Detox Symptoms - Part One
09/10/08 15:13 Filed in: Self Healing
Detoxifying literally means removing poisons from
your body. Once these poisons are gone, you will feel
energetic, vital, happy and healthy. It is the
poisons that make us feel tired, mentally confused,
irritable, unhappy, depressed and ill. Consequently
one should look forward to detoxification as a
wonderful opportunity and seek to enhance the
experience with positive thoughts and a positive
attitude. Be grateful for this opportunity for
healing. By being willing to release toxins and the
mental and emotional patterns that created them, like
the phoenix, we become renewed. Old outer layers fall
away and leave space for the new self and life to
emerge.
As you go through your self healing programme unpleasant feelings and symptoms may tempt you to quit before you complete you have accomplished your goals. What is important to remember is that these symptoms are an indication that you are actively detoxing. Detox symptoms never last. They come and then, once the toxins are eliminated, they go. Perhaps then a new wave of detox symptoms will come and then go. Each wave of elimination makes the body clearer and stronger. It is important to pay attention to symptoms during detoxification, and ensure that elimination (bowel movements, adequate fluid intake balanced by adequate urination, perspiration, etc) remains active. Following are common detox symptoms:
Cravings - Although it is unlikely that you will be hungry during deep cleansing (easily remedied by drinking vegetable juices), cravings can be quite strong at times. Typically people crave what they are detoxifying. Common cravings are for foods such as cheese, pizza, hamburgers, salt, etc. which will stop the cleanse. Most cravings occur in the first three days of deep cleansing. Cravings typically disappear after your next bowel movement or colema.
Tiredness – When you release toxins during your programme, your body diverts energy into your healing process and away from the energy you use to work and play. As with cravings, tiredness is usually relieved after your next bowel movement or colema. If undergoing a fast, tiredness may settle in quite deeply as your body needs the rest to focus on deeper tissue cleansing. Energy will return either during the fast or once the fast is ended with simple vegetables or broth.
Irritability – depending on the individual, this irritability can range from sound sensitivity to a need to be alone. It can also include the desire to ‘just chew something solid.’ Emotional issues that have been neglected may come to the surface. The use of flower essences and essential oils can assist you in moving through these feelings, as can a variety of bodywork methods and personal inward contemplation. Moods and feelings come and then simply go on their own during a cleanse and most clients report that irritability is relieved after a colema.
Physical aches, pains, nausea, vomiting, etc –severe reactions are very uncommon, and only occur when a person is severely toxic. There are numerous supportive naturopathic therapies to provide rapid relief from these symptoms. A valuable tool is the use of the cold abdominal pack for nausea. Wrap a cold wet towel completely around the abdomine and then wrap up in warm blankets. The body will heat the cold towel and you will feel immediate lessoning of symptoms. It is vital to ensure that you drink sufficient fluids and thus remain hydrated. Depending on the type of cleanse you are doing that could mean warm herbal teas, lemon water, distilled water or fresh juices.
Hot bowel movements – your body wastes are acidic and when you eliminate the most toxic ones, they actually feel anywhere from warm to burning. This experience serves as a happy reminder that you have just eliminated significant toxins. Any lingering heat can be relieved by applying Witchhazel, a cooling astringent, using a cotton pad.
Headaches – These are common when toxins flood into the blood stream. A coffee enema or colonic, and more fluids, should relieve this symptom immediately.
Minor discomforts are a part of the cleansing process and are a clear sign that the process of detoxifying is underway. It is important to support this process rather than attempting to suppress it. Taking headache medication or other suppressive methods is contrary to the cleansing process, but there are many things that you can do to activate the eliminative systems and thus alleviate or even eliminate the occurrence of these symptoms in the first place. Part Two coming soon….
As you go through your self healing programme unpleasant feelings and symptoms may tempt you to quit before you complete you have accomplished your goals. What is important to remember is that these symptoms are an indication that you are actively detoxing. Detox symptoms never last. They come and then, once the toxins are eliminated, they go. Perhaps then a new wave of detox symptoms will come and then go. Each wave of elimination makes the body clearer and stronger. It is important to pay attention to symptoms during detoxification, and ensure that elimination (bowel movements, adequate fluid intake balanced by adequate urination, perspiration, etc) remains active. Following are common detox symptoms:
Cravings - Although it is unlikely that you will be hungry during deep cleansing (easily remedied by drinking vegetable juices), cravings can be quite strong at times. Typically people crave what they are detoxifying. Common cravings are for foods such as cheese, pizza, hamburgers, salt, etc. which will stop the cleanse. Most cravings occur in the first three days of deep cleansing. Cravings typically disappear after your next bowel movement or colema.
Tiredness – When you release toxins during your programme, your body diverts energy into your healing process and away from the energy you use to work and play. As with cravings, tiredness is usually relieved after your next bowel movement or colema. If undergoing a fast, tiredness may settle in quite deeply as your body needs the rest to focus on deeper tissue cleansing. Energy will return either during the fast or once the fast is ended with simple vegetables or broth.
Irritability – depending on the individual, this irritability can range from sound sensitivity to a need to be alone. It can also include the desire to ‘just chew something solid.’ Emotional issues that have been neglected may come to the surface. The use of flower essences and essential oils can assist you in moving through these feelings, as can a variety of bodywork methods and personal inward contemplation. Moods and feelings come and then simply go on their own during a cleanse and most clients report that irritability is relieved after a colema.
Physical aches, pains, nausea, vomiting, etc –severe reactions are very uncommon, and only occur when a person is severely toxic. There are numerous supportive naturopathic therapies to provide rapid relief from these symptoms. A valuable tool is the use of the cold abdominal pack for nausea. Wrap a cold wet towel completely around the abdomine and then wrap up in warm blankets. The body will heat the cold towel and you will feel immediate lessoning of symptoms. It is vital to ensure that you drink sufficient fluids and thus remain hydrated. Depending on the type of cleanse you are doing that could mean warm herbal teas, lemon water, distilled water or fresh juices.
Hot bowel movements – your body wastes are acidic and when you eliminate the most toxic ones, they actually feel anywhere from warm to burning. This experience serves as a happy reminder that you have just eliminated significant toxins. Any lingering heat can be relieved by applying Witchhazel, a cooling astringent, using a cotton pad.
Headaches – These are common when toxins flood into the blood stream. A coffee enema or colonic, and more fluids, should relieve this symptom immediately.
Minor discomforts are a part of the cleansing process and are a clear sign that the process of detoxifying is underway. It is important to support this process rather than attempting to suppress it. Taking headache medication or other suppressive methods is contrary to the cleansing process, but there are many things that you can do to activate the eliminative systems and thus alleviate or even eliminate the occurrence of these symptoms in the first place. Part Two coming soon….