Started a cleanse and have some questions

[cleanslate]

Hey Shelley,

I haven't done a cleanse in a while, so I figured it was about time. I'm actually in fairly decent health, and eat a very healthy, balanced diet as a general rule. Lots of fruits and vegies, very little red meat. I also supplement with CalMag Fizz and EmergenC. I've been taking Tricor to keep my triglycerides in check for a few years now.

I started taking Planetary Formulas Stone Free on Monday at the recommended dosage - 5 a day (which seems like a lot). I've been feeling lightheaded off and on - Monday I actually had to leave work. My bowel movements have been weird too; I seem to be going to the bathroom a lot more, but there isn't as much "oomph", for lack of a better term. It's like I only half finish every time I go. I'm also seeing mucous every now and again. Is this normal? The lightheadedness is a bit worrisome. You think I could be overdoing it with the Stone Free with the other supplements? I feel like I should push through it, but still have a bit of anxiety. Any thoughts?

[shelley]

My advice is to stay within your comfort zone. That doesn't mean feeling entirely comfortable, as real and true cleansing/healing is an uncomfortable process. You have to feel sick to feel better. However, you don't want to go so far as anxiety. You should eat more protein, tryptophan and calcium if you feel anxious, and back off the dose a little. Instead of taking 5, take 4.

Elevated triglycerides is often due to a simple lack of magnesium or other minerals. Be sure to visit www.acu-cell.com/dis and look it up. You may be able to get off the prescription meds. I was, simply by cleansing my blood and taking manganese once a week, and bouts of Milk Thistle. If you're a coffee person, you need manganese. Most statins, that's all they do, manage manganese.

Seeing mucus is not exactly what we call normal, actually. But it happens, and it is usually not a good sign. Either you have divirticulitis, or a low-fiber diet that doesn't allow the body to replace old mucus with healthy new mucus, or polyps, or a lack of A/Zinc so that the tissues need extra mucus to protect themselves becuase you're not building healthy tissues.

But it is normal to have a lot more bowel movements when taking the herbs, as they do include diuretics and laxatives. So you'll "go" even when there isn't much to do.

So you might want to get a colonoscopy just to be safe and sure about the colon. If it comes back clean you'll know it's the small intestine. In that case you should do a fiber-based cleanse, a little bit of clay, kefir, bovine colostrum, and A/Cod Liver Oil and Zinc. The Cleansing carrot salad cleanse plus Taurine and Lecithin would also be wise and very highly cleansing of the liver.

Hope that helps!

[cleanslate]

Thank you Shelley. I had a feeling I was running a little low in the protein department. I had a nice big piece of salmon last night, with brown rice and veggies. This morning I made myself a protein shake with banana before leaving for work. Between the two, it really seemed to clean the pipes out. Very good BM, no mucous, better energy this morning and no anxiety.

FYI I haven't been seeing a lot of mucous, just a few small milk white globs/strings here and there. I figured that may be the Stone Free was irritating something. The doc said I had IBS; I've had some pretty intense cramps before, but nothing recently. My whole IBS thing seems to stem from an appendicitis and really bad case of subsequent peritonitis two years ago. I'm gonna take a short break from the Stone Free and then resaddle at a lower dose.

I'm not concerned about a magnesium deificiency; I supplement with the CalMag Fizz and am pretty meticulous about eating a healthy diet. Although I like a good cup of joe, I make all efforts to restrict the amount I drink. I tend to worry more about potassium; it's tricky to get it right because you don't want to overdo it either.

FYI Tricor is not actually a statin, it's a fibrate; I'm not sure what the actual mechanism of action is, but I know it's different and is geared specifically toward trigylcerides, where statins target cholesterol. I think it helps the liver produce a specific enzyme that eliminates/stabilizes lipids. By any objective measure, I think the Tricor has given me pretty miraculous results. BUT, I also believe that it has the potential to overtax the liver and gall bladder if ya don't take care of yourself, making periodic cleansing that much more important.

[shelley]

Ah, gotcha. Okay. Elevated tri's can be exacerbated by deficiencies in molybdenum, so you might want to take the RDA for a few days.