Detox Question

[katie92]

About every 2 months my Mum gives me a detox to clean me out inside. The first day I have to drink loads of water and this stuff called fibrogel which is OK but makes me feel really full up. The next morning I have to drink castor oil to make it go through me and empty me out and another drink to stop me getting dehidrated. The castor oil is gross. My Mum has a book that tells you how much you have to drink by how old you are and what you weigh. I am 15 and 7½ stone so I have to have 90ml. If you’ve been constipated you have to have more and I try to go to the toilet every day but sometimes my Mum says I haven’t done well enough and I have to have extra. It gives me stomoch aches and makes me go to the toilet lots but when it is finished I feel empty and really good.

I want to do the detox because it is good for me and it makes me feel good but I hate the castor oil. It tastes so bad and is so hard to drink and makes me feel sick but I try to drink it all if I can. If I don’t have it all I have to have another lot later in the day and sometimes the next day too.

Last time I decided to make myself drink it all and I managed to but then my Mum said she thought I should 30ml have more and I made myself drink that too. That is the most I’ve ever had and it gave me worse stomach aches and I could hardly leave the toilet for about 4 hours. After it was finished I felt good inside and really empty.

What I would like to know is is there something else I can take that would work as well as castor oil but doesn’t taste so bad. My Mum said it is the best thing for detox but it is so hard to drink. Can anyone tell me something else that would work.

I have to do the next detox after Christmas and I am trying very hard to go to the toilet every day so I don’t have to have extra this time but it would be so much better if I could take something less gross than castor oil, but it has to work as well. Can anyone help?

[Guest]

Castor oil is used much more in the USA than the UK, but a good dose of it is a very effective way of completely clearing out your system. Try mixing it with orange juice or using a straw to make it easier to take. You could try senna which will clear you out OK, but is not as effective as castor oil.

[MJP]

I was bought up on a weekly dose of castor oil so you are getting off lightly. Take you're medicine and don't moan. It is doing you good.

[Katie92]

I know it is good for me but I still hate having castor oil. I am doing a detox this weekend and I've got to have extra again because I got constipated at Christmas. Doesn't anyone know anything that tastes better and works as well.

[Katie92]

My Mum has bought a bowel preparation kit that people use before an xray and I'm going to do an extra detox to try it out this weekend. I have to have a sachet of something called picolax at lunchtime on Saturday and another one at tea time and 4 dulcolax tablets when I go to bed and a suppository in the morning.

If anyone here has used one of these kits can they tell me what it was like, but it can't taste as bad as castor oil.

[Guest]

You are taking a bowel prep by choice??? Rather you than me. I had to follow one for a hospital test last year and this is what you can expect.

A couple of hours after drinking the first lot of Picolax you'll startgoing to the toilet - repeated trips. These will still be going on when you take the second lot 4 hours later - and you won't want to have it. Dulcolax is a strong laxative. One tablet deals with constipation. Two gives stomach cramps and lots of time on the toilet. You can imagine what four will do to an already loose bowel, especially as you are young and light. You will have a few hours rest then the dulcolax will kick in with bad stomach cramps and soon you'll be on the toilet. You won't want be able to leave the bathroom for some time. Then you have to try an hold the suppository for 20 minutes, when you're dying to go to the loo and you'll keep going for several more hours, even though you feel there's notihng more to come.

You probably won't take the whole prep but if you do don't expect a very enjoyable 24 hours.

[Guest_med]

Unless I am missing something here, like you have had a proper doctor's diagnosis of a problem, STOP TAKING LAXATIVES. It will damage you in the long term. Your mother may be trying to help, but she is harming you. Many people don't have bowel movements every day, some only once or twice a week.
It is important that you STOP TAKING SELF-PRESCRIBED MEDICATION and make sure you are eating a good, high fiber diet. If you still have problems on a healthy mixed diet after two or three weeks (especially if you have acute discomfort), SEE YOUR DOCTOR because there may just be something wrong with you that urgently needs fixing.

[castoroil]

I take the occasional complete clean out-it isn't detoxing-whatever that means. How did the picolax go?-I believe it is pretty awful. Castor oil has a long tradition and may have benefits other than just the purge if one believes the published info. I just had a large dose with great effect and feel great.To make it easier to take I mix it in Movicol (a PEG laxative available at your pharmacy-no it doesn't add to effect).Much less gross than with orange juice.
Not sure effect is better than a very strong dose of senna(say 12 senokot) but I am happy to take CO every few months. What was this book your mother had with the suggested doses?

[Katie92]

The picolax was bad. The dulcolax was bad and I hated the suppository.
My Mum is going to buy some Movicol to have with castor oil next time.

[Bobin]

The picolax was bad. The dulcolax was bad and I hated the suppository.
My Mum is going to buy some Movicol to have with castor oil next time.

A few posts up guest_med gave some excellent advice. You may want to take a look at it.

If you eat a proper diet, you don't need to detox. Your body needs about 25-30 grams of fiber a day half soluble fiber / half insoluble fiber.

[Katie92]

I have a good diet and I haven't been constipated since christmas. My Mum says the detox is healthy and its good to clear me out. I still hate the castor oil but it makes me feel good when its finished. My Mum has bought Movicol to have with it next time. How much should I mix with the castor oil

[Guest_med]

Your mother has no medical background. She is wrong. 'Clearing you out' does no good and can do you harm. Do not take laxatives!

[Katie92]

I did the detox yesterday and I feel really good now. The Movicol didn't make the castor oil any easier to drink but my Mum sat with me until I'd had it all. I've found lots of stuff on the web about detox and I think my Mum is right that it does me good. I just hate the castor oil!

[Guest]

A laxative every 2 months won't do you any harm and I agree that an occcasional complete clear out is a good thing to do. I've tried various things and castor oil works best, but now I use enemas.

[katie92]

What are enemas like. how do you do it. Is it better than castor oil.