs). I avoid red meat, eat low fat
and feel better because of it.
Here's a good
link that discusses diet and hep C, it's not mine but I believe this
page is a good start. Remember: NO alcohol, and moderation is the key
with most things. Here's the link:
http://www.natap.org/2001/ddw/ddw_14_diet080101.htm
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In addition to all of the above, I also take the
following:
Milk Thistle (Siliphos) - In my opinion this herb is one of the best available in America for
those with liver disease. Although no herbs carry the FDA stamp of approval (because it's
not considered economically feasible for a company to spend the required massive amounts
of money to gain FDA approval for a non-patentable product) Milk Thistle is used
extensively in Europe as a liver protectant and asset to
liver healing, and gaining reputation here in the United States as one
of the better "liver herbs". There are a few different types of
Milk
Thistle available on the market, and the main differences seem to
be in the bioavailability of the product (ability to be absorbed and
used by the body). Herbs vary in potency from one plant to the next
and because of this, proper dosing of some herbs used to be a problem.
In recent years the herbal companies have developed methods to
standardize the active ingredients of the plant and market them as
"standardized extracts". Not all herbs are so critical on dosages so
they may not require the standardization process to be as effective,
but this one does. This was the best type of Milk Thistle available on
the market when I was first diagnosed in 1994, and helped me when I
was at my worst. I was taking the dosage as listed on the bottle of
300 mg. 3 times per day. ( 80% standardized silymarin active
ingredient).
Now, we have
"new
and Improved" types of Milk Thistle
available to us that have been
developed in recent years that are far superior and which studies
indicate are much more
beneficial to the liver.
This is largely because of the fact that they're designed to be more bioavailable
to the body than the more familiar "standardized extracts"
(in other words, the very best of the active ingredients from Milk
Thistle is used by the body
rather than eliminated as waste). Scientists have been able to isolate
the most effective parts of the Milk Thistle seed called "silybin" and
have created a patented compound called
"Silybin Phytosome", also known as "Siliphos"
(depending on the manufacturer).
After being
extracted from the Milk Thistle seeds, the silybin then goes through
another process
("phytosome")
which basically binds it with a carrier substance (phosphatidylcholine)
that helps more of this natural substance to be absorbed into the
system and used by the body.
There's
a really good article on hep C and alternatives that originally
appeared in GNC's "Let's Live" magazine a few years back which discusses
the phytosome process and more. We've received permission to reprint the article and
you can read it at the following address:
http://nationalhepatitis-c.org/lets1.htm
I truly
believe that Milk Thistle is one of the very best "liver herbs" on the
planet and I know that this newer process greatly improves its
effectiveness (after seeing concrete improvement in my own health
because of using this far superior type of Milk Thistle, I certainly won't be going back to the regular standardized
extracts any time soon!) The newer stuff can be
purchased in two different potencies:
240mg.
per cap, and
360mg. per cap (the stronger dose is recommended for those
with considerable liver damage like I have).
DOSAGE: As recommended on the
bottle, I take 1 360mg. capsule 3X daily.
Cat's Claw -
The need to boost immunity seems
to be an area that a lot of folks with Hep C forget about. Let me
assure you from personal experience that with this disease especially,
it is VERY IMPORTANT to do everything you can to strengthen and boost
your immunity. There are lots of herbs on the market that can help
with this, but I prefer an extract of the herb "Cat's Claw", because
of the positive impact it's had on my liver function numbers since I
started using it in 1996.
This rain forest herb has not only helped keep the hep C manageable,
but I've had very few cases of the cold or flu since I started taking
it.
DOSAGE: I prefer one 5000
mg standardized extract capsule daily (as recommended).
CAUTION:
Cat's Claw is NOT recommended for anyone taking immunosuppressant
drugs (as with transplant patients). It is also NOT
recommended if pregnant or nursing.
Liverite LiverAid
-
A really good liver detoxification product that
helps tremendously with the "brain fog" and overall
feeling of well-being.
When I first started taking this product in 1999 I noticed it helping me
to feel
more like my old self again. I now spend much less time in bed, and it's
definitely had
a positive effect on my motivation to want to get out and do things.
I believe the amino acids etc. in this product really do help to heal my liver
while the vitamin B12 helps with my energy. I really can't say enough good things about this stuff
and most people I know who try it, love it. Here's a link to a
report that was written about this product by a physician (MD):
Doctor Report
DOSAGE:
I take 2 tabs, 3X per day.
Dandelion Root
(made into a "tea")
- Those
who've progressed to cirrhosis often find fluid retention in the lower abdomen
and ankles to be a problem. This is basically liquid waste that's prone to
infection and usually controlled by the use of prescription diuretics such as
"Lasix" and "Aldactone". In my own case, my fluid retention was in the area of
the abdomen (called "ascites") and my doctor prescribed both of the above
mentioned diuretics to control it. These drugs can damage the kidneys and have
other undesirable side effects on the body when used for extended periods of
time and it wasn't long before I started experiencing them myself.
This is when
I decided to search for an alternative to these medications and learned about
dandelion root. This herb has been reported to be a natural alternative to the
diuretic prescriptions I was taking, and after being on the meds for close to a year, my
doctor agreed to go along with my desire to wean myself from both and switch to
dandelion root. I did this by gradually decreasing my dosage of the pills while
increasing my intake of the herb (which I make into a tea). Over a period of a
few months I was successful at completely stopping the prescriptions and by
drinking the tea I was able to keep my ascites under control. For a number of
years I'd make up a pot in the morning, and drink between one to two quarts per
day.
I'm happy to say that since late in the year 2000, my
condition has improved to where I've been able to reduce my daily intake of
dandelion root to about 16 oz. and as long as I remain on my low-sodium diet I
no longer have a problem with ascites. Dandelion root can be purchased in pill
form or as raw herb which can be made into a "tea". I prefer the latter and
here's how to make it:
Using one teaspoon of raw dandelion root per cup of water
(or 3 tablespoons per 2 quart pot), bring your water to a boil, turn down to a
slow roll, and add the dandelion root. Leave covered at this temperature for
about 20 minutes, then let it cool and enjoy.
It tastes a little different, but herbs usually do, and I
think it's really enjoyable once you get accustomed to it (now, you can't tell
me that some of you haven't consumed some "different" tasting things before).
You can even buy it roasted which changes the flavor a bit, and it's fine to
sweeten or flavor it with lemon, or whatever. I order my dandelion in bulk which
is the cheapest, and I believe the most potent (Teabags are much more
expensive). Dandelion root is healthy for the entire digestive system and is a
really good herb even for those who don't have cirrhosis. Many health food
stores don't carry bulk dandelion root though and if you have a problem finding
it, ask them to order it for you.
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God didn't leave us without ways to treat hepatitis C,
much of traditional medicine just left Him out of the equation!!!
. . .Kev Krueger 2002 |
It is important
to remember that the effectiveness of herbs is directly related to personal
sleep habits, nutrition, and exercise. Many herbs take a while to get into
the system before they start to work. The way I see it, it took a long time
for my body to get into the shape it was in when I was diagnosed, and it's certainly worth a bit of
patience on my part, knowing that this time I am being healed, and in the way my body
was designed - with God's own medicine.
A final word of
caution: As with any other suggestion offered to you by anyone (yes even a
licensed physician!):
DO YOUR
OWN HOMEWORK!
I cannot stress enough
the importance of knowing what goes on with and into our bodies.
Don't just take someone else's word for anything, (including
mine). Do your OWN research!!! Do NOT
assume that because a person claims to be an herbal specialist that they know
about liver disease or hepatitis C.
MANY DO NOT!!!!
Herbs were put here by God for us to use as food and medicine, but when used
incorrectly they can be just as harmful as anything else on the planet.
This is the
regimen of which I credit for helping me avoid
the liver transplant that my doctor at Vanderbilt Medical Center believed I'd need within a year- back in
1994. Since then, by the grace of God and a whole lot of determination, my
condition has improved to where I am
no longer considered in need of liver transplantation and I live each day
thankful to be alive, living with my own liver intact. In spite of the fact that
I remain disabled from the damage caused by hepatitis C prior to my diagnosis,
by being dedicated to
the daily regimen discussed above, my liver function numbers have consistently remained in the
normal ranges or very close since 1996. Although my continuing survival
(and the multitude of others who use this or similar alternative therapies)
verifies that the virus CAN be controlled without the toxicity and potential
harm of chemical treatments like interferon, we know that anyone who chooses
this approach to controlling hep C will probably need to continue with some sort
of herbal therapy for the rest of their lives (unless a cure is found, along with an
accurate test to measure it). Just because you start to feel better, don't make
the mistake of thinking that you no longer need to take whatever was helping
you. As long as the virus exists, we have to continue fighting back. Period.
One last word for
anyone who might get the wrong impression here: since 1995 when I first started
using my regimen it's helped to improve my condition, helped me keep my
hepatitis C under control, and helped me to avoid the liver transplant that my
doctors believed I'd need back then. However,
I AM STILL NOT CURED OF HEPATITIS C
and this potentially deadly virus continues to reside within me.
Kev Krueger
Co-founder - National Hepatitis C Coalition, Inc.
KEV'S UPDATE
October-November, 2006
Although the majority of plant medicines used today
are probably those taken in some sort of oral
pill form, herbs are still used in other forms from
liquid concentrates to those that are most often
smoked. The main problem here though is the risk to
our lungs, so smoking anything isn't really a good idea.
Fortunately though, modern science has learned how to
heat plant material at a lower temperature to where it
becomes vaporized instead of burned, saving the lungs
from the dangers of smoke while offering the same
benefits. Units are now on the market that can
vaporize
any plant material that would normally have been
smoked, with all the benefits of smoking the herb but
without the dangers. I'm now a solid believer in
this method and I hope you'll read on while I explain
why. . . .
For those who might wonder why anyone would smoke an
herb when a simple pill can be taken, it has to do
with getting the material into the system quicker,
like for those who may need help with sleep and would
prefer not to have to wait for a pill to kick in. A
shortlist of herbs that might be used in this way
would include eucalyptus,
chamomile, lavender, lemon balm, and sage just to name
a few. All
have their own medicinal properties but are especially
known for their ability to promote sleep.
Those with significant liver disease often have appetite problems
and may find the
need to smoke a specific herb like cannabis. There is
nothing else on the market that is "liver-friendly"
for this problem other than a drug called "Marinol"
which rarely works and I'll discuss it more in a
minute. Cannabis, though not legal in all 50 states of
the U.S. yet, is tremendous for stimulating appetite
in hep C patients with appetite problems as well for
alleviating many of the discomforts related to those
who are symptomatic just from the disease (a recent
study indicates
that cannabis use has helped patients stick to their
chemotherapy regimens better than those without it
too, thus showing better response rates as a result of
using this wonderful plant).
Before I go on I
should mention that I have
NOT
changed anything with my own original herbal regimen for
hepatitis C listed above and everything I take continues to help me
as always. I still take everything in pill form as
before and I doubt that this will ever change.
However, I have suffered from a severe appetite
problem for many years because of my severe liver damage
and didn't find it necessary to mention it on this
site until now. As stated above, thanks to a very real shortage of available products
that can safely help this all-too-common symptom for
those with liver disease, the medicine I use is most
commonly smoked or vaporized. For obvious reasons, it should probably remain unnamed here.
But, since our mission is to help patients learn from
what we've experienced in one way or another, I'm not
going to shy away from this subject. My private and
discreet use of medicinal cannabis helps me
tremendously.
We
learned a long time ago that cirrhosis can be caused
or exacerbated by malnutrition, and that's one thing I
cannot afford to risk and I most certainly won't.
Ingesting cannabis though, however expensive, is the safest way
I know that will genuinely
stimulate my appetite. And it does work! After
the
prescription drug "Marinol" failed me in the
late nineties while I continued to lose weight, my
doctor felt as desperate as I did and he finally suggested
that perhaps
I should consider buying cannabis from the street to
use to stimulate my
appetite. Since we were living in TN at the time which
has no compassionate use laws, I had no choice but to
resort to the black market for my medicine. After
getting robbed twice while trying to buy my medicine, I am SO glad to
now be legal
to use cannabis in the State of California and I no
longer have to worry about dealing with unsavory
situations just to procure badly needed and sorely
misunderstood
medicine.
For a long time I
ingested my medicine primarily by smoking. Until now. I read about other
methods of consuming the herb and found that there are
many things we can try that many folks may not be familiar
with. Some methods work better for some people
than others.
Anyway, I'd
heard about vaporizing herbs before but because the
very best units are not inexpensive, I never gave this
method much more thought until this year when my
doctor strongly recommended that I consider vaporizing
instead of smoking any of my medicine. He reminded me
that smoking can lead to bronchitis and that I had
liver disease with a LOT of damage. He also reminded
me that if I was to develop bronchitis, I'd most
likely need to take strong liver damaging antibiotics
which could significantly worsen my condition. This is
something that a person with extensive liver damage
should definitely avoid, although I had never thought
about it before.
The good doc
recommended that I do some research into
herbal vaporization and suggested
not to waste my money on a cheap brand of unit. Apparently there's a big difference in quality
from one vaporizer to the next and he recommended for
me to buy what he feels is the very
best unit on the market and suggested I read
up on it and find a way to get one ASAP. Needless to say, as soon as I got home I got
online and started learning about herbal vaporization
and particularly this "doctor recommended" machine.
Long story short: I did follow my doctors advice and I
now vaporize my herbal medicine that for so many
years I used to smoke. I'm thrilled that I'm
using what many consider to be the very best machine
of its kind on the market too, and I'll tell ya, I
am NOT exaggerating when
I say this
machine is literally amazing!
Anyway, I think it's rather obvious by now that I'm
crazy about using this unit.
Actually
I've lost all desire to "waste" any more of
my medicine by smoking it
when I can vaporize and get more use from it instead (vaporization has shown to be more economical on
the smoked material as well). No more
damaging tars or nicotines from any kind of smoke, just pure vaporized mist that
works every bit as good or perhaps even better than smoking! Even
though the vaporizing unit itself is not officially sold as a medical
device, I sure wouldn't be surprised if it will be
sometime in the future because it can definitely help to prevent
health problems in my opinion!
I apologize for sounding like an advertisement here,
but I'm enthusiastic about saving my lungs and
I'd hope you'd feel the same way about YOURS by at
least trying out one of these machines. It's really
wonderful to feel like I've just
eliminated one
more unnecessary risk to my health!
This particular
unit comes with a free 4-week
trial period in which it can be returned for
a full refund if desired, so you just cannot lose by
checking out one of these baby's! After all. . . .
isn't maintaining our health worth any price?
When you order one of these machines:
Make sure to tell em "Kev" from NHCC sent ya!
Here's
some links you may want to check out:
http://www.aegis.org/news/bar/2006/BR060908.html
http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7046
http://www.storz-bickel.com
Kev
Krueger
October-November, 2006
This page may be printed out and
freely distributed offline as long as proper credit is given, all text remains in its original form,
unaltered, and in its entirety.
CLICK HERE FOR PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION
OF KEV'S REGIMEN
FOR HEPATITIS C.
Kev in the media......
NHCC Speaks With
Naomi Judd - Dec. 1997
Interview with
the Koop Institute - Mar. 1998 (video)
Brief Profile of Kev in "Let's Live" magazine -
Mar. 1999
Kev's Bio - May
2001 - MSN / WebMD
Kev's story (on this site)
Essiac Tea
(anti-cancer)
Making
Essiac Tea
"An important side effect of interferon is worsening of liver disease
with treatment, which can be severe and even fatal."
- excerpted from the
CDC Website Hep C FAQ page
HAVE TATTOOS?
They may be more risky for infection than previously thought!! Please
read:
TATTOO TIME BOMB
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February 26, 2008
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