I am new to this blog but well-versed in holistic and allopathic hep c treatments. I am also trained in zoology and clinical laboratory Science (medical technology). I have had hepatitis c for 30 plus years and I am now 55 years old. I have the worst genotype, 1A, and I underwent drug therapy 3 1/2 years ago, but was unable to finish after 12 weeks due to massive dermalogical allergic symptoms. The treatment nearly destroyed me.

Six months later I went to the Gerson clinic in Big Bear. That was essential to restoring function to my liver. The Gerson protocol is for cancer, however, its therapeutic focus is on the liver. Dr. Gerson believed that all cancers, wherever they occured in the body, were due to liver dysfunction and his protocol targets the liver to restore function. The protocol is powered by fresh juice on the hour, but includes a wide range of solid foods, both cooked and raw.

It occured to me that the Gerson protocol was very appropriate for me, however, hepatitis c is a much different situation that terminal cancer. The food in their program, I came to believe, is necessary to slow down the detoxification process. This is necessary for their protocol because the patients are very fragile and sudden massive detoxification would probably kill most of them.

What eventually evolved for me is based on a couple different things. One is the fact that the virus is difficult to eradicate because it is born inside the cell, although its particles are released in massive quantities into the blood. Intracellular viruses are notoriously difficult to manage, especially using drugs to target blood-borne (extracellular) particles. The other important fact is that it is cirhosis that kills the liver, not the virus. These facts resolved me on a course of action to target the cirhosis, rather than the virus. There are many examples of people dying of old age, even though they have the virus, because they never develop cirhosis. Four years ago my biopsy scores for my liver were at stage 3 out of 4 for fibrosis, and 2 out of 4 for inflammation. I reasoned that if I restored liver function by reversing scarring, then the body could do its job of eliminating, or at least, keeping the virus in check.

The great thing about cirhosis is that it is macro-cellular and extracellular. In other words it is outside of the cell, on a larger scale than micrsoscopic sized particles like viruses, easily accessible to blood borne nutrients, and also accessible to physical techniques like massage and organ pumping.

Cirhosis is fibrosis, or scar tissue in the tissues of the liver. The liver is composed of a huge number of blood vessels, a huge number of lymph vessels, and a huge number of bile ducts. ( Liver Flushes empty the bile ducts of stagnant bile, but do not reach to cleanse the actual organ tissues.) In the liver tissues, especially in hep patients, are fat deposits that become beds of inflammation. These are called called fatty liver or steathosis. These fat beds promote the development of fibrosis, or scarring. Remember, inflamation (the arachidonic acid cycle) is a fat metabolism pathway. Fatty liver is increased by body mass index, although in hep c patients the condition exists even in non-overweight patients.

So, a 15 months after drug treatment, and 9 months after Gerson, I did a 70 day green juice fast. I also had weekly 2 hour treatments with a very skilled deep tissue massage therapist in my area. We pumped my liver every week of bile, and the massage increased blood flow to the tissues. Week five saw a sudden expulsion in my bowel - 48 inches of bowel movement in five consecutive days. This material was small dehydrated, marble sized balls all stuck together. They had been enclosed over by the mucous membrane of my digestive tract and were actually adhesed to the tissues and ligaments of my back and bowel. Ever wonder why a colonoscopy shows nothing but nice clean mucosal lining? It's because the mucous lining grows over the pockets. The pockets become embedded in the actual tissue of the intestinal walls. Week six saw my liver swell up to a huge size and we pumped out about a quart of noxious black paste, which was elimated through my bowel. I think that could not happen without the bowel purging first, the week before.

Since then I have continued green juicing (with raw food added) combined with massage and core exercise. My liver is functioning perfectly, it seems, and my energy is through the roof. My sense of humor has returned and I am also buffed out physically.

I have tried literally all of the stuff in this blog - 100 g intravenous vitamin C treatments, every herb, nat-cell, lauricidin, olive extract. But it eventually occurred to me that this is more like digging a ditch than finding the perfect natural drug. Let me emphasize that all that stuff works well - it just works really well in a clean system.

I have not bothered with lab tests, but I will at the five year mark. For now, contact with doctors is just a downer, and it won't affect what I do anyway, because the tests are okay for measuring liver enzymes and virus particles, but only a biopsy measures fibrosis, and I am not going to drill a hole in my liver to find out what I already know in my heart anyway. My deep tissue guy, who is the best, tells me that my liver feels healthier than ony of his other clients. That's good enough for me.

By the way, I would have to think hard about considering organ massage (if I had never done it before) without accompanying it with a pretty intensive elimination program. But, when done correctly, a skilled body worker can really accelerate the progress of the program in the liver, as well as all areas of the body. My massage guy has realigned my spine (double scoliosis), freed up my fused left hip, and helped significantly with my right shoulder and neck (We're working on that now). I seem to be realigning from the feet up and now we are at my shoulder. All fueled by green juice!

Anyway, glad to be here. Good luck to you all.