November 08, 2002 | 1:26 PM

Ach!!! Day 4 of the cleanse and I am having a healing crisis. I�m at work, so you know, no fun at all.

I have the chills and my hands just broke out into a rash. My face is really flushed too and I have a headache.

I�ll spare you, gentle reader, the rest of my symptoms�except to tell you that on this, my second cleanse, I am definitely getting a fuck load of massively toxic material out of my body. And am letting go of even more diseased and toxic psychology.

All hail alternative medicine!

I just wish I wasn�t here right now, but rather at home on my couch covered in my grandma�s afghan, watching Felicity on DVD and sipping Yogi tea.

Anyway, thought I�d give you all some more info on healing crises as I think it�s pretty interesting and worthwhile. Feel free to draw your own metaphors from this.

The Road To Better Health May Begin With a Healing Crisis

As you move toward better health with natural healing programs and better nutrition, healing begins to occur. As part of the healing process the body will begin to discard toxic residues which have built up in your body over the years. During the initial phase of healing, as your body begins to detoxify and your vital energy begins to repair and rebuild internal organs, you may experience headache, uneasiness, flu like symptoms and fatigue. It is important that you adequately rest during this time. These symptoms will pass as your body begins to normalize to a new level of health. As you continue to improve, you may begin a process called retracing. You may feel worse before you feel better. For example, if you used to get skin rashes, the rashes may reappear or get worse for a period of time as your body eliminates toxins through the skin. You may also experience an initial increase in urination, or you may feel more nervous. In actuality, you are not getting worse, you are actually getting better. Eventually you will reach a plateau of better health. During the healing crisis, it is important to not suppress these temporary symptoms with drugs or the healing process may become interrupted.

Understanding The Healing Crisis

--Ginger Chalford, Ph.D

The body has an inherent desire for perfect health. We have the ability to earn our way back to that state, no matter how "normal" or bad our health is now. But in the meantime, the body must go through an elimination process to achieve good health. The elimination process is often referred to as the "healing crisis." Once the healing crisis starts, reactions may be mild or severe. Expect ups and downs as it takes awhile to get good health back.

In a healing crisis, every body system works together to eliminate waste products and set the stage for regeneration. Old tissues are replaced with new. A disease occurs when the body cannot make it through its natural healing crises for one reason or another. The body is "locked" into a destructive and shut down place, physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

Symptoms of the healing crisis may at first be identical to the disease it is meant to heal. But there is an important difference: elimination. A cleansing, purifying process is underway and stored wastes are in a free-flowing state. The body, mind, and spirit are no longer "locked." Sometimes pain and symptoms during the healing crisis are more intense than that of the chronic disease, but it is temporary and necessary.

The crisis will usually bring about past conditions and personal issues. People often forget the diseases, issues, or injuries they have had in the past, but are usually reminded during the crisis so that they can heal their unfinished business. This arises in whatever order the body is capable of handling at that time.

Physical reactions could include skin eruptions, nausea, headache, sleepiness, unusual fatigue, constipation, diarrhea, head or chest cold, ear infections, boils, or any other way the body uses to loosen and eliminate toxins. An initial healing crisis usually lasts around three days but if the energy of the patient is low, it may last a week or more.

Your body needs water to help carry off the toxins. This is a time for rest. Be kind to yourself --- mentally, emotionally, and of course physically.

One crisis is not always enough for a complete cure. The person in a chronic "locked" disease state will often have to go through cycles of healing crises, with each one improving the condition some. [editor�s note�I think this is definitely happening to me, both psychologically and physically] It has taken time to develop a chronically diseased state, and time is required to let go of the "locked" energy, piece by piece. It's like peeling the layers off an onion.

Often the crisis will come after one feels their very best and most energized, setting the stage for the elimination. The whole body gets into action. Most people feel an energy boost at the beginning until the toxins start dumping into the blood stream for elimination. Go as slowly as your body needs so your elimination is gradual and comfortable.

With a more serious condition, there may be many small crisis to go through before the system can become healthily balanced. Everything must be considered and given its proper place in the build-up to a healing crisis. One should expect it and work with the body, not resentfully against it.

A healing crisis can result from any holistic/natural therapy such as homeopathy, naturopathy, improved diet, etc.

The above quotes are from : here

...It�s like removing a splinter, from one�s hand, to use another analogy. One is able to get along reasonably well with the splinter for some time. Even if it hurts, one can still function. Pulling the splinter out will hurt a little more for a short moment. The short-term discomfort, however, is well worth not having the chronic pain.

-- Excerpted from here