Living with a parasite; how to deal with rapid weight loss
danielasaur
Posts: 63 Member
Hi everyone,
For the past three months I have had a complete loss of appetite and persistent extreme nausea that has caused me to lose over 40lbs in just that short span of time. For most of these three months, the doctors had no clue what it was that could be causing these symptoms (among others) but a few weeks ago I was diagnosed with parasitic worms (type yet to be determined). When I got the diagnosis I was ecstatic, because I had been fearing the worst, but after the treatment did not work, I’ve become very depressed. I feel HORRIBLE, I’m constantly on the verge of throwing up (most days that I throw up it’s just water and bile since I can barely eat), I’m very weak and extremely fatigued, in part from the parasites but also because of the rapid weight loss. Has anybody dealt with a similar situation? Any tips to give? I’m really desperate to feel better and my next GI appointment isn’t for another week, I’m willing to try anything to get my life back
For the past three months I have had a complete loss of appetite and persistent extreme nausea that has caused me to lose over 40lbs in just that short span of time. For most of these three months, the doctors had no clue what it was that could be causing these symptoms (among others) but a few weeks ago I was diagnosed with parasitic worms (type yet to be determined). When I got the diagnosis I was ecstatic, because I had been fearing the worst, but after the treatment did not work, I’ve become very depressed. I feel HORRIBLE, I’m constantly on the verge of throwing up (most days that I throw up it’s just water and bile since I can barely eat), I’m very weak and extremely fatigued, in part from the parasites but also because of the rapid weight loss. Has anybody dealt with a similar situation? Any tips to give? I’m really desperate to feel better and my next GI appointment isn’t for another week, I’m willing to try anything to get my life back
6
Replies
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Who diagnosed you?3
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... i don't think many of us have had worms... or at least not that i know of.. how does one get worms?0
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They're available at Joe's tackle shop on Fremont Street.HellYeahItsKriss wrote: »... i don't think many of us have had worms... or at least not that i know of.. how does one get worms?
And do i just eat them like gummy candies or is there some kind of special preparation method?1 -
HellYeahItsKriss wrote: »... i don't think many of us have had worms... or at least not that i know of.. how does one get worms?
I know that if you stand in some rivers with no shoes on, I think in places like Africa, there's this worm that burrows in through your foot or it can also swim up your urethra if you're a man. I think she might have noticed that though. Lol
Other than that, infected meat which is then not properly cooked and eaten by humans.
MAKE SURE YOUVE EATEN BEFORE YOU READ THIS NEXT BIT.
things like tape worms typically live in the intestines of cattle if the cattle drinks contaminated water. It gets into humans by not cooking the infected meat properly.
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This is not something anyone on the internet can help with. Go to a certified medical professional - a physician who can refer you to a parisitologist.5
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HellYeahItsKriss wrote: »... i don't think many of us have had worms... or at least not that i know of.. how does one get worms?
Worms are not very common in the US, but they are in some other countries. There are still areas in the US (poverty stricken areas in the southern US) that have issues with worms. But I have seen a few threads recently with this being diagnosed by some holistic type of healer. Which is why I asked earlier who made the diagnoses. Because if OP is in the US, this is not a common thing at all.7 -
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HellYeahItsKriss wrote: »
They're available at Joe's tackle shop on Fremont Street.HellYeahItsKriss wrote: »... i don't think many of us have had worms... or at least not that i know of.. how does one get worms?
And do i just eat them like gummy candies or is there some kind of special preparation method?
You need to be sitting in a garden.
First you bite the head off.
Then you suck the juice out
then you throw the rest of them away.1 -
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Tacklewasher wrote: »HellYeahItsKriss wrote: »
They're available at Joe's tackle shop on Fremont Street.HellYeahItsKriss wrote: »... i don't think many of us have had worms... or at least not that i know of.. how does one get worms?
And do i just eat them like gummy candies or is there some kind of special preparation method?
You need to be sitting in a garden.
First you bite the head off.
Then you suck the juice out
then you throw the rest of them away.
But then nobody will like you. Everyone will hate you.11 -
A friend of mine who has been to Africa ended up with some parasite. She is a big believer in (very) alternative remedies. She has used diatomaceous earth and something called a zapper (?) that emits a frequency that (supposedly) harms the parasites.
I have doubts if these are effective remedies but she says that she has had some luck with the diatomaceous earth.
Good luck.5 -
I foster kittens and puppies for the local animal shelter and sometimes they come with tapeworm. I have a young kid who likes to play with these baby animals and I had to warn his mom about it - pick up a puppy, eat some popcorn. Pick up another puppy, eat some more popcorn.
Yeah. I imagine tapeworms have a pretty set medical treatment though. There shouldn't be a "failure" rate with parasite cures...that just sounds. . .holistic.3 -
Just pop 2 of these, simples..
You haven't replied to the questions of exactly who diagnosed you. An MD, or a naturopathic healer??
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cmriverside wrote: »I foster kittens and puppies for the local animal shelter and sometimes they come with tapeworm. I have a young kid who likes to play with these baby animals and I had to warn his mom about it - pick up a puppy, eat some popcorn. Pick up another puppy, eat some more popcorn.
Yeah. I imagine tapeworms have a pretty set medical treatment though. There shouldn't be a "failure" rate with parasite cures...that just sounds. . .holistic.
Yes I'm quoting myself...
OP says she doesn't know what kind of worms (to be determined??!?) and yet the treatment failed. How do you treat something when you don't even know what it is? I think she's messin' with us.3 -
Christine_72 wrote: »Just pop 2 of these, simples..
But the worm looks so happy. It seems wrong to interfere with it.
Naaaw the poor lil poppets
OP has been afflicted for 3mths, so there'd be multiple little family units in there that need nuking... 1 -
My cat gets worms from eatting rats. Did OP eat a rat?
In all seriousness, if you've had rapid weight loss, seek medical attention from an M.D.2 -
I read a missionary story where he was sickest when he FORGOT to feed his tapeworm.
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevin-wax/bruchko-the-story-of-bruce-olson/
Until those little wigglies are taken care of, try and eat as much as you can bear. I'd sip on a calorie dense protein shake around the clock if it was me.2 -
I love that you just called them "Little wigglies"... thats cute and morbid all in one package.. and I am glad I have never had wigglies.. In fact I have never even had food poisoning. I guess it's good that i cook my food. lol1
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cmriverside wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »I foster kittens and puppies for the local animal shelter and sometimes they come with tapeworm. I have a young kid who likes to play with these baby animals and I had to warn his mom about it - pick up a puppy, eat some popcorn. Pick up another puppy, eat some more popcorn.
Yeah. I imagine tapeworms have a pretty set medical treatment though. There shouldn't be a "failure" rate with parasite cures...that just sounds. . .holistic.
Yes I'm quoting myself...
OP says she doesn't know what kind of worms (to be determined??!?) and yet the treatment failed. How do you treat something when you don't even know what it is? I think she's messin' with us.
This is what confuses me. I would think different parasites, even different specifically worms, would require different treatment. And how do they know it's parasites but not which one?
Tried looking at the food diary, and I can't tell from the little that's logged where in the world you are OP. Where do you live? Do you have pets? What type of doctor diagnosed and gave you the treatment? What kinds of food have you been trying to eat?0 -
I'd put good money I don't currently have that this goes back to a naturopath/holistic/insert pretend doctor name here.2
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Sorry for the wait, too busy to check back in before now! I was diagnosed by a GI after (tmi) I showed her a picture of my stools, in which there was a very obvious worm, and I told her about all of my symptoms. She wanted to spare me from having a colonoscopy/gastroscopy that day considering the diagnosis seemed pretty straight forward, so she prescribed me some albendazole and sent me on my way, but Canada doesn’t actually carry albendazole, just mebendazole, so when I went to the emergency room to get the prescription fixed (this was a weekend and my GI’s clinic was closed), the doctor switched the dosage as well as the medicine from 1 400mg pill to 6 100mg pills, which is the dosage required to kill a different strain of parasite apparently.3
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I’ve been to three different medical doctors (miss me with the homeopathic *kitten* lmao), a GI, and the emergency room twice, but I only got the parasite diagnosis after I physically....expelled.... a parasite; before that I was being tested for all sorts of gastrointestinal things like celiacs, crohns, IBD, IBS, c.diff, etc, because SURPRISE not a lot of people get parasites in CANADA, so it wasn’t really on anyone’s radar5
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cmriverside wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »I foster kittens and puppies for the local animal shelter and sometimes they come with tapeworm. I have a young kid who likes to play with these baby animals and I had to warn his mom about it - pick up a puppy, eat some popcorn. Pick up another puppy, eat some more popcorn.
Yeah. I imagine tapeworms have a pretty set medical treatment though. There shouldn't be a "failure" rate with parasite cures...that just sounds. . .holistic.
Yes I'm quoting myself...
OP says she doesn't know what kind of worms (to be determined??!?) and yet the treatment failed. How do you treat something when you don't even know what it is? I think she's messin' with us.
This is what confuses me. I would think different parasites, even different specifically worms, would require different treatment. And how do they know it's parasites but not which one?
Tried looking at the food diary, and I can't tell from the little that's logged where in the world you are OP. Where do you live? Do you have pets? What type of doctor diagnosed and gave you the treatment? What kinds of food have you been trying to eat?
I sent in some stool tests to the lab to determine exactly what kind of parasites I have (since the picture I got was clearly not enough to determine type, only determine cause), but the results haven’t come in yet2 -
I read a missionary story where he was sickest when he FORGOT to feed his tapeworm.
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevin-wax/bruchko-the-story-of-bruce-olson/
Until those little wigglies are taken care of, try and eat as much as you can bear. I'd sip on a calorie dense protein shake around the clock if it was me.
I definitely feel sickest when I can’t eat, but the nausea is so powerful and the lack of appetite so complete that feeding the worms is an almost impossible task. I’ve been trying to graze on nuts and cheese and crackers inasmuch as I can since the sweetness of shakes upsets my stomach/(activates the worms??) too much, but it is VERY hard to even graze, the nausea is that extreme1 -
Christine_72 wrote: »Just pop 2 of these, simples..
You haven't replied to the questions of exactly who diagnosed you. An MD, or a naturopathic healer??
I wish I could just go to the pharmacy and pick up some of these babies, but antiparasitic medicine is regulated in Canada, I can’t get it over the counter1 -
cmriverside wrote: »I foster kittens and puppies for the local animal shelter and sometimes they come with tapeworm. I have a young kid who likes to play with these baby animals and I had to warn his mom about it - pick up a puppy, eat some popcorn. Pick up another puppy, eat some more popcorn.
Yeah. I imagine tapeworms have a pretty set medical treatment though. There shouldn't be a "failure" rate with parasite cures...that just sounds. . .holistic.
My dad’s dogs had worms this summer, and I was in contact with them then, so it’s very possible that I picked the parasites up from them, but it could also very well have been uncooked meat since I will admit to being very partial to sushi, and tartares....
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danielasaur wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »Just pop 2 of these, simples..
You haven't replied to the questions of exactly who diagnosed you. An MD, or a naturopathic healer??
I wish I could just go to the pharmacy and pick up some of these babies, but antiparasitic medicine is regulated in Canada, I can’t get it over the counter
Have you asked a pharmacist about an OTC alternative?
"The prescription of choice is mebendazole* and the non-prescription medication of choice is pyrantel pamoate." - https://www1.shoppersdrugmart.ca/en/health-and-pharmacy/conditions/pinworms/191/treatment-and-prevention2 -
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danielasaur wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »Just pop 2 of these, simples..
You haven't replied to the questions of exactly who diagnosed you. An MD, or a naturopathic healer??
I wish I could just go to the pharmacy and pick up some of these babies, but antiparasitic medicine is regulated in Canada, I can’t get it over the counter
Have you asked a pharmacist about an OTC alternative?
"The prescription of choice is mebendazole* and the non-prescription medication of choice is pyrantel pamoate." - https://www1.shoppersdrugmart.ca/en/health-and-pharmacy/conditions/pinworms/191/treatment-and-prevention
When I first went to the pharmacists for an OTC alternative after the first two weeks of the mystery illness (a close friend of mine is Mexican and she immediately suspected parasites ironically), the pharmacist said I couldn’t get any deworming meds without a prescription! I’ll definitely go back and try again if the shoppers page offers an alternative to medendazole though.... kill these things with everything I have at my disposal1
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