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Old 03-31-2012, 02:13 PM
Idiopathic PN Idiopathic PN is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Jacksonville, FL
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10 yr Member
Idiopathic PN Idiopathic PN is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Posts: 793
10 yr Member
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mrsD View Post
The only supplement I believe you need to watch is magnesium.
Magnesium does NOT cause kidney problems but if you have those already, the elimination will be slowed for magnesium.

CoQ-10 has been suggested for kidney failure in fact.

Lipoic acid has been shown to be not a factor for people with reduced kidney functions:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15703366
Appears to be tolerated well.

Carnitine has been suggested for people with low kidney functions because the kidney is where this is made for the body in fact. So carnitine may be low in patients with kidney damage.

The water soluble vitamins, B's and C predominately, are excreted by the kidney but I have not seen any papers showing they cause kidney disease.

Supplements basically do not hold toxicity for the liver, because they are used as such by the body for all the various tasks needed. They are not drugs.

Some minerals in high dose, like chromium, etc may become toxic when misused. Here is a general article about toxicity:
http://medical-dictionary.thefreedic...neral+Toxicity

At the levels we use here on this forum, effects on liver and kidney are basically not a serious issue. Only for those who already have severe kidney damage, do clearance rates become important to attend to.

However, some drugs used to treat PN may be toxic....
Cymbalta for one can damage the liver severely..and there have been deaths from this. This drug is too new to appear on
this list. But Cymbalta now has a warning about liver damage:
http://www.rxlist.com/cymbalta-drug.htm


Alcohol may affect the liver. This is very common.
Here is a listing of drugs that can damage the liver:
http://www.hepcnet.net/drugsandliverdamage.html
Notice Tylenol (acetaminophen) and aspirin are listed.

Vit A (retinol) and in high doses only that has potential.
Also high dose nicotinic acid (Niacin)--which is used for lipid control as a drug.

Anyone who takes lots of supplements should be evaluated at least yearly in a check up with blood chemistries, just to be sure both the liver and kidneys are working properly. This is a good idea for everyone, to have a good chemistry screening with the annual check up regardless of supplement use.
As always, thank you very much for your comprehensive reply. I could not thank you enough for all your valuable feedback. I am grateful.

When you said in one of your posts to check on my kidney - well, I did - and I was told that it was normal. I forgot to have my liver function test. But I had it last May 2011 and was normal. Thank God!
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