Healing crisis

Dr Fi Dann MSc Applied Toxicology, MSc Chiropractic

September 2018.

 

A term that often crops up in the treatment of chronic illness and toxicity is ‘Healing Crisis’ , Herxheimer reaction or ‘Detox Reaction’. All are generally understood to be desirable, a sign that the treatment is working and having an effect, and it is just something that you have to go through to get better. Herxing is a common term on some information sites. However in the field of effective heavy metal, chemical and fungal detox it is our view that a healing crisis/ detox reaction is not only unnecessary but also potentially dangerous.

 

This is why:

There are two stages to heavy metal detox – mobilisation of toxins from the cells and tissues where they have been bound, and then excretion of those toxins.

Any process, therapy, remedy or action that mobilises toxins from where they are bound will cause those toxins to enter the circulation in some form, whether the blood or the lymph. These toxins will then circulate around the body.   Ideally the circulating toxins are then excreted from the body in processes involving the liver, kidneys and gut, depending on whether the route of excretion is through the urine or the faeces.

However in many people with a body burden of toxic metals, the pathways for effective toxin excretion do not work as well as they could. This maybe due to genetic variations in the various enzymes involved in the processing and excretion of toxins, it may be due to nutritional deficiencies, or simple overload.

An example would be paracetamol (acetaminophen)overdose. At recommended levels, the liver handles the detoxification of paracetamol well, through the formation of a glutathione-acetaminophen conjugate[i] (a phase 2 liver detox reaction)  At overdose levels though, this process is saturated and glutathione is depleted to a very low level.   The overspill of NAPQI leads to acetaminophen binding covalently to liver proteins,. This toxic metabolite kills liver cells and can lead to liver failure and death. Paracetamol overdoses treated early enough with NAC can be dealt with far better as the bottleneck in the correct process is overcome by supplying the missing nutrient. However if too much paracetamol has been taken, even this is not enough.

A person who has had their amalgam fillings removed, no matter how well done, will see a tripling of their blood mercury levels for around 3 days after the removal. In that time the circulating toxin, mercury, is dealt with by the liver and kidneys and excreted………ideally.   In practice for most people it happens a little differently.   The mercury circulating in the body can get attracted to and bind into the proteins of many different cells. In a pregnant woman, the tissues of the baby have a higher affinity for mercury than the adult tissues, so circulating mercury will be more likely to go to the baby.   The mercury level in a baby is strongly correlated to the amount of amalgam fillings the mother has[ii]. The brain can also be a target, and healing crisis symptoms such as dizziness, confusion, nausea and fatigue can all be due to the impact on the brain and inner ear.

Our experience is that areas of previous damage to the body can become areas that attract toxins – birth trauma, including forceps delivery can be an issue here as well as previous injury.

In toxic metal and chemical detox, a healing crisis basically means that more toxins have been released from the cells and tissues than the body can excrete, and that these now circulating toxins are being redistributed into other body areas, causing damage, and that the symptoms of a healing crisis are actually the symptoms of new damage caused by these toxins.

 

Symptoms of a healing crisis.

Typically fatigue, confusion, dizziness, nausea, feeling toxic or ‘off’, achiness. Some people experience a feeling of liver pain, back/kidney ache, rashes, spots, very smelly body odour. There is a whole range. It depends where the circulating toxins land, and the amount of damage that they can cause.   For most people the reaction lasts for a matter of hours or a few days.   For some though the damage caused can be more severe and debilitating.

Any healing crisis though is a sign that the body is overwhelmed and not able to excrete the toxins it needs to, and this needs addressing to avoid more damage and to enable effective detox.

 

So how to prevent it?

 

• Option 1. Improve the effectiveness of the organs of excretion. Nutritional, herbal and nutraceuticals support for the liver and kidneys can assist effective excretion – Medicinal mushrooms, curcuma (turmeric) milk thistle, dandelion, burdock, NAC, MSM,

 

• Option 2. Provide good sources of toxin binders such as ultra micronised chlorella. Normal cell wall broken chlorella is only effective within the gut, it needs to be ultra-micronised to be a good toxin binder in the blood and lymph, to mop up the excess of circulating toxins for excretion through the faeces and urine.

 

Also useful:

 

• Prepare the gut. A very common source of difficulties during detox is constipation which hampers toxin excretion through the gut due to increased reabsorption.
• Deal with other sources of toxicity/ stress on the body first so that there are not extra strains on the body during detox.
• Start with a low dose of the detox formula you are using, with plenty of toxin binder / liver support , and increase the dose of detox formula slowly over the days. The same ramping up of the dose principle can apply to parasite cleanses and other treatments where substantial die-off can occur.
• Detox layer by layer for a more controlled, manageable and better tolerated detox.

 

How to deal with a healing crisis if one happens.

• Stop taking the provoking agent/remedy.
• Take ultra micronised chlorella.
•  Take liver support remedies (see 50 ways to love your liver).
• Ensure that the bowels are moving well with at least 2 bowel movements per day.
• Drink plenty of water.
• Eat protein.
• Take NAC.  Activated charcoal may also help.

 

Overall – a healing crisis is undesirable and damaging. It is preventable by paying attention to toxin binding preparation and support for the organs of excretion.

 

[i] Hinson, J. A., Roberts, D. W., & James, L. P. (2010). Mechanisms of Acetaminophen-Induced Liver Necrosis. Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, (196), 369–405. Advance online publication. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-00663-0_12

[ii] Mutter, J. (2011). Is dental amalgam safe for humans? The opinion of the scientific committee of the European Commission. Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology (London, England), 6, 2. http://doi.org/10.1186/1745-6673-6-2