Liver Enzymes Raised By Modafinil
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I have major depression, which is only one out of 4 Mental Health diagnoses I have that disabled me since 1985. The major depression is resistant to treatment. I have been on so many combinations of anti-depressant, anti-psychotic and mood stabilizers that my Psychiatrists in the past and the one I go to now, did not know what to do. About 5 years ago, as a last resort, I was put on Provigil as a way to help me get motivated and not be depresses. I now take high doses of Modafinil, and my AST blood level for my liver is 40 (should be 10-35, and my ALT is 134 (should be 6-40. My Psychiatrist, PCP, and I have agreed that in my case, where I could do nothing for myself, had countless suicide attempts, and hardly ever got out of bed, quality of life is a priority--not quantity of life. I was wondering if anyone has any information (I searched and searched and didn't get much help) or could see if they could find any information that could slow down the rise in my liver levels. I am a 56 year old female, who isn't afraid to die, but is afraid of suffering. If anyone will kindly offer me any advice of foods to avoid, other things to avoid, and/or supplements that are natural that I can take to slow down this process, I will be eternally grateful. Please remember...do not mention going off the Modafinil. If I were to stop it, I may as well die, because the life I am living now would end. Now, I have no one to take care of me, so I would end up in a State Psychiatric Facility now. It is bad enough that it is my fate that I will suffer and end up hospitalized eventually anyway in a "not so nice" place.

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I want to thank you so much for your reply, Verwon. I don't drink alcohol, I drink a lot of bottled water, and I take Silymarin Milk Thistle everyday, so there is a bit I have been doing. My problem is the exercise. I have Fibromyalgia and I am agoraphobic, so with the pain and the fear of going out to walk, my ability to exercise is limited. Do you have any suggestions for exercises that I could do. You are very knowledgeable Verwon, and I appreciate that you help so many on here.

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Hi, Candy! Wow, I'm very sorry about everything that you're dealing with, what a heavy load to carry. Treatment resistant depression is awful.

If it's okay with your doctor for you try herbal supplements, you may want to check your local vitamin shops to look for a liver cleanse or detox product. They are actually really popular right now among the health conscious, so you'll most likely find a great variety of them to choose from.

The other things you can do is make sure you get plenty of exercise, since that's healthy for your body as a whole, plus lots of water to flush out toxins that tax the liver. Unless your doctor has you on fluid restriction for some reason and you may want to stick with filtered or purified water, rather than tap, since it can often be contaminated with other prescription medications that could add additional strain, even in trace amounts.

Preservatives in processed foods may add to the problem, you'll also want to make sure to abstain from alcohol.

Does anyone else have any suggestions to add?

They may just go down on their own, too. My ex-husband is diabetic and his used to go up frequently, then back down and it was never a major concern, unless they stayed up for awhile.

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