I've been focusing on detoxing with my doctor's help. I am homozygous for C677T, and have been taking 5-MTHF for several years.
I support the liver with milk thistle and drink Essiac tea. Last month I did 3 IV Myers cocktails. I take other supplements, too.
My question has to do with IR Sauna. I've done 2 so far, 15 minutes each, they're very nice, so warm and relaxing!
However, with the 2nd one I had an unfavorable reaction. Malaise and fatigue, OK, that's do-able.
But later I had more of a psychological/emotional reaction: crying, feeling overwhelmed, then feeling dark and momentarily suicidal.
I can't go through that again.
What went wrong? Too much detoxing too fast?
(Also, after the last IV Myers, it took me a week to recover from herxing or detoxing, achy, spacey, fatigued.)
Thanks.
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- Even if it felt nice and cozy at the time - your body gave a delayed red alert set of signals later. A body with lyme cannot always give signals at the right time, and the delay can clobber us.
Based on my own reactions to similar experiences . . . (other posters may have other insights or suggestions)
Sounds like heat exhaustion to me & maybe the body feeling a force to detox and it's too much? Be sure it's just warm, not hot.
Many with lyme are VERY, VERY (did I say VERY) sensitive to heat, even what may seem slight heat. This just may not be right for your body, neurological system.
I'd go for 5 minutes, work up to that 15 minutes in about 3 weeks' time.
Loss of electrolytes / minerals?
I would not do a Myers cocktail again, if you had that kind of reaction.
Liver & Kidney support may be too harsh right now. Remember, the focus should be more on supporting organs of detoxification, not actually forcing a detox.
Still, moment of feeling suicidal are not really that rare. I think we all have them and glad yours resolved fairly quickly and allowed you to work through it - or just wait for it to lift.
It's normal, really, that even those without health challenges might feel like this or have a fleeting moment from time to time. But it sure can be scary. And there can be physiological reasons . . . it's not all about the mind at all.
Low blood sugar can do this to me really fast. When I prevent that, it's far less frequent.
After the sauna heat, blood sugar can take a dive.
Dehydration can also cause this.
Adrenal shock or stress, too. HEAT can do that. And then we can drop like a rock, body and mood.
Are you taking some adrenal support? That is really important for mood stabilization. So is magnesium. And Fish Oil. -
[ 09-01-2014, 07:53 PM: Message edited by: Keebler ]
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- Just in case - might you be taking cholestyramine / Questran? That sure caused all kinds of things like you describe for me. I had to stop it. Never again.
And, be sure that the Myers Cocktail does not contain glutamine / glutamic acid or other excitatory amino acids mentioned below as they can cause what you describe, over-stimulating and then suddenly dropping a person like a hot rock.
See post: Caution: Aspartate; Glutamine; and Phenylalanine (3 excitatory amino acids that can be wrong for us when added as supplements, beyond a normal dietary level)
Seaweed has its own natural MSG and can be very excitatory -
Posted by jarjar (Member # 8847) on :
Been there done that....Your bart like mine flares in an IFR sauna. The bart will run up in your brain and cause the emotional issues as well as other symptoms you mentioned
Plan on only using the sauna a couple days a week at first and do it for 5 minutes at a low temp. in the eve close to bedtime.
Slowly build up. I was fortunate to have my rife to run bart frequencies on my head to knock the bart reaction out of my brain.
Posted by hopeful4 (Member # 8486) on :
Thanks for these replies, sorry it’s taken me a couple days to get back.
Although I practice some meditation, EFT, breathing, yoga, etc., there are times when I feel carried away by a river current I cannot manage. Thank G-d that this episode, although intense, resolved fairly quickly, and I was safe.
We are complex organisms ourselves, besieged by complex organisms. It seems there are no easy answers, no one-size-fits-all.
I want to get to the place where I’ve gone through the jungle and gotten over to the other side where I’ve attained the new, improved, healthier, more balanced version of myself.
I understand that there will be some struggle until I get there, and even after I do. But feeling suicidal is not a place I want to stop and visit along the way.
I made an appointment to see my doctor to get his help with this. He thinks it was probably both a herx and detox. Possibly the Niacin I took prior to the sauna played a role, I think he said something about methylation, here’s where I’m a bit hazy on it.
The other practitioner (a PA) I saw last week in the office thought I may have been over-methylating (therefore the strong reaction to the IV Myers). She suggested taking the Niacin prior to IR Sauna.
So my doctor wants me to continue detoxing before going back to the IR Sauna. I’m building up how much Essiac Tea I’m taking, and it can also be used in the event of a herx. I will be continuing detox baths.
For herxing I can also take smilax (sarsaparilla), and glutathione. If these don’t help, I can increase my L5MTHF. In about 7-10 days I can return to the IR Sauna for less time, then build up gradually. I will not be having further IV Myers.
That's the plan so far, adjustments will be made to manage real life experiences as they arise!