Did Parasite Cleanse 3 months ago.. Feeling flat since - why?

[robin91]

3 months ago (Feb 1st to Feb 10th) I did a parasite cleanse.. I did it because my gut has never felt 100% (nothing awful, just always felt like digestion could be better etc) and because I'd read so much online of people claiming all these different benefits, I thought I'd give it a go.. (Mistake.)

I used Cloves, Wormwood and Black Walnut.

Starting with 1000mg of each a day if I recall, and tapered up to 3000mg of each a day if I recall... (Probably FAR too much.) I was naive and clueless. Throughout the ten days I felt a bit off, irritable, mood decline, then on the 11th day (the day after finishing) I woke up and felt totally off. Very anxious, but otherwise flat. Like, void of emotion or feeling.

It's 3 months later, and I've still not bounced back from it. I've been depressed before, and this feels totally different. Before when I'd been depressed I obviously felt a diminished drive etc, but I feel totally void of any drive. Even my sex drive has disappeared. I'm not sad at all, I just feel devoid of life?!

It's a very bizarre thing to try and explain, but I'm certain the parasite cleanse has caused it. What I don't understand is why. Some people claim 'die off' causes mood issues, but that should pass.. this came on and hasn't left since. I really find it hard to believe this at all related to 'die off'.

Some other people have suggested I may have damaged my gut bacteria.. I'm 10 days into using a 50 billion probiotic (Renew Life Critical Care), in some ways I feel it's helped ,but I still feel flat? It's hard to explain.. The overarching feeling of flatness, and lack of life/drive is still there.

Does anyone else have any other ideas? I've heard some people claim herbs like wormwood can cause issues like this, possibly due to toxicity, but I can't get a clear answer as to exactly why and if there's a way to undo/fix it?

I'm really starting to wonder if I've caused some sort of irreversible damage in my brain circuity somewhere.

I'm really at a loss here?

 

[robin91]

Also to add to this, since starting the probiotic I've had tinnitus come on.. Which is now really bugging me. I don't know if it's linked to the probiotic or coincedence, but it seems odd that it came on around that time. Today I have skipped the probiotic to see if that provides any relief. I also had started taking methylated b complex in the last 2 weeks, to see if that helped at all. I have skipped that for the last 2 days. It would seem if its related to something I've taken, it must be either of those 2?

I did wonder if this was linked possibly to histamine. What is odd is that ever since doing the parasite cleanse, I've not had any allergies. Since teen years I had seasonal allergies, cat allergies etc, which have seemingly disappeared?! I also get bouts of urticaria which I've never been able to pin point what causes it, that I still get, but seemingly for no rhyme and reason I can recognise.

I was also getting severe bouts of brain fog and fatigue, which I thought might be being caused by high sulfur foods initially.

Today I have been taking high doses of vitamin c, to see if that brought any relief, but it doesn't seem to have done anything noticeable.

I'm totally lost as to what I should be looking at.

 

[Eastman]

@robin91

It does look to me that the parasite cleanse created your problem, probably by damaging your gut microbiome.

Unfortunately, as I'm sure you're aware, trying to reverse the damage with probiotics is not easy as commercial probiotics normally do not contain commensal gut bacteria and cannot replace what is lost. I think a long period of rebuilding your microbiome with a combination of probiotics and prebiotic supplements and foods will be required.

In case you find them useful, Lassesen had blog posts on Treating depression at the microbiome level and Finding the right prebiotics and probiotics. His website is here.

I also think there is a good chance that either the probiotics or methylated B complex triggered the tinnitus. Some probiotics produce histamine, which has been associated with tinnitus. Some people here also get tinnitus after starting a methylation protocol.

 

[Hip]

Very anxious, but otherwise flat. Like, void of emotion or feeling.

That flatness may be due to blunted affect (weakened emotions) and possibly anhedonia as well (anhedonia is where you no longer feel a sense of pleasure or reward from normally enjoyable activities). Both are very hard to treat; there are no drugs that really help.

It may be that you altered the gut microbiome in some way, leading to more inflammation in your gut. Gut inflammation is known to ramp up brain inflammation (via a vagus nerve pathway), and brain inflammation is increasingly linked to mental symptoms such as depression. Probiotics, prebiotics and Saccharomyces boulardii might help reduce gut inflammation.

This treatment for anxiety using N-acetyl-glucosamine (NAG) you might find of interest. I speculate it works by reducing brain inflammation, which may also help your blunted affect / anhedonia.

 

[robin91]

Thanks for the responses! Yes I really do think this links back to gut. I did quite a few rounds of anti-biotics in my teens, and had a binge eating disorder for almost 10 years (which I only recently got over), both of which have no doubt ruined my gut flora balance.

I've had on and off issues with depression and anxiety for years, which could all stem largely from that same issue, and maybe the parasite cleanse pushed me over the edge. Doh.

The last time I did probiotics, I started to react really badly to FODMAPS, getting super painful cramps, this has happened another time I've used probiotics as well. I do wonder if i've got SIBO, and the probiotics are then fueling that.

I suspect I may also have a histamine issue (used to get the WORST seasonal allergies and on and off urticarcia), the odd thing is that since doing the parasite cleanse i've had 0 allergies..

I think I might try and focus on doing a low fodmap diet + histamine diet simultaneously over the next week or so and see if they provides any benefit.

The probiotics were definitely helping, but I do wonder if they were helping in one area and then hindering in another.

Can anyone reccomend a really good gut specialist in the UK? I'm starting to figure I may not be able to figure this out on my own.