kind of gross description of detox, but i would really appreciate any feedback:

[lambe]

ive been being seriously raw for about a month. prior to that i had no food inhibitions. i had other health problems that i needed to focus on then with a million people watching me, so being adamantly raw wasnt really going to help my plight in getting the million-people to STOP watching me. prior to that, id been on & off raw, as the story goes, for about 3 months.

during this past month ive been experiencing heavy, heavy detox. probably cos right before that i was eating tons of cooked & tons of dairy. i used to never be able to go to the bathroom without a cigarette (how weird & sad), now i am woken up in the morning around 6am with the urgency of my bowels. my skin has broken out horribly & is finally clearing up. i could care less about this, in fact im excited about this. i love visibly seeing the toxins being kicked out of my body. im so proud.

anyway, back to the bowels: theyre pretty vicious. theyre solid always, but always bountiful. i only go once, sometimes twice, a day, but EVERY day my rectum hurts. literally, my asshole hurts. it's itchy, basically. i have an itchy asshole since going raw.

im totally embarassed & dont know if i should talk to my doctor. :o im only 22, i figure i cant possibly have major colon problems, but im worried nonetheless.

any insight?

[Apasaraw]

Itchy down yonder can mean something your eating does not agree with you...I know a pal that has this reaction to pineapple. Who knew?

It does sound like detox...and with smoking and dairy it can be harsh...your body is ready to let go! That's great! There is no reason to be embarrassed to talk to yoru Dr. unless you are not comfortable with this person...they deal with bodily functions for a living.

Hang in there...drink lotsa fluids...

Poor bootie!;)

[brownies]

I agree that it is probably a reaction to something you are eating. If you have no idea what it could be try cutting one thing out at a time for a period of 3/4 (or longer) days each and see if you can figure out what it is.

As for the urgency let me just say that this is pretty common and isn't necessarily a sign of something being wrong. A lot of people report this when going raw. I'm sure with time our bodies will adjust and it will be more controllable. (I've only just started on this path too :)

[Eva]

I have to agree on the urgency... it happens to some of us but should lessen. Or at least you'll know the signs way earlier that happen before the final "time to go NOW" signs!

I haven't had the same experience otherwise, but I wanted to just chime in to say you're doing great for making these efforts! I hope you get over the hump soon enough! :)

[Hygeia]

You are detoxing, nothing to worry about with the urgency. This is very common and should subside over time.

Also, about the itchyness......I saw somebody say that this means you are flushing out parasites, another part of detox and should also subside.

These are all good signs of detox, stick with it and you should get past this soon.

:D

[Sugar Snap Pea]

Hot peppers have done this to me on occasion. :eek:

[rawbutterfly]

I agree with Hygeia. Shortly after going raw, I got the itchies too and a holistic doctor suggested a parasite cleanse. When I did the cleanse the itching was almost unbearable but I could actually see the little guys swimming around in the toilet! After about a week of torment, the itch was gone (and hopefully all the critters)!

[Clare]

I used to be itchy down there periodically before raw. It scared me and was so frustrating because I would really want to scratch but if I ever let myself, like trying to fall asleep, then I had to get up, get out the hydrogen peroxide, nail brush, hot water, soap, etc. I figured it was candida and did over a year of strict low-carbing and anti-candida/parasite herbs to no avail! A few months into raw I realized I was not itchy at all anymore. Ever. Praise God for raw plants!

[Aleesha Sattva]

we looooooove talking about poo here... so no worries on that front.

i agree, probably parasites... go to your health food store and get a good parasite cleanse. ;)