Dreaming about parasites

[justy]

Well this is a weird one.
First a bit of background. About 12 years ago i had a dream in which a doctor in a white coat told me i was going to get a serious lung condition. 8 years later i was diagnosed with lung fibrosis by CT scan.

Five years ago, when i was very ill, but still undiagnosed after years of ill health, i had a dream that i was in a restaurant, in a wheelchair. I was explaining to the man behind the counter that i was in a wheelchair for a fatiguing illness - that i could walk, but i had M.E. Last year i got a wheelchair to enable me to go out for 'walks' and longer days out with my family.

Last night, as i went to sleep i thought to myself-'wouldn't it be great if i could be given a dream that would tell me what the major underyling issue is with my health and what to do about it?'
So, last night i had a dream that i can only interpret to be about parasites. I have been having a lot of stomach woes, and have considered parasites, but done nothing about it so far.

In the dream i started to feel sick and my stomach began to really hurt. I opened my mouth and a load of stuff came out (sorry bit horrible) it wasnt sick, but identifiable gunk. When i looked down, there were miniature crocodiles that had come out of me - they were alive and tiny, snapping their jaws. I vomited more of these out and then all of a sudden the pain got really bad anf this thing - like a small fat worm, started to come out of my mouth. Only half came out and then the other half with a big blob of bright red blood. It really really hurt. Then a whole load of clear mucous came out then another worm. I had the feeling this would go on for some time, and that i wouldnt feel better until i had expelled all the worms and mucous (biofilm?)

Such a very weird dream i felt the need to share it here and see what peoples response is, especially judging it by the fact that my other 'medical' dreams have been spot on. It wasnt a pleasant experience - but then i guess i did ask!

Justy x

 

[Gamboa]

I had a very similar dream recently. I attribute it to the fact that I was reading about parasitic infections earlier in the day. I hope this is the cause of the dream. As much as I want to find a cause to my illness I really don't want it to be large parasitic worms poking around inside me!

By the way I have been tested for intestinal parasites and was negative. I have traveled to Central America many times (Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, Belize , Costa Rica and Mexico ) so could very well have acquired any number of exotic parasites as well as the normal homegrown kinds. Yikes!

 

[Lala]

How about trying some diatomaceous earth, justy? It is natural, effective and you can raise your dose very slowly. After taking it first time I saw loads of parasites in my toilet. It helped with energy and improved stomach pain almost immediately. Considering your horrible reaction to mebendazole it is more than probable you have some parasitic problem and parasites can be real cause of CFS...
I restarted DE myself recently and I again had reaction and it again helped. We all are probably loaded with parasites and I wonder how many people would totally cure with antiparasitic treatment from CFS.

You would soon know how much the dream was true.

 

[Dreambirdie]

Hi Justy--Whenever anyone mentions their dreams, I get very excited! And the ones you have mentioned are really quite spectacular in their assessments of your health/illness.

I have been studying dreams for a long time, since I was a teenager, and have recorded many of them since then. Over the years my dreams have given me many diagnostic clues, dietary recommendations, and have often warned me (and still do) when I am about to fall ill with an infection, with dreams that there is a "lurking evil" about to break into my house. In TCM, which is my primary healing modality "lurking evils" is the name given to chronic infections that lurk in the system and get triggered during times when the immune system is weakened. So this makes perfect sense to me. I heed those warnings by upping my doses of anti-viral herbs in advance, and making sure to rest as much as possible.

Besides giving me health information, my dreams have also been a very helpful source of feedback about many other aspects of my everyday life, my deeper self, my relationships with others, and the state of my psyche in general. When I read my old dream journals, I can see how they tell the story, from the dream's perspective, of the journey my life has have taken, the challenges I have faced, and the way I have successfully or unsuccessfully handled those challenges.

What you did by asking your dream for information about the major underlying issue with your health is called "dream incubation," and it's been used since the times of the ancient Greeks in their healing temples. Since your dreams have spoken to you so clearly about your health issues, you might consider using dream incubation more often. Asking for a dream to tell you what you need to do about a particular health or life issue can give some remarkably useful information at times. It sure did with you! Since you seem to have a strong attunement to your dreams already, it might benefit you to keep a journal of your dreams and see what else they can offer you.

In case you are interested in reading material on the topic, two of the best books I've read on the topic of dreams as they relate to health issues are Healing Dreams by Mark Barasch (here is a fairly long excerpt from it: http://www.utne.com/Mind-Body/Exploring-the-Power-of-Healing-Dreams.aspx) and The Healing Power of Dreams by Patricia Garfield. http://creativedreaming.org/books-about-dreams-and-dreaming/healing-power-of-dreams/

Thanks for sharing this. Keep us posted on what happens next with your investigation of the parasite issue.

 

[KathySkes]

Justy, this is really cool. I second the recommendation for diatomaceous earth. I haven't used it myself but it's a good natural remedy for parasites. A few weeks ago I started working with a woman who had CFS beginning in 1992 and who has since recovered. She does a combination of talking therapy and hands-on work. Last week we worked on my symptoms in which she asked me to have my different areas of the body/symptoms "talk" to me and let me know what they need to heal. After that session I did it some more on my own. Anyway, it reminds me of what you are doing. Great job!

By the way how does it go for you being in the wheelchair? I have thought about using one to be able to go to some places with my family so I don't get too tired out, but since I don't "look" disabled I wondered if I should expect some weird looks from people, etc., especially if I get out of the wheelchair here and there.

 

[Nielk]

Justy,

As others posted here, this is really spectacular. You obviously are very intuitive. It would be really interesting to follow up to see if you are actually suffering from this problem. What a great find that would be - because there are treatments for this.
I would be very interested to hear what becomes of this.

 

[JAH]

Hi Justy,

I have had dreams like that too- trying to get bugs off me, and one with a worm. I often lucid dream, and also try to use my dreams to figure out what is going on with my health. Recently I was thinking about whether or not I should try xryem, and when I was in a half sleeping state, posed that question to myself and had a dream that sleeping beauty was given a sleeping pill and woke up. I am going to talk to my doctor about switching to xyrem (not sure if I should tell her about the dream!)

JAH

 

[JAH]

I like the website dreammoods.com to help with dream analysis, here is what the dream dictionary says about crocodiles:

Crocodile
To see a crocodile in your dream symbolizes freedom, hidden strength and power. It also forewarns of hidden danger. Someone near you is giving you bad advice and is trying to sway you into poor decisions. Because crocodiles can live in water and on land, they also represent your conscious and subconscious and the emotional and rational. Perhaps something is coming to the surface and you are on the verge of some new awareness.
Alternatively, the crocodile may be an aspect of yourself and your aggressive and "snappy" attitude. Or it may reveal that are being insincere, displaying false emotions and shedding "crocodile tears".
To dream that you are chased or bitten by a crocodile denotes disappointments in love and in business.
**See The Meaning In Action: "Crocodile Chase"

 

[Little Bluestem]

If crocodiles can forewarn of hidden danger and Justi was vomiting them up, could it not be warning of a hidden danger in her digestive system? What followed suggests that the hidden danger is parasites.

I think a visit with a good parasite specialist is in order. I am more familiar with parasites in horses than in people. In horses, some migrate around the body or encyst during certain phases of their life cycle and can be difficult to detect and eradicate.

 

[Wayne]

Hi Justy,

Congratulations on your dream. The message seems to be clear that you should follow up on this is some manner. I made a post recently about a friend who shared some experiences he's had with MMS. The parasite part is in quotes below. Here's a link to the whole post: http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...8-ld-nosodes-formula.14261/page-5#post-281368

Regarding the MMS; he said it has virtually cleared up all of his stomach problems, which he has long felt were a core issue for him. He believes they started after he inadvertently drank some contaminated water containing some kind of parasite (5-6 years ago), as he felt horrible the following day and never recovered. He feels this contributed in a major way to his Lyme becoming much worse than it had been, primarily because he felt it totally shut down his immune system.

He said that after doing the MMS for a while, he was leaning over, and all of a sudden felt a pop in his sinuses. And once this “pop” occurred, his balance, which had been a major problem for him, went away at the same time. And shortly after, the severe stomach problems that had plagued him for about 5-6 years virtually disappeared. He said he actually began to feel hunger again. He’s taking a break from the MMS at the moment, but intends to get back to it again soon. He feels it is very safe, as it breaks down into a salt within a couple of hours after ingesting it.

 

[Marlène]

Very interesting. You should keep a diary of your dreams to keep track of them.
Sometimes I have this intuitive dreams too. Once there was my doctor and a lake full of planorbis. My doctor said I should take kefir to get better. When I woke up, I had to look up both the picture of the animal and the name of kefir to find out the snail can cause disease and kefir is yogurt that heals.

 

[justy]

Wow! so many interesting replies. I had a look at totem animals on the net to find out more about crocodile energy - very much as Jah posts above. Apparently they are a rare totem. I agree that they could be pointing to the 'hidden' beneath the surface problem. I have long since felt parasites could be an issue for me - although i have no idea where i would have got them from. As pointed out by Lala above, i did have a terrible reaction to the antiparasitic mebendazole, which is only supposed to happen in cases of severe infestation - i spent an entire night writihing in agony with what felt like something inside me thrashing and fighting for life. I believe on that occasion it won.

I plan on spending some time working on this with my herbalist - i could do some testing - but i could save the money by going straight for some natrural/herbal treatments for a while.

I love the idea of asking for more guidance from my dreams. In the past they have just thrown things at me - rather than me asking my subconcious in this way (if this is what is happening) I spent many years working with Tarot and am a Reiki master teacher - but in the past 8 years or so i havent been tuned into this part of my life much. I did a fantastic spiritual counselling course about 14 years ago (where i met my husband) and we worked on our intutive side a lot - this was always my strong point. I feel quite strongly that this dream has reminded me of that part of myself and the benefits of incorporating it back into my life.
All the best, Justy xx

 

[justy]

By the way how does it go for you being in the wheelchair? I have thought about using one to be able to go to some places with my family so I don't get too tired out, but since I don't "look" disabled I wondered if I should expect some weird looks from people, etc., especially if I get out of the wheelchair here and there.

Hi Kathy - it took me a couple of years to make the decision - i have never ever regretted it. I can now go on holiday with my family - go on shopping trips for clothes go out for 'walks' etc. before i was stuck at home and could only go from car to cafe and back etc, no wondering around exploring, no museums etc.

Of course i still get worn out by going out on these sorts of trips - we dont do them very often - but last year we went on holiday locally for 5 days and i could go out every day, rather than once and then have to stay in to recover. I make myself get in the wheelchair before i get too tired to walk to avoid PEM. It is embarrasing at first having to get in and out - but i just decided to brazen it out and now i am used to it. My youngeest daughter finds it very embarrasing, but she realises its better thna me not being able to go. Recently we visited the Harry Potter film studios - its a 3 hour tour. My daughter saw for the first time, 3 other people using wheelchairs who could walk and got in and out, which was good fpor her to see. People do sometimes look funny, but i think the statistics show that like most blind people arent totally blind, most wheelchair users have some mobility. There area lot of part time wheelchair users out there!

I recommend a self propelled one with big wheels as they are easier for the person pushing to manouver. Also it means i can turn myself round to look at things etc, rather than constatnyl being asked to be moved. I'm currently trying to get mine changed to one with big wheels.

Take care, Justy xx

 

[Dreambirdie]

Justy--If you are interested in herbal medicine, you might want to check out this fascinating interview with Heiner Freuhauf on GU SYNDROME. Heiner is a professor of Chinese medicine and a TCM practitioner, who has worked with chronic infectious diseases (including CFS, LYME, and HIV) for 30 years. He's up in Oregon and is booked months in advance. This is a link to the entire interview with Heiner: http://www.classicalchinesemedicine.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/fruehauf_guinterview.pdf

Here's a few excerpts from the interview about GU SYNDROME: "Gu is a character that is very old, perhaps one of the oldest characters in the Chinese textual record altogether, since it is a hexagram in the Yijing. It is literally the image of three worms in a vessel."

"It can be said that the primary prerequisite for Gu syndrome is that the person has some digestive distress, coupled with neurological distress, such as body pain or mental symptoms—light symptoms such as fogginess, or severe symptoms such as hallucinations—that are not explainable with Western medicine, and that are not explainable either by regular diagnostic patterning that we’ve learned in TCM school."

"Gu syndrome does not equal acute parasitic infection. Not all cases, that, from a classical perspective, would be diagnosed as Gu syndrome, would be patients with parasites, and vice-versa, not all people with a positive parasitic test from the Western perspective would be accurately diagnosed as Gu. Gu syndrome actually means that your system is hollowed out from the inside out by dark yin forces that you cannot see. This not seeing often includes Western medical tests that come back negative for parasites. So from a certain perspective, AIDS falls into this category, with body and mind being hollowed out from the inside out, without knowing what is happening. Gu syndrome originally meant “black magic.” To the patient it felt as though someone had put a hex on them, without anybody—whether it’s the Western medicine community or, in ancient times, the regular Chinese medicine approach—being able to see what was really going on. Regular approaches, the Gu texts say, do not work for this problem."

He goes on to distinguish between BRAIN GU and DIGESTIVE GU. "Brain Gu syndrome is basically caused by chronic viruses that target the nervous system (such as coxsackie, herpes, and in some cases HIV), or spirochetes (especially Lyme disease and its coinfections), or other exotic pathogens causing chronic forms of meningitis, malaria, leptospirosis, etc. A lot of patients in this category are diagnosed with fibromyalgia these days."

"People who have chronic digestive system symptoms are referred to as digestive Gu. In the mildest case this will be bloating, gas, strange bowel movements like alternating diarrhea and constipation, or strangely shaped bowel movements. Along with these symptoms one will usually find chronic lethargy. A certain amount of brain fogginess or psychological symptoms like bad dreams can go with Digestive Gu as well."

Heiner has created his own brand of Chinese herbal formulas called CLASSICAL PEARLS, and some of these are specifically designed to treat BRAIN GU (Lightning Pearls) and DIGESTIVE GU (Thunder Pearls). I am currently taking both, alternating them regularly. I have had a stomach bug I can't shake for several weeks. I will see how effective these are for treating it.

 

[CJB]

My naturopath was trained at the college he's affiliated with. I had given up seeing her because of $$, but I'm going to send her this article and see if she's willing to treat me with his protocol. Looks like a 3-5 year treatment for many.

HF: Lightning Pearls is the standard formula for
Brain Gu, and Thunder Pearls is the main formula
for Digestive Gu. During the first 6 weeks of treatment for Brain Gu, I generally recommend to use
Lightning Pearls at a dose of 3-6 capsules 2-3 times
a day—amounting to a minimum of 6 capsules and a
maximum of 18 capsules a day. Then I generally have
patients take a week-long break from the Lightning
Pearls, during which time Thunder Pearls are used as
an alternating remedy in similar amounts. After that,
it is back to the Lightning Pearls, or a combination of
Lightning Pearls and one of the formulas in the aconite remedy series that help with stamina rebuilding
and the relief of specific symptoms.

HF: You definitely need to educate this type of patient by getting them mentally prepared. Whether
they’ve been in it for a long time already or whether
they’re just getting started with this treatment, they
are going to need treatment for a while. And again,
that means six months minimum for the person who
just came back from Nicaragua and contracted dysentery for example, treated it with Flagyl, and now three
months later discovers that the symptoms are coming
back—fatigue and strange bowel movements and so
on. That would be the 22-year-old Peace Corps participant who started out with a strong constitution before his ordeal—he is going to be in it for six months.
Whereas somebody in their 50’s who looks deficient to
you on all levels and has contracted many different viruses in their lifetime, followed by this last journey to
Nepal, or this last tick bite that was the hair that broke
the camel’s back—this person is in it for the three to
five year course

 

[Dreambirdie]

Hi CJ--

Thanks for posting the additional info on the Brain Gu and Digestive Gu formulas. I would have done so myself, but thought my post was already long enough.

And btw, I have taken both formulas, and have not had any adverse/Herx type of reactions from either. That is always a determining factor for me. I am not willing to put myself through weeks and months of Herxing anymore.

 

[Lala]

Hi CJ--

Thanks for posting the additional info on the Brain Gu and Digestive Gu formulas. I would have done so myself, but thought my post was already long enough.

And btw, I have taken both formulas, and have not had any adverse/Herx type of reactions from either. That is always a determining factor for me. I am not willing to put myself through weeks and months of Herxing anymore.

Have you seen any improvement?

 

[Wayne]

I plan on spending some time working on this with my herbalist - i could do some testing - but i could save the money by going straight for some natrural/herbal treatments for a while.

Hi Justy,

I've done various anti-parasitic regimens in the past, but was never able to discern whether they eliminated parasites or not. This thread is reminding me I've long wanted to try the homeopathic approach. I got this idea from listening to a talk by a man who said it had worked really well for him. Sounds like a very worthwhile and inexpensive experiment that could pay dividends.

 

[Dreambirdie]

Have you seen any improvement?

Hi Lala--I have seen some improvement, but I haven't been consistent with the formulas. I am going to try to stay on them more regularly, and will see what happens with that.

What complicates things for me is the big load of heavy metal toxicity that I have, which I am attempting to clear at the same time.

 

[Wayne]

I grew up with a story about how my grandfather had gotten rid of a tapeworm using pumpkin seeds. When I did a search of "Pumpkin Seeds for Tapeworms", I came up with links to several medical journals dating back to the mid-1850's. Below is just a handful of those links:

Northwestern medical and surgical journal, Volume 12

Boston medical and surgical journal, Volumes 46-47

The New York medical times, Volume 3

Medical brief, Volume 7

Eclectic medical journal, Volume 36

Each article seems to have a slightly different variation on the pumpkin seed protocol, but they all seemed to be equally effective. It appears that pumpkin seeds may not kill the tapeworm per se, but temporarily paralyzes it. When this happens, it is not able to cling to the intestinal wall, and is fairly easily flushed out with a kind of purge, such as castor oil or epsom salts.

Given how easy it is to pick up a tapeworm, and how difficult it is to get an accurate diagnostic test for it, it sounds like an occasional pumpkin seed remedy for possible tapeworms would make a lot of sense. You can do the pumpkin seeds on an empty stomach first thing in the morning, and do a purge a couple hours later. Apparently, pumpkin seeds are used extensively in China for all kinds of different parasites. It's on my agenda to give it a try. Sounds benign enough, even for my sensitive system.

Wayne