Hello everyone! I'm hoping you all can help answer my questions, as I'm not really sure what to do at this point, and I'm a little concerned. I'm not afraid, but I do want to make sure I'm still on the right track in my quest to cleanse my liver, and I don't want to take any unnecessary risks along the way. First, a little bio: I'm a 41-yr old, slender woman who has had a serious bout with candida and who took BC pills for many years (but not since many years ago). I am now a healthy lacto-pesco vegetarian who stays active and rarely gets sick or has candida flare-ups. I had all my Amalgams removed 8 years ago. I performed my 1st Liver Flush 5 weeks ago, strictly following the Hulda protocol, but no stones came out -- only lots of butt-pee and even more disappointment. :) I did a Clarkia parasite cleanse and drank tons of AJ beforehand as recommended. I keep a fairly good diet, and my bowels flow freely -- I have 2-3 bowel movements a day. I take Cal-Mag (Citrate) powder twice daily, and I have no problem tolerating that dosage, although that regimen might explain all the butt-pee. For reasons outside of my control (mainly a hectic holiday work schedule), I have been unable to find the time to perform any subsequent flushes. To top it off, I came down with a common cold several days ago, which I am still suffering from somewhat. My plan was to do my flush yesterday/today, but since I had read that one should not flush when they are sick, I decided to put my second flush off yet again. I feel, however, that I really need anther flush, because my liver feels "full". I have been taking Chanca Piedra several times daily for 5 days now, along with my regular regimen of silymarin, in the hopes of helping my poor liver out.

After ingesting the OO/GJ during that first flush, I definitely felt my gall bladder contracting, and I had much trouble sleeping that night. I have never felt that feeling before in my life, so I knew the flush was doing SOMETHING. The funny thing is that 3 weeks after the flush, my gall bladder began contracting AGAIN, and since then it CONTINUES to contract and does so much of the day. My liver is swollen and puffy, and it's been that way ever since the flush. I can feel it all the way to my back, and it feels uncomfortable to bend over because it feels like it's "in the way". Sometimes it feels a bit sore, but most of the time it just feels full and uncomfortable. It was REALLY sore for the first few days after the flush, though.

Now here's the clincher: When my gall bladder started contracting again, I started passing stones! I'm pretty certain they were stones, because I know I didn't eat anything like that, and they were numerous, round balls of fairly hard, yellowish material mixed with other, weird things that I have never seen come out of me. And when I passed the stones, they were not part of my "normal" bowel movements, but were part of isolated events. At one point my liver was feeling REALLY uncomfortable, and I actually felt a big "release" in that area (which took some pressure off of it). This release was shortly followed by a huge, almost uncontrollably immediate explosion at the toilet. That episode yielded all KINDS of stuff -- from stones to 4"-long black strandy things. My normal bowel movements, though, are just that -- normal. My stool is medium brown and bulky, just as it should be.

I will not be able to perform another flush until next weekend, because I cannot allocate the time for it until then. I really hate waiting that long, as I feel that another flush is what I need, but I simply have no choice. I also feel like my cold was precipitated by the huge release of toxins from the flush, as I rarely get colds despite being constantly surrounded by people. I am concerned, however, about my swollen liver, as the things I have read say that such a condition may indicate some form of liver disease. Has anybody ever passed stones without doing a flush? I read that taking Chanca Piedra is supposed to be a flush in itself, but since I have only been taking it for 5 days, it cannot represent the sole reason for the appearance of stones. Could the flush have simply pushed the stones into my gall bladder, where they remain to this day (waiting for another flush) and where they slowly and sporadically trickle out into my gut along with releases of bile? Could pressure in my liver be causing it to swell, or does anyone think I might have a more serious situation on my hands?

Thanks in advance for any advice/experience that anyone can share with me. I am deeply grateful for this forum, and I look forward to continuing to share my own experiences in the hopes that I may someday return the favor by helping somebody else.