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Need a little medical advice please

So, I’m in the process of doing a parasite cleanse because I was planning on doing a liver/gallbladder cleanse in the next week or so. But here’s the thing… I have this weird feeling that I might be pregnant. Just in case I am, I stopped taking the walnut hull stuff this morning cuz it has alcohol in it. Anyway, I would really still like to do a liver cleanse either way, but I was wondering if it would still be ok to do if I am pregnant? My body handles heavy duty cleanses pretty well, but of course I wouldnt want it to have any bad effects on the baby.

Comments

  • I’m not an expert, but I read somewhere that detoxing or cleansing when being pregnant is not a good idea as the toxins etc end up polluting the baby. Definitely not medical advice.. but just something I saw somewhere.. You should find out if you are pregnant before considering continuing.

  • Definitely do not do it.

    It sucks when you want to get on with stuff, but I’m afraid there is just too much evidence to suggest that everything you detox from your own body goes straight down the umbilical cord to your developing baby. My main worry was things like mercury (which concentrates itself when being sent to the baby, as well!, and is extremely bad for neurological development…), plus other toxins such as PCBs etc. Now these things get sent to the baby anyway (breastmilk is absolutely chock full of the stuff too) but if you are de-toxing such that your body has more of it to “spare” then it is likely to be in far higher quantities.

    I’m due in about two weeks and discovering raw halfway through this pregnancy was a pain in the butt, frankly – wanting to detox at the same time as paradoxically trying to protect my baby while still eating much the way I did before is playing hell with me emotionally!

    But I know I can do this later.

  • FleshMechanic….

    From my own experiences
    If you follow your liver/gallbladder cleanse with a Colonix, there should
    be no need to do a parasite cleanse. The Colonix will pull parasites out
    of your body.

    If you are pregnant…. You should not do a parasite cleanse. Not good for the baby.
    However, Andreas Moritz (author of The Amazing Liver and Gallbladder Flush) does not suggest doing a liver cleanse while pregnant either. He does go on to say, he does have reports of some women who did do a liver cleanse while pregnant and everything went well for them.
    But you cannot do a Colonix while pregnant.

    Hope this Helps you.

  • Thanks for the replies. I’m gonna try to get a test by the end of the week, and I guess everythings on hold until I know for sure. I guess if I cant detox for awhile atleast I can be glad I’ve been vegan for so long so atleast im not giving myself and my possible baby hormones all the time for meat and dairy.

  • suekosueko Raw Superstar

    I’m a midwife and a nurse, and I tell my clients not to do any cleanses or radical diet changes while pregnant. There are many things you can do to kind of keep yourself clean, like exercise (rebounding particularly helpful here) and water, but the point is to nourish your baby by taking in a good diet rather than to stress your body by trying to expel toxins.

  • TomsMomTomsMom Raw Newbie

    FleshMechanic, there is nothing bad or harmful about eating a fresh healthy diet while pregnant. You will NOT sicken or harm or pollute you baby by NOT eating junk. I’ve heard this sort of nonsense pop up before. It’s bunk.

    HOWEVER, flushing is not good. Flushes always involve some sort of poisoning of the body with massive amounts of salts or other ingredients that the body violently rejects and expels. That’s the point of a flush, to empty out. Whether it’s enjoyable or not, it’s not normal or natural for the body and I wouldn’t do it while pregnant.

  • Just wanted to clarify my answer after Alix’s! I agree whole-heartedly that of course the best thing you can do is eat a healthy diet full of fresh foods. It doesn’t make sense that you should eat crap when pregnant. If you are already raw, fantastic and there is nothing better you can do.

    BUT (and there is a but) transitioning from a “normal” (terrible!) diet to a largely or completely raw one does cause some pretty big detox to happen – I’m sure nobody who has been through it would deny that!! So yes, caution is advised precisely because you are growing a baby from start to finish – just as, in fact, caution would be advised even if you weren’t pregnant… At first glance I agree it sounds stupid “I can’t eat as healthily as I want because I’m pregnant!” but really and truly such a large shift IS likely to be harmful. For example, say you have a mouth full of mercury fillings: your own body is at the moment harbouring (and incidentally, doing YOU harm with) lots and lots of the mercury that it has ingested from those. It ALREADY sends plenty of mercury to the baby (the body thinks it is an an essential nutrient, horrifyingly!!) but if you quickly free up what it is storing elsewhere then it will of course send even more. It’s not just mercury, of course, though that one is quite a biggie.

    So, bottom line: don’t do anything that will stimulate your body to cleanse itself drastically. A healthy (fresh, raw) diet IS the best – we all know that. And if you are already raw, don’t change a thing. But completely implementing such a diet during the crucial development of your child could well do more harm than good BECAUSE and only because of the detox it causes. It truly could be very dangerous to the baby. Of course eat plenty of fresh stuff, of course limit the things you know are just junk. You need good nutrition!! That much is obvious.

  • So it seems from what you’ve all said that it might be ok to start eating a raw or mostly raw diet as long as I transition very slowly to avoid any sort of intense detox?
    My diet right now is not horrible, and I dont have any metallic fillings luckily. But yeah I’ll definatelly not be doing the liver cleanse.
    Another thing I’d like to know is if there are any safe sorts of iron supplements. I did a little research on iron pills and have found information to suggest that your body cant assimilate them very well for some reason, and that the iron will stay in your blood and cause toxicity. I’m already anemic and would expect that to get worse if I am pregnant, so I’d like to find something to help with that.

  • alpdesignsalpdesigns Raw Newbie

    Eat more seeds. Pumpkin, chia and sesame are all high in iron content, pumpkin seeds topping the list. Those are all high in magnesium and calcium as well.

  • Fleshmechanic if you’re looking for a good source of iron I’d suggest the usual spinach (yes.. popeye had a good thing going) but there’s another raw treat that is also high in iron and other necessary nutrients, especially folic acid, which a growing baby needs: Dates. I live in the Middle East and they are always available when I was pregnant I was advised to eat as much as 30 dates a day by the doctors here. I think that a good vegan/raw diet is the best thing you can do for your baby long before it’s ever born. My daughter is now 4 months old, she’s never even had a runny nose and when she got her first vaccines she didn’t even run a fever like they were telling me she would. She’s been formula-fed since she was born because I couldn’t produce brestmilk but I was about 75-80% raw during my pregnancy and she now enjoys some raw fruits and veggies. Hope this helps!! Good Luck! K-Mom

  • deborahanndeborahann Raw Newbie

    From Norman Walker : Juices for Anemia
    10 oz carrot / 6 oz spinach
    9 oz carrot / 7 oz fennel
    7 oz carrot / 4 oz celery / 2 oz parsley /3 oz spinach
    8 oz carrot / 3 oz beet / 5 oz celery
    10 oz carrot / 3 oz beet / 3 oz cuke
    8 oz carrot / 4 oz radish / 4 oz lettuce
    Use tops and roots of radish and beets. Oz refers to juice amt, not produce weight.
    Hope this helps!

  • juicing recipes and dates, yes!!!
    you guys are awesome

  • Let us know if you are/aren’t pregnant, won’t you! If you are pregnant, bear in mind you may still get a negative test (just in case you were thinking “negative = instant liver cleanse”!). With my second baby I got 7 negatives before a very faint positive (I just knew I was, so stubbornly kept testing). So the only way to be sure you’re not is if your period arrives…

    I’ve found a good way to slowly implement raw stuff is to have a pure fruit breakfast and try to avoid cooked stuff until at least lunchtime or later. I’m also trying to do some experimenting with raw recipes and introducing them to my family. Just getting a hold of the idea, really.

    I’ve also been drinking green smoothies (and my 5-year-old does too sometimes, hurrah!). That would be a great way for you to get plenty of iron, as well – anything dark green and leafy is usually chock full of iron and blending it is supposed to be the best way to help with the absorption of every bit of goodness in there. If you are anaemic it might not be that you actually don’t eat enough iron but that your body struggles to assimilate it as well as it should. Blending greens should really help with this because it breaks down the cell walls to get the good stuff out, which humans don’t tend to be able to do just by eating the stuff normally (as a salad for example).

    My favourite is mango and spinach. One mango, enormous handfuls of spinach – or kale goes well too – and enough liquid (water, or fresh juice) to keep it moving around and at the thickness you want.

    All the best either way! If you’re definitely not, then go crazy and prepare the way for when you are…

  • Yep, its for sure, I’m pregnant!

    I think I’m in shock. I mean I had a feeling I was but it doesnt feel real. hahaha.

  • So by the way… what do I do now?

  • Congrats, how exciting!
    As I’ve never been pregnant, I don’t know what to say, but CONGRATS!!

  • Congratulations FleshMechanic!! Wow I’m so excited for you.. you are in for 9 (or 10) months of new experiences and ALOT of learning! IMO the first thing you have to do is to think about how you want to be cared for during your pregnancy? Do you want a doctor or a midwife? Do you want a more western-style care or natural/holistic? And what will your insurance pay for? Most insurances don’t pay for midwives or natural care.. so if you choose anything but a western doctor you may end up paying for it yourself (but I think that it’s worth every penny)

    You are also doing a GREAT thing for your little one by raw foods. Make sure you eat a balanced diet (I noticed you mentioned your not 100% raw) if you can incorporate more raw foods in slowly it’s all for the best!

    Watch out for early pregnancy woes: morning sickness, headaches, fatigue, MAJORLY having to pee every 30 minutes (he he I’ll never miss that one), and just a general feeling of akwardness. It’s crazy but it’s undescribable how being pregnant feels! Again I’m so happy for you!

    Spiritedmama and a few others here are midwives (including myself) and have TONS of experience and info if you need it. Don’t hesitate to ask!

    If you’d like to contact me (other than posting to Gone Raw) you can email/yahoo messenger me at: jhoshsamo@yahoo.com

    Take it easy and enjoy this time! Best of wishes! K-Mom

  • Honestly, I really cant even tell you what it means to me to hear such supporting words from all of you.
    I guess I’ve got some things to figure out. I dont have health insurance so I’m not really sure if my options will be great, but I’d really like to avoid the typical medical pregnancy experience as much as possible. I was just reading a womans blog on the internet about dealing with doctors during a vegan pregnancy. She was in a similar financial situtation to me and the program she went through to help her pay for her medical costs wouldn’t even allow her to have the same doctor throughout her appointments, it was a new one every time. She even had one doctor refuse to ever see her again, and accuse her of wanting to harm her baby because she refused to eat meat/dairy.

  • By the way, I’d guess I’m about 4 weeks, having lots of cramps, extremely constipated, and I might be imagining this but I think my stomach is already looking bigger/rounder. And my husband is thrilled!!! he’s gonna be a good dad.

  • congratulations fleshmechanic! Another thing to remember is to feed your baby raw food! (of course still give the baby breast milk) Nothing’s better than a kid who eats raw :)

  • Oh I’m so thrilled for you!!! CONGRATULATIONS! Ride of your life coming up…

    And I wish that I had had the knowledge the first two times and the courage this time to decide against a “medicalised” pregnancy. Whatever you decide about this, my biggest suggestion is that you use the internet like the fantastic resource it is and read everything you possibly can about pregnancy and childbirth. That way you are really informed and can make a proper decision about the care you want without feeling vulnerable or pushed into doing things you see no reason to do. Anyway, the book I highly recommend you read before you decide anything is Ina May Gaskin’s “Guide to Childbirth”. I wish I’d read this before my first two babies. Whether you go the medical route or not, this will give you the confidence in your own body to bear a child that so many women these days lack because of being bullied into thinking that a normal pregnancy is a medical condition, like a disease that needs “treatment”. Please read this book!! It’ll be in the library if you don’t want to buy it.

    In theory of course, a healthy woman with a healthy husband should have no problem in having a healthy pregnancy, a problem-free delivery and a healthy child – all with no interference whatsoever. There are lots of tests and treatments you will be told you should have done (especially if you live in the States) and whilst the majority of these are not in fact compulsory, most of them are “the done thing” and as you rightly say, given that you are already vegan you need to tread carefully here so as not to be branded at best a hippy lunatic or at worst a danger to your child. I certainly wouldn’t mention raw food, for example!

    If you opt for the standard (medical) care, assuming your insurance was fine, then basically at first not a lot happens I think. In most places sadly it seems to be the norm that you would see somebody different every time – in the UK I saw any one of a group of three midwives, none of whom were going to be present at the birth (?!) and here in Holland I see one of a group of four, one of whom will be at the birth but of course there is no way of knowing which one, I just hope it’s one of the two that I’ve seen often enough to be able to recognise if I saw them in the street! Anyway: you’ll be given a load of stuff to read, mostly about what to eat (plenty of meat, fish and dairy) and what not to eat (plenty of meat, fish and dairy on this list too – don’t know why they don’t catch on!!). Early scans (4-7 weeks) seem to be more and more common in the US but there’s no medical reason to do this – it is literally “just to check”. In many countries now you’ll be offered scans at 12 weeks (“dating” scan to “check” your due date) and also at 20 weeks (“anomaly” scan). At various points in your pregnancy they will also want to take blood. This checks: your blood group and whether you are rhesus negative – good thing to know, does have implications for baby if you are and the father is not); full blood count to check haemoglobin levels (anaemia), platelets, and elevated white blood cell levels (infection); and various diseases including Hep B, syphilis and HIV usually. They might also check your immunity to rubella (this is one that for me falls definitely into the “pointless” category since you can’t do anything about it if you aren’t immune, except avoid people with rubella). In some countries they still do regular urine testing to check for sugar (gestational diabetes), protein (pre-eclampsia later on), and blood cells (UTIs). You’ll also have your blood pressure taken every time (pre-eclampsia). As you get further on you’ll be seen more often – every week at the end – and they will generally feel and maybe measure your abdomen, and listen to the baby’s heartbeat with a handheld ultrasound device (from 16 weeks pregnant), talk about your birth options, etc.

    There are many “pregnancy” things you will experience and many things that you probably expect to experience that you actually might not. I had awful morning sickness with my first two and none at all with this one – every woman is different and every pregnancy is different too! Oh, and it’s very usual to be a little rounder this early but I’m afraid you already mentioned the probable cause: constipation!! ;-) Or fluid retention is the other likely culprit… Ah, the glamour of child-bearing!

    Again, congratulations!

  • TomsMomTomsMom Raw Newbie

    Congratulations, sweetie!

  • Thanks so much for all the advice. and ex-pat Katie, I already wrote down the title of that book and I’ll definatelly read it. It’s really good to hear a bit of a rundown on what to expect at the doctors. I’ve always been a little terrified of doctors for some reason. besides all they do is prescribe you medicine for stuff, which im not willing to take so whats the point, hehehe.

    My husband told his family over the phone last night and they sounded really happy! He just called his dad and said, “hey grandpa…”. It took his dad almost a minute before the realization hit him and then he flipped and started telling us stories about when Ryan was a baby and how to burp babies and such. and when he told his mom, I’m pretty sure she actually got up and started dancing around the room! It was pretty awesome!
    Anyways, one side of the family down, and the harder half to go. I think I’ll take my time telling my parents though, I’m not quite ready for them to make me feel bad about such a good thing.

  • LOL! You sound very like me, actually. I’m only bolshy on the INside! I can’t stand up to doctors either, that’s why I’d rather steer clear of them altogether.

    Your husband’s family sound great! I notice your age from the nosey-poke “how old are you post” – is that why you think your side of the family might be a little difficult about it? Just wondering – my sister is 23 and gets fairly negative reactions from people if she mentions her and her husband planning to have children imminently. Not from our parents though luckily – I had my first when I was 20 and in fact we didn’t dare tell anyone (we weren’t married yet; so we did that, had the baby a few days later and THEN told them!). I’ve paved the way somewhat. But it does seem that everyone thinks you’re wasting your youth or throwing your life away, or are too young to know what you’re doing, or something. And it sucks! So if that’s the reason for your concern then as a fellow young mother you have my every sympathy…

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    FleshMechanic – Congratulations! Here is some info. about anemia:

    There is something in sesame seeds that combats anemia. It was called vitamin T in the book I have, not sure if it is called something different now.

    Other raw vegan food sources of iron include:
    kelp
    dulse
    figs
    whole wheat & rye
    lentils (which you can sprout & put in a salad)

  • Look at this you guys this is crazy!

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    Wow!
    I just thought of something I used to eat:
    a bowlful of sprouted lentils with olive oil, avocado (cubed), sea salt & dulse. I probably needed iron – I used to crave it all the time, even though the flavor was a little strange!

  • that actually sounds really good. I eat avacados everyday, I love them.

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