Liver detox - here we go page

[rosie1973]

So I've been eating *mostly* primal for the last year or so. When I say mostly, I mean I do have the occasional sweet and white rice...but its very moderate. Anyway, a few months back I started to feel pain in my right side under my ribs. It's mostly constant, but worse when I lie down. So I went to my doctor and he ordered blood tests to see how my liver and kidney enzymes were doing. Turns out they were fine. Then I got an ultrasound to check for gallstones, abnormalities in my liver/kindneys/spleen/pancreas.....everything clear. But the pain didn't stop. So then I added digestive enzymes to see if they helped. They didn't. So I went in again today with my food diary he'd requested and since there were no noticeable foods that seemed to trigger the pain, we decided to do a liver detox and stop eating meat for 3 days and record how I feel. He thinks its possible that the amount of meat I eat is hard on my digestive system. I'm open to anything really...I just wonder if he's right OR...perhaps the meats I'm eating aren't pure enough and my liver is tired of filtering everything? I don't know. I will report back though.

I gotta say, its near impossible for me, with my budget, to get organic meat every time I eat. Has anyone else had issues like this over the time you've been primal?

[GeorgiaPeach]

I didn't do a lot of searching, but I did find this website. Pain where you are describing doesn't have to mean your liver...

Pain under Left Rib Cage | IMEDWELL

I didn't read the treatment either, but the point is that maybe you should check and see if any of these things might relate to you. You could try cutting meat for a couple of days more so for a colon detox than a liver. Are you having a bowEl kovement regularly? Drinking enough water? Eating nuts? They are kind of hard to digest and can cause some pain. Lots of options to look onto.

[Hedonist2]

I never thought I would be saying this but do you fast? It seems that your liver really needs for you to do so. More

[rosie1973]

Just an update here.

So the first week I cut out meat only and did the liver cleanse powder (made them into a shake with blueberries and coconut milk) and the pain came and went as usual. So then this week i added meat back in and cut dairy and coffee. I never had that much dairy to begin with, just like feta and some other cheeses on salads and then a little cream with my coffee. And the last 2 days there has been 0 pain in my side. I wonder if its the coffee or the dairy? I cringe to think I have to cut coffee from my life forever!!! So I'll do this until Sunday probably and then put dairy back in and see how I feel.

Experimenting with your body is fun!

[jammies]

It sounds to me like a sluggish gallbladder. Did they do a HIDA scan on you? Sometimes your gallbladder can become inefficient at emptying bile even when there are no stones or inflammation.

I have the same thing. I am still in the process of figuring out all my triggers. Deep fried crappy food will do it for sure. I think rice is an issue for me and perhaps coffee as well.

When I am having pain, I find drinking some water with apple cider vinegar will sometimes take the pain away within an hour or so.

[emmie]

I'd suggest the gall bladder, too. About 10 years ago, I had 'attacks,' but all tests were negative--no stones or anything that could be a reason to remove the gall bladder. Fat seemed to cause the attacks, and I ate low fat for quite a while to control the pain (on doctor's advice), but I discovered that once I eliminated all grains, I can eat fat at a moderate level with no problems.

My point is that the gall bladder could be 'not working well' but nothing show up on tests. My gastroenterologist told me that this is quite common.

[rosie1973]

Huh. Interesting comments. I was, of course, freaking out thinking I had liver cancer (I always freak out into worst case scenario mode) even though my lifestyle would never cause such a thing. I also went to a massage therapist who does myofascial work on me and besides noting a lot of hard tissue around my area of complaint, she said that my stomach was jammed up too high, said some people with acid reflux deal with this and it causes discomfort and sometimes deferred pain. Even though I don't have the obvious symptoms of acid reflux, its quite possible that the coffee does trigger an acidic response in my stomach. I'll have to do some research on the gallbladder though. Thanks for the comments, its helpful.

[rosie1973]

By the way, I don't know what a HIDA scan is. They did an ultrasound and some blood work, all of which came out normal.

[Jenni77]

I used to have pains on the right side under my rib cage, behind my left shoulder, and a couple of other places, as well as a strong feeling of discomfort, that would sometimes come like over me like a 'rush'. When I stopped dairy, all the symptoms stoped as well. When I include milk back in, it works for a while, and then the symptoms come back.