Last month I got a question from a sufferer asking:

"I would like to know is there anything I am able to do for these violent cleansing reactions I have when using herbs or supplements to remove toxins from my body."

This was my reply:

Hi!

Thanks for getting in touch. I am a sufferer myself, and although I have spent years researching CFS/ME/PVFS, I am not a qualified health professional, so I can't really advise you in a professional capacity.

I can, however, tell you what my nutritionist/kinesiologist told me, and that was that when we have this condition, we are likely to become sensitive to things we put into our bodies, including herbs and other supplements. I learned that even the brand of the supplement can have a bearing on how well you react to it.

So the aim is to take a 'softly, softly' approach and to take supplements in cautious doses, introducing them over a period of time, instead of taking everthing all at once.

If you are experiencing 'violent cleansing reactions' so to speak, then I would guess that the mixture of supplements you are taking is either:

- not balanced enough for you right now, or
- you are taking too many all at once, or
- the dosage is too much, or
- you are simply taking the wrong supplements (or a wrong supplement), at least at this point in your illness.

If you are experiencing adverse effects, it might be worth seeking the advice of a qualified nutritionist.

Better still, if you can find a nutrionist who is also a trained kinesiologist, they can test the supplements on you to see which ones make you stronger at that point in time, and which ones have no effect or even have an adverse effect on you. They would then also be able to determine the right dosages for you to take.

In my own personal experience, this has worked very well for me, and I now understand how important the process of testing is, to making sure I'm taking exactly what I need.

You may be interested in the following pages:

1) At the bottom of a page of reviews of some of my favourite supplements for ME/CFS, I write about kinesiology and the use of supplements (scroll down to the bottom):

http://www.sleepydust.net/ME-CFS.html

I also wrote about my visits to my nutritionist/kinesiolgist in my online diary here:

http://sleepydust.diaryland.com/20041106.html
http://sleepydust.diaryland.com/20050212.html

http://sleepydust.diaryland.com/20050223.html

http://sleepydust.diaryland.com/200503262.html
http://sleepydust.diaryland.com/200504142.html

Hope this is helpful to you!

All the best

Claire
Editor of sleepydust.net