Hi, Ruth! No java for you? ;-) As our friend said, his increasing liver pain was what finally prompted him to try it, with good results.

Please look at the following post, from a knowledgeable old-timer here:

http://www.dadamo.com/forum/board-o3/messages/2023.html

By searching archive 12, I found a number of posts on milk thistle. The search says "archive 7," but it's a search of "12." This post of mine also deals with the issue from my personal experience:

http://www.dadamo.com/forum/archive7/config.pl?read=34600

There are a number of informative messages along these lines in that thread - try starting with

http://www.dadamo.com/forum/archive7/config.pl?read=34596

and following downward.

Thomas Dekany, at http://www.dadamo.com/forum/archive7/config.pl?read=27069, says Peter recommends licorice over milk thistle for O's. I have not found the reference, but licorice would certainly be as helpful.

Remember, DGL is the form to take if you have any trouble at all with high blood pressure or fluid retention.

Some of us have taken milk thistle as a kind of protective or tonic for the liver, and report that it doesn't seem to do anything one way or the other. It seems most effective in conjunction with cleansing/healing strategies (protein, exercise and perhaps a few days of a "liver cleanse" diet -- if you'd like a proven recipe, email me again! ;-) There are no avoids, it's just a therapeutic procedure from a tradition complementary to ER).

Cindy, at http://www.dadamo.com/forum/archive7/config.pl?read=36845, recommends a pharmaceutical-grade liver supplement made from HB for O stuff: sarsparilla and artichoke. Check her post for her email, as she offered to give the brand name privately.

At http://www.dadamo.com/forum/board-add/add3.htm, you'll find information about the usefulness of larch arabinogalactan with milk thistle -- when you load that page, just do a "find" for "milk thistle."

It's true that Peter's recommendations for milk thistle (remember to use the highest concentration of silymarin available in an organic product - I can get an excellent brand name for you, if you would like it) are generally under the heading of type A -- yet this may be because he has seen these liver conditions more frequently in that type, rather than that the extraction from this herb is of no use to other types.

If you are not now thoroughly overwhelmed and confused, email me for more!

;-D