Please help advice re: Albenza protocol thx

Pinworm symptoms started 3 weeks ago.

I took Reese's OTC meds right away, but they had no effect. Then they spread to my vagina. I went to a clinic and got the Rx for albenzadole: 400mg once right away and then 400mg again in 3 weeks (cost $270 x_x).

I took the albenzadole at night, about an hour after a big meal, and went to sleep an hour later. I usually sleep 7 hours at night, but that night I slept for almost 11 hours. When I woke up I felt absolutely horrible; I was nauseous, had a migraine level headache (which did not respond to tylenol or ibuprofen), and I was "out of it," and very drowsy all day.

I called out sick from work that day and ended up sleeping another 6 hours during the day, and that night slept another 9 hours. I took the medicine at 9pm Friday night, and didn't feel "better" again until Sunday morning.

My pinworm symptoms subsided temporarily, but returned within 72 hours. I did a bunch of online research, completely cut out white starches and Sugar from my diet, and have been washing and changing my sheets daily, vacuuming daily, showering and changing my clothes 3x daily and being careful about things like wearing tight fitting pajamas and careful when changing my clothes etc.. I live only with my husband and he has had no symptoms and took the OTC meds.

I drove 30 mins out of town to buy ivermectin horse paste from a livestock supply store. I took a 250lb dose (I'm 190lbs) daily for 5 days, and applied topically 2x a day, but stopped taking it after 5 days when it hadn't seemed to help.

Then I started taking herbs, a high dose of clove, Wormwood , Black-Walnut , and garlic, 4x a day on an empty stomach. I have been eating pineapple, raw pumpkin seeds, carrots, etc, and continuing the no Sugar no white carbs diet.

I've done that protocol for the past week but still have symptoms of course. I read a couple posts on here from folks who said that a more intense albendazole regimen worked for them, so I reached out to a friend of a friend in Mexico and they shipped me a bunch of it (it's in transit currently, should arrive later this week).

So, my plan has been to attempt to follow the albenzadole protocol I've read on here, 400mg twice a day, 2 weeks on, 7 days off, 2 weeks on, etc, take with a fatty meal, chew the tablet, etc.

The thing is, I'm a little afraid because of how badly I reacted last time from one single 400mg dose; I felt awful for over 24 hours, so I'm scared that maybe my body can't handle that much of the drug. I guess it could've been a herxheimer reaction but I'm not sure. I wouldn't think pinworms alone would cause that bad of a reaction and also I technically have some liver issues (gallbladder was removed 12 years ago and I have fatty liver disease). I have been taking milk thistle 2x a day for the past few days in an attempt to help my liver prepare for the albenzadole.

I work 55 hours a week and I only have a couple of sick days left, so I'm worried about missing work, but I'm even more worried about ending up in the ER from taking more meds than my liver can handle. I have been trying to get an appt with my doctor but they're booked through the end of the month and I can't wait that long to start the albenzadole. (Also even if they told me my liver couldn't handle it I'd probably still try anyway because these worms are freaking horrible!!)

I'm trying to figure out if I could maybe get away with just taking the 400mg 2x a day for only 3-5 days and then repeating again after 5-6 days and if repeating this several times might possibly work, or if that's just a total waste of time and medicine and I need to be able to do it for 2 full weeks or not bother?

Lastly, like I said, my husband has had no symptoms and he did take the OTC Reese's meds (pyrantel pamoate), and he plans to repeat that weekly for 3 weeks. But, the OTC meds didn't work for me, so I feel like he needs to use the albenzadole, right? But, he says he doesn't think he should have to take the albenzadole and I'm trying to figure out 1) how much I need to push this issue and 2) how much albenzadole he actually needs to take (should he just do the 400mg once and repeat after 2-3 weeks as prescribed for me? Or more??)

Thank you SOOOOO much for any advice you can give me ♡ Tweet