I was a skeptic, even after doing a cleanse 6 months ago. My first cleanse produced little of nothing. I did feel better for a few days before feeling worse again. I firmly believe I was one of those whose bile ducts were so congested, the first cleanse did the "digging". Over the last few months, I developed a huge amount of pressure in my gallbladder and knew I was going to wind up having gallbladder surgery if something didn't give. So ... I decided to try the cleanse one more time.
WOW! I passed close to 200 stones this go around (it was completely painless, although the cleansing process does make you have diarrhea - fair warning. It is only for a few hours, and the results are more than worth it). The stones ranged from bright green to tan, most floated, and were slightly larger than a sesame seed, on up to the size of my thumbnail. I had *zero* pain in passing these. I did experience some nausea during the night, but a couple of ginger capsules took care of it.
Since performing this 2nd cleanse over the weekend, my reflux has COMPLETELY resolved, I can sleep on my right side without having acid back up into my throat, and I am sleeping soundly through the night with nothing more than Valerian (for the first time ever). The pressure in my gallbladder/liver is so much improved, I feel like a new person. My energy level has gone up tremendously. I will be doing more cleanses in the coming months to completely rid my liver of any remaining gallstones.
As to those who contend the stones are actually "soap", I can offer a unique perspective on this. I am a soapmaker by trade, and olive oil does NOT produce a bright green soap. Soap made from olive oil becomes a lovely creamy white shade. The stones that are passed during this cleanse are just that - gallstones. The malic acid in the apple juice helps to soften the stones allowing them to pass more readily. If what others are saying was true, then I should have passed "soap stones" during my first cleanse, and I didn't. The stones are NOT soap - that theory is complete bunk.
Having said all of this, I don't agree with everything the author recommends, but this is my personal opinion. For myself, I take Stone Free tablets daily to help further soften stones. I did the apple juice only on the day of the cleanse. If I wasn't taking the Stone Free, I would drink the apple juice for at least a week prior to cleansing.
I also had to reduce the epsom salts to 1 teaspoon per cup of water - the 1 tablespoon that is recommended is just way too harsh for my system. I did the epsom salts at the beginning of the cleanse, but I used Oxy-Powder capsules the next day. I just couldn't stand to drink another round of epsom salts at that point. The Oxy-Powder does a super job of cleansing the colon, and has not caused any cramping for me. Just be prepared to stay close to a bathroom if you use very much of it. It's important to get all of the gallstones out of the colon, and I'm confident the Oxy-Powder worked very well for me in that regard.
I kept a bottle of organic raw honey close by when drinking the epsom salts and also the oil/lemon juice mixture - I had to use something to get the taste out of my mouth. The biggest thing to remember is - once you start drinking the concoctions, don't stop. I used a LARGE straw and just drank as fast as I could. I also put a bit of orange juice in with the olive oil and lemon juice just to help the taste. Next time I might try grape juice instead.
Yes, the cleanse will cause diarrhea. You might even be nauseous or vomit (I have never vomited doing this, but I rarely do anyway). The whole purpose of a cleanse is to remove toxic junk from your system. I think most of the negative reviews on this are because people don't understand the nature of a cleanse in general. For myself, I would prefer to keep the gallbladder I was born with. Our ancestors have used cleanses for thousands of years, but a lot of this knowledge has been lost in our modern "take a pill or take it out" society. The cleanse sounds unconventional by modern standards, but for me - it worked. If there were no other alternative, I would have my gallbladder taken out - I was almost to that point. But I am walking proof that the cleanse has improved my health for the better.
UPDATE December 2011
I had an ultrasound in March of this year on the recommendation of my family doctor, just to ensure I didn't have gallstones (I had a stomach ulcer caused by stress and H. pylori, totally unrelated to my previous gallbladder issues). The ultrasound showed NO GALLSTONES, which didn't surprise me at all after having done the cleanse several times. Just wanted to add this to my original review supporting that the cleanse does indeed work.