Phsyical Issues while Fasting

[Guest Biblicist]

Fasting, even just from dinner to breakfast, puts your body in oxidative stress. If you are going to fast, make sure you increse your intake of antioxident rich fruits and veggies. You should anyway...

[ayin jade]

I cannot fast from food. It has nothing to do with blood sugar. One time I had to fast to prepare for a medical procedure and I was so ill from it, they had to cancel it. In addition, it took me 6 months to recover from all the side effects from my bodys reaction to that. I get very ill if I do not carefully watch my diet and eat at prescribed times. I have had to literally force myself to eat sometimes when I havent felt like it, but I was reaching the upper limit of time without eating. For me that is about 8 hrs. Very hard in the summer when my appetite goes to nothing in the desert heat. I know how sick I get otherwise and will go to great lengths to avoid being so ill.

[Leonard]

I should also note that in a 40 day fast some years back, I had no ill effects. Oh, there was occasional physical weakness, but nothing debilitating, and lots of hunger! But that was about it.

[kittylover0991]

Wow thank you everyone!!!! I appreciat all the responses!!!!!

I suffer from hypo-glycemia and get week and shakey when I fat. I also get headaches and it take me a couple of days to recover from a fast. As a rule, I do not fast.

What you are describing, I'm not a doctor but I have played one on TV, is a spasm caused by acid in the asophigus.

One question, if that's the case, how does one deal with that?

[Guest Butero]

I have experienced headaches, sickness in my stomach, weakness, lightheadedness, and mild stompach pains while fasting. For me, the first day is usually the hardest. If you get through that, you can usually continue on for the amount of time you planned on fasting. Something to keep in mind is that you can get by for quite a while without food, but not without having plenty of liquid. Another thing to keep in mind is that you don't necessarily have to do without food to fast. In the case of Daniel, he fasted from all pleasant bread, flesh and wine for three weeks. You can find that in Daniel 10:2. You can fast from meat, desserts, etc. A fast is when you deprive your flesh of something it enjoys.

If you are someone who has low sugar, then I would suggest that if you are fasting from food, you don't fast from all sugar. Drink soft drinks or juice to keep your sugar from dropping to unsafe levels. I believe fasting is important, but use common sense. Also remember that the devil will use things like headaches and mild stomach upsets to try to put fear on you where you will give up.

In telling you this, keep in mind that I am no doctor, and have no medical training whatsoever. Anything I am telling you is based on personal experience and Bible knowledge.

[kittylover0991]

Wow, this was about a year ago and drudging it up again, but I might finally have the answer

It is definitly acid reflux, but that is caused not only because I would just drink juice (very acidic!) but also panic attacks which I guess then spurs on the acid reflux through stress o_o who would have guessed it. I've seen the Lord work in the area of panic attacks, but does anyone have any remedies for the acid reflux?

[Guest lovinghim4ever]

You need to be totally sure you have no pancreatic/diabetic issues before undertaking a fast from food. If you are hypo-glycemic (low blood sugar), the results could be fatal.

As stated, what you are describing does sound like a spasm of the stomach/esophagus. It doesn't necessarily have to be caused from acid, though. If you are used to eating frequently, or large amounts of food when you do, it's quite possible to then get spasms of this type if you go "cold turkey" from food. It's generally not a good idea to do this. If you feel you are moved to fast, however, then you should prepare your body for this. Eat lesser amounts of food leading up to the fast, to prepare your body for the restriction of calories, and greatly increase your water intake. Keep a normal to high sodium intake (if you have no problems with high blood pressure) and a high intake of potassium leading up to the fast. Going cold turkey into it can cause severe phycical ailments.

So you know, I have never fasted. I am, however, experienced in helping people with drastic calorie restriction.

I haven't fasted in a very long time, but when I do fast it is usually until Dinner time each day.

I fasted for 40 days once, and that fast consisted of drinking LOTS of water all day but not eating any solid food until dinner time.

I ate one meal a day for 40 days, and the side affects were minimal for me.

I guess everyone is different and can tolerate different things.

Pray, seek God, and let Him lead you.

[Hawkeye]

There are certain medical conditions in which you can't fast, such as diabetes!

[~Shalhevet~]

I am in recovery from anorexia and find it difficult to fast because I never feel like I have the right mindset going into it. I want to fast for God, but that anorexic part wants to starve to lose weight (the devil is sneaky!). Not sure how to overcome that.

[artsylady]

I am in recovery from anorexia and find it difficult to fast because I never feel like I have the right mindset going into it. I want to fast for God, but that anorexic part wants to starve to lose weight (the devil is sneaky!). Not sure how to overcome that.

Don't worry about it now. For now, just keep praising God for all that he is doing in your life and is going to do.

I have only ever fasted for 1 day at a time with no problems.