**WARNING: this post contains some disturbing material. If you are squeamish or have a hard time talking about poop, maybe consider whether you want to proceed. There are no shit pictures in this post though, so don’t worry about ugly visuals – although I will get descriptive….
“Death begins in the colon.” This is a pretty popular saying, so popular in fact, I couldn’t find the original source. It’s no secret that digestive health is detrimental to overall health and wellbeing. Look at all the shows popping up on Netflix that focus on the link between food and longevity (I just watched You Are What You Eat, and it was very interesting).
Myself, I was raised with this information. I may talk some shit about my Christian upbringing, but one thing I can say about Seventh-Day Adventists is that their ideology puts a strong focus on clean foods and healthy living. Living close to Nature and eating foods that you grow/tend yourself was my early life. However, I did not learn how common parasites are until I was in my mid-twenties, and holy shit balls I can tell you, I was horrified for weeks. I still struggle with bouts of wild imaginings of worms crawling inside my body. You know when you die and they say you’re food for the worms? Well the worms that eat you aren’t the ones in the ground, they are the ones already inside you.
I’ve been feeling like I need a good cleanse for a while now. My body underwent some radical changes after I had Bane (everything changed with him really), and I haven’t been able to adjust. Ok, let me rephrase that: I haven’t prioritized or taken the time to adjust. So, this December I decided to get at it and knock my system into tippy top shape. I wanted to cleanse during the full moon, as I know parasites are active around that time, so I planned to begin a few days prior.
MY CLEANSING “TOOLS”
- Diatomaceous Earth: I took a tsp of this every morning in a ginger immune juice I got from Costco. Diatomaceous Earth is chalky, but I didn’t mind the texture. It may not be great in water alone, which is why I took it with juice. DE strips bugs of their protective shell. It is super effective in killing a wide variety of insects and for this reason, a lot of gardeners use it to kill pests (bad for bugs, doesn’t bother plants). Make sure you get food grade DE.
- Activated Charcoal: This is to help your body with parasite die off. When parasites die, they emit toxins. This can make you feel like you are sick (like have a cold or flu but it’s really bugs hating you as they die inside your guts). Activated Charcoal helps with this. I’m not sure what the science is, I read a lot of different blog posts on this and they all said the same thing. All I know is if you have a wicked night of drinking and you take activated charcoal before going to bed, your hangover is radically LESS than it would have been otherwise. It keeps toxins from affecting your system.
- Psyllium Husk Powder: Killing the nasties in your gut is only step one. You also need to ensure you are eliminating them. Psyllium husk powder is high in fiber, which means it should assist you in dumping these toxin loads. Like all fiber, it can also bung you up if you are not ensuring you are properly hydrated. More on that later.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: I was taking this with the psyllium husk powder (just a tsp of ACV with a tsp of psyllium husk powder and a tsp of honey in a cup of water). ACV is antiparasitic and is super good for gut health. I use Braggs because I hear it’s the best.
- Essential Oils: I use Young Living’s Digize, Lavender, and Frankincense, as well as Basil and Oregano regularly, so I added these to my cleansing routine. Digize is my all-time tummy-happy oil, so I took it internally in capsules daily.
- Cascara Sagrada: This is a natural laxative; it is supposed to help you poop – it doesn’t work that well for me. More on that later.
- Probiotic: I use Young living’s Life 5 probiotic; taken daily to assist in cultivating healthy gut flora. We don’t want the bugs, but we do want the healthy tummy plants.
These choices were a collaboration of the research I’ve done plus health information I already knew from my essential oil training; here are some links to Pinterest posts that helped me determine my cleansing methods.
Parasite Cleansing using Diatomaceous Earth : https://www.greenwillowhomestead.com/blog/how-to-use-diatomaceous-earth-as-a-parasite-cleanse-for-humans-pets-and-livestock?utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest&utm_campaign=tailwind_smartloop&utm_content=smartloop&utm_term=56506984&epik=dj0yJnU9bGw1ZGx0LUdKZUhjVmxPd01QaGg0UlFWLUx1blNpUEQmcD0wJm49QzlDN1VuOEtJTFRUTkUxbjZWWDU5QSZ0PUFBQUFBR1hLYk1j
What you Need to Know Before Starting: http://www.brandiclevinger.com/4-mistakes-i-made-with-a-parasite-cleanse-and-how-i-fixed-it/
PREP WORK
Before you start a parasite cleanse, you have to ensure that your colon is working smoothly. Because it’s easy to get constipated while on a parasite cleanse, you need to ensure that the colon is slick as butter to keep that waste moving. I started with a salt water flush (1tsp of Himalayan salt, juice from a lemon, 24oz of water – first thing in the morning, drink the whole thing within 15ish min). Unfortunately for me, I was so dehydrated that this concoction didn’t provide the results I was expecting; a “shit” storm. This was conundrum #1. Conundrum #2 was that I had been sort of constipated for a month already which was strange for me because regular bowel movements were not a thing I ever struggled with. I wasn’t sure what the source of the constipation was though. I did the flush then started the parasite cleanse protocol a few days later (Dec 22 I believe it was) so that I would be murdering those invaders en-masse by the full moon on the 27th.
ATTEMPT #1
All did not go as planned. Although I was drinking almost 2L of water a day, my guts just wouldn’t budge. Chronically under-watered, my body needed more TLC. Drinking a lot of water is hard if you aren’t used to it and I quickly started to feel defeated. My goal was to do 10 days on DE, followed by 10 days off (as per DE recommendations). I made it through the first 10 days but still wasn’t pooping so that was a huge red flag.
I had to take smooth-move tea a couple of times. For anyone who has experienced the power of senna in relieving constipation, you know that it does not fuck around. I took it before bed (as per box instructions) and woke up in labor (at least it felt like labor). Holy hell that shit works, but it isn’t pleasant. The next time I took it, I only drank half the tea. That was much more tolerable for my system and I didn’t experience the cramping I did the first time.
REVELATIONS
It was at this time that I seriously became concerned about my non-existent bowel movements. In someone regular their entire life, what the fuck was causing this? I traced the issues back to November and realized that the only thing different I did in November was start taking Strattera for ADD. So I started researching the side effects of strattera and found that constipation is a very common side effect. The problem for me was that this particular side effect came on so slowly and gradually that I didn’t notice it until it was a very big issue, and by then it was hard to link it back to the meds. I read a testimonial by one person saying that they had been on strattera since they were a child and it completely fucked their digestive system. I’d like to note that for many people, constipation caused by strattera is a temporary symptom that relieves itself with time. For me, I’d been on the drug for 2 months and did not even feel the urge to shit anymore. I was as if strattera had completely paralysed my intestinal tract.
This was a heartbreaking revelation for me. Strattera was working wonders for my mental health and overwhelm tolerance. The shitty thing about pharmaceuticals is that there are often just as many cons to taking them as there are pros. I didn’t want to deal with ADD symptoms and high sensitivity, but I also didn’t want to fuck with my colon and risk having to be on laxatives for the rest of my life. So I decided to go off of strattera, see if that changed anything, up my water intake, and clean up my diet. If strattera was indeed the culprit, I would try micro-dosing mushrooms for ADD.
Within the first 3 days of being off of strattera, my bowels began to move. By day 5 they were almost back to normal.
PROPER HYDRATION
Through this process, I was talking with my best friend (who is incredibly health-conscious). She told me that I should try electrolytes and that unless your body is getting enough healthy salt, your body cannot absorb water. “How often do you eat salt?” she asked me. I fucking never eat salt. I salt NOTHING. I once made mashed potatoes with seasoning salt (which is how I always make mashed potatoes) and found them SPICY. She sent me her recommendation for electrolytes (as she’s tried them all) and told me to take them in water once a day, first thing in the morning. These are the ones I got:
They’re a bit pricey, but worth it. I now take them in 24 oz of warm water first thing in the morning, followed by 2L of water throughout the day (for a total of 88oz of water/day – which is one cup shy of 3L). When I first started the electrolytes, I was taking them in 24 oz of water in the morning followed by 48oz of water throughout the day, but within the first couple of weeks of doing this consistently, I sensed that my body was ready for a water increase. Within those first 2 weeks, I lost 10lbs of waste weight. My energy shot up (I no longer feel tired or sluggish), and I easily wake up between 5:30-6:30 every morning – without an alarm. I also shit first thing in the morning, like clockwork, usually before I’m done with that 24oz of electrolyte water.
THE MAGIC OF MUSHROOMS
I’ve been micro-dosing for ADD now for about 3 weeks. Unfortunately, natural medicine is not as immediate as pharmaceuticals and you do have to commit. I noticed a significant difference in my mental health on day 1 of taking Strattera – even though they say it takes almost a month to notice the positive side effects. I am hypersensitive so I did not have to wait that period to see my mental health improve. With mushrooms, it took the first 3 doses. I take one capsule every 3 days – so dosing roughly 2x a week. I remember the day that I first noticed they were helping – it was the day I took them with reverence and asked for their help.
That morning, I felt that I should talk to the mushrooms and set my intentions. So I went upstairs and sat in the bay window of my bedroom and I told the mushrooms that I just wanted to be a better, more regulated mom, to be able to be present and stay focused, and to heal. I asked for their help and thanked them for their medicine. Then I went downstairs to go about my day. When my kids got home, my daughter hurt herself walking up the stairs. Beaux is highly sensitive too – possibly even more so than I am – and I find myself quite triggered by her “over-the-top” reactions. She’s also incredibly clumsy (another trait she inherited from me) and seems to hurt herself in the most strange and random ways. I struggle to stay patient with her at times, likely because no one was ever patient with me when I was her age, struggling with the same issues. But that day when she came to me crying and I felt the surge of overwhelm welling up in my chest, a voice came with it and said to me, “It’s ok, take a breath” and the overwhelm, although still present, did not spill out onto my child. Since then, I have noticed significant positive changes in my mental health – similar to the effects of strattera.
WHY I DIDN’T JUST MICRODOSE INSTEAD OF TAKING STRATTERA IN THE FIRST PLACE
Drugs scare the shit out of me. All drugs. Good drugs, bad drugs. Unless it comes from the earth, I’m wary, and even then I don’t like altered states. The hardest drug I ever tried was pot – and I HATED it. I also hate the feeling of being drunk. I’ve never taken mushrooms.
Jennifer Moher told me about microdosing when I went to the Wildly Workshop in Golden in 2022 and I started looking into it then. I tried it that summer but noticed an increase in anxiety. I’ve also heard that micro-dosing doesn’t work for everyone and that those with heart issues so be cautious (having had consistent daily palpitations since the first dose of covid vaccine – this was concerning). The first time I tried the mushroom capsules I’m now taking, I cried for 2 hours beside my Willow tree and then woke up with anxiety for the next 2 nights. Had I known that strattera would cause similar side effects (I dealt with increased anxiety for the first 2.5 weeks – often waking from a dead sleep terrified that I was dying), I would have pushed through with micro-dosing mushrooms to see if those symptoms alleviated – which they have.
The interesting thing about the mushrooms is that they seem to talk to me. Call me crazy, but it’s true. I think that because mushrooms are organic material, they can interact with our bodies differently than pharmaceuticals can (or any natural health product for that matter). The first night I experienced anxiety after starting micro-dosing, I saw a visual of mushrooms growing in the wild. When I focused on the visual, the anxiety completely dissipated. I have experienced a few nights of increased anxiety since, but each time, visualizing those wild mushrooms instantly calms me. So the increased anxiety with the mushrooms is incredibly less than with strattera.
I have noticed a slight uptake in palpitations since I started micro-dosing and that’s something I’m still monitoring. Every person’s chemical makeup is so unique. Finding what works for you is a trial-and-error process.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
I haven’t attempted the cleanse again, yet. I read that winter is not a good time to cleanse as your body is putting so much energy into regulating temperature (especially for those of us in the North), and so the best time to cleanse (surprise surprise) is in the spring – so come April I will try again, this time knowing that I am started with a hydrated body that eliminates daily.
