The evening of Day 27, while teaching “Learn to Skate”, I began to feel terrible. At one point I thought, “Just make it through this class and you can go home.” Stress was high already due to relational stuff, emotional stuff (as mentioned in Day 27’s post), and vehicle issues that caused me to need a ride to class at the last minute (thank you, Brenda). Also, if you’ll recall, I was nervous about seeing that parent who stormed onto the ice the week before.

The skating classes went much better than the week before, and that parent, much calmer this week, brought her kids back… so that was good. I began dripping sweat about half-way through. I normally sweat some, but this was profuse. By the time I removed my skates, I noted that I was so cold and so hot at the same time. My clothes were damp with the layer closest to my skin soaked through. Brenda dropped us off at the house (my 13 year old is an assistant in class) and I collapsed on the sofa. My 15 year old brought me a large glass of apple juice. I thought initially that I was just hungry, that perhaps my blood sugar had tanked… which may have been part of it, except that I didn’t start feeling better after the juice. I actually felt worse.

By the time the Husband got home, I was a huddled mass of shivers and dry heaving. I haven’t felt that bad in a very, very long time. It felt a lot like the flu, and yet, I could tell that it wasn’t. Detox symptoms are very much like flu and cold symptoms. My symptoms were: nausea with dry heaving, indigestion, acid reflux, chills, mild fever, muscle/joint pain, eye strain, rash on my upper back, blisters in my mouth/throat (which had actually started several days before), dry skin, headache, slight cough, pain in old injury sites, back pain, dizziness, and fatigue (but trouble sleeping because of pain). I felt that I had two choices. The first, to let the detox run it’s course and hope that I came out on the other side stronger. The second, to eat some cooked food (I had Qdoba in mind), which would dramatically slow down the detox process. I asked the Husband to help me make the decision since he would be the one picking up the slack for me should I continue through detox. He said he felt that I should stick it out because if it just delayed, it might be worse timing next time. He more than picked up the slack over the next three days.

I spent some time in prayer about what to do during the rest and felt strongly that the Lord told me to “drink only” for three days. The Husband brought me some distilled water, mineral water, apple juice, wheat grass, and other green drinks. I had apple juice primarily because my stomach seemed to tolerate it the best. He made me green smoothies, and even juiced some wheat grass for the first time (that stuff would re-grow a limb I think). My stomach gradually began to feel better. One by one the symptoms subsided. The best sleep I got was the night of day 29 into 30. I woke feeling much better the morning of day 30, although my eyes still looked a bit “cloudy”. I still had some aching and a mild headache, but most everything else was gone. My energy gradually increased throughout the day too.

Over the course of the three days, the husband regularly rubbed down my aching back and legs. I also took a few Epsom salt baths to assist my body in the detox process. The Husband’s foam roller helped at the end of day 29; by then, I felt strong enough to use it. I continued to “drink only” until the end of day 30.

It was difficult taking a break from my workout schedule, but I knew I needed to rest and let my body do its thing. Fortunately, this didn’t happen in the middle of marathon training. I know that I could go through more bouts of detox. I’m just hoping they are mild compared to this one.

I had a lot of time to read (when the headache and eyes would let me). I finished Hansons Marathon Method, read a lot of articles on detox, and kept up with my Bible reading schedule (Genesis 46-Exodus 3). I also worked on cleaning up my email inbox today – it’s not finished, but it’s more manageable already. Last night, I think I played 25 games of Freecell trying to distract myself from the pain in my back that just would not let up – I couldn’t sleep at first because I hurt too bad. While resting is good, it really does get old after a while (brings back nightmares of pregnancy induced bed rest).

You may be wondering if I took any kind of medication during this detox period. I’ll be honest, it was so tempting, especially when I was unable to sleep due to pain, but I didn’t touch the stuff. I relied on the baths, massage, foam roller, relaxation techniques, and prayer. I wanted to avoid things that might hinder the process because I don’t want to revisit it down the road.

Tomorrow, we’re back to our regularly scheduled program… although I’ll be easing back into solid food and exercise for the next few days.

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