How to Tell if You Have Intestinal Parasites and What to Do About it

[greygoose]

healthyandnaturalworld.com/...

An interesting list of symptoms.

[Angel_of_the_North]

I just went for a hydrogen breath test to see if I have SIBO. I have a feeling it will come back as with normal range as the screen only changed colour to amber once (and not red at all).

The effect of lots of glucose over two hours was quite interesting, though.

[greygoose in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

I'm sorry, I'm being thick, but what's SIBO?

[helvella Administrator in reply to greygoose]

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth

[greygoose in reply to helvella]

Ah. Yes. OK. Thank you, Rod. So, if you have SIBO, you have a high level of hydrogen in the breath?

[greygoose in reply to greygoose]

That's not quite the same thing as a parasite, though, is it?

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to greygoose]

Pretty much. It's nasty living organisms where they shouldn't be. basically same symptoms, too.

[greygoose in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

OK. I didn't know that.

[Ruthi]

Well, refreshing to find an article about the most taboo subject out there. But no mention of enemas, especially coffee enemas.

Yuk, you say. But I have come across so many people who have felt instantly and hugely better using them.

I'm steeling myself to start coffee enemas. A life of chronic (?thyroid) constipation.....

[greygoose in reply to Ruthi]

Have you tried magnesium for your constipation?

I have had enemas, but never done one on myself. That's the bit I Don't fancy.

[Ruthi in reply to greygoose]

Only the chelated forms of magnesium don't keep me awake all night. And they have no effect on the constipation.

I am currently reading Dr Christopher's Guide to Colon Health, and then its 'Guess What Came to Dinner' by Anne-Loise Gittleman. But if you really want the lowdown and grpgraphic illustrations too, its the Facebook groups. There's one devoted to Parasites/candida/SIBO and another, called Bottoms Up that talks enemas, complete with photos!!!! I'm not really really bad, but probably have parasites. Testing is pretty useless except for VERY heavy infestations, so its just a matter of experimenting and, er, seeing what comes out!

[greygoose in reply to Ruthi]

Yes, I did briefly join Bottoms Up, but it was too much for me, I had to leave. lol I Don't actually think I do have parasites, but there's always that niggling feeling of 'what if I actually do?' So, I read that for the symptoms, but they're so vague when you also have hypo.

[Ruthi]

Its true that the symptoms overlap.

BUT I am optimal on my NDT and that worked fine for years, so there is other stuff going on. I have adrenal fatigue, of course, but its nothing like as bad as many suffer. Furthermore, a few years ago I had some very odd symptoms, which I was sure were parasites. But the very charming gastro who did my sigmoidoscopy (and made me faint) assured me that my symptoms didn't match any of the classic parasite symptoms and I was just odd.

Those symptoms have subsided, so presumably whatever producing the stuff has settled down, but I still get things that look like sections of rope worm (I now know). I am relatively sanguine about it all. I am sure that mankind has lived alongside parasites throughout evolution, and most of the time it does no real harm, and possibly does a bit of good. But.......

I had a lovely herx reaction when I started on diatomaceous earth too!

[greygoose in reply to Ruthi]

Oh dear. It all sounds awfully complex. lol I think I would pass out if I saw a section of ropeworm, or whatever. I find the whole idea abhorrant! lol

[Ruthi]

That's the whole thing. While we find ideas abhorrent, we tend to ignore them and hope they will go away. They rarely do!

But ignoring the possibility of parasites is no different to the fibro patients (in a different thread) ignoring the possibility of thyroid involvement in their illness.

The difficulty I have is picking my way through the maze of stuff out there and weeding out the crackpot from the almost certainly true.

[greygoose in reply to Ruthi]

I totally agree with you! At the moment, I'm taking a combination of revesterol and curcumin. Because, I was told, it would kill a horse... if you happened to be infested by one, that is...

[Ruthi]

Apparently curcumin can have nasty side effects which whole turmeric doesn't. I am giving Seamus dog golden paste (turmeric/black pepper/olive oil) and he's really doing well on it. I would like to try it myself, but haven't quite worked out how to get it in. Apparently ice cubes are good!

I hadn't come across revesterol and I am going to ignore it for the time being. I already take;-

Cinnamon, Mallow Plus, Ashwagandha, magnesium glycinate, wholefood C, B6 and boron. I need to add taurine and B1 as co-factors of magnesium, apparently. I am sure the first three are making a difference.

[greygoose in reply to Ruthi]

You could try spreading it on toast? lol How do you give it to the dog? Or is he like mine and will swollow anything given to him? On the other hand, just have a curry.

I'm a bit lost about the ice cubes... You freeze turmeric/black Pepper/olive oïl and put the cubes in your gin and tonic???

I've taken curcumin for a long long time - because Dr D recommended it to me - and I can't say I've ever felt any bad effects. I'm taking a whole heap of stuff! Cinnamon, two types of magnesium, vit D3, K2, vit B12 + B complex, zinc, boron, olive leaf extract, vit C, iron, Evening primrose and borage oïl, tiny dose of lithium to help absorb the B12, Ubiquinal, vit E, probiotic complex. Next on the list is probably vit A, but I'm not sure about that, yet.

I've worked up to this list slowly, finding out what helped and what didn't. I tried glutathion, but that didn't agree with me, so I stopped. A herx reaction? I Don't know. Anyway, I'm slowly feeling better with the stuff I am taking, so that's OK. I was also taking alpha lipoic acid, but ran out. I haven't felt any worse since I stopped taking it, so I Don't know if it's Worth getting anymore.

I've been looking for a good, comprehensive book on the subject of vitamins and minerals, but haven't been able to find one that looks any good. Do you have any recommendations, please?

[humanbean in reply to greygoose]

I bought this book, and think it is very good. I haven't regretted buying it :

amazon.co.uk/Essential-Vita...

Despite thinking it is good though, I still double and triple check any of her recommendations from other sources on the web.

[greygoose in reply to humanbean]

Oh, I hadn't seen that one! Although I did look on Amazon - of course! Thank you, Humanbean.

[Ruthi]

No, I don't think there is such a thing as a good book on supplements! It would so soon be out of date! For each condition there are dozens of books, each with a different regime. If they are written by Americans you can, of course, buy their proprietory mix!

There's evidence now that treating with Vitamin D3 (synthetic) causes copper dysregulation - read Morley Robbins on Copper!!! But if you take magnesium and its co-factors the D should come up naturally. They now recommend cod liver oil for D, which also gives you A, of course.

[greygoose in reply to Ruthi]

Good idea! I'd forgotten about cod liver oïl. I guess that's what kept me alive as a kid! Although taking it from a spoon was... awful!