Long battle with parasites- what kind and anyone with similar experiences?
Okay, so I'm just going to get into this and see what advice anyone has for me, and more importantly, if anyone out there has had similar experiences that will confirm/allow me to accurately evaluate what is going on with me.
In February of 2015 I went vegan. I've only recently realized how much my memory has been affected by this ordeal as I can't even really remember when I started feeling hypoglycemic... But I believe it was only about a few weeks after I made the change. I was a freshman at Fordham University in the Bronx and guaranteed I picked up whatever
parasite I have there via unwashed fruits and veggies, poor sanitation, etc. (Fordham was voted the worst cafeteria food in the country).
Anyway, I randomly started feeling hypoglycemic, and unbeknownst to me at the time, not TRUE hypoglycemia. I went vegan overnight (which probably hindered my condition even further or brought it out with days ioasis or an imbalance of gut bacteria). The reason I say it wasn't "true" hypoglycemia is that I ate a diet rich in healthy fats and complex carbs and yet an hour or two after eating Id feel incredibly anxious, my muscles would feel like they were being torn to pieces, and throughout Feb/into March I had diahherra. I literally could not eat enough and I kept losing weight. I also ate extremely high carb (fruits/veggies) which
parasites love.
I was always a long distance runner and slowly I burned out. By May I stopped running. While I was running I would get hypoglycemic and I would often push through it thinking it was mind over matter, telling myself to keep going even though I felt like shit afterward. This contributes to pretty severe adrenal fatigue that I know experience.
My mood was all over the place.. Mostly down. I had always been optimistic. And a peculiar thing throughout the time going into May before I returned home from school- everytime I wouldn't get a chance to feed myself when I started to get hypoglycemic- which I literally didn't have access to food sometimes and would just have to suffer til I could get to the cafeteria- I would wake up in the morning with excess abdominal fat- like I looked super puffy and bloated. This makes me think I had/have a
parasite residing in my adrenals.
Because I was so misinformed about how true hypoglycemia worked and because things started to get better by May (complex carbs and protein began to work- I wonder if my body fought off a large portion of the
parasites or something), I kind of just moved on. The diahherra went away and I was better. But not completely. I believe I've been suffering from malaise without even knowing it. I thought I was just cynical honestly haha like I turnsd 18 and shit got real... I know now it's not me. This is the real kicker:
In December of 2015 after a night of drinking I woke up with this weird feeling when I ate: I literally could not stay full off of veggies or fruits. They just felt like air passing through my stomach. I went to a holistic doctor and he told me he thought it was parasites, the root of my hypoglycemia, adrenal fatigue, and stomach problems. I was given a probiotic, para dis bio zyme, and beta food.
Literally that night my stomach problem extended to everything... I was still feeling hypoglycemic severely so I had to eat every hour. I am a 98 pound, 5'2 1/2 female. I was eating nearly 5000 calories a day of avocados, brown rice, but butter, tofu... Any complex vegan food I could get my hands on for 3 weeks straight. I was in bed all day, fatigued, scared, and constantly anxious cause I couldn't escape the hypoglycemia. I didn't gain weight. I also took Diatemaceous Earth as my mom did a ton of research for me and bought some. She's amazing and has helped me through this whole experience.
My symptoms went away in early January. I started feeling better, started eating high fruits and veggies again, and even started long distance running again! Biggest win: no more hypoglycemia. But I was constipated all the time and didn't know why.
Then the stomach thing started again in early February... Back to square 1. I think I either didn't completely eradicate my
parasites or I got reinfected somehow. This time I figured things out for myself. I have diahherra again, hypoglycemia sometimes (but I think that's low adrenal function). On the days I'm less hungry, I can go longer without food (even though food doesn't stay in my stomach). It's clearly malabsorption. I think parasites are not only eating my food but taking up surface area in my stomach and small intestine and that's why it feels like my stomach contracts so quickly. On bad days i can't even feel the food empty out of my stomach- no contractions. Ill eat 1000 calories of again pb, tofu, etc, and it will be gone in an hour. I'm severely fatigued, have tons of flatulence (which tells me something's eating my food), so bad that it's painful and makes me feel anxious. I believe because it builds up and messes with my stomach nerves.
HOWEVER, in the past two weeks things have been much better. I've done a few things to help myself after extensive research... I've started taking L-Glutamine. After a few days not being able to fart didn't bother me anymore (I should mention the reason the flatulence was so bad is because I COULDNT fart- the way my stools were forming- constipation, then diahherra, obstructed my colon). I this think I had leaky gut from the parasites burrowing into my intestines. I'm taking
Wormwood ,
Black-Walnut , cloves, ginger, garlic, DE, cinnamon, neem, caprylic acid, l-ornithine and l-arginine for the crazy die-off periods where I'm super light headed, HCL WITH PEPSIN which has helped so much (I think the stress my body has been under has lent to severely low stomach acid, which creates an even better environment for parasites/dysbiosis/fungus to thrive in), and Paul d arco. I also changed my diet. Now I'm basically in ketosis- I eat super high fat and protein- no complex carbs, and a few veggies. NO FRUIT. My stomach has slowed down so much.. It almost feels like I have normal hunger back. Any time I "relapse" and get intense
Sugar cravings and have even just one medjool date my hunger picks up again. It's absolutely crazy.
I'm less fatugued, constantly feel like I'm going through die off though. I CONSTANTLY hear gurgling in my stomach and associate that with good things as it only happens when my stomach slows down- like my body is killing them. I also feel movement in other parts of my body, especially my legs, when this happens. I have nigh sweats as well and am constantly thirsty.
My mood is all over the place but I don't take my down times seriously. This has just all in all been a whirlwind of an experience.
My holistic doctor never gave me a stool sample initially, but I just did a 3 day analysis and the results should come back soon. He believes I had an acute case of Giardia in Feb of 2015 which became chronic and has worsened over time. Now I'm fighting it and it's working.
So my question is: has anyone had a similar experience to this with the same crazy symptoms? Severe hunger, hypoglycemia, flatulence, etc? And was it Giardia? My adrenals are so messed up because of this but I'm starting to have more stamina since taking all these supplements. I'm no longer in a brain fog all day long. I know this was super long but this is an incredibly drawn out experience. I should also mention when I was in my "OK" state last year after the acute infection went away, I found it very hard to maintain my weight. I got to 90
pounds just eating when I was hungry, never skipping meals, and my body just kept losing weight. At the time I thought it was cause of my the hypoglycemia and adrenal fatigue as my doctor said I probably lacked a normal appetite.
Anyway, let me know and thanks I'm advance for your responses!!