I am loathe to share this, but really would like some insight/advice as I actually enjoy fasting and have looked forward to longer future fasts. I have done IF, alternate-day and extended fasting for a few months and it’s been an overwhelmingly (and gets easier and easier) great experience. Here’s my issue: I did a 5-day fast a couple of weeks ago and everything was great until day 4, when I started to experience diarrhea (description:yellow-green, liquid- almost oily and I can only think to describe as leaky). This went away soon after I started eating again. Then last week I did a 3-day fast, which I’ve done before, but as happens with me it was extended into part of the 4th day just because I hadn’t gotten around to eating. The same exact issue started and this time it lasted a few days after I started eating. Has anyone had a similar experience? Is it likely to continue throughout a longer fast? Could this be a by-product of my body using body fat for fuel? It’s uncomfortable enough (accompanied by stomach discomfort that you would expect) that I am having second thoughts about longer fasts, but I’m not ready to give up.
Sensitive Extended Fasting Issue
I’m sorry but I don’t really have any insight into what might be happening with that. My one piece of advice is that if you do try fasting again and this happens, collect a sample and have it analysed. It sort of sounds like bile is ending up in your excrement. That certainly sounds like it could be indicative of a larger issue. You might want to confer with a doctor, as annoying as that can be.
I’ve had similar experiences when doing an extended fast after not doing one for a while. As near as I could tell, it’s basically the detox part of fasting that we don’t really talk much about here, but is most of what you find when doing general internet searches on extended water fasting. If I do an extended fast within a couple weeks of the previous on, it doesn’t seem to be an issue.
Thanks @Baytowvin, does it last through the rest of your fast or does it abate at some point? Have you found anything that helps at all?
Bile occured to me (and came up in my internet research, mostly anecdotal stuff), but could that be normal if your body isn’t digesting food? I’m not sure how accurate it is, but see the second reply here.
When it happens to me usually around day 3 and/or 4. I’ve done several 4 and 5 day fasts, but I’ve never made it past 5 days, so I’m not sure beyond that.
All sorts of stuff here. I almost always have a couple big cups of black coffee in the morning, which adds to it, I’m sure. Have fasted up to 10 days and I just take whatever comes. Need to be aware and fairly speedy at times…
Yeah, this is uncomfortable enough that I’d much rather stay home on days that it’s happening. I guess I’ll have to strategically plan my next EF for the last days to be on a weekend.
I guess I’ll have to be my own guinea pig, lol. I think I’ll plan a 7-day fast in April and see how days 5+ go.
@NinMD both times that I have launched an extended fast (5+) in the last couple months, I have done a Yoga method cleanse called “ShankhaPrakshalan”. Google FU will reveal the details.
For me, it took 3 quarts of 0.9% saline at body temperature, and 3-4 hours total time. I weighed myself before and was able to see the ingested water weight come back down after each trip to the throne to predict when I would be done. Have to be home with easy access to toilet. N=1, the cleanse made me feel great and while fasted I had only small BMs for the next few days. The cleansing starts you off empty, hydrated and salted up. Great platform to launch an EF.
I am planning my next EF for April 1, and shall do the cleanse, and hopefully fast for 2-3 weeks.
Thanks so much for taking the time to share that @Rajseth. I had a lightbulb moment today and have a suspicion why I’ve been having issues. It has not gone away, along with stomach cramping, for days whether I’m fasting or not (it’s worse during fasting), so I started to wonder if I had caught a stomach bug. Then today I woke up feeling great. There was still a tiny bit of stomach soreness, but definitely felt like the tail end of something. Now this evening, it’s back in full force…wth. So I started thinking about what has changed recently and I realized that a couple of weeks ago, I started eating Celtic Sea salt during fasting days along with the pink salt I’ve always used. Why? Because I don’t take magnesium on fasting days (the one I take is in pill form, so I only take it on eating days). The Celtic Sea salt is a good source of magnesium, which is why I got it. But as many people know certain forms of magnesium can have a laxative effect (which is why I carefully chose chelated magnesium for my supplement on eating days). I ate some earlier today and a couple of hours later started having the stomach issues (I am fasting today). I will stop eating it for a few weeks to see if it makes a difference, and if so, I will be giving it away (with a warning, lol).
If I continue to have issues that seem to be fasting related, I will try the cleanse you mentioned. I would much rather flush things out of my system and have an idea when to expect it, than to have constant issues for days on end…
I will report back, so others might learn from my experience.
I am new to this fasting… been doing ketos a couple of months …your fasting consists of what when you go 3 or4 days… water, coffee…educate me on this.