Richard_D
04-10-2003, 11:33 AM
Hi everybody. My name is Rick, and I feel confident that I'll enjoy participating in the group. I'm an American, but currently I live in Taiwan, where I teach English to children of various ages.
I'm not sure when I first became aware of fasting as an alternative to Western medicine, but I remember being intrigued from the start, and have been intending to do it at some point.
Not knowing much about it, I had assumed that I'd have to be independently wealthy in order to have several weeks to do nothing but languish in an easy chair while passing the foodless days, and their aftermath.
A friend of mine went to a retreat in Thailand last year for a fast, and told me that, far from feeling low and tired, the whole time she was very energetic and active (not athletically active, but taking walks and doing normal physical activity). Once I heard that, I figured it was okay to start asap.
So I did some research, but it's actually kind of surprising how little information you can find on fasting unless you're in a position to buy books that may be out of print (hard to do from here). Most of what I've read was written upwards of 60 years ago, and while it's fascinating, it's still not a reassuring body of knowledge to work with.
Quite by accident I was referred to this site on another forum. And so, here am I.
My overall health is actually quite good, but as with many people with a decently robust physiology, I've allowed myself to abuse my body rather carelessly, and I don't refer only to bad eating habits, although I've certainly done that.
On the day after my 23rd birthday, I woke up with a very different sort of sore throat than I'd had before. 4 lymph nodes in my throat were swollen and painful. I was familiar enough with that phenomenon, but this time the swelling didn't go away--it still hasn't. 2 of them eventually hardened into knots that feel like marbles in my neck, and over the years the swelling has spread to my salivary glands, and to the nodes right behind my ears.
Doctors' responses to my inquiries about this have ranged from scoffs, claims that it's perfectly normal, all the way to suggesting that I was simply imagining it. Since you have to dig a little bit to get to the hard ones, I couldn't even persuade any of them to actually feel one and judge for themselves. I sure love doctors, sometimes.
Aside from that, my health is, as I've mentioned, good enough that I don't complain so much. I almost never get sick, but I do have allergies that I've learned to ignore, general lack of mental energy, and a heart valve irregularity called Mitralvalve prolapse (which can sometimes cause very mild pains and palpitations, but doesn't bother me so much).
The nodes bug me. Also there's a history of unexpected, fatal heart attacks in my mother's side of the family that causes me no small discomfort. I realize that a single cleanse is unlikely to reverse any of my current afflictions, but it's got to be a great starting point, and I'm ready to get started.
I look forward to interacting with you all.
Health,
Rick
I'm not sure when I first became aware of fasting as an alternative to Western medicine, but I remember being intrigued from the start, and have been intending to do it at some point.
Not knowing much about it, I had assumed that I'd have to be independently wealthy in order to have several weeks to do nothing but languish in an easy chair while passing the foodless days, and their aftermath.
A friend of mine went to a retreat in Thailand last year for a fast, and told me that, far from feeling low and tired, the whole time she was very energetic and active (not athletically active, but taking walks and doing normal physical activity). Once I heard that, I figured it was okay to start asap.
So I did some research, but it's actually kind of surprising how little information you can find on fasting unless you're in a position to buy books that may be out of print (hard to do from here). Most of what I've read was written upwards of 60 years ago, and while it's fascinating, it's still not a reassuring body of knowledge to work with.
Quite by accident I was referred to this site on another forum. And so, here am I.
My overall health is actually quite good, but as with many people with a decently robust physiology, I've allowed myself to abuse my body rather carelessly, and I don't refer only to bad eating habits, although I've certainly done that.
On the day after my 23rd birthday, I woke up with a very different sort of sore throat than I'd had before. 4 lymph nodes in my throat were swollen and painful. I was familiar enough with that phenomenon, but this time the swelling didn't go away--it still hasn't. 2 of them eventually hardened into knots that feel like marbles in my neck, and over the years the swelling has spread to my salivary glands, and to the nodes right behind my ears.
Doctors' responses to my inquiries about this have ranged from scoffs, claims that it's perfectly normal, all the way to suggesting that I was simply imagining it. Since you have to dig a little bit to get to the hard ones, I couldn't even persuade any of them to actually feel one and judge for themselves. I sure love doctors, sometimes.
Aside from that, my health is, as I've mentioned, good enough that I don't complain so much. I almost never get sick, but I do have allergies that I've learned to ignore, general lack of mental energy, and a heart valve irregularity called Mitralvalve prolapse (which can sometimes cause very mild pains and palpitations, but doesn't bother me so much).
The nodes bug me. Also there's a history of unexpected, fatal heart attacks in my mother's side of the family that causes me no small discomfort. I realize that a single cleanse is unlikely to reverse any of my current afflictions, but it's got to be a great starting point, and I'm ready to get started.
I look forward to interacting with you all.
Health,
Rick