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detox bath/sauna

Daffodil

Senior Member
Messages
5,875
hi all. anyone have any detox methods?

i thought a long time about buying an infrared tent sauna but cannot really afford it and worry i won't like it, since i hate being hot.

i have taken a few hot baths with epsom salt but again, hate sitting in hot water and get bored quickly. i can stand maybe 5 - 7 minutes.

are there any other methods for detoxing? i drink a lot of water but would like to do something else. i know this is recommended for Lyme by many doctors.

perhaps lemon water or something?

thanks
xo
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,335
Location
Southern California
@Daffodil - are you trying to detox anything in particular, such as mercury? or just want to do a general cleanse?

This is a good article about liver detoxification: http://www.diagnose-me.com/treatment/liver-detoxification-phase-II-support.html

FWIW, the infrared tent sauna does not get hot like a dry sauna. It gets warm but does not have that searing heat. I bought a cheap one several years ago - it looks like something from a 50's scifi film, shiny cover. It made me detox too much, I felt sick. I'd also tried one at my chiro's office for 20 minutes I think and was sick for 3 days afterwards. My detox pathways were just not working properly.

And somehow they seem to be okay now. 3 amino acids in particular (mentioned in the above article) all seemed to induce detoxing for me, but I kept taking them in smaller doses because they were supposed to be very good for me. Glycine in particular hit me very hard but I can take it now for sleep with no problem. Glutamine and inositol also made me detox although not as much as glycine, but again I can tolerate them now with no problem.

So detoxing is sort of a complex subject - it depends what you're trying to detox (if anything in particular like mercury, which can be very tricky to do). what shape your liver is in, etc.

Lemon juice will help cleanse your liver and gallbladder, although I don't think it induces detoxing per se.
 

Daffodil

Senior Member
Messages
5,875
@helen1 ..hehe i couldnt do an enema at home but I have heard good things about coffee enemas

@Mary thanks a lot for that info! i just keep reading that lyme patients should "detox" whatever that means. people keep telling me it could be a big reason as to why i am still not well. i am not exactly sure what toxins are supposed to be given off in sweat.

anyway, you have me considering a tent sauna again. you should be aware that the cheaper tent saunas often emit high electromagnetic radiation..that is why i wanted the Therasage one, which, in Canada, would cost like $1100 ugh

@Sushi .....if the water doesn't have to be that hot, that would be a big help. do you have a special thing you keep your book on in the tub or do you just sit up and hold it? I thought your whole body should be immersed in the water?

i find that i sweat a lot after the hot bath, even after the cool shower i take afterwards. it isnt that different from the sweating after a piping hot cup of tea....i wonder if i could just drink a bunch of piping hot beverages instead lol

there is definitely something different with temperature tolerance/regulation with this disease...i never sweat after a hot shower or after tea before the illness.

on one of the Cowden Protocol - related websites, it says to drink 4L of water a day! my doc recommended 2L and even with that, i am always going to the loo
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,335
Location
Southern California
@Daffodil - I didn't know that about the cheaper tent saunas, but it makes sense - unfortunately!

I just realized something. I had a great difficulty detoxing for many years. I reacted badly to almost anything that was labeled as cleansing - e.g., apple cider vinegar made me detox and feel sick. So did cayenne, and of course chlorella - (if you have mercury, don't go near chlorella), the infrared sauna, a detox foot bath wiped me out for 3 days literally, and so on. My problem was my detox pathways were not working properly so I was being "re-toxed" - toxins were just being mobilized and recirculated and making me sick, not getting out of my body. So the amino acids I wrote about above helped get me detox pathways working as they should.

If your detox pathways are working properly, then you should be able to tolerate a far infrared sauna. I would suggest that you try to find someone - e.g., a chiropractor - who has one that you can try and see how you tolerate it. If it makes you quite sick, then it's probably not a good idea to get one until your body is detoxing properly. And for me, that's where those amino acids came in. I haven't tried a far infrared sauna in several years and am curious to see how I would react now, I think I would do much better because I'm not reacting to all these things I used to.

In general, some good things for cleansing the liver which are pretty easy to tolerate are lemon juice, milk thistle, dandelion tea. You can read about various liver detoxes on-line. The really important thing with a liver detox is to go very slowly. my liver used to be very toxic and detoxing quickly can make you quite sick.

And if you have mercury toxicity, that's a whole different issue with its own special protocol. I used to have problems with mercury issues and tried Andy Cutler's protocol, but again, getting those amino acids sorted seemed to do the trick for me.
 

Daffodil

Senior Member
Messages
5,875
@Mary ..thanks again. honestly, i just cannot read or understand anything right now. i take liposomal glutathione..thats all i can say lol

i'm trying to remember if i feel better after night sweats...and i think i might a little...when i have them.

i heard sauna is good for alkalizing

probably what i need is IV drugs for my brain but that is much easier said than done

so...youre on Lyme treatment?
 

Daffodil

Senior Member
Messages
5,875
it says people with low blood pressure should take very short saunas! i have that

this probably explains the mild headaches i get after the hot epsom salt baths

i wonder if this is why my doc never recommended saunas for me but has for some others...he noticed my low blood pressure
 
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Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,335
Location
Southern California
@Daffodil - no, I don't have lyme. I have CFS/ME (for 17 years) - lots of us have problems with detoxing, though as I said above, I don't seem to have that problem any more.

I wonder about your adrenals - low blood pressure is often associated with adrenal problems. Has your doctor looked into this? There's a cortisol saliva test (https://www.adrenalfatigue.org/saliva-testing-for-adrenal-hormones) which can show if you are having adrenal issues.
 

Daffodil

Senior Member
Messages
5,875
@Mary well...i did do those tests long ago with various integrative doctors but it was always normal. my current doc says it is hard for the heart to pump blood adequately in this disease.

i asked about hormone problems etc...but he thinks its all secondary to bacterial infection(s)

i think CFS might be Lyme
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,335
Location
Southern California
@Daffodil - I don't think I have lyme, I don't have any neurological symptoms or pain. My chief symptoms are PEM and impaired immune system. Many years ago my doctor tried me on doxycycline for at least a month, cannot remember exactly how long I took it, and I had no reaction at all to it, no herx or anything.

I do think a lot of people diagnosed with CFS may have lyme, but I don't think I'm one of them.

Have you tried any antibiotics? I don't know the latest or best treatment for lyme --
 

Sushi

Moderation Resource Albuquerque
Messages
19,935
Location
Albuquerque
do you have a special thing you keep your book on in the tub or do you just sit up and hold it? I thought your whole body should be immersed in the water?
I just hold it up. With many topical detox techniques the instruction is only to work with the area below the waist. Obviously this isn't the instruction for FIR.
 

Daffodil

Senior Member
Messages
5,875
@Daffodil - I don't think I have lyme, I don't have any neurological symptoms or pain. My chief symptoms are PEM and impaired immune system. Many years ago my doctor tried me on doxycycline for at least a month, cannot remember exactly how long I took it, and I had no reaction at all to it, no herx or anything.

I do think a lot of people diagnosed with CFS may have lyme, but I don't think I'm one of them.

Have you tried any antibiotics? I don't know the latest or best treatment for lyme --
hi mary. well that is interesting because my old doc in NYC tried me on doxy years and years ago ....no herx, no improvement, no nothing. we concluded I couldn't have lyme...but now I am partially responding to antibiotics....so I don't know whats going on.
 

Daffodil

Senior Member
Messages
5,875
@Mary well i started seeing dr. DeMeirleir about 3 1/2 years ago and have been on various antibiotic combinations since. i also did a few weeks of IV antibiotics. he changes meds every several months. i also did a few months of lower dose immunoglobulin.

now, when i say i have responded, it might be hard for an onlooker to see; i still cannot work or have a social life. however, i an cook, clean, and shop much easier than before. also, my CD57 has risen. my brain fog is still pretty bad but less severe and agonizing than before. keep in mind, i have been sick 22 years!

i did go through brief periods when i was a lot better..it is really up and down. the Doctor said i would probably start noticing significant improvements at the 4 year mark.

anyway, if i look at the last few years objectively, it is pretty clear that this treatment has made a difference - certainly much more of a difference than antivirals and whatever else i tried before.

xox

ps...you are SOOOOO lucky to have no neuro symptoms!!!!
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,335
Location
Southern California
Hi @Daffodil - I'm glad you're doing better than 3-1/2 years ago. I can't imagine the brain fog and neurological symptoms. I don't know why I don't have them. I'm sort of like you in that I cannot work nor have hardly any sort of social life - I crash way too easily and have to ration my energy very carefully. But I'm better than I was 5 years ago, or 10 years ago. I started crashing 17 years ago though my health started declining in 1985 (a looong time ago!)

I'm currently experimenting with B1 and phosphorus from kefir and maybe a little B2 and increasing my folate - it's complicated, I've been posting on a separate thread. We will see about this!

Good luck with your detoxing efforts!

Best wishes --