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Todd
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First Fast - 26/12/2007 19:43
Hey, first fast here, like ever. There was a period during my adolescence where I would go days without eating, but that was more a silly anorexic phase than anything else.
Some nice person from Curezone directed me here, so here I am.
Um, so I thought I'd try a water fast for my first, since I can't afford a juicer. I suppose I could purify my well water by boiling it? Correct me if I'm wrong.
I'm not sure how I'm supposed to do this, though, and there are medications that I'm taking that might cause complications.
I'm 6'4" (1.9 meters tall, I think?) and weigh about 122.5 kilograms. I have hypothyroidism, and am a little hypo as of my last tsh reading. I take 88 mcg of Levathyroxine for that a day. I also am being treated for mental problems with psychotropics like Geodon 160 mg a day (the maximum dose) and 40 mg of Fluoxetine a day.
Yeah, I know I should have that thyroid checked out in greater detail. Anyway, I'm wondering if I should actually go through with this fast. I'm worried that it might just kill me, heh. Not that I care a whole lot, but I think I'd like to live, I wouldn't be doing this otherwise.
And, really, I need to know just how to DO the fast, as I haven't found a whole lot of literature on the purely water based fast. What length of time should I go for? Keep in mind I have pretty good will power, so I could go pretty long without eating.
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The Fast Doctor
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Re:First Fast - 11/01/2008 01:16
Thanks for the post and in anticipating for indulging me with a few replies:
Todd wrote: I suppose I could purify my well water by boiling it? Correct me if I'm wrong.
You are wrong. Boiling will only kill any micro-organisms in the water (most of which are usually beneficial to you) but it will concentrate the inorganic substances by distilling off some water. leaving relatively more of the rest in the residue.
Using medications: The all depends on what you are using and why. Most medications can be continued during a fast, but some become a lot more potent, even toxic, and others can irritate an empty stomach.
Thyroxine is the one medicine I never stop during a fast. It is a replacement of what the body used to make, and it is the most succesful imitation ever made in a factory: Every atom in Thyroxine is exactly in the same place as the one your thyroid makes. Whether you swallow it or secrete it, once in the blood it's identical.
Geodon (ziprasidone HCl) can cause irregularities of your heartbeat and this is more likely at higher dosages. Because of your size, however, the "maximum dosage" might not really be the maximum for you as an indivitual. Since ziprasidone is fat soluble, during a fast you may actually get a "dosage" re-mobilized from the fat as it is consumed for energy. I would therefore be cautious with this drug, likely reduce the dosage to about 120 mg per day during the fast. But don't meddle with it without your doctor's input please.
Fluoxetine is quite safe and I would generalloy recommend continuing as normal.
Under correct supervision fasting will not kill you. On the contrary, it could help cure you.
How long? Best play it by ear, take it day by day. Be prepared to bail out if you develop adverse reactions but also be careful not to over-react. I think your first fast should be done in a facility where there is adequate professional and experienced assistance available.
André
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Todd
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Re:First Fast - 14/01/2008 16:28
Thanks for the reply. I have well water, so I'm not sure there'd be any flouride, chlorine, heavy metals, or other stuff I should avoid in it. It certainly tastes pure enough, but I suppose taste wouldn't tell me everything.
Thanks for the comments on the psychotropic meds, as those are worrying me. I read Dr. Fuhrman's book on fasting and eating for health, and he says that one shouldn't go on a fast if they're on anti-depressants, tranquilizers, or narcotics. But I'll take your word for it about the Fluoxetine. It has seemed fairly benign from my perspective, with no visible side effects.
Actually, about the Geodon, we went a bit above the maximum dose, and that did give me heart palpatations (very uncomfortable) so I ended up going back to the previous dose, which gave me no problems. Aside from that, the Geodon does little for me other than make me care less about things in general, whereas I used to obsess about things in general. I'm not sure I want to stay on it, but I find sometimes when I'm between refills, I can't sleep without it.
I don't know if going into a facility is an option at this point. I live in Rhode Island, kind of in the middle of nowhere, so not sure if there'd be any places that would give me that kind of treatment. If there are, I'm not sure if medicaid would cover it.
So for now I'm just going to change my diet to a plant-based one, start exercising and maybe getting my thyroid problem straightened out with my physician (I'm hoping to get my doctor to test free T3 so I could possibly get on armour to see if that helps me more than the thyroxine. I remember asking her about it a few years ago and she said the medication was unstable or dangeorus or something.), so I could possibly (if that helps me mentally, where the meds mostly failed) come off of the psychotropic meds. I'll do this until I can find a physician that's qualified to supervise a fast.
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The Fast Doctor
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Re:First Fast - 14/01/2008 23:24
This is a wise approach Todd. The biggest danger in my experience of a fast in your case, is that it might trigger a hypomanic episode. I have seen that happen a few times, although at the recent Slavic-Balctic forum on fasting in St Petersburg, the medical scientists there all considered it safe. They considered it pure "coincidence" that my patients became manic during fasting.
Concerning the thyroid: I never prescribe T3, as this "bypasses" your body's final control of thyroid activity: Your peripheral tissues (like muscles, etc.) can to some extent determine their own level of thyroid stimulation by turning T4 into T3 (removing 1 of the 4 Iodine ions). When this is done in a factory, your dosage needs to be VERY carefully supervised, preferably by an endocrinologist. Having said that, I have experienced a few cases where people's thyroid glands started working again during fasting.
Best of luck and keep us posted.
André
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