Pete Dixon

A few weeks ago I had a bad day marked by considerable GI distress. It was bad enough I figured I must have lost my hookworm colony.

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Immediately I went gluten-free and was better, so I thought I'd have to pony up earlier than I expected for my next inoculation. After a further 4-5 gluten-free days I reintroduced meat and gluten expecting the worst, but there was nothing, everything was still all good. Since then I've been on a regular gluten diet and I've had days of perfection where there was a single perfectly formed stool with very little gas. Obviously my critters are still doing well and my day of illness was simply a mysterious one-off. Weird stuff just sometimes happens I guess.

My method of food tracking is pretty simple. The date, time, food item, calories. If there's a bowel movement I mark the time and the quality. I only bother to track when things are going askew. A person going through their first inoculation would be wise to track this way after a few months as colony loss will be marked by increasing return of symptoms, something a person might brush off if they aren't paying attention. Members of the Helminthic Therapy Group report wide variation in terms of how long their hookworms last. Some need to inoculate every month to keep symptoms at bay, while others can go for a year or more from a single inoculation without issue.

The current plan is still to reorder hookworms Oct 21st and to begin the process of getting a microscope and the other supplies I'll need to provide hookworm larvae sourced from the eggs in my own stool. Stay tuned.