About Sunshine

I am the author of The Mercury Diaries.

Yoga Retreat: EcoYoga Centre

Posted on January 4, 2014 by Sunshine

28^th December 2013

Since I have restarted my yoga practice, I thought a yoga retreat would be cool. Never done one of these bad boys before. I need to better my technique. I practice mostly at home, on my own, and direction is required! So I found a yoga retreat that does my type of yoga: Ashtanga Yoga. Up in the Scottish highlands, in Argyll: The EcoYoga Centre http://www.ecoyoga.org/

Took the 930am train from Euston to Glasgow. Four and a half hours is all it takes. Amazing you can get from one end of the country to the other in such speed. First class of course! (cost £2 more than regular class…don’t ask me why).

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My Current Health Status: Good News.

Posted on November 9, 2013 by Sunshine

It’s the 9th November 2013. I’m in Scotland for the weekend with my family seeing our good friends Margaret, Trevor and Maya. It’s time for an update on the current status of my health. I am Good, Bad or Ugly?

It’s important to set down markers, to see where I’m at, to see where I’ve been. My writing is full of problems and the solutions I try to remedy those troubles. Is it worth all the effort and energy? Because yes, I do make a lot of effort to be healthy. Do my efforts work? Am I getting healthier? Am I making progress? Or just treading water?

I am still in the same zone as I have been for the last seven years. I am still always doing something to help myself. Always. Right now I am focusing on my liver. I have just started another set of liver herbs and I am liver flushing every 3-4 weeks too. Always something – is it worth my time and energy?

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Life returns to an even keel.

Posted on October 26, 2013 by Sunshine

It’s been 38 days since I finished the Master Cleanse fast. Looking back, it seems impossible that I didn’t eat any food for 25 days. Twenty five days? It seems distant and far off. How could I possibly have not eaten anything for so long? And, whilst I was working in a busy office? How could I have managed it?
Odd.
But, I did. That’s why I kept a journal, to remind myself.
And the results remain too.
I am significantly better than before.
Significantly.
Happy dayz!

I am currently 35,000 feet in the air, flying in a 747 back from a weeks business trip in India and Singapore. This was booked at the last-minute. I needed to go. I was feeling fine. So I went. I have been avoiding all business trips this year due to my ill-health. But I’m feeling good enough to travel now. I actually have a hangover as well! My first in at least six months, maybe all year, I can’t remember. I am tired and have heartburn. Have the $hits too from the Indian leg of the trip. I ate curry for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 5 days on the trot. Not ideal. Bound to mess up the works that is.

But otherwise I’m feelin’ pretty good. The fatigue has stayed away. I have a normal amount of energy. I remain pumped about this. Really feels like a new lease of life. Libido has returned somewhat too. Definitely – I have returned to an even keel.

My workouts continue. The yoga practice continues six days a week. I rise at 5am daily to practice. When I first re-started my practice I could reach down to touch my knees. Nothing lower. After three weeks of almost daily practice I am one hand lengths further downwards. Happy with that. There is no rush to reach my toes, but it is nice to see the progress I am making. I can now do five sun salutations A, followed by four sun salutations B. When I started I could only manage three feeble attempts of A before I ran out of puff.

And that’s another thing. Why do I have to practice the hardest and toughest form of yoga? Why couldn’t I have fallen in love with one of the gentler forms? A nice gently humming session seated cross-legged blissfully overlooking the ocean? I tried hatha yoga. I know the moves. It’s all the same stuff. When I re-started my practice I did the gentle stuff: hatha. But I quickly shifted back to my Ashtanga yoga practice. It’s kinda hardcore. Why? Why? Why? It’s kinda almost annoying. I have had horrible health troubles all these years and I choose the most challenging and tricky form of yoga to practice: What a dick!

But, and I have to say it’s a BIG but, I love my Ashtanga yoga practice. I have a natural instinctive love and desire to practice in this way. There is something about this form that just rings my bell. Almost like an inner calling. If I believed in previous lives, I for sure would have practiced this form of yoga before. There is something in me that just loves the physicality of it. Loves the sweat it brings on. Loves the flow and rhythm. You have a set series of asana’s (poses) all linked together with special linking moves, all in time, all with a special breathing technique.

Inhale up, exhale down.
Inhale up, exhale down.
Inhale up, exhale down.

Anyways, I’m rambling again. Otherwise I’m still fine. The results for them master cleanse have remained with me. The two-week Humaworm liver herbs I have just completed passed without incident. I had ultra-mild non-consequential side-effects. These herbs are two weeks on, two weeks, off, so I will restart the next batch a week on Monday. I might slip in another liver flush this coming weekend. Undecided as yet, not sure what’s in the diary as this past week has been hectic flying all over the world. Singapore is an awesome city. Like something out of the future. Once you get used to the extremes in poverty, Mumbai is an amazing place to visit. A totally different world out there. Makes you appreciate what you have when you see slum, after slum, after slum. Funny old world we live in.

Chelation: not on the cards yet. I want to get strong first. I want to enjoy my better health first. Chelation caused some problems in the past, not all the problems, but chelation made other problems a lot worse. I have had a tough couple of years and I am going to enjoy my yoga while I can. I cannot chelate and practice yoga at the same time. They are mutually exclusive: I get injured too often so my rule is no yoga when I chelate.

The plan remains to repeat the Master Cleanse sometime soon, probably the new year. Liver is still clogged. Still have stuff to sort out. But I am much much better now and life has returned to normality.

Happy dayz!

That’s all folks!
Danny

PS. Super-massive-respect to Steven for his turbo-powerful Master Cleanse action. Steven has had a rough old-time of it these last five years, so he decided to follow my lead and give the MC a bash. He did 10 days!!! He is thinking clearer! Rock n roll dude! Keep up the good work. Told you it was not as difficult as it seemed!

PS. The above was written a week ago on the plane back but I didn’t get time to publish. I liver flushed last night. Got 250-300 gallstones out. Nice! And importantly I am managing the flushes fine. I am strong enough now. I don’t recommend them if you are proper sick.

Master Cleanse: The results are in! Part II – More good news!

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Sunshine

I holidayed in France this year. I brought back a gorgeous hunk of French cheese called Beaufort. Lovely stuff made from raw milk. I have been saving it as a treat after the fast broke. It’s been sitting in the fridge for six weeks, taunting me. Last night I reverently prepared a snack board after my evening meal. Walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, prunes, fresh figs, fresh plums, some of the French raw cheese and a little dollop of honey, all arranged artistically on a wooden board. Jamie Olivier would have been proud!

I sat down, had a good sniff, I do like to have a good sniff of my food, and was completely non-plus-ed with the cheese. How odd! I ate the nuts and seeds and saved the best bit until last: the cheese…and was totally not-impressed, nor blown away: just disappointed. The cheese tasted ok-ish, but the other ingredients on the plate tasted much better. All the veggie meals I have eaten since I broke the fast have all tasted oh-so much better than this let-down-of-a-cheese.

How gutting is that! My cheese fetish has been crushed! Before the fast I was almost a cheese-aholic! I suppose this is a good thing. I guess it means I am more in balance now, with no/fewer nutritional deficiencies. I guess my calcium levels are in balance. I am happy about that, very happy indeed, but I’m sad at the loss of my love for cheeeeeeeeese! Oh no!!

My palette and diet have changed dramatically since I finished the Master Cleanse fast. All the meals I eat taste just amazing. Totally wonderful. Even simple foods blow my mind with their zingy yummy-ness. When I first broke the fast it was almost orgasmic! Two weeks later and now I just greatly appreciate and enjoy each meal, but much more so than before. Not sure how long this will last, but it is lovely to be so enjoying my foods. It feels like my digestion, my sense of taste and smell have been re-set. Re-set back to ground zero. Re-set back to a baby level. Difficult to describe, but: fresh, clear and clean: balanced with no cravings.

I not longer desire meat either. I used to eat quite a lot of organic meat, but the taste for it has evaporated. I have tried a little lamb and chicken but it did nothing for me and I am consequently avoiding meat…and I’m loving the veggies in a BIG BIG way. How odd! So, yeah, it seems I am going veggie. A vegetarian! Ohhhh man! Didn’t expect that! But the veggie meals I am eating taste wonderful, and I don’t fancy meat at all.

Ok, I’m not really going totally veggie, that would too wild, just minimising the meat. My wife cooked a chicken coconut curry last night and I only had one piece of meat, not my usual three.

The fast involved only drinking lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper. Now I crave lemons! I have been squeezing lemon juice everywhere! Almost everything I eat has a good squidge of the stuff all over. I am also spicing my food a lot more than before. I have been eating whole chillies!! And enjoying it massively! I guess that’s from eating all that cayenne pepper every day during the fast. Very good for you that stuff: gets things moving!

I feel stronger now. Physically stronger. Energy has returned. Fatigue has re-treated. I noticed the strength return when I was shaking that damn thermometer down. I have much more force in my arms and it’s no problem shaking the thing down. It’s the odd little things like that that bring a smile to my face: such a bonus to realise life is returning to normality.

My temps are perfect. I just took them daily for five days in a row and everything was 36.7: bang on! Amazing eh!

Restarting my yoga practice really is the major turnaround for me. It is my icing on my cake. When I consider my health, being able to workout about defines good health to me. With the workouts I am strengthening my body as well as cleansing it. Yoga also has a wonder effect of calming the mind too. I always feel refreshed and energised after my practice.

I am practicing daily now. I am very much an all-or-nothing kinda chap. Not really into half measures. Obviously after two years of ill-health and fatigue, my poor old body is creaking from inactivity. I am not as young as I was either. But I am taking my time, taking things nice and easy, gently easing myself back into the old routine of exercise. I am stiff and in-flexible, but I know the flexibility will return with regular practice. If I practice my yoga 6-7 times a week, I don’t need to push myself hard at all. Strength and flexibility will naturally return given the regularity of daily practice. There is no rush. Daily practice makes returning health fairly easy. The only discipline required is hauling my arse out of bed at 5am each morning! At the moment I’m in the mode, excited and raring to go, so it’s easy.

I have done a lot of yoga in the past and once I get into the routine of getting up at 5am, it quickly becomes second nature – provided I am actually strong enough to do the work outs. It seems I have the energy right now. In the past, sometimes yoga practice has been an uphill battle as my poor injured body couldn’t handle the physicality of it. Now, today, although I am unfit from inactivity, I have none of the aches and pains that I usually associate with restarting workouts. That can only be a good thing. That Master Cleanse has cleaned out some old long forgotten, long hidden crap. Now my body works better than it has for many a year. I have no idea how long this will last? Who knows eh, but I like to make hay while the sun shines. Sun is shining right now so I have to make the most of it while I can: practice daily and get strong again.

I have already been asked when I will be restarting chelation! LOL. Thanks Terry! Never a spare moment eh! But I will take it easy with chelation. First thing I need to do is enjoy my new-found better health. These last couple of years have been difficult. Next I have to get strong again. Two years of weary inactivity takes it toll and it will take months to regain power. The fatigue I have just got rid of was directly caused by some chelation rounds. So when I restart chelation I want to be as strong as possible. I am still rebuilding after the fast anyways. I didn’t eat for 28 days. I lost 6kg in that time and it will take 28 days to regain the weight I lost. It’s been two weeks since I broke the fast – I have put on 3kg.

Current plan is: two weeks Humaworm liver herbs, two weeks off. Then two more weeks liver herbs. I will sneak in one or two more liver flushes too, but not decided when. Probably in the middle of the two weeks off period. I will Master cleanse for sure again in January. Not sure yet what I will do inbetween the liver herbs and the MC, because there will be 6 weeks gap to fill. Time will tell, but I am not gonna try chelation until I am stronger. Remember I still have things to sort out. Liver is still congested. Suddenly my back aches a little. I am much better, but still things need sorting out.

But I have made smashing progress here with the Master Cleanse. I am amazed. I am so glad that I actually took the time to write all down too. To map out all the problems I had before the fast. Then afterwards to review each problem and see what change has actually happened. When I write it out in black and white, detailing exactly what’s got better: it’s pretty stunning. Sometimes you just get on with life and forget what ached yesterday. But to see in writing all the things that have change for the better is a pretty cool thing. Happy dayz! Success.

Why? Did I do the Master Cleanse in the first place? I have been thinking about this? Why did I suddenly embark on the fast? Well, my fatigue would not go away. My thyroid seemed ok. My adrenals only slightly out. Vit D was a problem, but less of a problem now. I just came to understand I also had problems with my B-vits. I researched this is some detail thinking that was my next port of call in getting rid of the fatigue. Two months I spent reading about gene testing, active B12 therapy and methylation. Fuck! That methylation is a completed boat-load of incomprehensible crap. I got frustrated because it was so difficult to understand. I couldn’t see an easy path to learning about and understanding methylation.

So I got to thinking. What I really needed was something that ignored all the complexities, something simple, that went to the root of that matter and just cured everything. What could I do? Eventually I remembered fasting was supposed to do just that: cure everything. So I researched fasting, came across the Master Cleanse, researched that in some detail too – and the rest is history.

And there you have it. The reason I did the Master cleanse was because I was frustrated at my inability to grasp methylation. Funny old world eh!

That’s all folks!
Sunshine

PS: Respect and good luck to Anthony and family for making a new life and going for it in USA. Hope your dreams come true. XXX

PPS. And Good luck to Steven who is thinking about following in my footsteps and doing a Master Cleanse. Good luck dude.

Master Cleanse: The results are in! Mega success!

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Sunshine

After twenty-five impressive days fasting on the Master Cleanse I will now set out all the benefits it has given me. And I must say I have some pretty cool gains here. Seriously great. Not sorted out everything, but significant steps have been taken up my ladder to better health.

After over two years being off-games with no exercise possible due to excessive fatigue, I have at last been able to re-start my beloved yoga this week. Hooray! That’s a BIG deal for me. One that I am gloriously happy about. I consider re-starting my workouts to be the very tippy-top of my wish-list. The Master Cleanse did this. Powerful stuff! My fatigue has gone!

At the start of the fast I listed out all the things I had wrong with me. Now I will go back to that list and review each problem and set out what’s changed.

1) Fatigue is the main problem. It is chronic and it will not go away: – Ummm, well, yes, I don’t want to tempt fate but the fatigue seems to have gone. Brilliant eh! I feel pretty normal now and have a normal amount of energy too. I require less sleep as well. I only need six and a half to seven hours sleep now. All of this year I have needed, and I mean NEEDED, eight hours.

2) I have very mild depression: – Gone! Boom!

3) Lab tests showed high reverse T3 (RT3) problem: – No idea what labs show now, but I took my temperatures last week and they were all bang on perfect. Happy dayz!

4) Lab tests showed I have low DHEA: – Untested.

4) I have had problems taking B-vits and B12 : Untested.

5) Chelation made the fatigue worse. Why? No idea : – Still no idea, although I blame Vit D levels.

6) Adrenals still slightly out: – Temps all level and perfect, so assume this problem is no more!

7) I have burning feet. Sole of my left foot gets horribly hot, burning hot: This disappeared completely during all 25 days of the fast. But, it seems to be coming back a little now, 10 days after I ended the fast. Not sure why. Not even sure what it is. But still, it is about 80-90 pct better that it was pre-fast. Rash on foot is 90pct better too. Dry skin on left heal is 90pct better too.

8) Blood sugar problem with some hypoglycemia an issue: It wasn’t that bad, but it was an issue and now is much less bad: about 70pct better than it was.

9) Libido low-ish: Unchanged.

10) When I get the fatigue kicking in, I get this weird grippy hand thing: Gone.

11) I cannot do any exercise. No gym. No yoga: Ha!!! Sorted! Yoga has restarted!!!! Happy dayz!!! I did three sessions last week and have done 6 practices in the last 7 days this week. I am getting up at 5am, having a one hours yoga session, then going to work. I need less sleep. This is just like the good old days and shows I have regained my mojo!!! Mega-deluxe-fantastico-coolio!

12) I have good days and bad days: Days are pretty ok at the moment. Although my shoulders hurt at little. More of that later.

13) Booze does not agree: Not tried any booze yet; untested.

14) No wheat: Not tried any yet; untested.

15) I eat a lot at each meal: I still eat a lot. I lost 6kg during the fast. Now I am rebuilding and I am eating a lot of food again. I regained 2kg in the first 7 days.

16) I have a furry tongue in the mornings upon waking: I still have the furry tongue, but it is about 80pct better than during the fast. And about 40pct better the pre-fast. That means I need to do more fasting.

17) I have just discovered I have a vitamin D deficiency: Got tested again and Vit D levels now fine. High even. That comes from the sunbathing I did on holidays, not the fasting.

18) Most nights I get up to pee once: Still getting up some night’s, but not every night, so that is an improvement.

19) I have mild carpel tunnel syndrome on my left wrist: It is better than it was, but still there. I would say 35pct better since the fast. Yoga is tricky but do-able. I must be very careful still: no sun salutations yet.

20) Ears are fine, but for some odd reason I cannot listen to loud headphone music: untested.

21) Sinus’s blocked half the time: Sorted. All clear now. This was one of the things that was greatly impeding my yoga. Clear sinus’s enable good yoga. Good news eh!

So there we have it. Pretty damn funky and cool eh! Lots of problems sorted out, or at least better. That list was the list of everything that was wrong too.

I have to say that fast was a MASSIVE success. To regain my energy, to restart my yoga, to have level temperatures at the right level, to help and resolve some of the hassles: that’s pretty damn wonderful and makes doing the fast gigantically rewarding: success always is awesome and I feel awesome too!

But it’s not over yet. Unfortunately I have to admit the fast was finished too soon. 25 days was not enough – for me and my body. Wild eh!! At the end of the fast it got pain right between my shoulder blades. This is a typical liver signal. It was quite a strong sharp pain too that has lingered all week. I didn’t have this before. My tongue also remained furry all during the fast, and afterwards too, which indicates I still have crap in me that needs exiting.

So yeah, it will need repeating. But the Master Cleanse is not a hardship. The fast was very easy to actually do and with all the benefits I have gained I am greatly looking forward to my next MC. I have pencilled in January 2014 for the next attempt.

In the meantime, because my shoulders hurt so much, I will be addressing my liver and gallbladder next. I have just done a liver flush this past weekend. You know those things with grapefruit juice, olive oil, and Epsom salts. Yeah, the thing that Cutler is against. Yes, those horrid hardcore liver flushes. I have not done one since 2007.

This time the flush went off like clockwork with no problems or hassles. Last time I did one of these beasts it took two weeks to recover from!! Hardcore indeed! Re-reading Andreas Moritz’s book, even he admits its like major surgery of the liver – but with no knives. This time I was fine the evening afterwards. All pretty straight forward for a change. Had a colonic monday night too. Never really like all those tubes and whatnot, but essential to do when liver flushing to get everything cleaned up afterwards.

I got zero gallstones out. Odd eh! Not sure what that means. I did get a load of chaff, and gunky green bile, just no stones. And I did feel better after too: warmer.

Now that’s finished I have started some Humaworm Liver herbs. These are two weeks on, two weeks off herbs. So I will do a couple of rounds, see what happens. Maybe do another flush too, depending on how I feel.

But, as you can see, things are looking up for me. Proper up too. To have banished the fatigue is a major event in my healing. I have the Master cleanse to thank for that, but I must also point out sorting out the Vit D problem was also very important too. Could not have got this better without the Vit D.

How did I sort out the Vit D decifency? I went on holiday and sun bathed a lot. Once I understood I was deficient, I went out of my why to get loads of sun. Once I had a base tan, I didn’t use suntan lotion anymore. I did more sunbathing when I got back home on the weekends. Re-tested Vit D and it came in way above what it was and right into the GREAT zone. Just two months later.

Phew! I am a busy boy. So many things done recently. Just in this one blog entry I have discussed fasting, liver flushing, liver herbs, Vit D….so many things to do!

AND… I urge all my friendly readers to do $hit. Do stuff. Do things. Experiment. Try new ideas. Because eventually you will hit pay-dirt and something, somewhere will hit the spot like a champion, hero and superstar! Then you too can get up at 5am and stand on your head! LOL.

That’s all folks!
Sunshine

PS. I have also made additional notes about the Master Cleanse. It will make this post too long and boring, so I will save that for another day. The title of that blog entry is gonna be: Success! Or maybe Happy Dayz! Or Major Progress Has Been Made! Or Observations Post-Master Cleanse. Or Good Health Has Returned? Undecided yet what the title will but, but you get the gist! Let the good times roll!

Master Cleanse – Day 25 and time to stop.

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Sunshine

Day 24 – update

Sunday: Had a great day today. Took the train into London and went on an amphibious D-Day duck bus tour. Bright yellow buses that can also go on water. We cruised the river Thames! Coolio! Felix loved it. Also did the natural history museum. The huge automated T-Rex and massive blue whale they have in there are wonderful. I remember whale from my youth! Lovely day. Felix had baked potato with baked beans for Lunch. The burger from the Gourmet Burger Company was less healthy for dinner, but the only food I could find him in Kings Cross station.

The food was intoxicating.
I am starving hungry.
I want food.
I really want food.
I have pain between my shoulder blades too: more liver signals. But I can’t stop thinking about food. It started yesterday and has continued today. If this continues tomorrow, I will break the fast.

Day 25.

I am again hungry today. Hungry like a wolf. The desire for food is constant. The previous 24 days, if I drank the MC drink, all hunger would vanish. Today I drank my usual quota of 10-11 glasses of the MC drink and all I wanted to do was eat food.

This is my body saying enough is enough. Time to stop the fast. Sure I could continue. Sure I am strong enough to overcome these pangs, but … but that’s not how this works.
I must listen to my body.
I can hear it loud and clear.
Now is the time to stop.

I have lost a small, but significant amount of weight. I weighed in at 62kg this morning. Down 6kg in 25 days. 13 pounds that is. I feel skinny. Naked in the mirror before my morning shower I look skinny. My face is starting to look skinny. I look healthy, but no doubting it I am also skinny again.

So that’s it. I will end that fast tomorrow.

Pretty proud and amazed I managed 25 days with no food. Pretty awesome in fact. Imagine that? 25 days fasting. Wasn’t at all that difficult really. Considering the kind crap I am used to putting up with when I detox, this was easy. I would go so far as to say it was: very easy.

But, I have to say, my detoxing is not over. My tongue remains coated in fur. Every morning during the fast I awoke to fur. Some days it cleared up and I had a nice clean mouth. Some days the fur stayed 24/7. My shoulders hurt. Always a liver/gallbladder signal. My BM’s remain stinky. A clean body should not really have that kinda smell coming out of it. So, this will be my first Master Cleanse. 25 days on my first Master Cleanse is cool, but there will have to be more. I will fast another time and see if I can fast until my tongue goes clean for 24 hours. That is supposed to be the signal of cleanliness. I don’t care about the number of days. It was never a competition to do a certain number of days. It was a competition to see my tongue go clean. I have not accomplished that this time. But I got loads of toxins out, and for that I am extremely happy.

In a week or so I will do a full inventory of my problems and what the fast sorted out. At the beginning I listed out 20 problems to be sorted and I will go through them, one by one, and tell of whats better and whats not. But I can say my feet of 95pct better. Rash 95pct gone. Burning feet seem to be gone. Blocked sinus is gone. Energy? Not sure. It is better, and I don’t have that horrid out-of-breathe-walking-up-the-hill-thing. I need one hour less sleep at night. But I am still technically fasting at the moment, so I will do the full inventory once the fast is completely finished and I am eating normally again.

Returning to a normal diet will take some time. Orange juice and water are the only things I will drink tomorrow. OJ and some veggie broth on day two. OJ, broth and a light salad on day 3. I will take it real easy on the re-introduction of food. 25 days is a seriously long time and I need to chill, relax and ease back into my diet. I will go veggie and fruit only for the first week. No meat. I might have some raw cheese after day 5, but we will see how my body reacts to food over the next few days.

Day 26 – Breaking the fast: Day 1 – 10^th September 2013

Holy $hit! What a horrible, horrible day! I am starving hungry. Hungry like a horse. Ravishing hungry. This is wildly intense! All I can think about is food, food, food.

Instructions on breaking the fast are: orange juice and water only on day one. No more lemon drink. I can’t believe all I have ingested today is orange juice. How can I survive on OJ only? This is mental. Amazing too, but mostly mental. Didn’t have the lax tea, nor the salt water flush either. I am gently switching my body back to solids but fuck me sideways, this is really hard.

For the past 25 days my stomach has been shut down. The lemon drink suppressed my hunger fantastically. But now, with the introduction of the the OJ, I have awakened a sleeping beast! All I can think of is food. I bought three new cook books today: A Gordon Ramsey, a Hugh Fearnley-Whitttingstall and Rick Stein’s new book: India. Looking at the pictures and reading the recipes was so mouth-watering it was painful. I had to put the books away after a while. No wonder people screw-up these fasts when they break them. The urge to eat food is unbelievable. I am having to literally hold back wild horse here. This is by far the most difficult part of the fast. Holy cow! This is incredible. The waking of the taste buds, restarting my digestion is so powerful. Today I fully understand and appreciate that my body has not had any solid food for 25 long days.

All morning I was super grumpy. Major swearing over miniature issues made my collegues laugh out loud. They urged me to pig-out with a large hamburger and drink 10 pints of larger. That’s not tempting in the slightest, but what is making my mouth water constantly is the thought of some seriously fresh, organic, flavoursome veggies. Roasted. With garlic. And spices. And rice. Oh I need fresh wholesome grub. I found this recipe with sausages, potatoes, thyme, parsnips and apple; all roasted in the oven. OMG.

How on earth am I to manage tomorrow? Day 2 of breaking the fast is: OJ, water, and some soup broth. Not proper soup, just the broth left over after boiling up veggies! And that broth is in the evening only. Another day in the office on OJ only. That’s gonne be a ’mare!

I have to say this is fairly unpleasant and I am not enjoying it at all. But it’s only a couple of days. I will just have to ‘man up’ and get on with it.

That’s all folks
Sunshine

Master Cleanse: Days 20 – 24

Posted on September 8, 2013 by Sunshine

Day 20.

Fucking eh! 20 days! Twenty days! Imagine that! 20 whole days without food. 20 days fasting. 20 days on lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper. That’s wild man! Wild! And! And…I’m doing this wildness whilst I’m working in the office. In an office full of arrogant-alpha-male-city-dudes! I am pretty amazed at myself. Having the strength to do this, take all the jip in the office, and still be able to continue. I must admit I am playing it very cool in the office. Very blasé:

“Yeah man, it’s easy. No problem.
“Nope, I’m not hungry at all.
“I am amazed too. Every day is just a normal day.
“The gunk seems to provide all the energy I need.
“Nope I’m not tired either. I have enough energy to go about the day.
“Everythings totally cool man.”

The only thing I don’t tell them is the difficult $hit. And yes there are difficult bits of the day: Today I went to stock-up on organic lemons. I bought 30. I get them from Planet Organic off Tottenham Court road. (Thanks Femka, cool recommendation. Awesome shop. We can do lunch there when I break the fast). Takes 45 minutes round trip including a two stop tube journey during my lunch break. I needed an emergency pit stop in a pub toilet to have a horrible, arse wrenching, stinger of a dump. Stomach cramps lasted 15 minutes. Not much fun, but it passed, as it always passes. And some toxic crud vacated my body which can only be a good thing.

At two o’clock in the morning last night I sat on the bog for 30 minutes.

So yeah, there are odd, uncomfortable moments during the fast. It’s not all easy peasy. But overall…it is easy peasy. Considering I have not eaten solid food, nor had a sold dump for 20 days…I’d say this fast has been a breeze so far. So I’m pushing on. No end in sight yet. I’m enjoying it. I feel like I am well into the detox zone. Old lost and forgotten toxins must be being removed. I am certainly having enough BM’s: 5-10 per day. I do feel better too. Skin feels very smooth today. My burning feet problem is gone. I just realised I have not had a burning feet issue for 10-15 days. That’s why I’m pushing on. It’s easy and it’s working.

Day 20 is done. Bring on day 21!

Day 21.

Passed without incident. Just another day at the office.

Day 22.

Slept badly last night. Woke up at 3.30am and couldn’t get back to sleep. I just lay there in that twilight zone of sleep/non-sleep. Made me tired for the rest of the day. My shoulder hurt too: a liver signal. Liver must be detoxing.

Weight has dropped to 63kg (139pounds) – that’s a loss of just 5kg(11 pounds) in 22 days. Not bad, not bad at all, very happy with that, but…but I am starting to feel skinny. I am conscious and aware of this and I don’t like it. If I lose too much weight I will have to stop the fast. I don’t want or like the office commenting. I don’t want to look like skelator: it reminds me of when I was ultra sick and at my worst.

Day 23.

Awoke with a headache. My second headache of the fast. Waterfalls of water kept the pain at bay, but it was a sheepish morning and afternoon so I took things well easy. By the afternoon headache was gone and things returned to normal. My mate Steven from Switzerland is over to visit and stay the night at SunshineTowers. Good to have a mercury toxic mate around to chat with. He helped dig up my crop of potatoes from my veggie garden. My biggest crop ever! I now have four bags of spuds stored in the garage! Nice!

My wife cooked a Sri Lankan coconut chicken curry for dinner with wild rice and runner beans from the garden: felt like torture smelling the beautiful fresh smells and not being able to eat it. How long will I continue the master cleanse?

Day 24. 8^th September 2013

Weighed in at 62kg today. Ummmm. I have lost 6kg(13 pounds) so far. Considering I have not eaten anything for twenty four whole long days…6kg is a very small amount of weight loss. 24 days is a long time to go without food. Three and a half weeks!

When I was ultra sick I lost a lot of weight. I went down to 57kg. Back then I looked proper sick. I looked horrid: skinny, pale, weak, oily and, well just really fucked up.

In contrast to now, after having lost 6kg and down to 62kg, today I actually look healthy. I am obviously thin, but not unhealthily skinny. When I look in the mirror, my face is a normal shape. Sure it is thinner, but I don’t look sick. I have a healthy glow with no saggy or droopy bits. Well, I think so anyways. If I looked like $hit the lads in the office would have made a comment. They would have said something: they are not shy when it comes to taking the piss!

But 62kg is uncomfortably low for me. It is close to the cut off zone. I guess if I get down to 60kg I will seriously consider stopping the fast. Not sure I can handle the office comments. I know its sad: to consider breaking the fast just because of what other people might think/say, but such is life. It is my life and I have to lead it. 60kg may well be the signal to break the fast. We will see. Depends on how I look. How I feel.

The thing is, this fast still has a ways to go. I am detoxing all the time and it’s not stopped. It is not time to stop yet. My tongue remains furry, my mouth chalky. The headache shows crap is exiting my temple. And my BM’s! Oh yeah, I still have loads of crap coming out. Rich, thick and stinky. No idea where it all comes from, but I still have toxins pouring out of me. The fast is working good.

The thing is, I know it will be difficult to restart another Master Cleanse. I have found this one easy. That means the second MC will be easier…and longer. Longer is difficult for work because I cannot entertain clients. I guess I will do another fast in January. January is acceptable to detox and I will be able to easily do the whole month. That’s the plan anyways.

So for now, I will try my hardest to continue for as long as possible. But when I get to 60kg, just 2kg away, I will have to take a view. My work is giant part of my life and I need to look the part.

BUT…my health takes precedence!!! So maybe I will just say; fuck it! Fuck’em all. This is me and my health and if I look a bit skinny for a couple more weeks…tough $hit. I know when I break the fast and restart eating I will regain all the weight I have lost. Yes, if I lose 6kg in 24 days, I will gain 6kg in 24 days when I restart eating again. All healthy grub, but the weight will return. It always has done on all the many other fasts I have done.

So, as you can see, I am in two minds: shall I stay or shall I go now?
Time will tell, but for today: I will continue.

Oh yeah, I have switched over to the salt water flush in the mornings. I get a better ‘clean through’ than the lax tea with no stomach cramps. I get up 15 minutes earlier @ 545am and that gives me enough time to unload and then get on the train to work. I have done the last 8 days with SWF in the mornings.

That’s all folks!
Sunshine

Master Cleanse – 18 days so far.

Posted on September 2, 2013 by Sunshine

Day 12.

It’s the 27^th August today and I’m in the zone. The detox zone. Fast is motoring along just fine. First nine days were a breeze. Day 10 kicked off with some serious detoxing with that pounder of a headache. Days 11 and 12 have been fine, but not a breeze. I have passed some kind of detox crossroads and I am detoxing more that the first nine days. I am having a little more hassle now.

Today I needed more MC drink than usual and I started running low whilst at the office. I noticed early and started rationing myself. I didn’t want to run out in the office. I got a shakes a couple of times, bad too. Hand shook like a leaf. It stopped after I drank more drink, but it happened a couple of times. Went to the bank at lunchtime and felt particularly odd and needed to take some deep calming breath to steady myself.

But it’s all manageable. I consider myself a professional when it comes to managing detox side-effects! So no big deal. Just drink tons of water and chill. To be honest with myself, I kinda like the side-effects. Shows that the fast is working and that I’m getting rid of some old crap. First nine days were so easy I wondered if any serious detoxing was gonna happen, so kinda nice to know all the effort is worth it.

My weight has stabilised at 65.5kg (144 pounds). That’s down just 2.5kg (5.5 pounds). I am extremely happy about that. Serious weight loss would make me stop the fast. Looking like skelator is not fun. Getting odd looks and comments from people in the office is, well, is not ideal!!! I have a board meeting Friday and I need to look sharp.

Otherwise I am seriously enjoying and greatly appreciating my superb nose. Clear as a bell. No obstructions, sinus clear and nose breathing is once again the norm. It may sound odd, but it’s real nice to be able to breathe normally again. A significant plus.

Moved up to three minutes for the lax tea to brew. I did have mild stomach cramps, but it was mild and no problem. You will be pleased to learn I am suitably regular; 4-5 per day. Just what you wanted to know! But it is a fast and regularity is very important.

Cayenne pepper moved dose up 100pct and that didn’t work. Stinger! But at 50pct up caused no problems. So that’s 1.5 tbs when I make my big batch in the morning.

In other non-health related news, work on the house is drawing to a close. We been having the downstairs completely renovated for the last four months. We had no TV, no music, no sitting room and no kitchen for 12 weeks. All crammed upstairs in the guest room surround by a million boxes. My music room is finished with freshly painted plastered and painted walls and a new oak floor.

Everything looks stunning, but the mega bonus is the acoustics of the room have changed significantly for the better. My Hi Fi sounds completely different. About 50 times better. I guess that’s because the new floor is better insulated and the speakers can function better. I’m just listening to a Trentemoller CD and that base is booming the funk out me!!! Gosh it sounds wonderful.

Day 14 – 29^th August 2013

Must have had 10 BM’s today.
I have not had a solid dump for 14 days.
My BM’s in the morning show that I still have masses of toxins coming out. Thick sludge every day. When will it end?
Keeping regular is not a problem.
Changed cayenne pepper brands and took too much. Stinger. Again.
Lax tea – 3 minutes steeping gives me stomach cramps. 2 minutes is ok.
In the evening I had my first real hunger pangs. Food was on my mind. The smell of the local curry house was intoxicating.
Felt a bit spaced and fluffy headed in the evening too. Did a meditation for 30 minutes and felt even more spaced. That’s why todays blog entry is just a list.
My nose and sinus’s are as clear and clean as a bell: lovely.

Still working. Two of boys in the office are seriously talking about doing it too. They are amateurs and I look forward to their reactions; if they ever actually do it. Each time I go for a dump they are having a sweepstake on how long I’m gonna be gone for. Tossers! LOL, but it’s all light-hearted. Lucky I have a thick skin. I am taking the grief like a man.

Otherwise…that’s two weeks under my belt. Pretty proud of that. It’s a pretty cool achievement. This weekend will be challenging!

Days 15-17

This weekend from Friday through to Sunday I went camping at Ben’s house just outside Poole on the south coast of England in Devon. He is turbo-loaded. Bought himself a mansion in the countryside with 22 acres of land. He keeps cattle. He has fields of barley. He has trees in his garden that must be a hundred years old they are so big. He has an orchard with 30 fruit tress: apples, pears, figs, plums and greengages. He has a large veggie garden. He has an asparagus patch. He has a gardener that tends to it! How the other half live!!

We camped on his front lawn, which is probably one or two acres large. In all there where nine families, all with kids: Ben, Leila, William, Benson, Poppy. Nick, Gill, Lola, Esmee. Andy, Sarah, Alfie. Nobby, Sarah. Jes, Anna, Daisy. Jessy. Lee. Caroline, Neil, Seb…and yes, I forgot some people too: I don’t know all the kids names. I have known this bunch of people most of my life. My friends.

We learn how to played croquet on his football pitch. Awesome game. Extremely competitive indeed! We chatted all day and basked in the sun on the lawn. Ben is in the meat trade and BBQ-ed all weekend with only the best cuts. A feast was had by all…

…except me of course! I was on this Master Cleanse! It is still easy too. No problemo. I mean, no big deal in terms of hunger. Drink the drink enough and you don’t feel hungry at all. But you do need to keep the drink ready at all times otherwise you feel the hunger coming up suddenly. I did sniff the freshly cooked food and enjoyed all the smells, but I did have to wander off when everyone was chowing down. Lovely smells!!!! I miss them. But…totally manageable, mostly.

I forget my lax tea. Ummmm. So I did the saltwater flush in the mornings instead. That worked fine. I have reclaimed full control over my bowels, so holding on a little for the one available toilet was cool. Hairy, but cool.

I had to get up four times a night to pee. That was annoying and cold.

Everyone had a wonderful time. I had a wonderful time too. The fast didn’t stop my enjoyment much, although the meat he BBQ-ed looked and smelt awesome. Ben is rearing veal on his farm. But veal the humane way. No cows force fed milk, locked in boxes unable to move. We all saw his open sheds with the bulls free to run around. They never go out into the fields, but they are in open barns with loads of fresh air. No one in our group really ate much veal before. Veal has a bad reputation over here, but after tasting his happy veal, everyone said they’d buy it and eat it. My wife said it was the best steak she’s had since we ate in the posh Bull Pen restaurant in our village.

Anyways…still fasting on the master cleanse. Everythings cool.

BP @ 1030pm : 143/89 p 54 and 2 minutes later: 136/91 p 51 – what the hell does that mean? I feel totally normal at the moment. That’s high!

Day 18. – 2^nd September 2013

Had an annoying day today. Felt hunger pangs a bit. Not real hunger pangs really, more just a bit annoyed and fed up. I am starting to crave food, planning out what I’m gonna eat when I finish. I greatly look forward to going to Jamie’s Italian and eating his vegetarian platter. Yummm! I crave chillies too. I guess that’s all the cayenne pepper I am consuming. A veggie curry would be awesome too. I am gonna eat like a KING when I finish this up. And when I say KING, I mean a very healthy, food aware KING!

But my tongue remains white, day and night, so I will just have to continue as long as I can manage. I am doing this for my health, not for fun, not for a laugh, not to prove I can go 10 or 20 or 30 days. I am doing this for my health, and I need to do it properly. I don’t fast very often, so when I do fast…I should fast as long as I can comfortably handle and not pussy out because I am fed up for a day. My health takes precedence over everything.

I have today actually put a deadline in here: 20 days. That’s a nice round number. Lets see how I feel on day twenty before I break this fast.

Boys in the office are now actually quiet amazed with this adventure. They still take the piss, but they grudgingly admit it’s a pretty impressive feat to fast for 18 days. They are urging me to break the fast with 10 pints of Guinness and a BigMac!

I weighed in at 63.5kg this morning. I have lost 4.5kgs. That’s 10 pounds in 18 days. Not too much. Perfect. Don’t want to lose any weight. If I get down to 60kg I will defo finish the fast. That’s too low. I will look like skelator if I hit 60kg.

I have to admit, fasting for 18 days is pretty hardcore. Didn’t think I could go this long, but then again I didn’t know it would be this easy.

That’s all folks!
Sunshine

Master Cleanse: Day 5 – 10.

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Sunshine

Day 5.

If yesterday was a ten out of ten for easiness, day 5 was a nine and a quarter. I had lunch with all the boys on my desk. They all had a three course meal. All I had was a bottle of water and a mint tea. Nice restaurant too. Food looked and smelt amazing. It was no problem, but it was a long-ish lunch and towards the end I needed some of the MC drink. I popped back to the office and did feel lighted headed and odd. Defo need to keep the drink constantly drunk religiously every one and a half hours, otherwise that happens. Oddness cleared up within 15 minutes of drinking the drink.

I also felt a little light headed in the evening, right now as I type this in fact. I guess I need more of the drink. So far I have lost just 2kg (4.4 pounds) which is ideal. This adventure is not about weight loss.

Last night was again annoying. Got up no less than four times to pee. Hummf! Got back to sleep straight away, but did feel on each occasion that a dam was about to burst.

Otherwise an uneventful day. I must say this is considerably easier than I ever thought possible. Imagine that: I have not had any food for 5 whole days and – it’s a chinch! I have juice fasted loads of times before, but fasting was never this easy. The Master Cleanse rocks! Or maybe this is the calm before the storm!!!! LOL.

Day 6.

Nothing out of the ordinary to report today. No storms in sight.

This morning I weighed in at 66kg, still down just 2kg since the start: perfect! I am adding more maple syrup to the drink, this is supposedly the way to reduce weight loss on the fast. If you want more weight loss, just reduce the maple syrup.

Blood pressure unchanged: 131/81 pulse 49

22^nd August 2013

Day 7.

Dreamt about food this morning. Dreamt I was about to break the fast with a huge plate of chips. Chips as in French fries to you Yanks! A great big pile a thick fish ‘n’ chip shop chips, steaming and oozing fresh from the frier. A plate of mash potato also turned up too for some unknown reason. Looked great, but I woke up thinking: surely I shouldn’t break the fast with chips? I don’t eat them hardly ever normally! As I groggily came too, I farted, followed through, again, then sat on the throne for 20 minutes. What a wonderful way to start the day! They joys of the Master Cleanse! In fact, I spent a lot of the day on the loo today. I don’t count these things but prolly had ten dumps today. Wonderful eh!

The boys in the office are fascinated with the whole fasting experience and constantly ask how I am doing and what’s going on. They can’t believe I’m finding it so easy, that I can work a normal day, and that I still look like a normal person! One of the guys even looked it up and is considering doing it himself! Wild eh!

I have only done one salt water flush, so I thought I’d do my second this evening when I got back from the office. All went according to plan, but you do have to sit on the bog for an hour afterwards and that’s not compatible with my mornings in the week. So I will reserve them for the weekend and odd occasions like this evening. Lax tea is otherwise doing its job of keep me regular.

My tongue is a lovely furry yellow submarine yellow. That means I got lots of toxins coming out. That’s good! Stanley Burrough’s book says that a clean pink tongue for 24 hours is a good indicator that the job is done and the fast can be stopped. I guess that’s what I’m actually aiming at here. That’s the goal. I don’t get the opportunity to fast very often, nor the balls, so I figure when I do fast, that I should go for as much as I can.

Apart from that – things remain remarkably easy, simple and hassle free. I get no hunger pangs, no cravings, no nothing really. Mostly a completely normal day, apart from the multitude of BM’s.

Day 9.

Nothing to report yesterday on day 8, but today on day 9 I am having my first tricky day. Only mild, but I am getting my first real signs of my detox. This morning I had to go to a Bar Mitzvah at a synagogue. Never been to one of those before, very nice and all, but I couldn’t understand a word and spent two and a half hours listening to grown men sing in Hebrew. Ummm! I was stuck at the back on the pew and there is only so many times I could get up and go get my pre-mixed MC drink. I guess I didn’t drink enough because I defo felt a bit pikey: left shoulder pain and nausea. Lasted into the afternoon too. I had to keep my fluid intake super high when I got home. My mouth and teeth are all furry, white today, and I keep having the beginnings of a headache approaching, but the vast water intake is keeping it at bay.

Overall my most tricky day so far. Tricky as in feeling rough, but I’m still not hungry in the slightest.

I did the salt water flush (SWF) last night after I got home from work last night. It is very effective. Straight through cleaning my guts from the inside-out. I felt drained afterwards and went to bed very early. I did it again this morning. The water coming through is very dark and mysterious, frothy too. I just been doing some research on Curezone.com. The flush will eventually go water-clear as all the crud in me is washed out. Day 9, with and without the SWF, and my BM’s remain dark and murky. I look forward to them clearing. I wonder how long it will take? Day 9 and still full of crap!

I wonder how long I will be fasting for? I will push as long as I can, until my body says no more. The only pressure I have to stop is pressure from work. It’s a big pressure too. Anyways, lets see how long I can go on eh. Think I was will have a detox bath tonight with Epsom salts. Looked that up and seems to be acceptable on the MC.

Weight: 65kg. down 3 kgs (6.6 pounds)
My pee has gone water-white and clear now. No yellowy colour.
The skin on my face is a bit rough and dry.
Rash on my foot continues to reduce, but not gone yet.
Burning feet horribleness has massive reduced. Not gone, but mostly. That is rock n roll cool!
Energy levels the same. Not enough to exercise.

Day 10.

Boom! A major milestone hit! 10 BIG days on the Master Cleanse. Nice! This equals my longest fast record! Cool eh! Very happy with myself indeed. Gave myself a large pat on the back for a good job done. Today was an interesting one too: good things and bad things.

First the good: Today my sense of smell returned big-time. I been smelling all those great smells wafting by all day. The take-away curry shop. Plants in the garden smell amazing. The carrots. The apples. The curry plant is sooo strong. Bad smells too, like stinky breath. Yikeees! Please brush your teeth dude!

Anyways, I shaved in the afternoon today because I’m going out tonight for the Bar Mitzvah bash tonight. Proper party with dinner, music, dancing and whatnot. When you get to the grand old age of 44, one of the things I have to do is trim my nose hairs. I have an electric nose trimmer. Awesome little gadget. Battery powered for my convenience!

So there I was, just finished shaving and I lent in to trim the old snozzle and I couldn’t believe my eyes. There were two massive caves tunnelling into my face via my nostrils. What? I could see right up my noze. And I mean right up there. Never been able to do that before. All the skin up my nose was like new: all fresh, and pink, and clear. I guess it must have been permanently inflamed. And now, it was all reduced, and I could almost see my BRAIN. I looked! I couldn’t, but it was like looking up a dark tunnel into my head. Odd eh! And pretty damn cool. I can breathe properly today. Feels great. Nice clean, clear in-breaths via my nose. Wonderful eh!

And when I can breathe great, big deep in-breaths – That’s a great big yoga starting signal!!!! And restarting my yoga is very high on my priority list. Very high indeed. That would be super cool!

Next. The bad things: In the afternoon signs of detox started coming on strong. I didn’t have a BM in the afternoon and I could tell that wasn’t great. I was battling with the water. I was pouring it down my neck as fast as I could, but I could tell I was losing the battle. Headache was coming on. And then I had to go party. The Bar Mitzvah.

Cool party too. Met some really nice people, had a good chat, played 21 at one of the betting tables for an hour or so. At dinner I didn’t eat the food and, somehow, the incredibly polite people I was sitting with didn’t press me about why I didn’t touch a bean. I didn’t have to admit to being on a maga fast. Good. Everything was mostly under control, headache was no big deal. I’m a professional and I can handle it.

But then the music started. Pounding trance reverberated through my poor fasting body. I even hit the dance floor for half an hour and chopped up some cool shapes. Nice! However the large volumes of water were not enough to keep the detox symptoms at bay and I had nowhere to hide, and no way to escape. This was my wife and daughters friends and I had to be involved too. I eventually retreated to a quiet corner and played Kingdom Rush II on my iphone, but the damage was done.

What I really needed to do was have a dump: get the toxins out so they wouldn’t circulate around my body making me feel like crap. But I was stuck at the party and nothing was coming out my arse. Oh the joys of fasting and partying!

The massive pounding headache actually brought me to tears. Yes, hurt so much I cried. Only a few right. Just a moistening and swift wipe. Man’s tears. Nothing girly. Some really nasty $hit coming outta me to make me do that. I told myself: better out than in. That brought a wry smile, but this was a serious pounder.

Drove home through gritted teeth as every dump along the road echoed around my head. Eventually got in at 1130pm. I made a tactical decision. I figured I needed to get my bowels moving somehow. I didn’t want to wait until the morning to do the salt water flush (SWF), so I got home and did one straight up. It made for a late night, and I had work in the morning, but I needed to get toxins out of me ASAP. Not sure if this is acceptable under the rules, but it needed doing and that’s what I did.

Drink and then hit the bog after 15 minutes. Takes an hour finish up, but SWF was a success. Didn’t feel great, but the intensity did ease a little. Had a horrible nights sleep. I crawled outta bed five times to pee burning piss outta my poor old knob, all with a pounding headache.

Woke in the morning day 11 still with the groggy headache. Did another SWF and … and good news: life returned to normal. Headache retreated. Phew! Success! Thank you SWF. Good job! I will remember that trick for next time.

Oh, damn, wrote too much tonight; too long! Man, I do ramble on sometimes: sorry, but this account is mostly for me. If you got this far, congrats!

Anyways…I’m pushing on. Day 10 was the first hurdle. I will continue as far and as long as possible. The only pressure to stop is from work – and I have decided that my health takes precedence over work on this occasion.
I have decided.
That’s final.
Finito.
End of.
No more.
My Health.
Takes Precedence.
Goodnight.

Sunshine

Master Cleanse – Day 2, 3 & 4.

Posted on August 19, 2013 by Sunshine

Master Cleanse – Day 2.

What a funky day today! I’m loving the cayenne pepper. Instructions say a pinch or 1/10 of a teaspoon per glass, but I’m finding I need more! Up to ¼ tsp now per drink and it tastes wonderful! The downside is my arse is on fire! A real sting in the ring! But it tastes great and feels the right thing to do. Instructions say to dose ‘to taste’ so I am. I been reading all about cayenne and it gets a great press: best herb ever apparently.

I have been getting some excellent detox reactions too. This afternoon I was grabbed by the wild urge to shout out like a funking loon. It was wild man! I just needed to shout at the top of my lungs and swear out loud hard. *@%^%$$%! Felt liberating. Luckily I’m home alone today so my dear family didn’t see their beloved father and husband howling like a wolf. I had a dump and the need to shout passed. It happened again later too. I just need to shout out. Also shake my arms like freak. Odd eh! I shouted so loud I farted and followed through. Not ideal, but luckily I was in the comfort of my own home and no one was about. Wasn’t a full load luckily. Hey, it happens ok! I’m doing this crazy fast with red hot chill peppers…what do you expect? I’m a grown man and sometimes $hit just happens!

Energy has been ok. I got a little sleepy this afternoon, but no big deal. I avoided a nap because it makes to go to bed real late if I nap.

I woke in the night to pee and I was burning up and totally drenched in sweat. Dripping wet. Not very nice.

Otherwise, I’m enjoying it so far. Not hungry at all. Just drinking the drink. Tastes great. I am drinking an amazing amount of water. Gulping it down by the pint. Must be at least 4 litres today, at least!

Day 3: 18^th August 2013

This is officially a no farting zone. I have given up food and now must give up farting too. It just leads to little mistakes and it’s not very nice. Had another accident this afternoon whilst mowing the lawn. Lovely!

I have two types of butt pee. Loose leaf herbal tea and curry sauce. Both are ring stingers, but the curry sauce lasts longer. That’ll be the mega quantities of cayenne pepper I am consuming. Think I need reduce the dosage to more manageable levels because this is too much!

I picked a load food from my veggie garden today: carrots, marrow, runner beans, strawberries, gooseberries, onions, apples and potatoes. See pic above. That’s for my family’s dinner this evening and I was mildly jealous, but not really. Fasting properly takes precedence at the moment. Made lunch for the kids and I didn’t feel any hunger or cravings at all. This is considerably easier than I anticipated.

I didn’t sleep that well. Woke in the night with stomach cramps and sat of the bog for 30 minutes. Pissed a lot too. When I woke up I felt all groggy, stuffy, gunky and congested. So I tried the salt water flush. It did the desired job, but I did have to sit on the throne for another 45 minutes. That’s not compatible with mornings and work, so I will stick the lax tea in the week and only do the SWF on the weekends. Lax tea is working fine, although I guess the cramps come from that. I time the amount of time the lax teabag remains in the hot water. Gonna stick with 1 minute until the cramps retreat.

Otherwise it all going according to plan. I have no headaches or any other major signs of any problems. No shouting or shaking today either which is nice! I continue to drink tons and tons of water. Again must be 4 litres easily. I am chugging down pints. That’s good. Keeps the flow of toxins streaming out. I am taking it pretty easy and having plenty of breaks and rests. I had a 45 minute bike ride and that was fine. I did get a little dizzy working in the garden, but it passed.

The sun is out, I have been taking some medicinal sunshine for my Vit D deficiency while I type this up. My garden is beautiful and full of flowers, fruit and veggies. Two pigeons are currently drinking from the bird bath. Now I have typed this up I will continue mowing the lawn. That little drama made me take a break.

They say the first three days are the hardest, so I say bring on day four!!

Day 4: 19^th August 2013

Boom! And what a joy day four was. Arse is fine now I have reduced the cayenne pepper dosage to a more manageable level! Today felt like just any old day. Fasting seems no hassle. Really, I’m not making it up. Today was a breeze! In the office and no problems. And no problems in missing food. I’m totally not hungry at all and no cravings. Just drink the drink and everythings cool.

Now, I’m a getting any benefits yet? Because that’s the purpose of fasting – to get better. The main reason is to regain my energy which has been sorely lacking for too long…and today I felt the first inklings of energy returning. Cool eh! Just the beginnings, but beginnings is fine.

On the train home I thought it would be a great idea to get some exercise in; maybe a bike ride. Even thinking these thoughts is a good sign! I am normally knackered after work. When I get home I normally slump in the sofa, but today I was in the garden helping the kids wash their bikes, then running up and down as they dried them off by riding around. That’s unusual ok.

Next, my skin is feeling very soft and sexy, particularly my face. I look younger too. I even convinced myself that I looked a bit like Brad Pitt. Odd eh! Wife had a good chuckle at that! I don’t really look like Brad Pitt.

Rash on my feet is clearing up. Just to put that in context; I have had that damn rash on my damn foot for 12 months. Tea tea oil keeps it at bay, but it’s always there. And the horrible burning feet thing was not here for the last 3 days either. Fingers crossed!!!!! That would be great if the burning feet $hit would go away.

Today I drank 5 litres of water, plus 10 glasses of the fasting drink. It is needed. On the down side I am pissing like a trooper. Getting up at night three times is annoying, but I got back to sleep straight away.

I feel alert. I feel centred. I feel calm. I feel focused. I feel like this is the right thing to do. I will try my hardest to go for as long as my body tells me is ok. Minimum 10 days remains the goal. After 10 days…we will see what happens.

That’s all folks!
Sunshine

Master Cleanse – Day 1.

Posted on August 17, 2013 by Sunshine

Day one of the Master Cleanse and I go into this all pumped up. Really excited. I’m gonna go for it! Really try and last for as long as my body can handle. There is something exhilarating about grand adventures like this. Makes me feel like Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn. Not eating for 10 days! Not eating for 20 days! That’s just awesome. Will I have the mental strength to tough it out, or am I a pussy? I do so like a tough challenge.

In fact, this is not that tough compared to what some people do. My cousin Anthony, he is the real hardcore. He is a runner. He runs for fun. He just completed a 100 mile run. 100 miles. In one go! That’s almost four marathons in one run, without stopping. Yes, four! That’s what I call hardcore. And massive respect to him: he beat the course record by over an hour. He ran 100 miles in 16 hours…and lived to tell the tale! That’s hardcore. Fasting for a few weeks is a walk in the park compared to running for 16 hours. Respect mate.

I have two main concerns about fasting:

1) Losing too much weight. I don’t want to lose ANY weight at all. I can handle losing a little, because I know I will put it all back on afterwards, but I’m thin and this detox is NOT about losing weight, its about detoxing crap out of my temple!

2) Work. The office. I guess this is the most difficult thing for me: my clients and colleagues. Peer pressure. Fasting is not considered normal in the land of the Muggles. Normal people freak about fasting. Can’t get their head around it at all. And fasting for a long time, minimum 10 days, I cannot hide that from the office. It’s just too long. People notice. But on this occasion I just don’t care, will not care, sod’em! This time, today, now, I need to do this hardcore detox: so I’m doing it. It’s only a couple of weeks. I have loads of fasting experience, but I’ve always hid it previously, not told anyone. But this time, because I’m going to try and break my 10 day record, I told everyone in advance. Had a ‘last supper’ with the boys and made a big deal out of my last meal. Even had a few beers! NOT an ideal way to build up to the fast!!!! But it really was only a ‘few beers’; just a couple pints.

Anyways, Day 1, I have started and the first day was ‘OK’. The only thing I am now drinking is a concoction made of organic lemons, organic maple syrup and cayenne pepper. No other food can pass my lips. I am allowed the occasional herbal tea and as much water as I can handle, but otherwise that’s it: lemons, maple syrup and pepper. This apparently supplies my body with all its energy needs. Odd eh! I read that I will not get hungry and that when I feel a little hungry to just drink the drink and I will be fine. I also to lax tea at bedtime and first thing in the morning to keep me regular.

Instructions are to drink between 6 and 12 glasses of the drink spread throughout the day. On the first day I drank 22 tablespoons of lemon juice from 5.5 lemons. I also drank 24 tablespoons of maple syrup!!! Gulp, that’s a lot of maple syrup! And about 1 heaped teaspoon of cayenne pepper. That all works out to be 11 glasses of the drink, so I am within the limits.

First morning the lax tea did a job on me: I had stomach cramps and sat on the bog for a couple of hours. No big deal: $hit happens and it passed soon enough. Otherwise the day was all rather uneventful. I was not hungry at all. The drink did as advertised and there was no hunger. It did feel like I drank a lot of the drink. I had to drink every 1 to 1.5 hours. But really, I have nothing exciting to report. I drank about four litres of water in one day. That is on top of all the lemonade drinks. My tongue has gone a little furry…which is normal when fasting. In fact, the tongue is going to by my signal of success. I will try to keep fasting until my tongue goes pink and has no furry blanket on it. That’s the ideal scenario. Honestly I don’t think I will be able to go until the tongue is clean. Why? Because I guess it will take a long time to de-gunk me, and not sure I have the power to fast for a LONG time. People do this cleanse for a LONG time. 30 days. 30 days. 40 days. Holy cow! I can’t imagine fasting for such a long time. But, I will take one day at a time…just go for it and see what happens.

It is interesting to note I had no major detox hardships on the first day, (except the $hits because of the lax tea: but it was small fry). No headaches. No tiredness. No rashes. No dizziness. No fluffy heads. No nothing. That makes a pleasant change for my normal detoxing experiences! Let’s hope the rest of the fast is as straight forward as day 1. Also interesting and happy to note I did not lose any weight the first day: On the morning of day two I weighed in at the same 68kg (150lbs). Perfect!

That’s all folks!
Sunshine

Master Cleanse

Posted on August 15, 2013 by Sunshine

Time for a health update and to re-assess my situation. The discovery that my temperature is normal means my thyroid glands are ok. Temps are mostly, but not completely, stable meaning my adrenals are mostly ok. A little bit of adrenal cortex has very much levelled the temps out. But this discovery means that my fatigue is likely NOT caused by thyroid and adrenal problems.

This is a big deal, a big and new understanding. I have been working on the assumption that it’s all ‘about adrenals and thyroids’ since February this year. Now I learn my problems are caused by something else….and I need to figure out what. Hence – time to review my situation with a health check. I have been making lots of notes and observations about my situation. I will now list out all the clues to my ill-health and my current opinions:

How un-healthy am I?

The list below will make out that I have a million things wrong, but the major problem is fatigue, everything else is small fry compared to the constant fatigue. Chelation is impossible with this fatigue. The last few rounds have been technically fine, but have left me even more fatigued and this makes my job in the city incredibly tricky. Remember I am not at home all day caring for myself; I’m in the thick of it in the city, in a busy and hectic business lifestyle.

So I will list out all my hassles and clues to give myself a clear picture: Hopefully with all my hassle laid out in front of me I will be able to see more clearly.

1) Fatigue is the main problem. It is chronic and it will not go away.

2) I have very mild depression. This is directly related to my current health and how I feel in the moment. The more fatigued I am, the more grumpy I get. When I have a good day and am feeling physically fine – I feel mentally great too. So, I just kinda disregard this issue as much as possible because I know it is just a symptom of the fatigue.

3) Lab tests showed high reverse T3 (RT3) problem.

4) Lab tests showed I have low DHEA. Dr Peatfield said I should try supplementing DHEA. Someone else of a forum said not to supplement DHEA. Not sure what to do on this. Needs more research.

4) I have had problems taking B-vits and B12 – they make me more fatigued as I introduce them. Is this a methylation problem? Probably. Is methylation really tricky to understand? Yes!

5) Chelation made the fatigue worse. Why? No idea.

6) Adrenals still slightly out. Cortisol problems. Too little in the mornings, too much in the day. Adrenal cortex is being used to sort this out.

7) I have burning feet. Sole of my left foot gets horribly hot, burning hot. It is mostly mild, and all I have to do is take my shoes off and it goes away, but still, it is annoying. I also get a rash on my left foot, which I guess comes from the burning foot thing.

8) Blood sugar problem with some hypoglycaemia an issue. Morning snacks are essential but otherwise controlled by diet.

9) Lilido low-ish, although much better since the introduction of the adrenal cortex supplement for my adrenals.

10) When I get the fatigue kicking in, I get this weird grippy hand thing. I grip my hands tight tight. Not sure what it is. Just another symptom.

11) I cannot do any exercise. No gym. No yoga. If I do have a work out, I just get very tired and need a nap/rest. I am also susceptible to injury. I know not to push things, so I don’t work out. I will ‘know’ when I can exercise because my body will tell me by being full of life and energy.

12) I have good days and bad days. There seems to no rhyme or reason to the good or bad days, although if I drink I usually have a bad next day.

13) If I drink booze, even one sip of wine, I sleep real badly and lack of sleep makes the next day full of fatigue. Obviously I am not drinking at the moment.

14) No wheat. I am off wheat. It is not a digestion thing, but it does something odd to by blood pressure and sometimes gives heart palpitations. Not sure why.

15) I eat a lot at each meal. Breakfast, lunch and dinner I eat a full and large plate of food. All good clean organic grub, but it is noticeable that I eat so much food. Why do I take note of this oddity? Well, because I am pretty slim. 6 foot 1 inch tall and all I weigh is 68kg. This must be a signal that I am not absorbing/assimilating my food correctly.

16) I have a furry tongue in the mornings upon waking. A sure signal that I need to detox.

17) I have just discovered I have a vitamin D deficiency. I just got some blood tests in and I’m told my Vit D is VERY LOW and I should supplement D very high. I just came back from holiday in France, weather was sunny, hot and lovely. I gradually got better and better as the days passed, but I got much better once I had my base tan and stopped applying suntan lotion. Felt like the suns rays energised me. Funny eh! I always do better with more sunshine:-) I need to get in some Vit D research because I think this is a biggie for me.

18) Most nights I get up to pee once. No big deal, but it’s not normal.

19) I have mild carpel tunnel syndrome on my left wrist. It is mild and under control, but it gives me a weak right arm and makes yoga postures painful.

20) Ears are fine, but for some odd reason I cannot listen to loud headphone music. Loud music is fine, but just not on headphones. I wonder if fasting will sort this weirdness out?

So in summery, it does not seem to be a thyroid and adrenal thing that is causing the fatigue. Something else must be causing the fatigue. Maybe Methylation issue with B-vits. Certainly a Vit D problem is here. Getting better on holiday is a clear signal that in need more sunshine!! He he!

Once I realised it was not the thyroid causing the fatigue, I started worrying, started being concerned and pissed-off about my situation. I like to know what’s going on. I like to have a plan of action. And here I was not knowing what to do. The fatigue is stopping me chelating and I can’t get long term better without chelation. This $hit has delayed me for over two years now….so that’s why I got to thinking, and that’s why I wrote a load of notes and prepared the above list of all my ailments. When I write things down, it all gets clearer in my mind.

Facts: I am not sure what is causing the fatigue. It is probably Vit D deficiency, but it might be methylation issues, or low DHEA, or high RT3, or it could be something else entirely that I don’t know about. Or it could be a combination of all these things?

What I really need is something that will cover all bases in one fal-swoop.

Ummm!

Anyways, I am a man of action, I hate sitting around doing nothing, hate not knowing what to do, I always need a plan of action, so I have decided to do some fasting. A serious fast this time. The Master Cleanse. As recommended by Stanley Burroughs book, first published in 1976. I have known about this detox for ages, but never really had the balls to try it. It’s pretty hardcore. The diet is lemons, cayenne pepper, maple syrup – and that’s it. No food. No supplements. Minimum 10 days. hardcore! Oh yeah, and you have to drink Lax tea twice a day to keep the bowel moving. Lovely eh!

Some people do liver flushes, and P&B shakes, and parasite cleanses at the same time, but I’m going to keep things simple and stick to the program and simply fast as per the instructions in the book. No modern variations. Seems hardcore enough as it is without adding a load of even more adventurous things into the mix.

The Master Cleanse is supposed to be do-able at the same time as continuing a normal working life. Not sure about that, but I will try to work at the same time. If I get side-effects, so be it, I will take time off work. I have decided this needs doing.

I just spent the last week researching everything, I read over a hundred testimonials about how magically cured everyone has gotten on this fast, and honestly I’m pumped up and ready to roll. I’m all excited and feel like a kid again. I really love a challenge. I love a fight and detoxing myself is always so much fun. I had a tester drink last night to warm myself up, and tasted nice and I wasn’t hungry at all. I had a super-furry-tongue in the morning! Yuck! I expect the first three days to be tricky – that’s normal with all types of fasting. The literature claims the fast will cure everything. Yup everything, every ill. Interesting eh? Well…we’ll find out soon enough!

My previous record is 10 days on a juice fast. How long will I go with this one? What am I aiming for? I want to keep things calm and not have too many deadlines and finishing lines, so I will just go with the flow and try and do at least 10 days. Minimum 10 days is the only goal. I have read that to get fully cleansed one must fast until the tongue is pink and clear of any gunk (for 24 hours). I will try for that, but I think that’s 20-40 days fasting and not sure I can handle that. We will see.

I’m assured the only weight I can lose is fat, waste, toxins and gunk. So hopefully I will not lose too much muscle weight. That is the only worry I have: losing too much weight is an issue because I am already slight, and being a gaunt skeleton in the office is not ideal. Already with this fast I will be unable to entertain clients, because I can’t eat food. Anyways…this needs doing. I have decided. I start on Friday. Wish me well!!

The above list of my hassles is a pre-fast marker. Lets see what the fast can sort out eh!!

I weigh in at 68kg.

I also have a list of motivational goals to keep sharp:

1) Fuck the office! This is more than business, this is my health. My health takes precedence over the office for the next couple of weeks. I don’t fast very often, just once or twice a year, so when I do fast, I should do it properly.

2) see step 1.

That’s all folks!
Sunshine

PS whilst I’m fasting my to-do list will be researching: B-vits, methylation, DHEA, Vit D deficiency….

Dear Dr Peatfield – Temperature!

Posted on August 2, 2013 by Sunshine

If you are taking your temperature to monitor your adrenal and thyroid situation – then I guess you should take five minutes out of your life and read this blog entry. Might save you some hassle. I have had a very surprising situation arise. I guess many people make the mistake I just made, so I guess it’s kinda important. So if you take your temps…you should read this one.

I am having discussions with Dr Peatfield about my adrenal and thyroid status. He is a major metabolic health guru over here in England. Written a really helpful book and treated many people successfully. He is kinda like the Culter of the thyroid world.

My correspondence with him is via the post. I have to write him letters. He is major league old skool and does not handle emails too well: so letter it is! He is very booked up so appointments are months apart.

Dear Dr Peatfield

Interesting things and odd discoveries have been going on over here. Let me explain:

As we discussed, and for the third time this year, I tried to support my adrenal glands, again with adrenal cortex. Now that the heart palpitations have stopped due to me giving up wheat, I tried again with Thorne brand Adrenal Cortex 50mg dose.

After 5 days on a very small quantity of adrenal cortex, just 25mg(1/2 a cap), a whole heap of nasty symptoms bombarded me and I had to stop supplementation on day seven. Toughing it out was not an option. Another adrenal experiment that failed.

Next I let side-effects dissipate and decided to get some lab tests done. You said I should get T3 and T4 tested, but I got a few other ones as well, as well my 4 x a day saliva cortisol saliva test. They are attached to this letter.

I read up and saw I need to go ‘no adrenal supplement’ on the adrenal stuff for two weeks in preparation for the tests, so I had two weeks off all adrenal support…not that I could take any anyways. I was also on zero thyroid support. Last time I tried I got a load of horrid symptoms.

Two weeks after the previous adrenal experiment, I got the tests done and awaited their results.

Next: You suggested switching adrenal brands on my next experiment, so I got some Nutri-Med Adrenal concentrate 100mg caps and tried that to see if a different brand/bigger quantity made a difference. This is the forth adrenal support attempt this year. I started and had a few bad days that week: rough but manageable. But I also had some good days too. Proper good days. Days that said “this is working”. Good news.

After 7 days I raised the dose to 2 caps a day: 200mg adrenal. Again some good days, but also a few bad days, but overall an improvement. Fatigue is probably 15pct less. I am not freezing cold anymore, but it is the hottest summer for 25 years, so not sure what to make of that yet. Libido came back as well…which is good, but the biggest problem is the fatigue and that is still very much there. I would call it chronic fatigue. I am tired all the time and only have two gears. First and second. Third, fourth and fifth are nowhere even close. I am still able to work in my office job without any problems. I cannot do any exercise whatsoever. I cannot drink any booze without feeling terrible the next day. Even a sip of beer makes for a bad next day.

Next: Thyroid Lab results came back – as attached this letter:

My comments:

1) I seem to have enough FT3 and FT4. Odd. Why am I so tired? Why am I so cold? Both in-range with high FT3. I seem to have enough hormones in me.

2) My Reverse T3 (RT3) is high (but in–range). Does this mean I have an RT3 problem? (People on-line thought I did have this problem.)

3) My Antibodies are in range…does that mean I don’t have an autoimmune condition like hashi’s?

(At this point I would like to remind you that I have had problems adding Multi B’s and B12 supplements. They have given weird side-effects and I have had to stop them. Is this a RT3 problem signal?)

Next: 4 x a day Saliva Cortisol test.

Three out of four samples are in-range. But the second sample is high and out of range. Says in the lab report that I have: ‘Resistance Stage 3 – Maladaptation: Pre-exhaustion or pre-adrenal fatigue’.

I did some research, and found some help on-line. Those people read the tests and explained that the early morning result was in fact 50pct lower than it should be, and that the rest of the days samples were too high as my body tried to compensate for the lack of cortisol in the night/morning.

I will let you decide what you think about my test results, but to summarise:

1) adrenal test shows: Resistance Stage 3 – Maladaptation: Pre-exhaustion or pre-adrenal fatigue’.

2) thyroid tests show: RT3 problem??????????

3) FT3 and FT4 both seem to show plenty of hormones…(which seems odd to me).

All through these adrenal support experiments, and breaks between-experiments, I have been religiously taking my temperature. 3 per day. 3,6,9 hours after waking. Taking the average of the three. They have all been low and unstable: which I know means adrenals struggling and thyroid fatigued. This is basically how it has been since I started taking my temps 5-6 months ago. Temps mostly between 35.4 to 35.8 deg’s c. (Using electric thermometer).

But another ‘something’ has happened: in speaking with the people on-line, they gave me loads of pointers and suggestions. One of them was to make sure I was using the correct thermometer because most/some of those electric ones are rubbish. I thought they might be a little off, and it was only a guide, so I have been using the hassle-free, 20 second electric thermometer.

I have been using that electric one for 3 years and decide to test it against one that they recommended. A Geratherm mercury free thermometer. I already had one but didn’t use it because it is a real bitch to shake down. (I have really thrash it down to get it to zero and it hurts my arm). In-mouth for 10 minutes to get an accurate reading.

And I can’t believe my bloody eyes!
What the hell is this?
Holy $hit!
Excuse my bloody language but, but, but….$%£**&*!

Results with Geratherm thermometer:
Day 1: 36.8, 36.35, 37.2 = average 36.78 deg C
Day 2: 36.5, 36.4, 37.0   = average 36.63 deg C (in the air conditioned office)
Day 3: 36.5, 36.35, 37.3 = average 36.71 deg C (in the air conditioned office)
Day 4: 36.7, 36.9, 36.7   = average 36.76 deg C (slept badly. Felt rough in day)
Day 5: 36.7, 36.4, 37.0   = average 36.70 deg C (in the air conditioned office)

Oh boy…this is a massive surprise! Huge! Super large capital letter SURPRISE!

My temps are normal! I can’t believe it.
My temps are very close to each other, i.e they are stable!

For the last six months that I have been taking my temps daily with the electric thermometer: temps have been unstable and below 36.0 – every single day!

I know the current weather is very hot for England, 25-30 deg’s C everyday…but this is a massive difference from my electric thermometer. But I don’t feel any better in this heat, and my temps are normal, and it still feel pretty rough. I have been working on a different assumption all this year!

I have had some benefits from the adrenal support: libido, I seem less cold and I have a little more energy…but I don’t know what my correct temperatures where before I started adrenal support. They may have been as above??? Not sure? Any point in stopping adrenal support to see what the temps do?

Anyways…that’s where I am at. I am not going to increase the adrenal support anymore. I don’t seem to need it. Stay at 200mg Adrenal concentrate with Nutri-Med.

What does this all mean? I am gigantically surprised about the temps. I am still very tired and fatigued…and yet have normal and stable temps? Whats going on?

What do my lab results mean when my temps are normal? My temps may have been wrong all this time, but the lab tests still show things are broken. This has not all sunk in yet.

I understand the temps have been wrong. Now it looks like my temps are stable and at the right level. Yet I still feel very fatigued. And my lab tests came in showing some things are broken:

1) 4 x a day Saliva adrenal test shows: Resistance Stage 3 – Maladaptation: Pre-exhaustion or pre-adrenal fatigue’. No enough cortisol in the morning, too much in the day.

2) Thyroid tests show: FT3 and FT4 both seem to show plenty of hormones. But high RT3 – shows I have an RT3 problem.

I’m just trying to my head around this: My temps normal. My temps stable. Yet I still have no energy. Lab tests show adrenal issues and RT3 issues.

I don’t even know if I should be happy or sad?

I guess my question is, is this normal? I mean is it normal to have normal temps, stable temps…and yet still feel so greatly lacking in energy. Is this what having an RT3 problem is like?

Your advice, help and wisdom are greatly required here. Do you want me to come down and see you? Or should we stick to the letters? Phone call?

Best regards
Sunshine

So there we have it. What fun eh! Those thermometers that do actually work correctly cost peanuts too: less than £5, or USD7.07. Available @ all Amazon websites around the world. You want a Geratherm mercury free thermometer.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Medicalises-Geratherm-Thermometer-Mercury-Free-Oral/dp/B0013NE0RC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1375452490&sr=8-2&keywords=Geratherm+mercury+free+thermometer

In other news I am currently on holiday camping in the Loire valley in France. Weather is amazing. Super hot: 37 deg’s yesterday and 27 deg’s today. Spending much time at the pool topping up the tan! I wish every day could be a holiday!!

That’s all folks!
Sunshine.

Life Planning.

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Sunshine

I got asked some interesting questions recently:

Life Planning – Question 1
Imagine you are financially secure, that you have enough money to take care of your needs, now and in the future. The question is…how would you live your life? What would you do with your money? Would you change anything? Let yourself go. Don’t gold back on your dreams. Describe a life that is complete, rich and full.

If I was financially secure I would:
I would retire from the city job immediately! Sell the house in Hertfordshire and move to the countryside in either Norfolk or Suffolk. Both our parents live in Essex and we need to be close-ish to them when we retire.

Find a good school for the kids and the find a house near-ish to the school. Max 25 mins away by car. The closer the better.

Buy a house with a large garden, in the countryside, but close to civilisation. Maybe on the outskirts of a small town or village. I mean not completely in the middle of nowhere. Need to close to a big town so we can meet and do things with friends.

House: No bigger than what we have now, and smaller is fine if the money dictates. Light and airy house. South facing garden. Need to have my own room for TV, reading, writing etc. House need to be in good repair because I am rubbish at DIY. Maybe have a granny annex for when the parents get old and frail?

Garden needs to be big-ish. Minimum 1 acre, but preferable 2-4 acres. Pond or small river going through the land. Preferable with views across the land. View of the sunset would be perfect. Small woodland would be lovely and a plot for an orchard with a wide variety of apple trees, plums, pears, nuts etc. Veggie plot for veggie patch.

Garden: can be already in place, or we can build/make the garden from scratch after getting garden designers in to plan everything out. That would be quite cool: to plan, build and make the garden from nothing. We did that in our current home and would be fun to do again: a cool and fun project. Watch the gardens grow and mature.

Ideally have a fast car: new Porsche would be ideal.
Build a kit car from scratch.
Have a garage big enough to build a kit car!
Be a member of a car club and go on tours.
Have the time to learn and play golf. Join a golf club and play a couple of times a week.
Have the time to learn how to sail. Buy a little boat. Nothing too flash, something I can sail on my own, together with being a member of a sailing club.
Have time to read books every day.
Have time to read the paper every day.
Have time to work out every day and at a time of my choice.
Have time to garden daily.
Meditate every morning.
Have cool friends and hang out with them.
Write another book. Fiction this time. I will need to go on some writing courses…that would be fun to meet other writers.

Maybe go back to school? Do some further education. Not sure what…but some interest will no doubt come along and I will “get involved”.
Maybe do some work? Be a director of a little company? I don’t rule it out…maybe that would be fun for a while.
Continue to learn to play the guitar.
Have a house in France so we can spend summers in a warmer climate.
Spend more time with the kids and family.
Chill out after my busy and hectic city/business lifestyle.
I have many interests, and I would do what I want to do, when I want to do it.

Life planning – question 2.

This time you visit your doctor who tells you that you have 5-10 years to live. The good part is that you won’t ever feel sick. The bad news is that you will have no notice of the moment of your death. What will you do in the time you have remaining to live?Will it change your life and how will you do it!

First make a plan to ensure the wife and kids will be financially secure when I’m gone.
Second is easy….I would do exactly the same as in question one!
I can’t think of anything that I do that’s different.
The answer to question one is my ideal life and that’s what I’d do if death loomed.
I have many interests, and I would do what I want to do, when I want to do it.
Chill out after my busy and hectic city/business lifestyle.

Life planning – Question 3

This time your doctor shocks you with the news that you only have one day left to live. Concentrate on the feelings you have as you confront your very real mortality. Ask yourself:
What dreams will be left unfulfilled?
What do I wish I had finished or had been?
What do I wish I had done?
What did I miss?

What dreams will be left unfulfilled? – $hit! I should have jacked city job earlier! Jacked the business lifestyle earlier. I wanted to have time to chill out and do what I wanted to do. Now all I have done with my life is worked my balls off…and then died. How disappointing!

What do I wish I had finished or had been? – Finished? Would have been nice to have a whole heap of time to myself, to my family. Like 1 or 5 or 10 or 20 years retirement without the stress of work…doing what I wanted to do. I am a broker, a middleman…I serve other people. There is more to life than being a broking. If I died now…I would miss out doing things I wanted to do when I had some real free time.

I get up at 6am and get home again at 730-8pm. My work is all-consuming. It would have been nice to do ‘all consuming things’ ….of my own choice. Some of my clients are utter bastards but I still have to speak with these disgusting people every day.

What do I wish I had been?- No. Everything was cool in my life. It was fun being a broker. I have no regrets on that front. Broking was my calling. I’m good at it too.

What do I wish I had done? – I don’t really have any regrets. I have had a good fun life. Work was good, worked with nice people, I was successful too. Pity my health was fucked…but that’s life and I had no choice in that. Nothing I could have done about that. I think I did pretty well considering just how badly ill I was.

What did I miss? —- If I died now…I would have missed retirement: missed having time to do what I wanted to do.

That’s all folks!
Sunshine

Limboland

Posted on July 2, 2013 by Sunshine

For the third time this year I tried to support my adrenal glands, again with adrenal cortex. Now that the heart palpitations have stopped due to me giving up wheat, I thought I try again, just to be sure. And after 5 days on a very small quantity of adrenal cortex, just 25mg, a whole heap of nasty symptoms bombarded me and I had to stop supplementation on day seven. Another experiment that failed. So odd! I really need to figure this out! What does it all mean?

I can’t support my thyroid’s because my adrenals are shot.
I can’t support my adrenals because…not sure why the adrenal support is not working, but I’m down a cul-de-sac. I know my adrenals are fatigued, but I can’t figure out how to support them; bugger!

Maybe I need to change my dosing style? Maybe I need to dose higher to start with because the adrenal cortex is doing something odd, like suppressing something? Not sure…but that will be my next experiment! I will switch brands to Nutri Adrenal, and start at 100mg and see what happens. Dr Peatfield said that’s my next step, so that’s plan Batman.

If that does not work, I will speak with Dr P and see what he says. I have also found a website that says adrenal cortex can be multi-dosed, four times a day, starting at 4 x 80mg per day. I guess that will be my next try, if the previous try does not work out. http://www.nutri-meds.com/category_s/84.htm

If that doesn’t work, I guess it will be hydrocortisone (HC) for me. I hope not. Really really I hope not. I really want to avoid HC if I can. But something is wrong with my adrenals, I have tried many other things this last 18 months, and I’m 98pct sure it’s adrenals that’s holding me up, and that’s my focus. I must support my adrenals.

But before I do anything else it’s time to get some lab work done: I have ordered: 4 a day adrenal saliva stress profile, DHEA, Secretory IgA(SIgA), TSH, TT4, FT4, FT3, RT3, TPOAb, TgAb and Ferritin. Hopefully that will show me whats wrong. I have just read the Stop the Thyroid Madness book and that tells me how to read those results. I will also ask on a couple of forums, see if anyone can figure out how I can support my adrenals.

Just a quick thanks to “Thyroid UK” for setting things up with Genova Diagnostics so that people like me can get these blood tests done without a doctor’s prescription. I have to pay for them, but ce la vie. http://www.thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testing/private_tests.html

For the saliva adrenal test I need to be off all adrenal supplements, which is fine because they all do weird $hit to me anyway, but I have two weeks in limboland where I am just treading water, waiting to get the tests done on Sunday. Will go for the next higher dosing adrenal support next week once the tests are done.

That’s all folks! Not much exciting going on really. Life continues otherwise unchanged.I work. I chill out. Gardens looking amazing!
Sunshine

The Mistakes We Make…

Posted on June 15, 2013 by Sunshine

I’m the boss. When I get fresh-out-of-school trainees in my office, one of the first things I say to them is they are allowed to make as many mistakes as they like. Feel free to try loads of different things and not to be shy in getting anything wrong; it’s ok. Obviously try to avoid mistakes if they can, and certainly avoid any big ones, but it you do cock-up, ok then, it’s cool. It is fine to get things wrong. It’s part of life.

Why? Because when we get things wrong, we learn. We learn big time. We learn big lessons in life. Basically when we make mistakes; it’s one of the few times we are forced to sit up and, look, listen and learn.

“Oppps, better not do that again!”

The next thing I tell them is they are only allowed to the same mistake once! That I expect them to learn from their mistakes. If they cannot learn from their mistakes, if they keep on repeating the same old blunders again and again, then they must be retards and will quickly find life in the office difficult and most likely short. Such is life in the city!!

The same applies to our health. In our quest to be healthy we are forced to try heaps of different things to help our multiple problems. When we research an idea, it usually comes from someone who swears blind;

“This is the answer to everything. All your problems will vanish instantaneously, almost like magic. In fact, why haven’t you tried it yet? Are you are retard?”

So we sift through all the ideas, we try a few things.
Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose.
Sometimes it’s a small mistake and it’s no big deal.
Sometimes it’s a biggie.
Sometimes the mistakes we make hurt hard.

And what we usually do is learn from our errors. I am big on this concept. I expect the people who work for me to learn from their mistakes. And I expect myself to learn from my own mistakes too.

Well, I have to admit I screwed up again. A biggie too. A proper cock-up. One that hurt. Not wildly hard, but hard enough to make the last 12 months pretty difficult. A repeated mistake no less. What a sin! And one I should have known better. What a retard I am. I of all people should have known better!

In my defence, there are plenty of reasons for the repeated mistake. Pain, fear and dread being fairly high up on the list. But we don’t get many second chances in life and it’s important to be honest with oneself: I made a repeated mistake, again.

What did I do?

I trusted my doctors, again.

What a dick!

Me? Trusting a doctor? What was I thinking? I can hardly believe myself. But yeah, I trusted a bunch of doctors and they led me astray. Again. Offfffff!
I am humiliated. What a complete fucking dick!
Ok, here are the gory details, I will keep ‘em brief:

July 2011 Chelation round damages me. I am tired and drained of energy; life gets difficult all over again. Temps are all low and I am clearly adrenal and thyroid fatigued. I start adrenal and thyroid support.

Jan 2012: All hell breaks loose and I have a major heart issue. Heart is stuck on bonkers, beating like a runaway train. This is mega serious and regular doctors are called in urgently. My general practitioner, my heart doctor, and a new specialist thyroid doctor all tell me it is my self medication of thyroid support that has caused all this hassle.

Feb-Dec 2012: Lots of herbal cleanses and a change in diet in 2012 sort out the heart problem. All doctors I see (except Dr P) say I have no thyroid problem.

Feb 2013 I re-start chelation. This again damages me and I restart thyroid investigations. Again I see another doctor, and again he says no thyroid problem. But from my temps and symptoms I can clearly tell my adrenals and thyroid are busted.

May-June 2013 I still have to figure out a correct treatment plan, but it is now blindingly obvious I have an adrenal and a thyroid problem.

So there we have it. What a dick. I did have a heart problem. In that the docs were correct, but they missed the thyroid and adrenal signals and put me off the scent so that I did not treat myself for those problems. I have to admit I was scared of the thyroid and adrenal pills because of the way they interacted with the heart issue…but still, I have had thyroid issues all along. The doctors distracted me from what I should have known was true. I had a heart problem, but I ALSO had a thyroid problem and an adrenal problem too.

What I should have done is started thyroid support last year. That way I could have been feeling better now. But such is life. At least I figured it out now. Most people go through life never understanding or being able to help themselves like I can.

I don’t blame the doctors. I blame myself. I am the Boss. My health is my responsibly. I should not have delegated it to others. Yet another lesson for me. I should trust myself. Most of the doctors out there don’t know there arse from their elbow.

That’s all folks!
Sunshine

PS.I re-started adrenal support today. 25mg Adrenal cortex extract. Wish me luck!!

Dear Sunshine…From Dr Peatfield

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Sunshine

Following letter received from Dr Peatfield in reply to my letter of a couple of weeks ago. This is all to do with my thyroid and adrenal glands.

Dear Sunshine

Thank you for your letter, as we’ve said before, I am sure you have adrenal insufficiency, which comes and goes in the less organized times. If you are having thyroid support, and THEN have adrenal support, you’ll get all kinds of symptoms. You start with adrenals, after 2 to 3 weeks, add in thyroid support. If you do it the other way round, you run into big trouble. I don’t think your blood pressure or pulse can say anything about your adrenals.

Anyways, you’re on thyroid support and feeling better.

In answer to your questions:

1) Do I have thyroid fatigue? – Well yes.

2) What are my adrenals doing? – Sound a bit low to me.

3) What’s the burning feet thing? – Don’t know, likely a thyroid thing.

4) Adrenaline surges? Is that what I had? – It was. You should stop thyroid support before you have adrenal support.

5) What to do about these things? – Could do more tests.

6) I have read that calcium can interfere with the thyroid glandulars. Should I take the calcium at a different time? – Yes, take calcium at different times from thyroid.

7) Supplements? Anything else? B’s????? – B’s, Selenium, Tyrosine etc…

8) I swallow the Nutri-Thyroid pills. Should I take them sublingually? – I swallow mine.

9) How often do I raise the Nutri-Thyroid dose? Every 7-10 days? – Give it a bit longer between doses.

10) I guess no upper limit like last time. Just keep gradually raise until temps rise? – Raise until you feel better.

11) Should I switch to Armour at some point? Or just go with the Nutri-thyroid for now and see what happens? The reason I ask this is because in my experience both Nutri-thyroid and Armour take a LONG time to gradually raise the dose: 4-9 months each. I need to chelate my mercury out and for that I need strong thyroid support. Last time Armour was required for chelation as the glandular was not strong enough. – I take Armour.

All the best,

Barry
(Dr Peatfield to you!)

So there we have it: wise words for the main man on my thyroids and adrenals. Confirmed adrenal and thyroid fatigue, which I already knew, but great to have it confirmed by a professional. Now I gotta figure out how to support them both without getting those crazy adrenaline rushes.

In the mean time I tried thyroid support. Initially I felt better, but after 7 days things started going pear-shaped and I got a load of horrid symptoms. That means my adrenals are not strong enough to handle the thyroid support. It means I must support my adrenals first, before the thyroids. All of which I knew and know. And all of which I have tried before. Twice last year and twice this year. Each time adrenal support gave me a load of symptoms and side effects.

Frustrating eh! I can’t take thyroid support because my adrenals are too weak. And I can’t take adrenal support for some odd reason. I think the adrenal support is causing adrenaline rushes. I think I am getting the adrenaline rushes because the adrenal support hormones are causing the thyroid hormones to pool in my blood; which causes chaos. Or something like that.

I think the way around this problem is to dose the adrenal support differently. I think rather than starting on a low dose of adrenal cortex extract and building gradually up, I think I have to start dosage at a fairly high level. I think, but I’m not sure….for that I need Dr Peatfield again. So I am booked in for a telephone chat on Friday. Hopefully he will be able to shed some light on how to avoid the adrenaline rushes, and also how to handle them if and when they happen. Are they something to power through? Is that possible? Will the hassle last a few days then go away?? I don’t know…so I have to ask Dr P.

My Temp chart remains unchanged: unstable and low low low!

That’s all folks!
Sunshine

Dear Dr Peatfield…

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Sunshine

Below is the letter I sent to Dr Peatfield today. Dr Barry Durrant-Peatfield is a major guru & living legend over here in the UK. He specialises in Adrenal and Thyroid support. He is the author of “Your Thyroid and How to Keep it Healthy: The Great Thyroid Scandal and How to Survive it.” His book has been super-helpful these last 6 years. All my appointments and telephone conversations have been awesome. I base all my metabolic support on his work. He is one of the few Doctors I like and trust. Not many of them about!!!!

Looks like thyroids is my Big thing at the moment.

Dear Dr Peatfield

Hi there, we spoke on the phone about five weeks ago and you asked me to try some Nutri-thyroid at very low dose to see what might happen. I have now tried it and results are as detailed below. I will also add some history, comments and some other investigations in order to make things as clear as possible.

History: Trouble re-started in Feb 2013 after one small, low dose round of mercury chelation under the Cutler protocol. The chelation round was fine, but after five days I became super tired, massively lacking in energy and freezing cold all the time. Obvious thyroid, and possibly adrenal, issues. So I started a temperature graph to see what was happening.

You can see from my temp graph the temps are all low which indicates thyroid troubles. I would also have said ‘possible adrenal problems’ because the temps are not totally stable, but they are not that unstable and I am not totally methodical when it comes to always taking 3 temps a day and averaging them. You can see from the graph that I often only do one or two temps and that I know affects the ‘average daily temp’. But it is equally clear they are always low and a little up and down. As far as I can tell, I definitely have thyroid issues, and I might have adrenal issues.

The temp graph is as per Dr Rind: three temperature readings per day, which are averaged and plotted on the graph. The reason I do this is because every morning I awake to a very furry and gunky mouth and I believe that can affect the temp. I have taken my morning basal temp these last few days and you can see them on the graph. Interesting to see them above my daily average temp!!!

FYG I have been having episodes of mega-hot, mega-sweating during the night. It comes and goes but I occasionally awake at 3am drenched head to foot in sweat. I am not always aware of this and my wife told me the other day that i was mega sweaty one night, but I didn’t wake up and wasn’t aware, so I am not sure if this is every night or not. I don’t think it’s every night. Mornings when I awake I am always feeling ‘warm-and-toasty’. In the day time I generally feel ‘cold’ and always wear extra layers to keep warm.

Before we go on, I have made an important discovery. I have been getting horrible heart palpitations and high blood pressure (BP) issues. The high BP seemed to come and go at odd, different times of the day. It’s been stressing me out. It gets me down.

I generally eat bread in moderation only, trying to have just one meal a day with bread, but 2-3 weeks ago I had bread at breakfast and lunch and I felt TERRIBLE in the evening. So as an experiment I stopped the bread, and from that day onwards it’s made a world of difference: no more heart palpitations, no more raised blood pressure. I feel grounded and secure at last; everything feels stable and level. This is a big deal. Cool news and happy dayz! Note: I do not feel/get digestive issues with the bread. It feels like something deeper than just digestive troubles the bread causes. Note: I am fine with potatoes and fine with brown rice too, (even in large portions.)

I have included my notes that detail my temps, symptoms and comments from day to day. Also included are my blood pressure readings, which as you will see have all calmed hugely down since I stopped eating bread.

Eight weeks ago when I tried the Adrenal Cortex, 1 cap, 50mgs, it was my BP that went crazy, along with the crazy heart palpitations. I am not sure what would happen now, now that the removal of bread from my diet has calmed things down?

And another thing, I am currently reading ‘Stop the Thyroid Madness’ book and it talks about ‘adrenaline surges’ when stating adrenal support. I have never heard of Adrenaline Surges before, but they sound exactly what I had when I took the adrenal cortex recently…and the same as 15 months ago when the adrenal and thyroid support kicked off all the major trouble with my heart. I have included a highlighted page from the book which very well describes what happened to me. Is that what happened to me?

Note of my current major symptoms: greatly lacking in energy, cannot exercise at all, cold and I have burning hot feet. Without shoes the heat dissipates away, but with any shoes and walking around for 30-60 minutes; the heat builds up to unbearable levels. This has been like this for about 7-8 months. It comes and goes. Sometimes very mild, sometimes a real hassle. No idea what it means when my feet are boiling hot, and the rest of my body is cold to the bone. Comical! Is this just one of the joys of thyroid fatigue? Or another problem to figure out?

So…I started on half dose of Nutri thyroid, 70mgs, felt nothing for 4 days but on the fifth day things got better. My notes from the day read:

“Feeling good!!!!!!!!! 7pm BP 129/80 p50, Yes felling better. More stable. Still lacking in energy but defo better. Dreams have returned with a vengeance.”

As the days progressed things remained the same, i.e. a general feeling of a little progress at long last. Importantly no wildness, no raised blood pressure and no heart palpitations.

After nine days I have raise the dose again, to one capsule, 140mgs Nutri-Thyroid. Two days in and no real change. Temps slightly up, but nothing certain yet.

Since I have been on Nutri-Thyroid: very hungry all the time, gained 1-2 KG in much-needed weight. I am now having two bowel movements a day, (instead of one). I occasionally get very low levels of depression, just feeling a little down after all the troubles I have…but feel much more buoyant and happy now I’m on thyroid support. And libido seems to be making a come back! Nice! Always a good sign!!

Other signals and signals:

1) Adrenal test. I did the blood pressure lying down and then standing up thing to test the status of the adrenals: done 11am20^th May 2013:
Lying down after 5 minutes: 134/69, pulse 49
Standing up: 146/57, pulse 59
Hooary! I think that means my adrenals are ok????
Please confirm that’s the case.

2) Torch pupil test for the adrenals/aldoeterone: Mildly positive for this test. My pupil did fluctuate back and forth after 1 minute, but I must say it was mild. I have done this test before and on previous occasions the flutter back and forth was strong. On this occasion it was however pretty weak and mild.

3) I started selenium supplementation a couple of months back: noticed no difference.

4) I have added a chart of my current symptoms from ‘Stop The Thyroid Madness’ book.

Note: my current supplements:
Milk Thistle (for liver)
Hawthorn berry (for heart)
Mukta vati (for blood pressure)
Zinc
Magnesium
Calcium
Chromium Vit C
Selenium
Vit D3
1 cap Nutri Thyroid.

Conclusions and summery of questions:
1) Do I have thyroid fatigue?
2) What are my adrenals doing?
3) What’s the burning feet thing?
4) Adrenaline surges? Is that what I had?
5) What to do about these things?
6) I have read that calcium can interfere with the thyroid glandulars. Should I take the calcium at a different time?
7) Supplements? Anything else? B’s?????
8) I swallow the Nutri-Thyroid pills. Should I take them sublingually?
9) How often do I raise the Nutri-Thyroid dose? Every 7-10 days?
10) I guess no upper limit like last time. Just keep gradually raise until temps rise?
11) Should I switch to Armour at some point? Or just go with the Nutri-thyroid for now and see what happens? The reason I ask this is because in my experience both Nutri-thyroid and Armour take a LONG time to gradually raise the dose: 4-9 months each. I need to chelate my mercury out and for that I need strong thyroid support. Last time Armour was required for chelation as the glandular was not strong enough.

That’s probably enough. After I have sent this letter to you I will call and arrange another telephone conversation with you.

Thanks for the help Dr P. You da man!

Best regards
Sunshine

Note: Nutri-thyroid is thyroid glandular. That mean it is crushed up cow thyroid glands. Yummy!

Kidney Cleanse: Day 22 and all is calm

Posted on April 27, 2013 by Sunshine

Today is day 22 of the kidney herbs. Thankfully the wildness has subsided and calmness has returned to my body. Oedema lasted about 10 days, but now my swollen ankles and legs have returned to their normal size. During the Oedema I actually put on 4.5kg in weight in just 5 days. Wild eh! But all back to normal now.

The wild back and chest pain has gone too, phew! And I no longer need to sleep sitting up in an armchair. The armchair sleeping lasted eight annoying days. Honestly it was not much fun. Mega chesty pains and oedema was unpleasant, and especially so because I had to do a load of travelling last week: Dubai and Barcelona. But I survived, survived just fine actually. I have an amazing ability to battle on. I surprise myself. How is it possible to have so many things wrong with me, and yet still work like mad and travel like madman? I don’t know how I do it sometimes.

I continue to have uncomfortably hot feet. This is obviously a kidney signal. The crystals that settle in the feet are the same that settle in the kidneys. So when you clean the kidneys, you clean the feet too. That’s why hot feet is a kidney signal.

I was up to ½ dose on the kidney herbs. That’s one and a half tablespoons of herbs a day. The herbs are soaked overnight in water, then boiled in the morning and resulting tea is sipped throughout the day. I have just raised the dose to two spoons of herbs and I have awoken to a little lower back pain and a very mild headache. Mild stuff, just 2 on the Richter scale of hassle, but it shows me the herbs are working and that I have serious kidney issues. I will do another 8 days of the herbs to make it 30 days in total, gradually working myself up to the full herbal dose. Then I will break for two weeks, then do a two week herbal liver cleanse, then another two week break, then restart the kidney herbs for another 30 days. That’s the plan anyway.

In other matters my temperatures remain low which indicates thyroid problems. I remain tired. I cannot exercise. I talked to Dr Peatfield the other day on the phone. He is the guru of adrenal and thyroid problems here in the UK. He is a good man and really knows his stuff Big-Time-Charlie. He has helped me greatly in the past.

He has asked me to take some thyroid glandular, ‘Nutrithyroid’, in very small and controlled doses to see what happens. To monitor my situation very closely with daily temp readings, along with blood pressure and pulse readings two or three times a day too. With all the monitoring I will be able to stop taking it of anything untoward happens. In the past this has made my blood pressure go banana’s, and I will be very careful and tread very carefully indeed. It is scary as $hit when the blood pressure goes crazy.

Anyway, that’s the plan. I will try the thyroid support experiment after the kidney herbs and before the liver herbs. Need to have a level playing field when trying these experiments.

The pic above is my garden just coming to life:-)

That’s all folks, take care

Sunshine

Kidney cleansing: This is exciting!

Posted on April 14, 2013 by Sunshine

Today I am in good spirits! Progress is being made. Grumpiness is gone and I am looking to the future! Exciting stuff is happening!

Ok, so you read in my last blog entry of the 11 month cleansing journey I took to be in a position to at last address and clean my kidneys: I am now cleaning my kidneys. Hooray!

I am on day 9 of the kidney cleanse and it’s been funky! Oh yes baby: exciting and fun and entertaining and exhilarating and bracing and bloody painful! Holy cow I am in the thick of it here and I am struggling to hold back the swearing! F*$&%£!!!

The chest and back pain I talked about last time continued so much so that sleeping lying down became impossible. I kept waking up every 30 minutes and just shouting in pain. This is proper loud, uncontrollable shouty pain. I woke up the wife. I woke up the kids. Not ideal.

So for the last four nights I have taken to sleeping sitting-up on my brown leather sofa, covered in my duvet. It is not especially comfortable. I awake in the night with major neck pains and have to loll the other way. And I awake early too, 5am-ish and can’t get back to sleep. But, this is infinitely better than waking up shouting in agony.

Yes, interesting eh! Lying down brings on the mega-shouty-chest&back-pains. Remaining upright stops the mega-shouty-chest&back-pains. As I said, interesting.

Yes, I have been to see the doctor! I went last week. They said it’s nothing.
Yes, I am serious. They said it’s nothing, but to go to hospital if it gets worse.
No, I am not making this up.

***

To add to the circus act of fun, I have also developed a nasty bout of oedema. Whats Oedema? Oedema is when yo ankles swell up. Swell up big time, and hurt, and are hot, and you have to walk gingerly around like a penguin. It’s like having 8 pairs of socks on. My toes look like little chipolata’s: all swollen, skin’s all taut. I worry the skin may split so I am massaging in castor oil daily. My shoes are now worn Run DMC style. That’s fine on the weekends, but less good in the office with my brogues.

Oedema is when the body cannot deal with fluid correctly. The swelling of the feet is caused by water pooling there because something is busted.
Whats busted and what controls the fluid in my body?
Answer: my kidneys.
That’s why I am doing the kidney herbs.

***

So, I have back major back and chest pain, and hot, painful, swollen feet. I guess the last thing on earth I should be doing is long haul flying to go out drinking all night with clients in strange far away cities.

Yup, you guessed it! I am currently sitting all cramped up in economy class flying to Dubai and have two full days of meetings, lunches and dinners to attend. Great. I am currently travelling at 552mph, at 38,994 feet. It’s minus 52 degrees outside. So far I have travelled 2995 miles and I have 588 miles to go. Just so you know.

I guess it could be worse. I could have to fly back on Wednesday and then on Friday have to fly to Barcelona to go on a team bonding exercise with my office team. For team bonding read: going out until the crack of dawn, drinking and partying like a total loon.

Errr yup, I gotta do that as well. Very far from ideal given my current state of affairs. I will try my hardest to keep my head switched on and not let the party get ahead of me. In fact getting smashed would be pretty stupid. I will have to feign drunkenness. Should be fun! And no, I cannot cancel: I am the boss and I am expected to be there, through thick and thin, I have to be there. But don’t worry, I am a professional, in every way, and I have no doubt in my ability to manage, somehow.

***

This has happened to me before. Back in 2007 when I started all this crazy alternative healing malarkey. I was mega-sick back then, still had my amalgams in too. I did a kidney cleanse and I had major back pain, and major oedema. The oedema lasted 10 painful days back then, but when it finished I was a lot better.

So, back to today. What do am I learning from all this hardship? Because that’s most important. We must look, listen and learn from the signals our bodies give us. Well this lesson is plain and obvious and clear. I will list it all out to make it all triple clear:

1) My kidneys are seriously clogged and congested. They will need much tender loving care from me and my herbs. I guess 60 days cleansing as a minimum. I am currently on one-quarter dose. With breaks that will take 3 to 4 months.

2) The major chest and back pain must be kidney related and I must conclude that it is the result of the kidney herbs dissolving crystals, and moving out grit and crud. When crystals are dislodged they then move out the body via some ducts. The crystals (or stones) are jagged and snag in their transit out the body. This hurts like buggery, just am I am finding out. I guess someone, somewhere will know the reason for the lying-down-pain, but sitting-up-ok situation, but I guess some mobilised crap is pooling somewhere. I must say the pain is significantly less now that I am not aggravating it by lying down. Life is more manageable now.

3) The oedema is a clear, loud and very obvious kidney signal. They don’t come much bigger than that. The kidney herbs are cleaning some accumulated toxins out. I just have to keep my water intake high to flush the toxins out as quickly as possible. I was going to stop the kidney herbs because if the business trips, but I stopped for a day and felt worse. So I have restarted the kidney herbs on super-low-1/4 dose. My kidneys are in detoxing mode: they need the loving support and care from the herbs. My bizo trip will just have to take second fiddle.

4) And at last I finally figured out what this hot feet thing is! At last! I have been searching for a couple of years. I get really hot feet. So hot I have to take my shoes off in the office. I am talking unusually hot, annoying hot, painfully yeasty hot. This happens, rain or shine, hot or cold. It comes and goes, but it’s been a bitch these last 18 months. Now I know. It’s a kidney signal. How do I know? Because feels like I have been walking on hot coals since the hassle kicked in with the kidney herbs. Good to know! Great to know!

And I feel different too. Something has changed. And changed for the better. The clouds are clearing. The gloom is lifting. Although I am in pain and obviously suffering, I am suffering differently. I have had a slightly gloomy, unchanged, cloudy, stuck-in-a-rut outlook, but that’s gone now. I feel mentally stronger, less grumpy. Blood pressure is better. Heart palpitations significantly less, and I have a little more energy too. I can feel it coming back. My temps do however remain low.

I know I have all these troubles but I know, and when I say know and I mean I KNOW, that after the oedema goes, when the back pain goes, when the herbs have done their magic…I KNOW I will have climbed further up my ladder to better health, again. These kidney herbs are the last part of my full-round-the-body herbal health regime. I have done the bowels, parasites, candida, and liver and kidneys is last. And kidneys is important for me. Just goes to show! In our quest to heal we must leave no stone unturned!

That’s a top-tip. If you still ill after all you have done: then you need to clean everything: bowels, parasites, lungs, liver and kidneys.

In order to heal everything needs cleaning. Everything. You can quote me on that.

Will this hassle I’m enduring be worth it? Hell yes! One hundred percent for sure. A million percent yes. Short term pain for long term gain. Once the poisons are out they can never harm me again. Toxins always hurt when they come out. Pain and hassle is a signal that detoxification is happening. This is total body cleansing and I love it. I absolutely love healing. It’s the best feeling in the world to be getting better.

That’ll do for today. Don’t worry or fret. I have done this all before. When the $hit hits the fan when you are cleaning…it usually means good things are just around the corner! Fingers crossed.

That’s all folks, take care
Sunshine:-)

PS. To remind you I am using the all kidney herb formula from Andrea Moritz (RIP dude) available from www.presentmoment.com

PPS. Don;t you just love that picture of Jim Carey! I feel like that a lot, LOL.

The Mercury Diaries

Mercury chelation, herbs and recovery blog

Author Archives: Sunshine

About Sunshine

Yoga Retreat: EcoYoga Centre

My Current Health Status: Good News.

Life returns to an even keel.

Master Cleanse: The results are in! Part II – More good news!

Master Cleanse: The results are in! Mega success!

Master Cleanse – Day 25 and time to stop.

Master Cleanse: Days 20 – 24

Master Cleanse – 18 days so far.

Master Cleanse: Day 5 – 10.

Master Cleanse – Day 2, 3 & 4.

Master Cleanse – Day 1.

Master Cleanse

Dear Dr Peatfield – Temperature!

Life Planning.

Limboland

The Mistakes We Make…

Dear Sunshine…From Dr Peatfield

Dear Dr Peatfield…

Kidney Cleanse: Day 22 and all is calm

Kidney cleansing: This is exciting!