I should "expect to get worse before I get better?"
#157966 - 03/07/05 05:08 PM
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That's what this lady told me on the phone. I have gotten 3 phone calls from her trying to get me back on Reliv. She told me my bad reaction (D - bloating - cramping etc) was just the toxins leaving my body and I didn't give it a chance to work. That I should expect that kind of pain and rejoice in it. She also told me that colitis and IBS were pretty much the same thing -- she's a registered nurse -- she should know and I'm not -- so what do I know. I told her not everything works for everybody and she said this does.
Am I wrong? Is it supposed to hurt like that? Should I have hung in there through those attacks? To me the attacks have always been the signal that something was bad for my body. I don't know whether to be mad or try yet again. The always desperate to try something - anything to get all the way better plight of the IBS person. 
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I don't care if that woman is a registered nurse, the shmuck down the street, or god incarnate - IBS and colitis are NOT the same thing, and in my mind, she just blew ANY credibility she could have possibly had with such a stupid statement. Ugh!
Of course she's telling you that you have to get worse before you get better - she wants you to keep buying the product she's pushing. Rejoice in the pain? What kind of new-age flake IS she? Sheesh.
You are not wrong. Trust your gut instinct. If it felt wrong, don't go back to it.
My not-so-humble opinion is that you're much better off managing IBS with diet and soluble fiber/herbal supplements as detailed here on this site. Even my doctor says that's pretty much the only things that will help. Is it a cure? No. Will you ever be "all better" again? No. (And you wouldn't have been even on the Reliv, either - same as everything else, you'd have to keep taking it, but if you ever quit it, I'm sure you'd go right back to where you were, right?) But you can MANAGE the disorder very well this way, with the diet and good, simple, healthy living.
Sorry this is so long and ranty... it just REALLY irks me when something is marketed as a "cure" for IBS, because there is no cure, period. I'd love it if there was, but in the meantime, I just remind myself that I'd rather have IBS than cancer, AIDS, lupus, or a thousand other diseases I could have and don't!
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Well said Casey
Gosh, that's just INFURIATING! 
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Totally agree with everything Casey said. This whole thing about a toxic reaction meaning you are getting better always sounds suspicious to me. I have heard it quite a few times from naturopathic based health practitioners and also read it in books on alternative remedies and I don't find it to be true. When I did a detox a couple of years ago - which made no difference to my IBS, but did help with other issues - I actually worried because I didn't feel "worse" at all, only better! I think if something is hurting you, it probably isn't doing any good (with obvious exceptions like chemotherapy for cancer) and if something makes you feel better it probably is doing you good (with obvious exceptions like taking heroin). It is pretty disgusting that someone with medical qualifications would talk to you like that. You are much more of an expert on your own IBS than anyone else, whatever their qualifications, and I think any good doctor or nurse would acknowledge that.
Hope you are feeling better for stopping taking this stuff - and it's good that you told us about what happened - it will help other people to make their own decision about starting or stopping Reliv.
Josephine
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GEEZ-you really have to watch some of those "Health Food" folks. I went into a health food store the other day with disastrous results! The lady told me to eat nothing but brown rice and fibrous veggies. No soluble fibers because they ferment into sugar! Oh Lord-I should have known better! She also reccomended a couple different supplements which are probably wreaking havoc on my insides right now! Man, am I miserable! She sold me a bunch of bunk. I should have known to stick with this plan-it's been around so much longer! Now I have to stick with WHITE bread and rice until my stomach calms down! (sigh!)
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In my experience that is pretty typical of people in the alternative health business - they can actually be even more arrogant than doctors. What really annoys me is that they have a 'one size fits all' approach and take no notice of what one says to them. It's almost as if the value of eating raw vegetables, for example, is a religious belief to them, so mere facts can never change their mind about it and if you disagree you are practically a heretic.
Okay, I know I have probably insulted a lot of people by saying that. Of course I am NOT referring to anyone who posts on this board, as everyone here really knows what it is like to have IBS and, just as important, knows the value of compassion and respect. And there are some NHPs who know this too - the honest ones are actually willing to admit it when they don't know what to do, but there are far too many who just think they know everything.
Rant over. Hope I haven't given anyone indigestion!
Best wishes to all.
Josephine
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Hear hear!
#158076 - 03/08/05 01:18 AM
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Linz
Reged: 09/01/03
Posts: 8242
Loc: England
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Grrr. People like that drive me NUTS!
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She just seemed so strong.... and what she was saying was... well like it was fact and not just opinion. I should know better. I've told people those very same things..... I am kind of a shy, quiet person and she just overwhelmed me.
Thanks for setting me straight.
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well she was certainly very ignorant to say ibs and colitis were the same thing! thats not right....
however, you are all really slamming naturopathy. speaking as a naturopath and as a person that has undergone care from a naturopath I don't think you are being fair (all of you that slammed naturopathy). You are also all guilty of generalising. Nobody has ever helped me with my IBS as much as a naturopath (which is what inspired me to become one myself). I can certainly vouch for the existance of what is known as a 'healing crisis' (under Herings Law of Cure) having experienced it a number of times. However, I will say this, that it should be brought on by well rounded lifestyle changes NOT one product (Reliv) which is part of the 'quickfix' culture we all live in...Healing crises are made to happen though dietary change, exercise, hot baths etc...
I took heather acacia three times and it made me so ill I stopped because I could tell the difference between a healing crisis and something that simply didn't agree with me. if the reliv was really creating a healing crisis you would have seen it happen a few weeks into the process, not immediately.
this woman was also ignorant with respect to the fact that she says it works for everyone. NOTHING works for everyone. we are all unique. its a good thing you stopped taking it...but please don't slam naturopathy that way...yes, there are a lot of quacks out there, but there are a lot of devoted ones too....and you are not being different from the nurse generalising about the product when you generalise about naturopaths.
stepping down off my soapbox now.
feel better.
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Feel the fear and do it anyway!
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I'm watching family get suckered into some of the same junk, and it breaks my heart! If it makes you sick, then your body is telling you NO! These same well-meaning relatives were telling me to do COFFEE enemas!!! The caffiene would "cleanse" me! NOOOOOOO, I'm IBS, caffiene in the rear would send me to the hospital! Be careful and get rid of this NUT!!
Sorry to rant, but MAN oh MAN!!! Money is a powerful incentive, but not the way to gage your health!!
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God is Faithful!
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