I went on the raw thing about 10 days ago. I have severe Crohn's disease and I made the decision to go off remicade because the stuff causes cancer and was making me susceptible to very bad bronchial infections. So to mitigate the results of going off my meds I went on raw diet, over 90% would be my guess.

At first it was helping greatly. All diarrhea stopped, hemorrhoids shrank, energy returned (was sleeping 16 hours/day and felt horrible when awake.)

Now at about 10 days some of my crohn's symptoms are returning. Diarrhea is back, though not nearly as bad. Some gut pain happening and feeling listless and fatigued again, though in a different way I think. And, getting other weird symptoms too, such as dizziness, especially in the morning. I wake up and feel like I can't walk straight, like the room is at an angle. Never had this ever in my life! I am generally very irritable, restless and can't think straight.

So the only thing I can think is that I started adding more raw sunflower seeds and a few almonds and raisins to my diet about three days ago. Can't think of any other major change.

Overall I'm eating a lot of fruit smoothies, raw carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, spinach, avocados and other veggies. I'm poor so it's not all organic.

Any helps greatly appreciated!

Jim

You could be going through detox. It takes years to recover from a system clogged up. Fruits are very detoxifying as they release stored toxins to the blood, which need to come out. These toxins could make you feel bad

Did you stop all your meds at once? Most folks would advise "weaning" off of them gradually.

Oh yes, I'd say weaning off meds rather than dropping them all entirely, but also a slower transition to different foods. Radical change is upsetting to the system. Slow and easy can be helpful, not only in terms of the body adjusting better but also in terms of creating life-long habits instead of a temporary fad thing you do for just a while then drop because it was too uncomfortable or unfamiliar. Building great habits for life is a pretty terrific way to facilitate dramatic change without the drastic side effects of rapid transition.
Take it easy with yourself .

I should add to this;

I was a "healthy" guy, no meds, no drugs, etc., when I went raw. Even though I had no medical issues I still had severe symptoms (detox, etc.) because I did it just like you are - I went at it 90% or so, cut out all meat & dairy at once, no junk food, everything at once.

So, if it severely affected a healthy guy like me, I can imagine your symptoms would be even more severe considering your Crohn's disease & other possible ailments.


...slow & steady...

jimmyk, If you can't afford some diagnostics stop doing any fruit. With a weakened immune system you probably have yeast infection, parasites etc. Do a search on The Jordan Rubin Story+Chrons or somthing like that it will come up I'm sure. You can read his story online for free. He had the worst yeast infection that the diagnostic center had ever seen. Remember this is not AMA stuff this is a stool sample test done by "Holistic" type people. They used to be called Rocky Mountain Diagnostics but are different now I think. There is also another one if you need the name I can look it up or just do a search. The cheap way is just to assume you have yeast and parasites which I would say 100% you do. Get Jordan's book if you need.

Can you get some Eden sauerkraut for probiotics?

anybody new to raw is going to go through detox syptoms for a while. as in you will feel like you are on chemotherapy even if you have no diseases at all! also, what I notice is that as you incorporated more fat into your diet your bad symptoms started again. This may be connected to the fact that fats are blocking of detoxing, and in general fats are overrated by people as they are very addictive and satiating. you don't need any nuts right now and the only fats I would be taking in right now during your healing phase are maybe a half avocado a day at MOST! but most importantly a half tsp of hemp seeds a day in a green smoothie. and as you mentioned being on the cost efficient side of things flax seeds work as the poor mans hemp seeds. so a half tsp of flax seeds a day AT <MOST will keep your body able to fully heal and detox and through this process you can allow your body to reset. be careful of fat. people will talk about the benefits all day, but no matter what fat slows detox and blocks the body from fully rebuilding and healing from years of toxic cooked food. you got this, you must go through the rough phase to get to the easy phase!!!!
also, i can't tell you enough more greens !!! veggie juices !! green juices !! and green smoothies !! I highly recommend wheatgrass juice, or powder or pills. gotta get those micro nutrients!

jimmyk, follow up? tell us how you are doing? Also I would love to know if you read Jordan Rubins story. It's not very long and is full of info.
In order of priority:
1. Get some original Primal Defense in the powder form!
2. Do some bowel cleansing and wheatgrass implants! don't bother with powered wheatgrass, get fresh!
3. Pesticides kill benificial bacteria so if you can go organic!
4. Limit your fruit intake to just organic berries and or not at all if possible, use colored peppers for vitamin C.
5. Only eat soaked nuts and not to many.
6 Use an immune stimulator and rotate them every two weeks or by the container, RM-10 is great. There is also one called Yings Tea. I have tried both and they work really well.

Really there is so much to say this list dosent even cover a fraction of what you could do. Of coarse remember to do the free things also, exercise, sun, rebounding, laughter etc.

There is another product that is really good for this also, I know people who have used it for this challenge: "Aloe1" frozen aloe juice look it up, call them they are very helpful and will talk to you if you like. Aloe carries more oxygen than any other plant on earth and has many other properties that strengthen the immune system and heal the gut. It is expensive and has to be shipped frozen but if you live in south florida that is where they are located. You could start growing this same strain in your yard and use from time to time.

A man named Harley Jonstone got rid of his crohn's with vegan and raw, and I think he did it without supplements and cleanses (though I'm not dead sure). He is usally referred to as Durian Rider. durianrider is one of the youtube channels he has, and his main site is a free forum called 30 bananas a day (google it). He may be able to offer helpful advice for this.

Warning: he is thought of as somewhat mean by some in the raw food movement (but he doesn't strike me that way). If you can get what you need from him, great. If not, then I hope you can find a better source.

Peace and love. <3



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/2013 10:41PM by bent.

Thanks for your replies. Very helpful. The crohn's fatigue has returned but some of the other symptoms are a bit improved. Overall I don't feel very good. Weak. Ate a bunch of grapes about midnight and woke up 10 hours later with a horrible headache. I think they were too sweet, but anything sweet late at night gives me a hangover these days.
At this point I definitely feel like the raw foods are keeping everything fron getting as horrible as they can sometimes be, but also that they are not curing me. I'm going to get rid of my last indulgence of non-raw, as I honestly don't crave it anymore and have just continued out of habit, really. Interesting how easy I'm finding it to continue with this. I usually give up long before this point.
Also, I should note, that though this was not my goal, I've lost about 12 pounds in only 2 weeks on raw foods. And I'm not feeling hungry at all.
I think yes, that part of this is detox, but I also think that yes, the nuts and avocados have been inflaming my crohn's symptoms, as well as the vinegar/oil dressing I'm using to improve the flavor of the veggies. I'm going to knock that off along with my breakfast pastry/coffee and see if there's an improvement.
I am grateful too that at this point I do not feel the need to go back on immunosuppressants. Hopefully I can stay off the crohn's meds permanently.
I did read the J Rubin story and I'm going to try some probiotics. I'm willing to try anything at this point to stay off the meds and hopefully recover from Crohn's.
I did not know that Durian Rider guy has Crohn's. Interesting. I've watched some of his vids and to be honest I think I avoided the raw foods thing for a long time because of him. He doesn't seem objective at all, and more than a little arrogant. Sorry to talk trash, but I'm not a fan. But if I'd known he had Crohn's I would have been more interested in the fruitarian thing in general I think.
Thanks again for your comments, everyone.

Durian is very controversial in his delivery and does come across as arrogant. If you can get past that and all the four letter garbage that spews from his mouth, he might be more palatable...

Good job on your weight loss! It does sound like the fats/oils are aggravating your condition and overall are not a good choice during detox, IMO. I would say the way you are feeling is "par for the course" at this time - your body is going through a lot of changes in a short period of time.

Again I refer back to my changeover period & the severe symptoms I experienced at that time, which did include dizziness, weakness, upset stomach (alot), headaches & other maladies as my body continued to rid itself of toxins.

I encourage you to at least mix an even amount of veg. juices with the fruit juices you are consuming. The last thing you need at this time is excess sugar, even if it is coming from fruit.

Good Luck - remember, every day is one step closer to better health!

jimmyk, yes I hope you don't listen to Durian Rider! Remember, this is a immune system issue, which means you must! have infections. Usually the most common yeast and parasites. Your negative affects from eating fruit might be because of fermentation into alcohal, also Leaky Gut will produce this or the combination of both. When you have inflamation like with Crohn's this can produce Leaky Gut.

I am curious if you are soaking your nuts before you eat them, this is critical for your issue! Stay away from Brazil nuts they are mostly cooked. I have found that even some store bought un-organic almonds are NOT! to damaged from the quick process they go through. So if you can't afford organic just try some different brands until you get a good one. Also if you can get Fresh Wheatgrass that would be at the top of my list. I should have mentioned it before. Try to find a local grower to reduce cost and increase freshness. You can also go to aliveraw.com and search Crohn's or to therealtruthabouthealth.com. Both of these sites are supported by Brian Clement of Hippocrates Heatlh Institute.

Another good immune stimulator is Noni Juice put that in your rotation, just find one without added sugars.

jimmyk,

Late to the party, me, but just wanted to say that listening to your body--which you seem to be doing methodically--is imperative. If you sort through the testamonials here, you will see that the majority of people don't go high raw overnight, and experience instant healing. They almost without exception experience the beginnings of healing: allaying of symptoms of disease, increasing energy, more productive sleep, but this isn't the same thing as "cure." Cure takes time. Tissues take time to expel toxins and repair themselves. Blood and lymph take time to cleanse themselves of old matter. And the psyche takes more time than anything to adjust!

Just focus on going at the pace your body likes, and on the things that you are doing that are creating a positive return for you. Trust you instincts and make adjustments as necessary; cutting out a raw food now because you suspect it may be a trigger for inflammation will continue the healing, and you can always reintroduce it when you feel tolerant of it. You are going in the right direction; keep at it.