The worst liver I ever saw  was visible in Carlos Castaneda, the author. The amount of psychedlelics (natural alkaloids,) that he'd taken over a lifetime really showed.  The whites of his eyes were ochre yellow. His irises were black as coal. His body was filled with something dark and a decade later, he died of liver cancer. That professional imbiber of intoxicants was a worst case scenario. Few of us have those kinds of interests in taking alkaloids regularly, though, hey. Coffee is an Alkaloid and it's black as sin so  many of us have little liver symptoms from a lifetime of brew. They flare up when we pile animal fats on top of our shaky livers or ingest chemicals without knowing it. Headache pills and such.

Typical Signs of Liver Sluggishness

    * Morning tiredness, irritability, low confidence
    * Digestive headaches, morning headaches, nausea
    * Aching under the right lower ribcage, right shoulder pain
    * Gas, bloating and indigestion; sensitivity to rich or fatty food like nausea
    * Constipation (may alternate with diarrhea)
    * Yellow skin or itchy skin, skin problems
    * Reacting to known herbal cleansers which flush toxins.

This last is interesting. When taking liver CLEANSING herbs, or doing a liver flush,  folks frequently report a flare up of nausea and that tell-tale swollen brick under rib feeling & liver pain. The herb angelica is a good one to test on your liver. It is specific for healing and cleansing the liver but boy oh boy, it makes a sick liver SING.

For that reason, I'd say the first thing to do when you suddenly have an aching swollen liver is look to see if you haven't had sour, unripe fruits. Pomegranate and citrus can do this. They cleanse the liver too quickly. They are not natural when unrripe. If people picked their own citrus they'd quickly learn that one waits until the TREE lets go of that fruit!  Ripe citrus fruit will not upset the body. Ripe fruit cleanses quite gently. My own observation after viewing the seasons of these wonderful, cleansing fruits is this: I note from my trees that they ripen and are ready to eat at the ingress of autumn. That is when nature wants you to have that fruit around for in winter, all we caveman can get hold of to eat is meat and Grains.  The terrible thing is that Citrus appears to ripen 9 months earlier in December when  it gets its color. All Citrus farmers pick then. Big mistake. citrus has been given a bad rep by such harvesting habits. I wait until the fruit is fully ripe & falls from the tree. Those are the only ones I juice and citrus doesn't bother me. And I am a toxic liver person who gets nauseated if I eat fats or unripe sour fruit.

THE ANSWER for us bad liver folks is a FLUSH. like a radiator flush! Ever do that to your car?

http://www.drdaveou.com/lf.html is the best website out there for description of the NEED for a liver FLUSH but Dr. OU just doesn't give away the secrets of his flush TECHNOLOGY. So I WILL.
I have researched this. You are about to meet healing magic!

http://www.masterjules.net/livflush.htm

and http://www.masterjules.net/liver.htm
 

So the question is, do you need a flush?

You do if you have nausea or Liver pain after a lemonade. Liver pain will be noted is on the right side, mostly right under the rib cage, and up. If it hurts to breathe in, or cough it could be free fluid around the liver in the abdominal cavity. This can also produce reflex pain in the right shoulder. . Sometimes people describe the feeling as a swollen full feeling or cramping under the rib cage.

Liver pain symptoms are often dismissed because it is a general belief that organs don't hurt. Wrong. You can feel pain in all kinds of unsuspected areas. Under left shoulder wing in back is a stressed heart. Sharp pain in appendix area but a little lower is an ILLEUM that is reacting to constipation, sedentary life style or seeds, or sharp chiles, ginger, mustard, vinegar.

Liver Pain is definitely SOMETHING but it's not a bad thing 99% of the time. You may be ingesting a bad thing and your body is letting you know it. No reason to consult a doctor. Rheumatologists, nephrologists, family practitioners, all have been known to dismiss liver pain as patient complainings so why consult them? Also, they have no knowledge at all of the effects of sour/ fatty and patent medicines on liver.

So if it feels like your liver just doesn't fit under your rib cage, think fat. Think some ultra toxic headache remedy you took which you don't recall. Or if you're feeling like a brick was tucked under their right rib, maybe it was unripe citrus. Pain caused from a swollen liver is not necessarily sharp. Most of the time 'liver pain' is just a dull ache. Sometimes the sensation is wrongly attributed to fibromyaliga.

Now, if it were serious and you have an HMO, go test yourself. Blood and urine tests help to identify problems in the liver, but don't rule out the effects of barrage of fatty foods, mayos, or pollutants and toxic substances we habitually use or have in today's environment.

While the liver was designed to detoxify and rid the body of foreign chemicals, it may not be equipped to handle the barrage of pollutants and toxic substances that are about us. So, while you are checking for possible causes of the pain associated with the liver, it would be a good idea to check your body for chemical overload as well. Any new medications? Did this start after using an herbal remedy?

Or is your liver really stewing in some chronic dietary toxidity/ The most common symptom associated with toxic overload is nausea, also fatigue. Taking herbal remedies can loosen so much toxins that you do get nauseated. The cure is worse than the disease, people joke who take herbal cleansers

Other symptoms of a body being cleansed rapidly, all of a sudden, in big lunges can include headache, muscle and joint pain, irritability, depression, mental confusion, gastrointestinal and/or cardiovascular irregularities, flu-like symptoms or allergic reactions including hives, stuffy or runny nose, sneezing and coughing which is not usually associated with liver pain, but can actually be the cause of liver pain and a co symptom of the USE of such items.

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I WENT ONLINE, found this discussion of liver remedies: http://nz.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091215152510AAm4xBb
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HOMEOPATHIC cures,  Holistic Healing avenues, like Homeopathic Remedies
 
Treat Your Liver-Gently
by author Nicole Duelli, CCH, RSHom (NA)

Janice knew her liver needed help, yet she had tried popular cleansing kits and found they were a shock to her system. Persuaded by a friend who knew the gentle approach of homeopathy, she agreed to try this 200-year-old natural medicine.

Homeopathy is by nature gentle because it treats liver problems–or any other problem–by treating the person as a whole and each person individually. Sensitive persons require altogether different remedies and dosages than robust types. And while most of us can use a change in diet to clear out the excesses we eat, homeopaths treat liver sluggishness when it presents a symptom picture.

Here are some common homeopathic remedies made from minute doses of plant, mineral, and animal substances, each chosen to carefully match the symptoms a person experiences according to the age-old principle that like remedies cure like diseases.

Chelidonium was helpful to Janice, who complained of nausea, gas, and cramping pain radiating to her right shoulder blade. She became intensely irritable and would lie on her side and draw up her legs to ease the pain. Although her appetite was poor, she craved hot drinks and felt better after eating.

Lycopodium lessened Michael’s bloating, which would start immediately after eating anything. He disliked tight belts around his waist and felt terribly sluggish in the morning, barely able to drag himself out of bed. While he presented a superficial arrogance, underneath he doubted himself and felt insecure. This helped pinpoint the remedy, and he did well emotionally as well as physically.

Natrium sulphuricum worked wonders for Susan, who came to me because of her elevated liver enzymes. Her main symptoms were bouts of intense cramping pain, improved only by constant rubbing, and sudden attacks of “horrendous” gassy, early morning diarrhea. Feeling exhausted overall, she complained of having lost her drive. Natrium sulphuricum is often helpful for overly responsible, serious types.

Nux vomica helped ease John’s irritability and emotional sensitivity, which was associated with an overworked liver, due to several months of binging on junk food and alcohol. He complained of indigestion, cramps, and reflux with constipation, which improved with the remedy.

Since liver sluggishness tends to be a subtle, chronic condition that begins slowly and lasts a long time, choosing remedies is complicated and typically requires the help of an experienced homeopath. To find one near you, log on to www.homeopathy.org or www.homeopathicdirectory.com.

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