2 weeks ago I finished a 9-day dry fast under the supervision of Sergey Filonov. I was excited about the opportunity, mostly because I’ve heard such great things about him in the world of dry fasting, and also the fact that this gave me the chance to heal my shoulder injury that has been bugging me for the past 2 years.
A torn rotator cuff, an inflamed tendon, frozen shoulder - I’ve been given multiple diagnoses, you name it. Whatever the issue, fasting is the only thing that seems to heal it.
I went to physical therapy, have had multiple massages, went to multiple doctors and no one seems to have a solution short of a cortisone injection. However, I refuse to do that, since I know my body can mend itself.
The funny thing is that I actually healed my shoulder 3 times already through water fasting. The first time I probably did about 10 different water fasts of anywhere between 3-7 days of length. But I rehabilitated too quickly, and injured it again (or maybe it wasn’t healed as much as I thought). And then a third time. My mistake was not attempting another fast to finalize the healing, but what can you do.
This last injury seems to be the most annoying, and the most painful. A few months ago I attempted a 26-day water fast. While my shoulder healed a lot, it did not heal as much as I thought it would. Then 2 weeks ago I finished a 9-day dry fast. It was extremely effective, and Dr. Filonov said he was “1,000% it would heal,” but it did not. But I don’t blame him. Maybe I wasn’t doing the refeed properly, or maybe I did something else wrong. But I realized that yet again I put myself in the trust of a doctor, when no one else knows my injury better than myself. I should’ve known that ending my fast on day 9 would not heal it. And the downside to that is that I could’ve gone for probably 2 more days under his supervision, and now I’m fasting on my own. It’s much more difficult mentally when you don’t have a group around.
So here I am starting day 6 in a couple of hours. A few hours ago I was breaking down mentally, thinking immensely about drinking water. The screaming kids in the courtyard right outside of this Airbnb in Tbilisi weren’t helping either, nor the fact that I somehow got stuck with noisy neighbors.
So I took a taxi to a nearby forest to rest my mind. I brought my backpack and a couple of towels. The first 30 minutes were rough, but after about 90 minutes total, I felt a small shot of rejuvenation, even enough to walk back to my apartment which took about 45 minutes by foot.
I’m now here back in my apartment, continuing my hard dry fast of at least 9 days. At the start of the fast, I told myself I wouldn’t break until my symptoms of my shoulder pain were 100% gone. On my last, recent dry fast of 9 days, on the last day my shoulder pain was actually completely gone for about 50% of the day. However, as soon as I drank water it shot right back up. This time I don’t want to make that same mistake. When all the symptoms are gone, ideally I would like to fast for another 24 hours and then break, just to make sure that this injury is gone for good.
I’ve given myself a maximum of 15 days and a minimum of 9. Do I really think I’ll make 15? Most unlikely, and it might be a bit dangerous for me. I did that on purpose to give myself plenty of leeway in case I fall short. Realistically I could see myself maybe going for 12 and even 13 if I’m feeling up for it, but that might even be a bit lofty for myself.
Every morning I wake up and ask myself 3 questions:
Here are my answers:
Until one of these answers changes, I won’t stop. This has been what has kept me going for so long, and it serves as my main motivation.
And now I turn to you, Reddit, in hopes that you can all help me make a sound decision.
I realized that my time in the forest helped rejuvenate my mind for at least a few hours, and I’m considering renting a cabin in the woods for the next week until I break my fast, just to get away from the city noise, pollutants and temptations to break my fast prematurely.
The pros are the clean air, quiet and distance from the city. The cons are that I won’t be able to go to my daily massages that I’ve been doing. They’ve been a godsend, as they keep me distracted for a good 1-2 hours throughout the day and help break it up. And I don’t need to talk while getting the massage. Human touch is also a huge bonus.
Does anyone have any thoughts about what I should do? Thank you, and any support is appreciated! The next few days are going to be a bit rough.
Im not sure if dry fasting will heal a torn muscle. But maybe if you can get the inflammation down for the long enough. The body might be able to do something.
Make sure you have adequate fat reserves to support the fast. Add that to the checklist. It’s the fuel for the car.
I use pain as a a compass mostly. Dry fasting eases pain. So must be the right direction. Kinda like taking my hand away from a hot flame.
But it took a long time to consider that I may need to fatten up for a long journey.
Really understand what you mean regarding the distraction. Thank god for the newspapers, the internet and TV. Still I get bored.
I am recently starting a dry fast (24 hours just now done) and want to go to 11-12 days myself. Your determination is giving me inspiration.
If the cabin doesn’t have a lot to do then I think you might get bored, better to travel to a forest from your home when you need fresh air I think (and then travel back home). And like you say you can go for a walk from your house and interact with people and that might help you. Perhaps there won’t be anyone around in the woods.
Look forward to following your progress.
try hindu dive bomberpush-ups to target areas that need to be re strengthen
also a tennis and lacrosse ball can be used to massage the areas that are still hurt.turmeric powder for pain management, mix with juice or soda. cannabis or hemp if the pain is too muchice the affected areas often to speed up the recovery