Giardia?

[Guest BERNESES]

This is weird. I have a thread going about how I was getting better but since July, I feel like I am getting worse. I see the doctor tomorrow. I made the appointment because I think I may have multiple food intolerances besides gluten. But, I was talking to a friend of mine tonight who is an MD (dermatologist) and she asked me if I had ever been tested for giardia. I was tested for parasites back in February when my initial blood work was done but I haven't been tested since and my symptoms strted getting worse in July when I swam in two suspect places- a river and a bay. Could giardia be complicating my recovery? I looked it up and the symptoms are remarkably similar. Here's a partial list:

What are the symptoms of giardiasis?

Giardia infection can cause a variety of intestinal symptoms, which include

* Diarrhea

* Gas or flatulence

* Greasy stools that tend to float

* Stomach cramps

* Upset stomach or nausea.

These symptoms may lead to weight loss and dehydration. Some people with giardiasis have no symptoms at all.

Help! I feel like Hell. Beverly

[Lisa]

This is weird. I have a thread going about how I was getting better but since July, I feel like I am getting worse. I see the doctor tomorrow. I made the appointment because I think I may have multiple food intolerances besides gluten. But, I was talking to a friend of mine tonight who is an MD (dermatologist) and she asked me if I had ever been tested for giardia. I was tested for parasites back in February when my initial blood work was done but I haven't been tested since and my symptoms strted getting worse in July when I swam in two suspect places- a river and a bay. Could giardia be complicating my recovery? I looked it up and the symptoms are remarkably similar. Here's a partial list:

What are the symptoms of giardiasis?

Giardia infection can cause a variety of intestinal symptoms, which include

    * Diarrhea

    * Gas or flatulence

    * Greasy stools that tend to float

    * Stomach cramps

    * Upset stomach or nausea.

These symptoms may lead to weight loss and dehydration. Some people with giardiasis have no symptoms at all. 

Help! I feel like Hell. Beverly

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Bernese:

Don't forget about the horses. They often carry alot of creepy things. That's why they have to be "wormed" about ever three month of so. You could may have well been infected by just hanging around them if you a super-sensitive. They carry "botts" fly eggs, skin fungus, tick (lyme disease), parasites and others that I won't mention.

Don't forget to remind the DR that you hang around horses. Not that I want them to be the bad guys, but you have to figure out why you are feeling so crappy.

Look into ALL avenues.

Lisa B.

[Kasey'sMom]

When my dog was a puppy he had Giardia. He had to go through several rounds of anti-biotics before he was clear. That year we had a lot of rain and the vet said that it was easily contracted. We had to be super careful when cleaning up.

Hope you feel better soon.

[Guest BERNESES]

Thanks for the suggestions. i know- I'd hate for horses or swimming holes to be the bad guys (two things I really LOVE in this world) but at this point, I just need to know what's going on! I am miserable. Beverly

[ILOVEOMC]

My son who we adopted from Russia had giardia when we brought him home. He took a medicine for some length of time( rather long as I remember) and that seemed to cure it. He was having very loose stools and not able to control when he went and that was rather messy. When my other biological son came down with symptoms several years after that I wondered if it was giardia he had somehow gotten from his adopted brother but according to the biopsy and bloodwork it was celiac after all. It should be easy to cure you if that is what it is. Good luck!!

[johnny]

maybe see if you can get tested for a low-exposure Cryptosporidium infestation/infection. i just did yesterday. a type of bacteria that does its business in your intestines, comes from fecal contaminated water (tap,well,river,lake,etc), usually via deer, mice, etc...

hope that helps!

j

My son who we adopted from Russia had giardia when we brought him home. He took a medicine for some length of time( rather long as I remember) and that seemed to cure it. He was having very loose stools and not able to control when he went and that was rather messy. When my other biological son came down with symptoms several years after that I wondered if it was giardia he had somehow gotten from his adopted brother but according to the biopsy and bloodwork it was celiac after all. It should be easy to cure you if that is what it is. Good luck!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Noelle126]

I've had Giardia...it is not fun and it took me about 6 months to completely recover. I got it while on Vacation and when I returned home I just got noticably sicker and sicker.

I often times felt tired (similiar to mono), my stomach was in knots and was bloated and had the symptoms you talked about.

You really want that to be checked though as I was sicker each day.

[skbird]

My mom had it. She was really sick and she never gets sick. She got it while we were in Europe. She was teaching at the time and said she'd be in class and have to leave the room and lie on the bathroom floor, she'd feel so bad.

Some of the symptoms you listed she had. Definitely look into it. She took meds for about a month to get over it, not fun, but that ended it.

Take care

Stephanie

[jcgirl]

My son was dx with giardia in late August and give antibiotics. He did not get better and began vomitting, wasn't able to hold anything down the last week of Sept and again during the second week of Oct. So doctor gave him another round of antibiotics. Two weeks later the vomitting returned and he was given and anti-spasmatic med. It worked for vomitting but diarehia still present. Biopsy was negative for celiac disease by the way in early August. He is back to vomitting again. I wonder if he still has GIARDIA??? I hear that it can be pretty nasty. Are people with food intolorances more likely to contract parasites?

[cdford]

You never came back and said whether it was giardia. What was your final verdict?

Here's our story. We ate dinner at a friend's home in the country. Their water was from a well. The next week we had two adults and three children piled in the bed together with bowls. It was the only way my husband and I could care for the kids because we were so ill. At least two of them were still young enough to be in diapers...that left only three of us vying for the bathroom. Amazingly our pediatrician caught it the first visit and we all did the antibiotics route. It took a while but we were better. Come to think of it, I don't remember much of a time after that when my symptoms were not off/on until my celiac disease was diagnosed. I wonder if it could have been part of the trigger mechanism?

[bluelotus]

I heard once that they (wildlife biologists and trappers) think beavers may contaminate drinking water (well water, drinking holes) with Giardia. Kind off gross. I was sick recently with extreme diaherra (like pure water) and vomiting, turned out to be a bacterial infection (Claustridium difficle), but they did test me for Giardia. I am not sure if they can test for this with blood - they used a stool sample to test me. Hope you got this issue resolved.

[Guest Viola]

Giardia is in fact called Bever Fever .. and can be found in any open source of water that's not treated. Any animal or human can cause Giardia. It is Fecal contamination .. When you think of open water you must also think of the number of deer, beaver, coyutes, field mice, wood rats, and on and on .. not to mention domesticated animals that depostit their body waste near the water and the rain washes it in the water. That is where both Giardia and Ecoli end up in our favourite swimming holes and sources of drinking water in the country where there is no water treatment plants. We boil all our drinking water here. Even for the dog as she did end up with Giardia once.

Bev .. did you ever come up with an answer?