So I completed the liver/gallbladder flush a couple of weeks ago. Can I just say M-I-S-E-R-A-B-L-E??? Good heavens, it was a disaster!! For those of you asking about my results, I needed to distance myself from the trauma of the experience before I could write reasonably about it. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating. But just a little.
Now, let me be clear. I still stand behind my two posts (here and here) on the benefits of juice fasting. I found the six day apple juice fast rewarding, though I don’t think I’ll do apple juice fasts again because the sugar is just too much. I worried the whole time about my poor pancreas (I’m hypoglycemic). I definitely plan on juice fasting in the future, but I will use low-sugar green vegetable juices like this one.
What traumatized me was not the fast but the liver/gallbladder flush that followed. To see the protocol I observed, the one recommended by my doctor, go here. Along with some prep work, it requires drinking four ounces of cold-pressed, extra virgin, organic olive oil followed by a small glass of fresh grapefruit juice immediately before lying down for bed. I expected to experience some “mild to moderate nausea,” as the protocol warns is possible, but I felt fine when I went to sleep. Wonderful!
Unfortunately, the nausea hit me at 3:30 a.m. I woke up feeling so awful, I temporarily wanted to die.
Anytime, Lord, I thought. Take me now!
No, really, RIGHT NOW!
It’s okay, I pleaded, My husband’s still young and attractive. We don’t have any children. He wouldn’t have any problems finding another wife.
Please????
The nausea persisted for hours, so I didn’t get any more sleep. That means, of course, that the above dialogues with God continued for hours too. At 5:00 a.m., I vomited several times. Vomiting is never fun, but can I just say that regurgitating olive oil is particularly repulsive? I then felt absolutely miserable for hours afterwards. Furthermore, I never experienced any, ahem, results from taking the Epsom salts (laxative), and I never had the bile-green, ahem, evacuation that is supposed to follow this protocol. Talk about frustrating!!
I was incensed the next day. Absolutely livid. I’m okay with misery if I get results, but seeing no results at all? So disappointing! I called my pro-liver flush friend and complained (nicely, of course). She said it was the protocol I followed. Her doctor recommends a slightly different one. I said that unless I was on death’s door, I wouldn’t be doing any liver flush again. Maybe I’ll change my mind someday, but this is how I feel right now.
I do think it’s important to mention that my husband didn’t have any of these problems. Everything went fine for him. He even had those little green “stones” the next day. (I think that, for most people, the “stones” are not gall stones at all but that the flush still really helps people. For more on this, go here. Some people do pass real stones, as evidenced by their pre- and post-flush x-rays, but not everyone. I think the question of whether or not they’re actual gall stones is a peripheral issue.)
So maybe it’s just me. Perhaps this is not the appropriate cleanse for my body. I’m tempted to say I’m sorry I did it. If I had written this post last week, I would have said that. Now, I’m glad that I at least gave it a try. I like to work with my healthcare professionals in a highly cooperative way for a specified period of time. I do exactly what they say for a while, and then I evaluate what parts of their approach work for me and what parts don’t. I think the liver flush part of this doctor’s approach doesn’t work for me. Fortunately, this MD/ND has helped me in other ways.
That’s my story. I know this flush has helped thousands of other people. My case is probably highly unusual. I realize that. I have lots of unusual reactions to drugs, foods, exercise, herbs, and other health-related things. If there’s a 5% chance of something happening, I seem almost always to be in that 5%. So make your own decision about doing a liver flush, always keeping your doctor’s recommendations and your knowledge of your own body in mind.
I am sorry for your horrible experience. I read what your Dr had you do.
Why in the world were you to eat a normal lunch right before the cleanse????? This goes against everything that I have read on liver cleansing.
I have always used the liver cleanse recommended by Hulda Clark, which is similar yet different. She tells you in bold print that if you don’t do certain things you will get sick. My hubby decided not to follow her advice and his grapefruit/oil combo returned quite quickly thus he had zero results. I have always had good results though not always passing stones…sometimes just chaff… of course, I don’t have a gallbladder and just have my liver so maybe this is why it helps me more???
Marjorie,
I think the directions are just confusing. He means that one should eat a normal fat-free lunch on the day of the cleanse. Obviously, since I was fasting, I did not do this. His reasoning behind eating fat-free for a week is to allow the bile to build up (since you’re not having to digest any fat). The apple juice fast takes care of that *and* softens any existing gallstones.
Except for doing an aj fast instead of the fat-free meal plan, I followed the instructions carefully. MH says that her doctor has her take the olive oil in 2 oz increments every hour during the daytime. She says that the one time she took it at night (a la Hulda Clark), she had problems. Who knows? Maybe doing it during the day would be better for me. I’m still too skittish right now to try it. Maybe next year I’ll give it a shot. I’ll let the memories (and that awful regurgitated olive oil taste) fade a bit…
Bleh! I have not done any cleanses or flushes, partly because they sound so awful. Stress triggers flare-ups for me, so I try to avoid stressful treatments. Otherwise it works out to leave me worse than when I started.
But I do know how discouraging it is to feel like an unpleasant treatment is having no result. And how discouraging it is to be in the weird 5%! And how terrible everything appears at 3:30 in the morning when you feel horrible.
I feel your pain. Hope the doc & you can figure out an alternative to the gallbladder/liver flush.
Hi Alison,
I can so sympathize with your experience – I had the VERY same when I attempted a liver/gallbladder flush. Even when I think of it now I beg to die than to ever go though it again. It took me a couple days to recover – I was so tired from the lack of sleep and vomiting. I guess some of us just have bodies that don’t respond well to such treatments!
Aside from that, I also want to tell you that I love your site. My daughter and I just went GF three weeks ago (she has epilepsy and being GF had such a positive effect on her) and your information and recipes have been fabulous for us. Thanks.
The thought of just drinking olive oil, makes me gag – I don’t know how anyone does that. I like olive oil, but I couldn’t drink it straight. Sorry this didn’t work for you, but like you said hopefully you can evaluate it and see what you need to do.
I don’t think I could drink oil without disasterous results even after just a couple of sips! Instead I plan on trying LivAmend from Body Ecology. We’ve been on the BED for 6 months and I think I’m ready for a deeper level of cleansing. LivAmend sounds much easier than drinking olive oil. You are brave!
lizzykristine — Thank you for your sympathy! Yes, I think this was a bit too extreme for my body at this point. Maybe when I’m healthier it won’t be so stressful for me. Sometimes I start thinking that I only *imagine* that I’m in the weird 5%, but then my doctor will say, “Wow, less than 5% of people react like this.” And the next day, another healthcare practioner will say, “Whoah, this is weird. No one reacts like this.” And then my trainer will say, “I’ve never seen this before.” Etc. Gah! I have to remind myself that God is good and that He created me this way.
Sue — It’s good to know I’m not the only one!
Also, thank you for the encouragement about my blog. I’m so glad you are enjoying it. How wonderful that you’ve pinpointed a dietary choice that makes a noticeable difference! My mother had epilepsy as a young girl, and it was very stressful for her family, as I’m sure it is for yours. Blessings to all of you.
DeAnna — LOL. Yes, it was pretty gross but not quite as bad as I expected. The texture was more of a problem than the taste for me. Forcing yourself to swallow something so viscous….
Kelly — That sounds like a smart plan.
I’ve considered purchasing that supplement several times and would do it now, except that I’m working with a homeopathist at the moment. I’ve also read some good stuff about Liver Care, and a friend recommended Solaray’s Siliverin. Way to go with the BED! I really love that book. I don’t observe all of her recommendations (I don’t practice food combining anymore because I don’t notice a difference, and I can’t eat even the GF grains very regularly), but her book is just packed with wonderful concepts, recommendations, and tips. Back when I was really suffering with candida, following it helped me tremendously. Love it!
When I did the flush 8 years ago, I will never forget that I laid in the bed with the trash can at the edge of the bed thinking I was going to die, thinking I really messed my body up. And I followed the directions. They were different than the procedure that you followed as it did not involve a fast of more than a day. I am not surprised at your feeling so sick. Think about what you are drinking after having an almost empty stomach for a week. What a shock to your system.
I do remember passing green pellets at 4 pm the next day. But I will never do it again. I don’t blame you for not doing it either.
I did the AJ fast and followed MH’s plan and just about chipped my cookies! I think I even skipped the last 2oz dose because I knew it wouldn’t stay down. You end up taking in a whole lot more olive oil that way. I got zero results from that cleanse, but very good from Clark’s.
I have no gallbladder, so maybe that was why the hourly doses of olive oil and lemon juice didn’t work for me and the Clark one which is just a liver cleanse did. You also take more Epsom salts with the Clark cleanse, as well.
I thought you had eaten a regular lunch….that would have been a big no-no after being fat free for so many days…that was where I got confused.
I am thinking you didn’t need the cleanse! You already follow some pretty strict diet protocols and have gotten rid of your candida. Getting rid of the candida is a big thing!
[...] she has written on the site) of a real live person who did one check out Alison’s site here http://wholesomegoodness.net/2008/10/28/livergallbladder-flush-results/ and I’ll let you know if I buy the groceries to go through with one [...]
Just wanted to let you know that similar nausea and pain are reported by family members who have gone through the attacks of stones… theirs lasts for days until its cleared.
A parent went through emergency surgery this week to have her gallbladder removed (I’m reading its the number 3 most popular surgery in the US today) and its going to cost her several thousand dollars. The doctors said the inflammation she suffered made it imperative. IT’s tough to argue when you’re at the ER in pain at 4 a.m. ya know? But it made me wonder whether the cleanse might not be a bad preventative care mechanism just the same… I’d rather a night or two of bad stuff to avoid surgery and worse attacks from the stones.
Glad you posted a followup. I’m still on the lookout for a real live person who posted good results…
Dink
45 Male – Tasmania, Australia.
I tried many things to flush my gallstones including the fasting/olive oil. Also some very expensive capsuals along with other herbal treatments. Nothing worked and in fact my 3 gallstones had got much bigger. Eventually had my gallbladder removed which was remarkable simple and I haven’t had any problems since (about 2 years). Only noticeable side effect is having to find a toilet quicker than usual if I eat a meal with high fat. But as a vegetairian it isn’t really a problem.
Also Alison I note you saying you liked the fasting but not keen on apple juice. I do a water only 10+ day fast every 5 years or so (which may have contributed to my gallstones) but I find it amazing. Any sore bits – back, shoulder, knees etc. all seem to clear up. I believe it is important to do just water (maybe after doing a juice fast once or twice) as depriving the brain of glucose means it starts to find other food sources in your body and it releases toxins stored in fat. I find it very easy. Slight headache and coated tounge day 1 and 2 and then hardly even notice except standing up quickly. My parents both did 20 days 20 years ago and where Dad was due for a hip replacement and had arthritis he still has his original body parts and no arthritis.
I think it is impotant to keep body clean of all the toxins we are almost forced to take in and get a regular fasting program before the body is too old to handle it.
A site I found:-
http://www.falconblanco.com/health/fasting.htm
Cheers from Tasmania,
Andrew
I’m sorry the flush didn’t go well for you.
I completed Hulda Clark’s flush at curezone.com (several times). I had amazing results, including passing 3 golf ball sized stones, in addition to hundreds of small stones. I didn’t have a bit of discomfort or bad effects.
I did the gallbladder flush last night and I didn’t have any problems with it at all. A year ago I had an sonogram which showed an 11 mm stone (size of a pea) and sludge. My chiro/wellness doctor gave me some enzyme supplements (I also had GERD in addition to intermittent gallbladder pain along my right ribcage) which included natural supplements (Chiro-zyme Bil, Stomach and Liver) to help improve gallbladder function (I think by breaking down the stones and also thinning the sludge.) I took those for a year and when I had another sonogram last week it showed that my gallbladder still had sludge but no measurable stones which made me feel ready to do the flush without worrying about a stone getting stuck in a duct.
I had been drinking extra apple juice (diluted with water) for a week but hadn’t been fasting. The day of the flush I ate a banana and a small handful of walnuts (which I realized afterwards I shouldn’t have because of the fat). The 6pm dose of epsom salts started working right away… so much so that I reduced the amount I took at 8pm.
At 10pm I used 1/2 cup of extra virgin organic olive oil (opened a brand new bottle to make sure it was fresh) and 2/3′s of a cup of freshly squeezed pink/red grapefruit juice. Put both in a bottle and shook it up so that it mixed nicely. I expected to gag when I drank it down but it was actually not bad at all!
I went to bed right away, put a warm heating pad on my abdoment and fell asleep right away. Woke up at about 3am, just to urinate but went right back to sleep until 7am. Took another dose of Epsom salts (even though I was “flowing” by this time). Had many trips to the bathroom (mostly liquid with some gook in it which I assume was a mixture of the olive oil and hopefully some of that sludge).
By 9am I decided I really didn’t need the last dose of Epsom Salts so I decided to have my morning tea with milk and sugar. Besides my bottom being a bit sore (maybe from the citric acid of the grapefruit juice along with numerous trips to the toilet) I feel FINE!
The tenderness I normally feel below my right ribcage seems to be gone. I feel quite well and very light at the moment and hope that this flush did what it was supposed to do.
I think the flush may have done what it was supposed to do BUT I don’t think anyone should do it without first knowing what they are dealing with. I think I feel so well because I spent a year eating healthy (no processed foods, only healthy, mostly organic foods including lost of fruits and vegetables). Taking the supplements (which included turmeric, cinnamon, garlic and a bunch of other things and drinking lots of apple juice.) Those things helped to break up my stone before I did the flush so maybe that’s why I had no nausea or vomitting and didn’t feel sick in the least.
I will continue working on making my gallbladder/liver healthy by eating the “right” foods, taking my supplements and continuing to exercise more regularly.
Good luck everyone!
Still Alive, finally a positive review.
So from what I’ve read you attribute your success not only to the flush but to the Chiro-zyme Bil, Stomach and Liver supplements.
Can you share the place where you got them? Thanks
Sheila
Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to go about contacting persons who have actually successfully done the liver-gallbladder flush?
MDs have come out against the liver-gallbladder flush and so although there are plenty of such written testimonies online, in articles and in books of persons who have done this liver-gallbladder flush procedure, I feel it would be smarter to confirm the successfulness of this procedure by actually speaking in person to individuals with similar circumstances to my own who have done the liver gallbladder flush to provide me with sufficient evidence that this is a viable alternative treatment for gallstones.
How does one go about contacting such persons, is my question. Any suggestions anyone?
Bob