Master Cleanse Advice Needed ASAP-Thanx!

[Veg4Life]

I am getting to the close of my 5th day- still feeling really good, but have constant hunger - I keep drinking the lemonade and lots of water...any advice??

Also, I drink the lax tea every night before bed and wake up in the middle of the night with very bad cramping. I do use the bathroom several times, but the pain is very intense. This has happened around the same time of night for the past 3 nights- anyone else experience that?

Except for those bathroom trips and the infamous "butt pee" after the SWF, I am having very few, if any bowel movements...I feel like I want to speed up my detox a bit. I'm getting bored of the lemonade and the frothy tongue and the hunger...don't mean to be a whiner, but I'm the kind of gal that would rather endure a more uncomfortable SHORTER period of time, than an easier drawn-out period of time.

I'm open to any and all suggestions. Thanks for listening (reading...you know what I mean!). :)

[michigan roman]

for me out at around five days is the toughest hurdle , from there i calm down and realize i can function quite well without eating for alot longer than 5 days . and when i do get hungry i drink green tea for its appetite supressant qualities . heres a link to my fave fasting EXPERT = DR HERBERT SHELTON =

http://www.soilandhealth.org/02/0201hyglibcat/020127shelton.III/020127.toc.htm ..

and congrats on 5 days , i know how hard it is to push to there .
but as the experts say , there at 5 days is when the cleansing really gets going - so your right where you want to be !!!!

[michigan roman]

ps - at doc sheltons site go down to index and click on the purple titles below to get to pages .

[RawHeaven]

Hey Veg, you can also have peppermint tea while you're on the MC. I used to make it and put a smidgen of maple syrup in it. If you're being true to Raw while on the MC, you can put a tea bag in very warm water, not hot. Chamomile tea is safe too, but avoid anything with caffeine in it.

With regard to the cramping you're experiencing drinking the senna tea, I experienced this a couple of times. Sometimes it happens when you have a lot of impacted waste in your colon, but usually it's because you're oversteeping the tea. Senna is very powerful stuff. Only steep your tea with 8 oz of hot water and cover it with a saucer or plate for 15 minutes maximum. Try also to drink the senna tea when you go to sleep and do not drink any lemonades at least an hour or two prior to the tea. Drink it when your stomach is empty if you're not already doing this. This should ease the cramping. If you still experience it, steep it for 10 minutes. You can even skip drinking the tea for a night if it's really bothering you, but make sure you continue the SWF in the morning. And continue drinking the tea regularly at night thereafter. Unfortunately it must be hot in order to release the active ingredients. I find when it's just lukewarm it's really not as effective in loosening up your bowels. Sidenote: I tend to give myself flexibility when I'm on the MC now with regard to some aspects being cooked (ie maple syrup and tea)*, but it's also why I tend to water fast now. *Agave is too sweet for me to use daily.

It's important to follow the MC closely as the senna tea loosens mucus, debris etc and the SWF flushes. They work in tandem, but you probably already know this.

I wouldn't speed up the detox, just have faith that your body knows what it's doing. If it wanted to have faster detox, it would. The MC is about cleansing really, not necessarily detox which you generally achieve and experience when you're truly fasting with either water or juice. Think of the MC as a starting board for your health goals -- it helps to just go with the flow while you're doing it and experience the benefits. 10 days on the MC is like the 10 minute warm-up before strenuous exercise. It takes about 10 days for your body to get warmed up cleansing. Day 11 is generally (not true for everyone) when you usually start soaring and experiencing the benefits. Just follow the process and listen to your body. If the hunger continues, it may be a sign that it's time to wrap it up and to start squeezing oranges. :) Especially if the hunger emanates from the back of your throat - this is one of the signals that your body is ready to obtain nourishment from solid food again. It sometimes takes a while to distinguish emotional hunger from physical hunger. Check in with yourself to see if it's not cravings you're having. And in fact, this may be your detox my dear. Cravings are usually a sign that something toxic is being released. As it is released, your brain sometimes craves the very thing that you've eaten in the past. Like traditional pizza or somethin'. lol.

I didn't mean to write so much, I type fast and I'm just following the stream of consciousness. :D

Good luck and enjoy your MC.

Edit: I have to disclose that the information noted above is not medical advice, just recommendations based on experience gained completing long MC's that I've been on -- 30 & 40 dayers. Best wishes.

[Veg4Life]

Thanks for the wonderful advice and support. I will check out that site michigan and i will follow your instructions rawheaven and see if it helps me out.

My initial goal was to do it until day 10...I guess I will wait it out and see how it goes. Maybe make that my minimum. Except for the hunger and the cramping (which only happens for about an hour or so in the middle of the night), I feel really good. I had a burst of energy tonight and planted in my garden for 2 hours and cleaned my whole house- should I be feeling this good? Does that mean my body isn't cleansing as much? I know it's weird to be worried because I feel good, I just want to be cleaned out!

[michigan roman]

Thanks for the wonderful advice and support. I will check out that site michigan and i will follow your instructions rawheaven and see if it helps me out.

My initial goal was to do it until day 10...I guess I will wait it out and see how it goes. Maybe make that my minimum. Except for the hunger and the cramping (which only happens for about an hour or so in the middle of the night), I feel really good. I had a burst of energy tonight and planted in my garden for 2 hours and cleaned my whole house- should I be feeling this good? Does that mean my body isn't cleansing as much? I know it's weird to be worried because I feel good, I just want to be cleaned out!


for me when you get there at 5 and the g.i. tracts empty you get an energy boost because your no longer using up energy to break down and digest foods . at that point ive so much more energy i cant sleep more than like 3 / 4 hours every night . on my earlier fasts it'd worry me and ide be thinking at work im tired . but in a while i realized no thats just my programming to think ide be tired with that little sleep .

and ide link your cramps directly to the tea , there can be some potent herbs in them that are rough on the gut .

[Veg4Life]

for me when you get there at 5 and the g.i. tracts empty you get an energy boost because your no longer using up energy to break down and digest foods . at that point ive so much more energy i cant sleep more than like 3 / 4 hours every night . on my earlier fasts it'd worry me and ide be thinking at work im tired . but in a while i realized no thats just my programming to think ide be tired with that little sleep .

yes, i've been sleeping much less than i usually need to and so all day i think, "oh, i'll need a nap" but it's just in my head! thanks for sharing that. it's funny how our minds play tricks on us :).

[RawHeaven]

MichiganRoman brings up a good point. I get that energy boost near day 4 or 5 too. Veg4life, how long have you been raw? I was just thinking about your comment regarding your lack of BM's...perhaps it could just be that you're already pretty clear. And regarding your hunger at night, could be thirst? Are you drinking at least half your body weight in water outside of the lemonades. Sometimes when you're hungry on the cleanse it really means that you need to hydrate more. Just a thought.

The benefits I was referring to after Day 11 have more to do with experiencing greater mental clarity, balanced emotions, and having even more energy. You really feel like cleaning up everything in your external environment too - it's incredible! The cells start regenerating usually after the 3rd week depending on your condition. Everyone experiences the MC differently, but I think the general feeling of euphoria and just feeling really clear impacts most people at some point on the lengthier cleanses.

Okay, better stop here before I write a book again.

Hope the senna is not bothering you too much anymore.

Take care.

[Veg4Life]

RawHeaven- I have only been raw about a year- and not quite 100% (but vegan and high raw with spurts of 100%- it's a process!).

I definitley have not been drinking half my weight in water in addition to the lemonades, so I will definitiely take that into account and up my water.

I switched brands of the lax tea and followed your advice and I slept through the night with no cramping or bathroom runs- it was wonderful! The SWF is still very hard for me. I can only get about 24 oz down before I feel like I'm going to vomit. But the 24 oz is working!

So far on day six, I feel pretty good and am not as hungry today. Have had weird cravings for things I haven't even in years though- they just last a few minutes, but it is SO funny to me! I'd never eat them, but in the moment, they sound very good. :)

Thanks for all your comments. I really appreciate it.

[RawHeaven]

That's great! I'm glad the cramping is gone - I know it can be intense.

I've only been raw a little over a year myself and I've noticed significant changes from when I was cleansing as a beginner rawbie vs. now. I'm experiencing different results - sometimes less BM's cause there's not a whole lot in there anymore! Well, you know, we generally move a large amount of waste eating raw foods and our colons are clear. That's what I mean. :p

The increase in water may help with your movements too - greater flushing action. Water is important in colon health too as you probably already know. We get a lot of water from our (raw) food, but when cleansing it's important to make sure you stay hydrated.

Here's to your good health & have a great weekend.

[Veg4Life]

Well, I upped my water yesterday a lot. Still no cramping, so I'm happy about that.

My hunger kicked in again mid-day and is still pretty constant. Maybe I'm not drinking enough of the lemonade. I can only get down about 4 cups a day. I'm getting very tired of the lemonade. I drink tea and lots of water after that.

I'm wondering if I am getting close to done. Even with the lax tea and SWF, very little is coming out now. My tongue is still very white though-really gross. If I do decide to stop early (or even at day 10) and my tongue is still white when I do, will it go away?

I'm also feeling discouraged because I got on the scale today (I know I shouldn't have-but I couldn't help it!). Around day 3 I got on and it said I had lost 3 lbs. I got on today at day 7 and it said I had GAINED 4 pounds- so I'm actually 1 pound heavier than when I started the MC! How is that even possible!?!?

Sorry to whine again...feeling a bit irritated.