hunter1899
Senior Member
- Messages
- 152
@Rufous - this sounds like PEM to me. It's a response to exertion, albeit mental exertion. One night I watched a fascinating video about cancer and pancreatic enzymes. I concentrated very hard for 3 hours straight - it was hard work - and I crashed the next day.
PEM stands for post-exertional malaise (I hate the word malaise here!) Anyways, it occurs in response to exertion, whether physical, mental or even emotional. Too much talking on the phone can do me in. Many people here get brain fog etc with PEM and digestive problems. My PEM is primarily physical, though I don't dare try to tackle mental activity during PEM. It would just make me worse.
Detoxing is different. It is caused by a release of toxins in the body or being exposed to toxins. I once did a far infrared sauna for 20 minutes - it wiped me out for 3 days with detoxing. I did a detox footbath once, which likewise wiped me out for 3 days. Glutamine caused a detox reaction once. Glycine caused a very severe detox reaction. All these reactions were not in response to exertion - they were in response to something I ate or was exposed to. I had a new vinyl bathroom floor put in 4 years ago and again had a detox reaction, obviously reacting to some chemical in the floor. Chlorella is known for helping to chelate heavy metals - well, it caused a very strong detox reaction for me - I couldn't tolerate it.
And glycine is what apparently has taken care of almost all my detoxing. I think it got my detox pathways working properly so I no longer react to so many things at the drop of a hat.
So you're right - PEM can feel like detoxing in some ways and you just have to know your body and know how it reacts to various things. If you've done extra exertion and afterwards feel like shit (however it manifests!), 10 to 1 it's PEM. If you a try a new supplement and start to feel awful, it's possible you're detoxing. There are a lot of other possibilities with that one of course. I think you have to be a detective with this illness!
Can you please describe what you did for liver detoxing?