Read more about Sananga here. At around the 20 min mark, I felt the familiar pulling sensation in my stomach so I put my head over the bucket to purge but I was only able to manage some dry heaving. It suddenly felt like the most natural thing in the world to just reach for the water and start to drink. I drank about three-quarters of a litre and then immediately purged bright green bile; and in that timeless moment, the Planet Kambo Method was born. At a very basic level, your facilitator must ask about your medical history, and be aware of any health conditions that could make kambo especially dangerous for you.

However, everybody’s body is different, and not everyone can hold two liters of water in such a short amount of time. Some people, for instance, can only get a liter and a half down, he says, and that’s okay. “I do not allow my clients to drink additional water till after they have purged,” he explains—in order to avoid hyponatremia, the condition that killed Begley. The water works as a pump to funnel out the toxins that are being pushed into the stomach from the gallbladder, liver, kidneys and pancreas.

a kambô treatment

I would describe this as enlightenment for me as far as Kambo was concerned. I realised Kambo should be a gentle and blissful experience, not a harsh and abrasive ordeal.

Kambo – How frog medicine can help with many conditions – the puzzle piece that cured my CFS

An alternative way to approach the risk of hyponatremia is to provide electrolytes to balance sodium levels. Some traditional facilitators will give participants a salted root vegetable drink called Caiçuma, greatly reducing the risk of hyponatremia. My friend wanted to take kambo because she heard it could reduce her frequent migraines. She had the number of a practitioner, had researched the medicine, and was ready to try it. Just one thing was giving her pause; she was a recovering bulimic. She hadn’t binged and purged in years, but like addiction, eating disorders stay with you for your entire life.

Just as soon as that inner-warmth had begun it was replaced with gut-wrenching nausea. The sudden recoil and paralysing stomach-sink drowned my senses like a lucid dream’s slow-motion skyscraper freefall. The dreaded moment came and the shaman announced the start of the ceremony. In that instant, I wholeheartedly committed to what was going to happen and knew there was no going back.