I wanted to share my story and see if anyone has any insight to help me and my 3 year old son.
The beginning of August 2014 I began to have strange GI issues. I am the most regular person in regards to bowel movements, I never have diarrhea. I started to have a yellow/whitish mucus to come of out my when I went to the bathroom. At first I didn't even know it was coming out. I kept noticing that I felt like I constantly had a film on my anus. I was constantly feeling like I needed to go to the bathroom. This lasted a few days. I then started to have severe pain and irritation around my anus. I researched it online, and the only thing that I could come up with was Hemorrhoids. I went and got Preparation H suppositories and they seemed to help with the pain a little. After a while things started to get a little better. Then I started having headaches. I would get a headache every time I got in the car. Then the headaches got so bad that I went to bed with them and woke up with them. What eventually made me go to the doctor was that all of a sudden my 3 year old started needing to go to the bathroom often, he would go, and then right after he got off the toilet, he would say he needed to go again. At first it did not register with me, until by chance on one of these times, I looked in the toilet, and sure enough, he was having the yellow/white mucous that I had. At that moment, I knew something was wrong with both of us. When I went to my Primary Care doc he said that he was stumped, and referred me to a GI doctor. By the time I went to the GI doctor, my symptoms of my butt had gotten better, but now I was having the headaches, and stiffness and pain in my neck and shoulders. He said there was no way that those symptoms were related to anything GI related, and he completely dismissed my ideas about a parasite. I left crying. Then I decided to go to a Neurologist, he diagnosed me with Migraines and subscribed Zonegran. I filled the prescription, but in my heart I knew that I could not have all of a sudden developed these issues. Then my symptoms changed, I started to have Reactive Arthritis. My whole body felt like it was deteriorating. My hands, feet, knees, everything hurt. That is when I decided to go back to my primary, I was still convinced it was parasite related. He decided to put me on Prednisone, a steroid pack. On day 4 of the pack, everything was changing, my joints felt better, but my butt issues inflamed again, and I got vaginosis. I messaged my Doctor and he said STOP the Prednisone, and put me on Flagyl and Cipro. On day 5 of the drugs, I started to go to the bathroom constantly. I went one time, and it just felt weird, so I looked in the toilet and fished out a 6 inch worm. Then and there, I felt like, see I have told 4 doctors now, and no one would listen. The next day, I didn't even have an appointment, I went into my Primary Care Doctor and told them I insisted to see him and I pulled out the worm on and showed them. He and his two nurses had never seen anything like it. He put me and my son, and my other 2 family members on one pill of Biltricide 600mg for one day. After 1 week, I felt it was not working, so I took another 600mg pill (left over from my two sons, because they only took 1/2 a pill). I still feel like it is not working, I still have the film on my butt, and it is itchy and irritated. My 3 year old still is having issues, he butt is extremely red and inflamed, it looks like really bad diaper rash, but he is fully potty trained. Desitin doesn't seem to help with it at all. And he complains about his butt hurting. I am freaking out of his sake. I did a stool test before the worm came out, before I even knew it existed, but of course it came back negative which is what I am seeing is the case most of the time. Does anyone have an insight on what we need to do next. I am going to do another stool test, but everything I have read says that they come back negative most of the time even if you have an active parasite. My GI doctor wants to do a Colonoscopy next? I have attached a picture of the worm that came out, every doc I have asked think that it is a tapeworm. This is month 4 of all of this, and I just want it all to be over with.