Intestinal Parasites...

[tweeks2010]

Just wondering if anybody read about intestinal parisites casuing gluten intolerance/allergies/celiac. I read about it today and wanted to know if anybody has been through that or heard of it?

[cassP]

i have not heard of it.... but im sure it's a possible environmental trigger to someone genetically predisposed to Celiac or Gluten Intolerance..

[burdee]

Just wondering if anybody read about intestinal parisites casuing gluten intolerance/allergies/celiac. I read about it today and wanted to know if anybody has been through that or heard of it?

I didn't get intestinal parasites until 4 years AFTER I'd been diagnosed with gluten intolerance and obsessively abstained from gluten and 6 other diagnosed food allergies. However, I was not diagnosed until I was 56, after years of symptoms and misdiagnoses. So lifelong gluten damage plus too many antibiotics without taking probiotics could have made me vulnerable to 2 different parasites. I've also had 5 pathogenic intestinal bacteria and candida. I've successfully treated all those bugs except the last parasite (dientamoeba fragilis). I need to take another stool test (next week) to learn whether I eliminated that critter.

[cassP]

I didn't get intestinal parasites until 4 years AFTER I'd been diagnosed with gluten intolerance and obsessively abstained from gluten and 6 other diagnosed food allergies. However, I was not diagnosed until I was 56, after years of symptoms and misdiagnoses. So lifelong gluten damage plus too many antibiotics without taking probiotics could have made me vulnerable to 2 different parasites. I've also had 5 pathogenic intestinal bacteria and candida. I've successfully treated all those bugs except the last parasite (dientamoeba fragilis). I need to take another stool test (next week) to learn whether I eliminated that critter.

wow- how do you come to find out all the different parasites you have had??? really good health insurance & a very cool alternative doctor??? id love to have all that info.

i was lucky to stumble upon an alternative doc who did the heidelberg test on me- which was GREAT to finally realize i had low stomach acid-> finally broke me of my 4 year Zantac habit- i had no idea i was shutting my stomach down with all that medication!!

ive had no clue with any bugs. my stomach was on fire months ago, so i ASSUMED H.Pylori- i did GSE for a month & was healed. ive never known about parasites.. but ive done paraflush tinctures before just in case

???

[Aeva]

I've never heard of that, but that wouldn't surprise me. I've had 15-20 bouts of parasites (always one of two species) in the last 10 years. After being diagnosed as Celiac, I thought it may have been the other way around...damaged intestines caused me to be more susceptible to the little buggers. Who knows!

[cassP]

I've never heard of that, but that wouldn't surprise me. I've had 15-20 bouts of parasites (always one of two species) in the last 10 years. After being diagnosed as Celiac, I thought it may have been the other way around...damaged intestines caused me to be more susceptible to the little buggers. Who knows!

hey- i was looking at your "signature"... you have Thallessemia??? minor or major??

im curious- i know it's linked to people from the mediterranean... but are Thallessemia genes also sometimes linked in with Celiac or other autoimmune genes???

im just wondering now... for example- i have celiac, my mom has Hashimoto's (and my mom and dad both have at least 1 DQ8 gene).... my sister's biopsy was negative, but she was already off gluten. my sister DOES have Thallessemia Minor...

my whole family displays sensitivities to gluten...

im just wondering if thallessemia genes are linked in somewhere...????

[StacyA]

A week after moving my grandmother into an assisted living I had sudden GI symptoms, night sweats, weight loss, abd pain. My doctor thought I may have picked up giardia from the assisted living (very common, I guess) and treated me for that. Half my symptoms cleared up immediately - so I think she was right - but half the symptoms stayed so I saw a GI doctor - celiac panel was positive but my biopsy showed I only had mild intestinal damage - which hinted at a recent triggering of my celiac's. I have read research on parasites being one of many common triggers for celiac's.

[burdee]

wow- how do you come to find out all the different parasites you have had??? really good health insurance & a very cool alternative doctor??? id love to have all that info.

i was lucky to stumble upon an alternative doc who did the heidelberg test on me- which was GREAT to finally realize i had low stomach acid-> finally broke me of my 4 year Zantac habit- i had no idea i was shutting my stomach down with all that medication!!

ive had no clue with any bugs. my stomach was on fire months ago, so i ASSUMED H.Pylori- i did GSE for a month & was healed. ive never known about parasites.. but ive done paraflush tinctures before just in case

???

Sorry. I missed your questions earlier. My parasites, bacteria and candida were diagnosed by Metametrix DNA microbial stool tests prescribed by my previous naturopath. Although he could read the test results suggestions for treating my specific bacteria or candida strains, he was clueless about treating parasites. He also gave me bad advice about taking probiotics, which left me vulnerable to new gut infections.

I recently found an ND who knows parasites and also considered why I kept getting all those infections. She also suggested I do the Heidelberg capsule test (which diagnosed my hypochloridia) and blood tests (which diagnosed low thyroid possibly caused by Hashimoto's during years of undiagnosed celiac disease).

Rather than guess whether you have parasites, a stool test can tell you want you have and how to treat bacteria and candida. Parasite treatment depends on your doc's experience. However, all purpose parasite treatments may not address your specific parasite. Every parasite responds to different drug treatments.

I'm glad you got off Zantac. Are you now taking HCl supplements? Where did you do the Heidelberg capsule test?

[cassP]

Sorry. I missed your questions earlier. My parasites, bacteria and candida were diagnosed by Metametrix DNA microbial stool tests prescribed by my previous naturopath. Although he could read the test results suggestions for treating my specific bacteria or candida strains, he was clueless about treating parasites. He also gave me bad advice about taking probiotics, which left me vulnerable to new gut infections.

I recently found an ND who knows parasites and also considered why I kept getting all those infections. She also suggested I do the Heidelberg capsule test (which diagnosed my hypochloridia) and blood tests (which diagnosed low thyroid possibly caused by Hashimoto's during years of undiagnosed celiac disease).

Rather than guess whether you have parasites, a stool test can tell you want you have and how to treat bacteria and candida. Parasite treatment depends on your doc's experience. However, all purpose parasite treatments may not address your specific parasite. Every parasite responds to different drug treatments.

I'm glad you got off Zantac. Are you now taking HCl supplements? Where did you do the Heidelberg capsule test?

thanks for all the info. im suspecting i have hypothyroid too, i hope its still only borderline.

anyways, i was lead to a doctor in Lakeland, Fl- who wanted to do the Heidelberg test on me. im so glad i did- i had no idea that i had literally been shutting down my stomach. i had sufficient acid in the morning - but as soon as he gave me the alkaline tablet- my stomach could not counter it at all. and i had normal passing time.

he put me on HCI & Digestive Enzymes- i took for a long time, but was still eating gluten lite.

now i am 100% gluten free, and mostly excess fructose free. i rarely take the HCI or enzymes anymore. i took them when i was healing from H.Pylori months ago.

i also have some Chinese Bitters... i sometimes take them 30min before a big protein and fat meal. i dont really have digesting problems anymore, but i know the Bitters are good for my liver.

as long as i stay off the gluten and excess fructose- i dont have any problems.

[burdee]

thanks for all the info. im suspecting i have hypothyroid too, i hope its still only borderline.

anyways, i was lead to a doctor in Lakeland, Fl- who wanted to do the Heidelberg test on me. im so glad i did- i had no idea that i had literally been shutting down my stomach. i had sufficient acid in the morning - but as soon as he gave me the alkaline tablet- my stomach could not counter it at all. and i had normal passing time.

he put me on HCI & Digestive Enzymes- i took for a long time, but was still eating gluten lite.

now i am 100% gluten free, and mostly excess fructose free. i rarely take the HCI or enzymes anymore. i took them when i was healing from H.Pylori months ago.

i also have some Chinese Bitters... i sometimes take them 30min before a big protein and fat meal. i dont really have digesting problems anymore, but i know the Bitters are good for my liver.

as long as i stay off the gluten and excess fructose- i dont have any problems.

If your stomach couldn't produce enough acid to bring it back down to normal pH, you're probably have achloridia (your stomach doesn't produce hardly any stomach acid). In my capsule test, my stomach acid went down to normal pH 30-35 minutes after I drank the bicarb solution (alkaline). I did 5 bicarb challenges. So my stomach produces some acid (hypochloridia), but not quickly or enough for normal digestion. So I was prescribed a target of 2-3 HCl capsules with each meal. That's working well for me.

I could NOT take HCl while my stomach was healing from H. Pylori. I used mastic gum to kill that bacteria and L-glutamine to heal my stomach. However, I eventually began the HCl and digest much better now.

I understand how the bitters could stimulate your digestion, but I wonder if your stomach can produce enough of its own acid even with stimulation, because it did not return to normal pH after the alkaline challenge. How long did you wait for your stomach to return to normal pH? Did it just stay in the alkaline range all that time?

Have you done recent TSH, T4, T3 blood tests to check your thyroid function? Docs usually won't prescribe thyroid supplements based on patient symptom reports alone. Too many people think thyroid supplements will help them lose weight. Actually they just speed up resting metabolism, so we feel warmer, but not enough to lose much weight without changing exercise and eating habits.

[cassP]

If your stomach couldn't produce enough acid to bring it back down to normal pH, you're probably have achloridia (your stomach doesn't produce hardly any stomach acid). In my capsule test, my stomach acid went down to normal pH 30-35 minutes after I drank the bicarb solution (alkaline). I did 5 bicarb challenges. So my stomach produces some acid (hypochloridia), but not quickly or enough for normal digestion. So I was prescribed a target of 2-3 HCl capsules with each meal. That's working well for me.

I could NOT take HCl while my stomach was healing from H. Pylori. I used mastic gum to kill that bacteria and L-glutamine to heal my stomach. However, I eventually began the HCl and digest much better now.

I understand how the bitters could stimulate your digestion, but I wonder if your stomach can produce enough of its own acid even with stimulation, because it did not return to normal pH after the alkaline challenge. How long did you wait for your stomach to return to normal pH? Did it just stay in the alkaline range all that time?

Have you done recent TSH, T4, T3 blood tests to check your thyroid function? Docs usually won't prescribe thyroid supplements based on patient symptom reports alone. Too many people think thyroid supplements will help them lose weight. Actually they just speed up resting metabolism, so we feel warmer, but not enough to lose much weight without changing exercise and eating habits.

i didnt communicate well i guess in that last post... my doc DID say i had Hypochlorhidia... so my stomach must have made the acid after the alkaline tablet.. but it just took too long.

and maybe i didnt take HCI while my stomach was burning- but after about 2 weeks. i DID take digestive enzymes.

i took GSE 3 x a day & some Ionized Silver for the H.pylori, some Pepto, and very little Zantac- (only during the ulcer).

my PCP has been wanting to test my thyroid for years now, cause my mom is Hypo.. i hate needles & i pay a huge deductable, so sometimes i disregard doctors orders.

the last time she checked my thyroid- it was BORDERLINE Hypo- like RIGHT ON THE LINE- but she never said anything.

since then, my GI has said he's sure i have Celiac. on top of that- my hair sheds more than normal, my eyes are puffy, i have shortness of breath and am always tired.

[cassP]

ps- id rather NOT have to take any synthroid. i hate pharmaceuticals. my mom is hypo, and lean. we're both lean, we dont have fast metabolisms at all, but we're mindful of what we eat & try to exercise.

being gluten free and carb lite helps me keep my weight down. and also-> all the digestive ailments my family and i have had help us keep our portions under control.

all of us in my family have had so many stomach issues & inflammation issues- we've always been DUMBFOUNDED how some people can be so overweight and eat what they want and walk around and be happy-> cause for example: if i eat a little bit of the wrong thing, or if my pants dig in to my stomach- i could be confined to my home for the rest of the night on a heating pad... so, i really have to do everything right anyways you know..