Protozoan infection - how to treat?

[adreno]

I got my results from Metametrix GI effects profile. Unremarkable in terms of bacterial infections, but parasite infection came back positive:

So it looks like a protozoan infection, but not identified? Obviously I have symptoms. Also looks like I have yeast overgrowth.

Does anyone have any experience with treating this? I am thinking about doing a round of tinidazole, does this make sense? Thanks.

 

[sianrecovery]

Hi Adreno
I dont know what to make of your test - I have blastocytosis, and that showed on the stool test. Someone put me onto a forum for parasites the other day, which I joined, but havent used much yet. I will find the address and post. You could try posting your results and ask for help. I dont know if the badbugs website is still going, but you can google and try.
I have tried a variety of herbal, dietary and abx treatments for blasto, but not got rid of it yet. Its a protozoan infection. I also tested positive for Fry's protomyzoa, a blood born parasite, by his reckoning.
My understanding of the gut protozoan I have is that there are different strains with different levels of morbidity attached. I guess in the immune compromised, it assumes a larger significance.
Tinidazole has a good rep with biofilm, not sure about specific protozoans. The clinic in Austrialia doing the so-called triple cocktale, which should come up on a thread here somewhere, seems to have the most ancetodal success, and thats what I'd going to try next.

 

[sianrecovery]

The australian place is the Centre for Digestive Disease,

hhtp://www.cdd.com.au

the parasite forum is pptu.lefora.com

There's a good few threads on this theme dotted about PR.

xxxx

 

[adreno]

Hi Adreno
I dont know what to make of your test - I have blastocytosis, and that showed on the stool test. Someone put me onto a forum for parasites the other day, which I joined, but havent used much yet. I will find the address and post. You could try posting your results and ask for help. I dont know if the badbugs website is still going, but you can google and try.
I have tried a variety of herbal, dietary and abx treatments for blasto, but not got rid of it yet. Its a protozoan infection. I also tested positive for Fry's protomyzoa, a blood born parasite, by his reckoning.
My understanding of the gut protozoan I have is that there are different strains with different levels of morbidity attached. I guess in the immune compromised, it assumes a larger significance.
Tinidazole has a good rep with biofilm, not sure about specific protozoans. The clinic in Austrialia doing the so-called triple cocktale, which should come up on a thread here somewhere, seems to have the most ancetodal success, and thats what I'd going to try next.

Thanks for your reply. I am not sure what to make of my result either. This is what the Metametrix guide says:

The DNA probe identified kingdom protozoan, but genus and
species probes for known human pathogens were negative.
Suspect that the protozoan identified is likely NOT a human
pathogen, and probably a transient, non-colonizer of the
human GI. Evaluate patient symptoms and inflammatory
markers on the GI Effects test. If symptoms are consistent
with a parasite infection, consider treatment.

 

[Plum]

I can only talk from my limited parasite experience. I did a parasite cleanse with wormwood, black walnut etc - it's a classic cleanse easily found on the internet. Wormwood is an interesting herb in itself. Can cause hallucinations and did make me go giggly on a high dose! I have used things like horopito after a bad infection from India. It is also excellent for candida - clearer me and my partner up http://www.kolorex.com/horopito
I would like to mention that candida is meant to be present in the GI tract BUT in controlled amounts. You don't want to wipe it out completely but get it under control. I think it gets a lot of bad press.
If I were you I would make sure my diet was clean so as not to feed anything - so sugar free, no refined carbs etc. Lots of clean water. Then I would look into some herbs and take a good mix of strong probiotics.

 

[Crux]

Hi Adreno;
Artemisia Annua may be worth a try. Its a different species than Artemisia absinthum. ( Maybe the absinthum type is potentially hallucinogenic?)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2758403/

 

[adreno]

I've taken artemisia annua several times. Also artemisinin, oregano oil, garlic, olive leaf extract, monolaurin, mastic gum and several parasite cleasing formulas.

 

[tyson oberle]

Hi Adreno,
I also had the metametrix stool test and it showed no "pathogenic bacteria" and "parasite present; taxonomy unavailable" as well. As for yeast I had "no clinically significant amounts". I too have symptoms and I really believe that much of my ME/CFS has to do with some kind of gut infection. I am going to talk to my doctor about this and if I find out anything I will let you know. Likewise, also let me know what you find out or decide to do. In the meantime I believe that fecal transplants would be a good idea, but I am having a hard time trying to find a good donor. Almost everyone eats a lot of sugar, grains, processed food, etc., but at least they don't have CFS so I don't know if I should settle for that type of candidate. I actually found a donor who has tons of energy and no gut issues but I don't want to use him because of all the junk he eats and drinks.

 

[baccarat]

Both tinidazole and metronidazole are effective against protozoal infections like giardia or similar.
Ivermectin is an effective broad spectrum antiprotozoan agent http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8918027
Going the natural route, it is artemisia absinthium the most effective for parasites and may be helpful for liver parasites rather than gut parasites.
Rain-tree.com they used to make good herbal remedies for all sorts of difficult infections from micoplasma to worms and were helpful in answering specific queries on which would work best. Not sure if they still do but would try and contact them.
regarding blastocytosis hom. berberine containing plants (goldenseal, barberry etc) can kill it and they also have a broad anticandida action.
With certain parasites you probably need to repeat treatment over time to get rid of them for good bacause they're most vulnerable at certain stages of their lifecycle.
If you're successful you'll know from an improvement in energy, gut, stress and emotional problems. Persistent bacterial and viral infections may also become easier or even go away. Some find that even their allergies improve.

 

[leela]

I'll just add that the main last-straw trigger for M.E. in my case was a protozoan infection (giardia). I tried to treat it for several months (yes months--what was i thinking?) with all the goodies--wormwood, black walnut, quassia etc..to no avail.

I felt better after the very *first* dose of tinidazole.

I followed up with a couple rounds of herbals, to get the next egg cycles etc, and had years of digestive catch-up to do from having left the infection for so long, but the tinidazole really did the trick in terms of ending the invasion. I'm really sorry I waited.

 

[sianrecovery]

Tinidazole has a good rep for biofilm too. Do you mind me asking Leela, how long and in what dose did you take it?
Everyoone who does the triple cocktail seems pretty wasted during the treatment.
I've done all the herbal stuff before, and dietary. Blasto has a long life cycle, and can adopt a number of forms - one of the many reasons parasites can be hard to test for. They are easy to miss, and a negative result may not always be an actual negative.
Sounds like you'll need to retest Adreno - maybe try a different lab.

 

[sianrecovery]

ps be careful with wormwood. It can be pretty toxic.

 

[adreno]

sianrecovery

AFAIK, tinidazole is normally given as a single 2g dose.

 

[leela]

sianrecovery

this was back in 2005, so i'm iffy on the dosing. i have the vague memory that i took two pills? maybe over the course of a week? or two? i really cannot remember now. i think it's important to address the life cyle with more than one dose.

the thing I do remember clearly is the immediate relief.

 

[sianrecovery]

yeah, I bet, so much of what we do makes us feel worse rather than better xxxx

 

[adreno]

ps be careful with wormwood. It can be pretty toxic.

Yeah, it is toxic to the liver. I am not eager to try it. I think I'm going to give Artemisia Annua another go, as per Crux's suggestion. Last time I used whole herb, this time I will try an extract. It might also have different effects than the artiminsin I have taken before.

WRT to testing, do you know of a better parasite test than the Metametrix?

 

[sianrecovery]

hey, Adreno, I had a good root around on that ppft forum I posted the address of last night - had some useful stuff on testing, and also what 'of unknown taxonomy' means - worth a look xxxx

 

[Vordhosbn]

One recovered poster on the pptu.lefora.com website, nosekara, believes antibody testing is the best option. Other than that some people have been successful seeing Dr Cahill in New York for a sigmoid sample. I haven't yet found a good source for parasite-specific symptoms to help narrow down the antibody testing.

 

[adreno]

Hm. After looking around a bit on the PPTU forum, it seems there is no consensus about effective tests or treatments. All seems pretty random who takes what and who gets "cured" or not. It's a big mess, this parasite business. Looks like it's all speculation at this point. It's even doubtful that all of these people have parasite infections; their symptoms might be due to something else entirely.

 

[Christopher]

Hm. After looking around a bit on the PPTU forum, it seems there is no consensus about effective tests or treatments. All seems pretty random who takes what and who gets "cured" or not. It's a big mess, this parasite business. Looks like it's all speculation at this point. It's even doubtful that all of these people have parasite infections; their symptoms might be due to something else entirely.

You might just have to treat empirically with treatments that have helped others and see what your reaction is.