Salt C & Herx

hi folks - lemme preface this by saying that I am herxing - and when I herx, I get into a negative and doubting mindset.

I am having severe GI pain, near the spleen, and my left leg is in agony... i also am getting the same "washed out" feeling that I used to get from doing too many enemas and colonics, like I've just nuked all my good intestinal flora....

I'm afraid the salt/c does something very harsh to the GI tract. Recently, I found this post on a Braintalk board that really added to my fears...>>>"]"This recommendation of high dose salt, high dose vit C is what used to be called a "salt purge" to clean the bowels. It's been around since the 70's.

It did it about 20 years ago (well before I knew my problem was really Lyme). I was under the care of a well know Alternative Dr. in British Columbia at the time.

There is a protocol (you just don't ingest all the C and salt at the same time - it's a 3 day purge.).. and it involves drinking gallons of water.

If it's done correctly, you will shed everything in your intestinal tract - yep - it'll remove everything, including all the micro flora... which means you have to repopulate it by eating carfully for a while after.
That much salt really can upset your entire system - so if you try this -
talk to a good alternative Dr. familiar with the practice before you do it.

If done incorrectly you could actually shed the entire moucous lining in the intestinal tract (like what happens in severe cases of Salmonella) and then the recovery period will be several months.

It's not going to cure Lyme though.
It didn't in me anyway[/I]."
to make matters worse, I got this email today from a friend with Lyme:>>"Hi Aleta,

Asked my Lyme doctor yesterday about this protocal (she means the salt/c).

He thinks it's very dangerous. He has seen many people do it and say that they feel like they
are going to die. And he thinks that it is not just a Herx, but that they
actually were dying. He said that there is a chemical reaction as a result of the combo (can't remember the term but will ask him next time).

Hope it continues working for you. He's advised me not to do it.

He's one of the best in the business. Was a Lyme researcher at Yale
originally, so he knows his stuff.

Anyways, be careful."

oh dear oh dear. and you have to temper this by remembering that there have been just an incredible amount of success stories on the LS board recently... I should post all this there - and maybe I will later, just to get some feedback, but don't want to be accused of sabotaging the protocol or upsetting the newbies.

oh dear. should i just ignore the negatives and go on a leap of faith? some of my GI symptoms today include a little bleeding from the bowel (although, please note, I have had that symptom many times way before I took the salt/c)...

should i keep going? its so hard to know - if I stopped the salt/c, the next step would be what? antibiotics? oh dear.... (as you can all see, this is bad herx).

grateful for any thoughts/advice...

A.


hi aleta,

unfortunately i can relate to that 'dying' thing. i've been on a little hiatus from the salt c...

was just thinking, lactobacilli thrive on raw kraut, which is vitamin C rich and salted. which makes me think that salt-c itself probably doesn't nuke the good guys (?) though the metal release prob. does. i am inclined to agree with b about the value of using binders. also, maybe more/better probios would help? and enzymes for the intestinal pain? this was recommended to me by a gastro guy when i was doubled over, and check for undetected food sensitivities...

(sorry if this is old news)

interesting about the 'chem. reaction' theory. i have wondered this myself. still have a good feeling about it tho. i will probably pick it up again in the fall, maybe splashes here and there, as i try to cleanse and find something to bind the toxins..

good luck,


hey aleta

yea, i am very dissapointed that LS does NOT WANT TO discuss pitfalls and dangers of this protocol. I find it just onkers and rarely post as a result.

So, I am more than a 100% sure that c-salt molizes metals. I get the same leg pain as with cilantro and other chelators. I think that it can e moilizing too many metals and toxins for some of us to handle...

When you molize metals, the candida skyrockets, at least that is my experience.

I do think inders can help ut yes, there is real potential side effects t o this protocol, and even some eyond the metal.

anyway, i think we need to think of ways of dealing with toxin release and eing smart with side effects. it is too ad we cant talk aout it on ls :-(

tak care



Hi Aleta and b,

Are you saying discussion of pitfalls on LS are censored? I think it would only benefit. We learn so much here. Just think what would happen if no one posted the other side of the coin. I'm thankful for the warnings and really wish I would have remembered the one warning Tom posted in particular about the Indian Herb. I'm thinking about it because I came across a picture of what it did to my leg. It looked like a severe caustic burn. I can hardly believe how out of control it got. The area was so large. Thankfully, today it looks 100 times better even with the scar.

Hmmm, guess I got to rambling.

Yea, the folks there just want to say that c-salt works and anything that does not toe the party line is discouraged. In part it was a reaction to this one woman who was very snotty and authoritative who claimed YOU MUST DO X Y and Z or else the protocol would not work. That was not all so helpful of course ut it left a lot of folks not wanting to discuss things like metals.

We can do it here and I do plan on staying on this protocol and dealing with the metal issue!!