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Login Here Signup Here Signup using FacebookI just had an odd experience. A few days ago I picked up a mild snuffling little cold. I’ve had congested sinuses, some sneezing, lethargy, blah, a pestering thing hanging on, weighing down my walk. And I don’t know if you’re this way, but whenever I get a cold it’s almost like a mockery of the healthy lifestyle. I eat all raw, I bicycle, I practice yoga, I meditate, I hold down stress, I take care of myself in conscious ways. And, I know a lot of people who don’t. They just seem let themselves go—in their diets, their lifestyles, I’m not placing judgement, and I’m certainly not trying to be perfect. But, I figure since I’m conscious of the way I eat, I should have a stronger immune system than someone who doesn’t care. Right?
Anyway, yesterday my cold sort of bloomed into this nasty fever. My body ached, grew hot, tired, weak—arms, legs, feet, my head banged, my eyelids burned. I could hardly move myself around. Last night I did not sleep, but stayed in bed and shivered. My temperature was 101. I had no bottled water, so I just ate tangerines all night. I have a box of a hundred or so, and I ate maybe 30 or 40 last night and this morning. This was all I ate or drank: no water, no other food, just the tangerines.
In the middle of the night, I felt the thing begin to pass. My body sweated, I had twisted dreams, and in the morning I woke up to feel the thing had passed entirely. All symptoms seem to be gone. I’m not even weak from the little drama. It came and went in a matter of eight to ten hours, and this is the fastest fever I’ve ever shed. So now I’m left wondering about the experience, and puzzled as to why I got sick so easily in the first place, and then why the sickness suddenly intensified, then went away so quickly. And, did the tangerines have anything to do with the aleviation? The body is a mystery.
I was talking to a friend who told me that people who are truly sick from eating poorly, not exersizing, smoking, drinking too much, people who have cancer and diseases, these people do not generally get the common cold. Is this true? They may suddenly show up in a doctor’s office with cancer, and they may say to the doctor, I have not been sick in years. One reason, she stated, may be that only bodies that are healthy and strong are able to go through “a healing crisis.” Meaning, what? Is a healing crisis another form of detox? Anyone have a take on this line of thinking?
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Thanks for the link JoyceH. I am sure it will be very helpful (haven’t read it yet).
I had heard about the phases of “cleansings” or “healing crisis”. I couldn’t remember if there were 3 or 5… but, I remember the last phase was a cellular cleansing phase. ...very intense, you could get signs of childhood diseases like chicken pox. (btw, I do not have any references for these; just someone who is/was a raw foodists and working on their PhD at a medical school told me this years ago)
When I had an intense cleanse last year, they warned that pains, sickness, meds/drugs could come back during the cleanse. (Of course, this was the last phase of the cleanse too.) One could go through a healing crisis if not taken care of or prevented properly. Drinking water was important. But, I’m sure they know much more about it than I do since they’ve been doing it for 25 years!
Shane, I am so relieved that you posted this. I’m in the middle of precisely the same thing (burning eyelids, hard time moving, etc.). My fever started late last night and had mounted to 102.6 by this morning. I was just about to break down and take an aspirin when I felt it start to break. My temperature isn’t down all the way yet, but I can feel it moving down. And I’m lying on the covers now rather than shivering under three blankets like I did all night. Like you, I’ve had only citrus (grapefruit, satsumas, and oranges) since this started (though I have had water too). My fever won’t be gone in 8-10 hours, but it seems to be diminishing really fast, and aside from some slight congestion and a very slight headache, I feel completely fine.
I have two thoughts. There does happen to be a terrible flu moving around now, and possibly we have contracted the “raw” version of it. Maybe the virus just started to take hold, but our bodies were able to purge it quickly. Maybe you didn’t get sick so easily – I definitely think it is possible that this could be the “high immune function” version of the flu that is going around.
Or maybe its a cleansing reaction. I’ve been juice feasting lately, so this is what I was thinking, but it is really odd to read that someone else has been having precisely the same symptoms as me, responding in a nearly identical way, and seeing the same results. Thanks for posting – it’s very reassuring! My partner kind of flipped out when I said I wasn’t planning to take anything to break the fever unless it went over 103, and now I feel even more like I’ve done the right thing.
First off, Jenny and Shane I hope you’re both feeling better very soon. I have a question that follows the idea of everything in moderation, obviously citrus fruits are a wonderful part of a healthy diet with great cleansing properties but isn’t it still possible to have too much of a good thing?? Just wondering because Shane had mentioned he had eaten 30-40. I find I feel out of whack if I eat too much of anything, even delicious and light young coconut water!
Shane, have you had a full physical lately?? Sometimes these illnesses can be signs of something serious but often they are iron or vitamin deficiencies. It’s good to get an annual full blood work-up.
I’m so sorry you’re suffering, Jenny. It sucks. But it will pass. And good for you for not taking Tylenol. That’s what everyone told me to do, too—take some Tylenol. And I don’t know which is more immoderate, eating 30-40 satsumas, or taking Tylenol every four hours.
Jenny, if you can find strength to read the great essay by Nora Lenz that Joyce posted, do it. It’s inspiring, and offers a healing perspective on why we might be getting sick (unless it’s a virus). Thanks for posting it, Joyce!
Thanks for the concern, lovingraw. Actually I did have a physical in November, and I seem to be in pretty good shape according to the doctor’s bloodtests. Even my B12 and D25 levels were within range, which might be rare for a raw vegan. My iron levels were slightly elevated, which is not so good for men. Men tend to have the opposite problem of women when it comes to iron. While women get low iron from monthly bloodloss, men tend to accumulate high iron levels, especially when eating iron rich food sources like raw greens. High iron blood levels may be just as unhealthy as low iron blood levels.
JoyceH, thank you for the link.
Nora Lenz sums up what I feel every day. I could never get it into that few words or explain it as well.
That is a weblink that I will pass to my friends instead of trying to describe what I feel.
Hi all.I DON’T KNOW HOW TO DO THIS, Wether I should have started a new topic or just put my question here. I’ll do both. I am in the middle of a bad cold/virus thingy and now my sinuses are making me dizzy and I had a nose bleed. A couple of days later and I blew my nose hard and it bled again a little. a wad of cotton woolsoaked in 50% each of Apple Cider vinegar and water,put up my nose, stops the nose bleed VERY quickly. It seals the little blood vessels. My question is, Would taking bilberry extract help to strengthen the blood vessels so they don’t bleed when I have a cold, or is this something that I am just going to have to put up with.