Anyone ever try a colon cleanse...I mean those 16 day ones? Do they work?

In my experience with them, they are not good and I don't believe they are that healthy. They are very harsh and left me seriously depleted and quite ill feeling. Took me awhile to recover from the bad effects. I would concentrate on an impeccably healthy diet with fruit, veggies, lean meats, whole grains, and dairy, exercise, and a good supplement regimen. Just my opinion based on experience. Quote: "Sometimes the best medicine is a change in lifestyle" from What Color is Your Retirement Parachute.

I agree that they are not beneficial in any way. You would do better to simply take a laxative of magnesium citrate if you wish to "clean" yourself out.

If you are looking for a more holisitic approach, I highly recommend colon hydrotherapy. It is a very helpful and natural way to stimulate bowel activity for people with consiptation. I wouldn't do it just for "kicks", but if you are having c problems, it's an excellent treatment therapy.

Hmm! What is colon hydrotherapy? I never heard of it before.

We can't provide links here so I would suggest you google it. In a nutshell, it's what my grandma used to call a "high colonic" or a more effective and thorough enema than what one can do on their own. Usually it is done in a clinic (naturopathic) by licensed technicians. It is a very gentle flow of water that is able to reach quite high up into the colon, removing blocked and impacted fecal matter and stimulating peristalsis. The waste is evacuated through a tube and into a machine where you can "view" what has been troubling you. The therapist will also massage your belly, helping to "unstick" whatever resists the water flow. After taking this treatment for months, I learned how to do the massage on myself and it may be the single most significant technique I have in my arsenal of relieving pain and C. I never felt better than I did during those months of this treatment.

I am looking into the colon hydrotherapy myself...how many sessions and how many days between sessions did you use? Thanks!

I am looking into the colon hydrotherapy myself...how many sessions and how many days between sessions did you use? Thanks!

I had a colon impaction so I went twice a week for the first month. It took a bit of time to get things "started", so to speak! But once things got moving, it was amazing to behold. I continued the treatment once a week for two more months, and then once every three weeks for another 4 months. It probably wasn't necessary to continue that long but I felt SO GOOD I didn't want to stop!

BTW: If you can get a referral from your primary care doc, you might be able to get the treatments covered by insurance.