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Understanding the Healing Crisis

Have you ever noticed what often happens at the end of an acute infective illness? You will experience fever, generalized aches, shaking chills, and sweats. Then, all of a sudden, you feel well again, although a little drained. You have been through a Healing Crisis!

Back in 1902, a German physician named Karl Herxheimer noted that syphilis patients receiving mercury treatment experienced flu-like symptoms, fever and chills, increased heart rate and lowered blood pressure. He postulated that these effects were caused by organisms dying off and releasing toxins into the body faster than it could handle them. This syndrome has been seen with all types of organisms – spirochetes, bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites – and has come to be known as the Herxheimer Reaction.

As we have developed an increasing understanding of the need for cleansing and renewal to allow our bodies to assume their natural states of health, it has become clear that something like the Herxheimer Reaction occurs with any process of cleansing and renewal. Whenever our bodies eliminate or control acute infections, the phenomenon occurs. It also occurs when we assist our bodies in expelling chemical toxins and harmful organisms that have accumulated in our organs and within our cells. Because of this, a better and more descriptive term for the phenomenon is Healing Crisis.

When we start taking supplements that promote more efficient cleansing and renewal processes in our bodies (such as the SCI product line), we often feel better and stronger, both mentally and physically – for a while. Then, suddenly and without warning, symptoms of illness or toxicity appear. This is the Healing Crisis – a result of all our body systems working together to eliminate harmful organisms and waste products, and prepare for regeneration.

It is natural to assume that a Healing Crisis is some sort of a bad reaction to supplements we have just started taking, but the opposite is actually true. An understanding of Healing Crisis symptoms and why they occur will help us see how a Healing Crisis can lead us to an improved state of health.

The symptoms of a Healing Crisis all share a common theme and purpose – elimination. There is usually a flushing of body fluids, with increased perspiration, urination, and nasal mucous – swollen glands, bloating, and edema reflecting this process in the lymphatic system. Diarrhea and increased intestinal gas may occur. There can be foul odors in stool, urine, and sweat. Elevated heart rate, lowered blood pressure, palpitations, and dizziness may accompany the reduced fluid volume that results from the flushing of body fluids.

Flu-like symptoms usually occur with a Healing Crisis. These include low-grade fever, generalized aches, nausea, headache, chills, and fatigue.

Skin eruptions, such as pimples or a rash, are often seen. If a rash occurs immediately after starting a supplement, it is likely due to an allergy. If it occurs after being on the product for a while, it is more likely a sign of cleansing.

Emotional changes, such as anxiety, depression, and anger can be experienced during a Healing Crisis, since the nervous system also participates in the cleansing and renewal.

So, now that we know what a Healing Crisis is all about, how can we better deal with it? To begin with, it is important to take the process of detoxification slowly, one step at a time. The Perfect Start program for detoxification is designed with this in mind. If the symptoms you have are too severe, it is OK to decrease or stop your detoxifying products for a while, then gradually resume them.

It is very important to drink plenty of fluids during a Healing Crisis, to help flush out toxins. This means three quarts to a gallon per day. Quality water is key, but fresh fruit and vegetable juices, with their antioxidants and enzymes, can also help. Be sure to avoid soft drinks, chlorinated water, and alcohol.

It is a good idea to decrease or avoid eating solid foods while in a Healing Crisis. This fasting leads your body to more rapidly break down its own tissues to provide nutrients and energy, and it will do this to damaged and diseased tissues preferentially. We actually see this phenomenon quite often – babies and animals don’t eat when they are sick. It is particularly helpful to avoid refined, processed and preserved foods during a Healing Crisis.

Baths – regular, steam, and sauna – can help "sweat out" toxins. Getting at least minimal exercise daily helps promote circulation. Rest, both mental and physical, helps initiate renewal. Continuing vitamin, mineral, antioxidant, and enzyme supplements is important to help your body break down and eliminate toxins. Stress relief, in the form of prayer and meditation, can also help your body to better deal with a Healing Crisis. The biblical instruction for fasting and prayer rings true here!

It is very important to avoid suppressing Healing Crisis symptoms with medications, since this will interrupt the needed process of elimination. This particularly applies to fever and pain, though most of us find it difficult to adhere to this. Aspirin and antihistamines provide a good example. They work by blocking the prostaglandins, which are chemicals found throughout the body that regulate many bodily functions and metabolic processes. Typically, prostaglandins work in opposing pairs. One may produce inflammation and swelling in response to a specific stimulus, while another settles down these reactions. When we take aspirin or an antihistamine to stop an uncomfortable reaction, we may not experience the pain or inflammation, but we also do not get the healing process that counters the source of the pain and inflammation. We interrupt the body’s attempt to deal with the problem, and generally add more toxicity, as drug residues accumulate.

We need to learn to embrace Healing Crises. Even though they are unpleasant, they are necessary processes in which our bodies are "cleaning house." They usually last only two to three days for people of average health, but they can last longer for people with more health issues. They tend to lessen in severity and duration as our health improves. Sometimes, Healing Crises can be brought on by just weight loss or a change in diet. Whether they occur with intentional detoxification or with the resolution of acute illnesses, we should do our best to avoid interfering with our bodies’ corrective measures.