Conclusion: Silymarin is generally very well tolerated, with a low incidence of adverse events and no treatment-related serious adverse events or deaths reported in clinical trials. For maximum benefit, treatment with silymarin should be initiated as early as possible in patients with fatty liver disease and other distinct liver disease manifestations such as acute liver failure, when the regenerative potential of the liver is still high and when removal of oxidative stress, the cause of cytotoxicity, can achieve the best results.
Milk Thistle side effects
Across 246 first-hand reports, people mentioned a side effect 11 times (about 4 per 100 reports). The most common: stomach issues, diarrhea, serotonin syndrome. User reports show what people notice — they can't tell you whether Milk Thistle is safe for you.
Reported side effects
stomach issues3
diarrhea2
serotonin syndrome1
hypothyroidism1
thyroid swelling1
weight gain1
liver enlargement1
acute pain1
In their own words
“Nothing much happened. I still had those problems after trying all that nootropics and supplements.”
“Milk thistle can with some people cause Hypothyroidism... I had to quit taking I started gaining weight and my thyroid was swollen and hurt.”
“I'm experiencing loss of libido and want something to offset this while my kidneys get back to normal (seems to be working a week in, less pain, feel much better, better sleep and digestion).”
“I have tried, to no great relief: eating fuck tons of ginger, upping my carbs and protein post-workout, lots and lots of cannabis, Acetaminophen + Aspirin + Ibuprofen, Milk Thistle, and increased pre and post-workout stretching.”
“I stopped taking milk thistle, red raspberry leaf, uva ursi, black cohosh, and drinking peppermint tea.”
Is Milk Thistle safe? What the research covers
AResearch: Strong26 meta-analyses · 39 randomized trials on PubMed
Adv Ther · 2020
Silymarin as Supportive Treatment in Liver Diseases: A Narrative ReviewClin Toxicol (Phila) · 2022
Silibinin: a toxicologist's herbal medicine?Conclusion: Despite this there is no quality randomized trial to definitively demonstrate its utility. While, intravenous silibinin has a low toxicity, unanswered is whether it is useful in protecting the liver in cases of amanitin-containing mushrooms toxicity, and whether earlier administration would likely improve outcomes.