Starting Water Fast. Would love to speak to anyone who has performed One

[MCRobbie]

of say over a week. Im into day five.

Thanks.

Mark

 

[Jon_Tradicionali]

I've done three days twice.
First time amazing.
Second time detrimental.

How do you feel so far ?

 

[MCRobbie]

Hi Jon, I feel terrible but only because my CFS symptoms are so bad at the moment though the fast has made some of them worse. But the fast itself hasn't been difficult. I have no hunger, modestly dizzy upon standing, had some racing heart issues which calmed with greater water intake. Handling the fasting symptoms fairly well.

 

[drob31]

Supposedly a 3 day fast will rebuild/reboot the immune system:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/277860.php

Although this rule probably doesn't apply to CFS, assuming someone's CFS is related to immune system dysregulation.

 

[MCRobbie]

Hi Drob yes Ive seen the study. Thanks for sharing.

 

[ahmo]

Critterina writes of her experience here....Oh, I see you want long term, her's was 3 days.
http://forums.phoenixrising.me/index.php?threads/critterinas-histamine-intolerance-journal.34685/

 

[Hip]

I know someone who tried a water fast (via "breatharian" fasting), and lost his eyesight in the right side of one eye, due to retinal damage.

I don't have the full details, but a doctor told him that without water, the kidneys cannot perform the normal detoxification processes, leading to a toxic build up in the blood which destroyed his retina.

 

[Gingergrrl]

@MCRobbie I am so sorry you had sent me a PM asking if I had tried the fasting and I apologize that I never got to respond. I had posted a few months ago that I was considering trying the three day fast after reading that article about how it helped to re-build your immune system. I also had a lot of problems digesting food and felt as if all my oxygen went to digestion instead of breathing.

So the fast seemed like a good thing for me to try but I never did it. I started having episodes that seemed like they might be hypoglycemia (which have since stopped) but it still seemed too risky. I rarely ever eat anything before noon and sometimes don't eat until 2 or 3 pm but I always end up eating something. The only exception would be if I had severe nausea or shortness of breath/chest pain where eating would clearly make me feel worse.

So... long answer to what you had asked me is, no I never tried the three day fast. But best wishes to you and please keep us posted how it goes.

 

[cigana]

I know someone who tried a water fast (via "breatharian" fasting), and lost his eyesight in the right side of one eye, due to retinal damage.

I don't have the full details, but a doctor told him that without water, the kidneys cannot perform the normal detoxification processes, leading to a toxic build up in the blood which destroyed his retina.

A water fast means you only take in water (and nothing else).

 

[cigana]

I tried them a few times. Felt like I was going to die after the first 48hours, usually give up on day 3 or 4.

 

[halcyon]

As hypoglycemia is one of the symptoms of ME (per Ramsay, the CCC, and personal experience) fasting seems kind of dangerous. It should be fine for a healthy person, but a lot of us have screwed up cortisol rhythm/secretion that might make it problematic.

 

[Roy S]

I did a 30 day fast 31 years ago.

This is a complex subject. Do you have any experience with fasting? Do you know the risks? Do you know how to safely end a long water fast? Do you know it can be fatal to do a long water-only fast and abruptly resume eating solid foods?

After over a year of reading everything I could find about fasting and trying some short juice fasts I decided to go to a fasting clinic and was monitored by a doctor and nurse daily. I was slowly reintroduced to solid food over several days starting with bone broth.

Short fasts are different than long fasts. Please be careful.

 

[MCRobbie]

Thanks for all the comments everyone. Yes Roy I have done a great deal of reading on the subject, all the important documents, hundreds of youtube videos from monitoring doctors, fasters, etc etc. But it is very risky to do these long water fasts unmonitored. I am doing it because its a last ditch attempt to heal from illness. Many of us get to a point where we take calculated risks. Very well aware of the slow introduction of certain foods. Im taking it day to day and will stop if I feel something harmful is happening. Not desiring to get into a lengthy debate about the dangers of long water fasts my personal opinion after all my reading is that they are much safer and frankly have the ability to heal a number of body functions even in the very ill. People are just petrified of the idea but the truth is that the body is highly sophisticated in its ability to maintain homeostasis for long periods without food. It takes a long time to reach starvation mode where your body starts eating its own organ tissues which is when serious damage and eventual death occur. But regardless I don't take an unsupervised water fast lightly.

 

[Roy S]

Good, I'm relieved to know that.

 

[MCRobbie]

Roy what was your response to your 30 day fast? Were you ill with CFS/ME at the time?

 

[Jon_Tradicionali]

I know someone who tried a water fast (via "breatharian" fasting), and lost his eyesight in the right side of one eye, due to retinal damage.

I don't have the full details, but a doctor told him that without water, the kidneys cannot perform the normal detoxification processes, leading to a toxic build up in the blood which destroyed his retina.

I lost sight in the right eye on the third day of fasting a few years ago. It lasted 20 minutes and disappeared almost immediately after I drove with one eye to the nearest store to buy water.

If you look at Younger's research, a 2-3 day fast is the most effective method of Leptin depletion.
Leptin correlates with symptom severity according to Younger.

 

[Roy S]

Roy what was your response to your 30 day fast? Were you ill with CFS/ME at the time?

I got sick about 15 years before then and was at a fairly low point healthwise at the time. After the normal extended recovery time after a fast that long I was much healthier for several months but slowly got worse again. I don't know why. I've tried some juice fasts for several days at a time after that but it doesn't have as much benefit for me.

I agree with you that fasting is a very beneficial treatment for many people and I think it should be used by a lot more people in the world's population. I haven't even read about it for many years. Can you post a good website or two?

Are there any adjunct therapies recommended now such as mineral supplements or colon cleansing?


Although I didn't get hungry after the first couple days I did realize that when watching TV commercials for food it was better to just close my eyes.

 

[MCRobbie]

Hi Roy, the best book out there is the one written in 1995 by Dr Joel Fuhrman "Fasting and Eating for Health". Its twenty years old but still quite thorough. Loren Lockman has a fasting clinic and has many fasting videos on youtube some of which have good information. I don't know how much of an expert he is but he has fasted a couple thousand people or claims to. Alan Goldhamer has a fasting clinic in in CA called Truenorth Health Center. He has a couple good videos on youtube as well. Then there is the Fasting Cure written by Upton Sinclair in 1919. Very old of course but a great and entertaining read I highly recommend. Surprisingly not only has there not been much progress in bringing water fasting to the general public over the years it seems theres been a decrease of Doctors performing supervised fasts. Who supervised you Roy Im curious.

 

[MCRobbie]

Oh and the recommendations are still to not take any supplements including electrolytes supplements. Fuhrman explains why in his book.

 

[Hip]

A water fast means you only take in water (and nothing else).

Ah yes of course, I knew that, but somehow my tired brain misinterpreted "water fast" to mean giving up drinking fluids for a few days. Thanks for pointing it out.