Expert: Dr. Kristina Conner - 6/7/2008

Question
Hello, my son is suffering from severe OCD, cystic acne and constipation. We've tried various conventional and alternative treatments but nothing was working. So now we are trying to cleanse his colon and liver first. He is been on the gluten-free/dairy-free diet for two years. He's been doing coffee enemas with milk thistle and chlorophyll daily for 3 weeks now and taking Cascara Sagrada to promote bowel movements twice a day. So far there are no changes in his mental and skin conditions. Could you please advice us how long he would need to stay on this cleansing protocol for us to see an improvement? Is there anything else we need to add to his protocol? Thanks!

Answer
Hello Yuriy,
Thanks for writing.  For any kind of cleanse, you want to make sure it is comprehensive, including diet, supplementation/herbs, as well as elimination methods like enemas.  It will vary depending on the patient's level of health, age, and condition.  Without knowing these, or completing a full assessment, it's difficult to say what will be the optimal length of time for a effective cleanse for your son.  A gluten and dairy-free diet can be continued indefinitely, many people do this.  But coffee enemas and strong herbs like cascara sagrada are usually recommended for short periods of time, 1 to 4 weeks at most.  
I am assuming your son is a teenager or older, but if he is not you want to use these therapies very cautiously, if at all.
You may want to consider stopping the treatments, except for diet & some supplements like chlorophyll & milk thistle, and giving him a chance to restore his body, before starting strongly purgative therapies again.  Otherwise, this can be too depleting and counteract any benefits received from cleansing.
If you need more specific guidance in this area, you want to consider consulting a naturopathic physician or other specialist in cleansing & detox in person.
Good luck,
Dr Conner