Just My Luck - Parasites

So I get a phonecall from my GP today to say that they have had to forward a sample of mine to the London School of Tropical Medicine for PCR testing, having had Microbiology at my local hospital find the following:

Entamoeba Coli
Entamoeba Histolytica
Endolimax

Has anyone had experience of the three delights above? Are these kind of lovelies actually causing my M.E. or is it just because of my depressed immune system that I am prone to such things.

How on earth a 26 year old lad in the middle of nowhere in the UK (Somerset), has picked up all these exotic beauties I really will never know. I really am sick of this illness, it never seems to rain but it pours I was hoping herpes viruses would be the extent of my issues but now I get this news as well

Scavo trust me you don't want herpes viruses - any of them - I know its not nice but you'll get good treatment from the LSTM.

Sorry Mary, I wasn't trying to make light of herpes virues, I was just crossing my fingers that I didn't have multiple issues. I can cope with a lot of things, but it's the very idea that there are actual living things (I know that bacteria etc are also living) that really freaks me out. Apologies, just having a bad day, and this new discovery is just adding to things.

I have heard that they can enter your body via the foods you eat. But I would guess that they would actually take up residence due to having a compromised immune system, low stomach acid, etc.

What sort of treatment are they proposing?

You don't have to apologise scavo I know its hard to cope with whatever people find via blood tests whether its herpes, various forms of bacteria etc. They all spell treatment and the question always is can we deal with the treatment? in my case anti virals are just a big no no , thats one of my reasons for not wishing chronic herpes virus infections on anyone.

HI, Scavo.

I agree with Sushi on Flagyl (metonidazole). It does kill protozoal parasites, but it also produces oxidative stress, which PWMEs already have too much of.

Some people have had success against protozoa with the Paradex Herbal Formula.

Best regards,

Rich

Hi Scavo
Its surprisingly easy to get parasitic infections, especially if you are around animals, and I'm betting alot of the population would test postive if they had the tests. The silver lining in your story is that your GP was smart enough to test, that's rare. I have blastocytosis in my gut and protomyxzoa in my blood, so me and protazoa are intimately entwined...I understand very well your response of ugh, things living in me, but then if you think about how much of your body is already 'foreign' material, the only difference with protozoa is that they are bigger - harder to kill, but slower to mutate. I dont know your infections, but Scott Forsgreen's Better Health Guy website has good info on his treatment of his own parasitic infections. Dont despair! Knowledge is power, and you have an important part of the jigsaw puzzle there. There's another book called Guess What Came to Dinner (I think, long time since I read it) by Louise someone - not so much on treatment methods, but good on means of transmission. There's also the badbugs website, but I have to say I found that quite defeatist.
Good luck xxxx

I know there is a drug that treats ameba called Humatin. It's a drug that tends to stay in the digestive tract and is not super-toxic like Flagyl.

http://www.medicinenet.com/paromomycin-oral/article.htm

Thanks for all the information and advice. It's at times like these where I am so pleased to be part of this community. I was really feeling bad earlier, but your words and a couple glasses of vino have put things into perspective a bit, and I now know where I should be heading vis-a-vis treatment of these critters. I am just starting out on LDN and am off to see Dr Kogelnik in a couple of weeks as well, so I imagine that if I improve my immune system overall, then that should also help with the parasites. I was just so concerned that these parasites were causative of my M.E., but I guess that they do just arrive as they find a decent host in an immunocompromised body.

Sushi - what was the other medication you took in addition to the Humatin?

Thanks Sushi, will try and coax the GP along those treatment lines as opposed to Flagyl then. I don't wanna be sorting the parasites but then suffering more bateria/candida. All this is of course depending on whether the PCR turns up anything.

My experience with Flagyl is that it's a tough abx to endure but it can be quite helpful.
I was never able to take it for very long. The first time I tried it, after a few days I had all symptoms of a genuine heart attack. At the same time it was the abx that gave me the largest improvement.

With time these reactions subsided and it may have been due to the fact that the pathogens load had declined.
It kills a wide range of pathogens many of which we may not even be aware of having.
I see it as a very effective abx.

I advise also not taking the flagyl. I had Entamoeba Coli and Entamoeba Histolytica in 1997. was treated with 6 courses of Flagyl in 1997-1998. It didn't kill the bugs and I ended in June 1998 with CFS. (and I spare you all the side effects of this drug).

How does one test for parasites? What are the symptoms..if any?

If you don't mind me asking: what prompted you/your GP to check for parasites in the first place?

Entamoeba coli is probably harmless. You can look it up in Wikipedia. E. histolytica causes dysentery. Endolimax may or may not cause diarrhea, but it can give false positives on other tests. Again, see Wikipedia.

Here is a link that may answer your questions:

The US Food & Drug Administration's Bad Bug Book entry on Entamoeba histolytica
http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/...thogensNaturalToxins/BadBugBook/ucm070739.htm

You might try eating some natto--a type of fermented soybean product from Japan--or finding a Bacillis subtilis probiotic. Long story, has to do with Nazis and camels.

BTW, I just got my 5th Rituxan infusion and am feeling better than I have in a while.

Irene

Thanks for the input all - I have not bothered treating it, for fear of my overall condition getting any worse (I just about manage to hold down a full time job). I shall certainly look into the natto @IreneF - I am not averse to trying new stuff, particularly where my dodgy stomach is concered!!!

And @snowathlete - it was my idea to check for parasites, I thought they might be having an impact on me.