Am I just sensitive to activated charcoal?

[renerdrat]

So I was taking quite a bit of activated charcoal, I mean I was taking like a 1/4 teaspoon a day, which maybe was too much, well I started to feel really tired/ loopy, and started getting more gaseous and feeling kinda weak and stools were a lot more loose than normal...

I was taking some other vitamins but nothing that I don't normally take. Isn't charcoal supposed to absorb toxins? It's not possible that it could be that I was having ... some kind of detox from charcoal would it?

 

[taniaaust1]

As far as Im aware, usually it causes constipation not make someone looser as its very drying. It does absorb toxins so helps clear the body of them as it absorbs then and take them out with it.

Note.. It can affect other things you could be taking so maybe that is where the negative affects are coming from if you are taking things usually help. Best to take activated charcoal 2 hrs away from other medications/supplements etc.

 

[helen1]

Yes it binds with vitamins minerals and medications, so if you were taking those, or food, too close to the charcoal, you could be causing a deficiency.

 

[Dufresne]

Many with ME/CFS, Lyme, and mold illness can feel a whole lot worse from taking binders like activated charcoal, cholestyramine, chlorella, etc. The thinking on this is that your body registers toxins are being effectively eliminated and it responds by dumping a whole lot more into circulation in an effort to be more productive.

According to Ritchie Shoemaker certain toxins can be problematic for those with the wrong genes. You might want to look into his work. You'll find plenty on the forum here on this subject.

http://www.survivingmold.com

 

[renerdrat]

Many with ME/CFS, Lyme, and mold illness can feel a whole lot worse from taking binders like activated charcoal, cholestyramine, chlorella, etc. The thinking on this is that your body registers toxins are being effectively eliminated and it responds by dumping a whole lot more into circulation in an effort to be more productive.

According to Ritchie Shoemaker certain toxins can be problematic for those with the wrong genes. You might want to look into his work. You'll find plenty on the forum here on this subject.

http://www.survivingmold.com

Is that actually right though? I mean usually people seem to take it when they are detoxing and it helps from what I understand, do you have any links to something regarding how your body might dump more toxins when using charcoal?

Thanks for the link, have you followed those treatments yourself, did it benefit you?

 

[Dufresne]

Shoemaker has stated activated charcoal hasn't produced substantial results among his patients, and so he prescribes cholestyramine and Welchol. The latter is easier to take if the cholestyramine causes too much inflammation. Bear in mind these are non systemic agents: they're not absorbed by the gut.

He has also claimed most feel better from taking binders, but those that feel worse tend to have Lyme. From what I've read the same seems to be true for those with ME/CFS.

I've benefitted from getting myself into a less toxic house. I've also come to mostly understand which of my symptoms are connected to the inflammatory cascade from biotoxins. Shoemaker has taught me more about my disease than any of the researchers/clinicians that I've come across.

I've done a fair bit of binding but I assume there's a whole lot more in there. I'm taking a break from it at the moment to test out a couple other treatments I'm interested in. Eventually I'll get back to binding and continue until there's nothing left, how ever long that might take. That said it seems what's important in biotoxin illness is getting the inflammation down so that the system can heal. I know people who're no longer really sick at all from doing this, though they still have toxins coming out if they push for them.