Diagnostic dilemma

[april2462]

Hi, Shelley:
You are my heroine goddess. I've been on an anti-candida diet for one month to clear up digestive issues (the one year of gluten-free after testing gluten intolerant didn't seem to cut it). I had good progress with the diet plus l-glutamine, probiotics and enzymes with every meal. The only glitch in the progress was that for an undetermined reason, my BMs changed from hopefully once-per-day brown to thinner yellowish squiggles (charming), and diet tinkering didn't seem to do anything. Upon finding your site I decided bowel cleansing was in order - started with the flax shakes (three days) then immediately started blessed herbs. After only one day on that program I had a marked increase in gas and unpleasantness then full-fledged run-to-the-bathroom diarrhea. OK, maybe it's too harsh for me, clearly something's up. Or down. Or out.
Can you please help me a bit in diagnosing where I should go from here?
Thanks!
American girl in Sweden

[april2462]

I can see from thoroughly pursuing the separate web site Vital Cleanse page that I perhaps need to back up a bit, just a bit, to a bit more cleansing before the fiber. But as I am in the middle of this, is there any way to jump into Stage 1 of the cleanse and not worry about the diarrhea too much, or must I go back and try to control the diarrhea?

Thanks for any tips and pointers from other list contributors.

[shelley]

Hi April! Welcome to the website.

You're actually doing perfectly fine. When you change your diet, your stools change too, and that is to be expected and celebrated! Thinner lighter stools are just a sign that they are moving faster through your body. This is NOT a problem and not always a sign of needing cleansing! It can be a sign of being clean! It all depends on your history etc.

I'm a Vata, which means that I have a fast metabolism (so long as I take my thyroid hormone LOL!). When I'm physically active and eating healthy, I have thin soft stools. It's just the way I am. when I slow down mentally and physically, and forget to drink fluids, that's when they look textbook perfect (thicker and darker).

Whenever you take probiotics or juice veggies you can expect thinner faster stools because things are happening inside!

Yes, it does sound like the blessed herbs is too much for you now. Gas is NOT a good sign, they should NOT be fermenting!!! Those are the wrong microbes. You're like me - fiber-based cleansing doesn't work for us. It's just enemas, good diet, herbs/supplements, and that's it.

So to be sure you're going to go into the absolutely best protocol, give me a list of your CURRENT symptoms. If you're having one bowel movement a day without any problem, even if it's not textbook, then you can move on to cleansing the liver/lymphs. Faster and thinner is fine for now!

[april2462]

Hi, Shelley:
Thanks for responding! I'm definitely a Vata that needs daily yoga and meditation for sanity.
Current symptoms - easily tired out, bloodshot eyes, lower joy of life than I'd like. Digestion is better, but all too easily I can get gassy, bloated, nauseous and have a late-night burning stomach (only once during the last four weeks, for example, possibly after ingestion of a new food - reindeer meat, but on my version of anti-candida I've cut all grains and legumes for the time being). Lastly, 8 little pimples in my ear (yeah, what a symptom) that I can't see but I can feel and that my acupuncturist said points to liver imbalance.

Shall I be happy that I'm on the right path, drop the blessed herbs and proceed to liver flush preparations?

Thanks Shelley!

[april2462]

Hi Shelley:
I forgot to say that I asked for a suggestion at the local health store/pharmacy to substitute for the three liver preparations you list on the Vital Cleanse Shopping List, since none of them were avaialable in Sweden, and the clerk recommended Salus Gallelixir, which translating from the bottle seems a preparation of herbs, primarily artichoke hearts, dandelion, yellow(?) gentian, turmeric, chamomile, yarrow, and fennel, ginger, cardemum and a few other spices in small amounts, in a base of fruktos. The fruktos part, as I'm now sugar free except for the fruits in your candida diet, freaked me out but I tried a doseage on an empty stomach and it came right back up within 15 minutes. Blech! I guess my question is, should I try to learn to tolerate this stuff - does it have the right herbs?

Thanks.
April

[shelley]

That's an okay list of ingredients, try a much small dose and see how you do.

[april2462]

Great - and from my list of symptoms in the post immediately above are you agreeing straight to liver flush would be recommended.
best,
april

[shelley]

Yep! Just do enough bowel maintenence to ensure that you are having one good BM a day and good strong hunger for your meals. Once you start taking liver herbs they'll help with that too but it's fine to have soft stools when you're cleansing, it helps.