Day 7 of Water Fasting to Cure My IBS + SIBO

Sunday, Day 7
Weight: 152.4
Sleep: Yes
BM: No
Belly bloat: Yes

I slept quite well, despite my trouble getting to sleep, and woke around 4:30. I wanted to try to eke just a bit more sleep out, so I calmed my mind and did some deep breathing and it worked. I woke again at 6:00 and got up to make a cup of hot water. After drinking water the back pain returned. I read several articles on this topic and the theories are:

Toxins in the digestive tract: The body rids toxins through the liver generally, but when there is more than the liver can handle, it stores toxins in body fat. Water fasting causes the body to use these stores of fat and the toxins are still there. In addition, I didn’t do any kind of cleanse before starting this, so there could still have been toxins in my gut. Very likely, as I have IBS, leaky gut, and have had SIBO (and quite likely still do, hence the belly bloat.) Though I’ve lost 10 pounds so far on this fast, I still have the belly of a four months pregnant woman. Are there still bacteria surviving in there?

The pain grew so bad I started googling massage near me, but I wasn’t sure I could stand the walk in today’s 90 degree heat. DH said he’d happily give me a massage. I prepared a mix of coconut oil with a few drops of tea tree oil and that was our massage oil. The massage felt heavenly, especially on my lower back, and when he finished all of the pain was gone. Amazing!

As I was all oily, I decided to do a dry brush, which I had also read releases toxins. I didn’t actually have a brush but I used a rough washcloth and brushed my whole body until the oils had been absorbed. As I type this, I’m feeling rather well.

I would very much like to do at least 3 more days because the longer I do, the more likely my gut lining will have a rest, then I can reseed it with whole foods and good bacteria. However, I have to work tomorrow and I have an hours drive and I’m not sure I can make it.

This makes me terribly sad, as I’m at a point where I feel absolutely zero hunger. I feel I could go on quite a while and I read that these toxins causing the backache will disappear and I think that would be an important sign that I’m cleansing my gut lining. I’d hate to stop now and not cured my IBS.

If I’m going to break this fast, I have to do it tonight with foods I’ve already planned. Very light fare of bone broth, carrots, and spinach. That’s it. Tomorrow night I’ll have the same, plus some chicken. The next night I’ll have the same plus some blueberries and kefir. So, 24 hour fasts.

All three nights I’ll have some kimchi and probiotics at mealtime.

So, I need to weigh all this today and decide if tonight is the night. Another option is that I could take a sick day. If I had had to work yesterday or today I’d have definitely had to take sick days, what with the nausea, lightheadedness and back pain. This would get me to Tuesday, when I work in the city, a subway ride away. I think I can handle a subway ride. Wednesday we are off work for the July 4th holiday. That would be day 10. I’d like to break my fast on day 10, unless my body gives me the signal to break it sooner.