I cant stand it anymore...

[Fuzz]

::EDIT:: I should mention that I have IBS and a bit of Crohn's. I'm only doing this to try and fix my problem, see: "Self Healing Colitis and Crohns".

I started doing this fruit and vegetables thing about a week ago. Around the start I had one VERY normal bowel movement, but thats the last time. Now, every day, its just watery, incredibly loose diarrhea. Thats it. I have school coming up, and it just won't stop. Its bad enough that the food is terribly unsatisfying, I'm in severe depression, and all I do all day is just wake up, unable to do anything all day, eat food I can barely stand, then have diarrhea. How is it I'm doing worse on this new diet? I know about detox, but this doesn't seem right. When everyone else talks about detox, they mention almost everything BUT diarrhea. Whenever they do mention diarrhea, they just refer to one day where the juice makes them go...but this is going on a whole week.

I don't know what to do, I can't get any support, any answers, and I feel so alone in this. My depression is spiraling out of control.

Oh and today, I woke up, ate an apple and banana, then later got painful cramps and bad diarrhea. I'm considering just giving up, I'm pretty sure I was doing better eating other foods.

[Fuzz]

Well now I feel like garbage. Seeing as how my family cant help right now, and I have a Dr's appointment is coming up, that whole week was for nothing. Because now I've given up on the diet till march. The Dr's appointment requires me to not eat fruits or vegetables, and the only thing the fruits and vegetables are doing for me right now is giving me horrible diarrhea. So I'm back to eating my regular foods till March. Its ironic, this diet was supposed to make me feel better then ever before, but its actually made me feel worse then I ever have in my whole life.

[jroo]

I'm so sorry to hear about your struggles. I have friends with Crohns and wouldn't wish it on anyone. One (non-raw) resource you may want to look into is "Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet" by Elaine Gloria Gottschall. My aunt found it to be a very powerful book.

If you don't like the food you've been eating, then possibly the raw diet is not for you at this time - or you should try a different variant of the diet. You didn't mention if you were a meat eater before raw foods, but I think that unless you are already a vegetarian with vegan tendencies, it can be hard to transition cold turkey. I've been a vegetarian for seven years, and I've noticed a gradual change in that time regarding what I consider delicious and filling. I used to go to a buffet and say "Cool, extra helpings of honey baked ham!". After a year vegetarian, I noticed I would say, "Hey, look at that Okra and those sauteed veggies!"

If you do want to give raw foods another go, you might want to try an 'adding instead of subtracting' approach. You could have 1 quart green smoothie every morning and once a week try a gourmet raw recipe (not a salad or plain vegetables, since they don't seem to appeal to you.) Nearly any raw book will have recipes, but you may want to try Matt Amsden or Ani Phyo, since their books deal with presentation and some of the recipes are intended to remind you of their non-raw counterparts.

I hope you find an answer to your health issues. No matter what diet you choose, I'm sure everyone in this forum would love to offer whatever support we can.

[Fuzz]

Thanks Jroo.

I haven't given up, I've just decided to be far less strict for the time being. I rushed into the diet entirely unprepared. So, Im going to have my chicken, and some sauces, but Instead of rice or noodles, I'll eat them in a salad with carrots, and maybe some fruits. I had to stop for now because it was making me detox like I myself was a juicer. I mean I'd eat an apple, and be in the bathroom like some kind of water rocket, and thats just unacceptable for the time being.

I was thinking theres some approaches I might be able to take.

1. Detox fully at the start, then eat sensibly but not strictly raw. And then detox again at the start of every month. That should keep things under control perhaps?

2. Eat raw one day, then not raw the next. And cycle through like that.

3. Start eating raw when bowel symptoms show up.

I just don't think I can eat raw foods strictly for the rest of my life. I can't stand them. Apples are good, entirely non filling, and make me run to the bathroom. I'll see how adding vegetables and fruits regularly to my diet might help, even while eating non raw foods. I would think that toxic matter builds up over time, and while in conjunction with fruits and vegetables, it should never get the chance to set up camp right?

I'm scheduled camera pill endoscopy next week. Its where I swallow a pill and it takes pictures all the way through. I'm praying to god my answer is simpler then it really is, but I doubt it. I would love for them to say, "OH ALL ALONG IT WAS JUST THIS!" "Here take this you'll be fine"...but I don't see that happening.

[jroo]

Have you considered a colon cleanse or regular enemas? I haven't tried either myself, but I've heard good things.

[Fuzz]

Haha, I've had to give myself a total of two enemas so far in my life, I don't intend on taking any more. Besides, those things will screw you up, especially if you use them often.

It'd be like making yourself throw up every day, you know thats going to cause some serious issues.

And actually yes, I have considered colon cleanse, but I've never gotten any. I've seen alot of lame, cut and copy infomercial type websites advertising their revolutionary colon cleanses, but I've come to the conclusion that every product is bull crap. Especially when you see those pictures of misshapen alien poo's that they dislodged from their colons. It ranges from a yellow-ish orange poo', to a slimy looking piece of an organ, and I just don't believe it.

I'm not to sure what the difference between detox and colon cleansing is.

I have to go to school in an hour or two. I keep getting this twinge down in that there area, that makes me feel like a very unappealing loose bowel movement may be in my future, but I can never tell. The worst thing is that its unpredictable.

[Double Helix]

If you find that apples are causing problems, eliminate them for the time being and reintroduce them later.

The thing you don't want to do is completely abondon eating any raw food whatsover, because then you'll be moving in the wrong direction and it could take longer to heal.

It will take some time to heal your colon, so try to be patient with your results. You may have to try adding fresh fruit and vegetables to every cooked meal gradually instead of going 100%.

Everybody does it in their own time. Try to remember, that it's not the food, it's your body reacting to the food. And one day you will have a healthy colon, you just have to keep working at it.

You will heal from this. Maybe not today, next week or next month, but it WILL happen if you keep working at it. Rome was not built in one day. Don't give up and stay strong!

[Fuzz]

What do you guys think it should be like for someone without colitis?

My bowel or colon isn't destroyed or ruptured with inflammation and ulcers, so is there some phase of the raw diet I can skip? Right now I just ate a WHOLE lot of chinese food after an entire day of not eating...I'm sure im going to pay for that, but Its rare that I get to eat this stuff, so I try to enjoy it and work on it a little bit later. I'm not throwing out fruits or vegetables.

I kind of like apples a bit more now, same with salads. I just wish some professional could come in my home, make a whole bunch of dips, sauces, and foods, and let me experiment.

Oh man, I used this crappy blender to make a fruit/vegitable drink, and it was horrible. Old celery, apples, carrots, strawberrys...its not good. I went through a ton of stuff and barely got any juice, so were going to order a new juicer.

So I guess I'll lay off apples and orange juice, they do seem to be giving me issues.

Oh! I have a question. If I go through the motions, and clear out all the toxins in my body, let my body get strong...Is the disease gone? Or will it pop right back up the day I eat a non fruit and vegetable? So, if I got healed, would it come back? Or is this literally just a very good, slow treatment?

[healthyme]

Unfortunately that condition is always going to be a part of your life. You can go for long periods without flareups though. Stress is a huge factor as well as some foods. Have you tried adding any enzyme supplements? They should help with the breakdown of food prior to reaching your colon to help get more nutrition out of the food itself which should help down the road. (No pun intended, well, maybe) I have a sensitive system and I have somewhat of a leaky gut syndrome at times but I have found by eliminating processed foods that has been a huge help with gas, bloating, explosive eliminations. Take your time, find a good naturopathic doctor in your area to assist you first hand. I did and what a difference. Take care.