Pete Dixon

I have several feelings on the matter. First and foremost I feel gratitude. Beginning in my early 40s I was very sick. Because of my out of control immune system I was in great pain and suffered tremendous disability, social isolation, deprivation and vulnerability. With hookworms on board, all that is gone. Sure, with the best knowledge of exactly what foods were making me sick I could have become 80-90% better, but I was still damaged and always a crumb away from being devastatingly ill. With hookworms I've returned to the normal health that I experienced in my 20s and 30s.

Celiac.com Sponsor (A13):
There are 25 or less hookworms living large in my gut. There are no sensations from them, and the only evidence there is of their existence are the eggs that appear in my stool. Those eggs require ground to develop in and modern sanitation immediately kills them off. There's no chance of infecting a partner or housemates. The only risk would be if I were camping and took a dump behind a bush. That would be risky for both myself and others.

No one needs to know that I use an alternative method to stay healthy. The vast majority of people are reasonably skeptical of such a treatment, and generally I only tell people if I want to get a reaction or make conversation. I regret the 10 years I waited between learning about helminthic therapy and to when I tried it, but to be fair in those early days in 2010 the movement wasn't organized back then and supplies were more expensive. I knew of no one who supported the idea and there was little evidence it might work for me. I wish I had been more bold. Going forward I'm looking forward to breeding my own supply. That would represent lower cost and greater security.

I'm currently pushing 60. Both my parents developed dementia in their later years. I wonder about my ability to maintain this treatment when inevitably my mind frays. Hopefully I'll have 20 years before that happens and pharmacology will have developed a pill that requires less heroic measures than hookworms.