I drank from the wrong damn stream last summer. I didn't know what was wrong with me for a few months, and neither did doctors. One finally suggested that I might have giardia and had me tested. The test revealed Dientamoeba Fragilis. I was treated with Paromomycin for 7 days, to little effect. A following stool exam a bout a month later revealed no infection. I was unconvinced. My doctor prescibed me antiemetics (anti-nausea) and some kind of digestive polymer. I took neither. Metamucil didn't seem terribly effective either. She was going to send me to a gastroenterologist, although the gastrointestinal discomfort is really the least of my concern. It's the constant death's-head feeling of sickness that I can't tolerate. I decided not to return, and did my own microscopy, after some diligent research.
My Symptoms:
Nearly constant Malaise
Nausea
abdominal pains
dizziness at times
headaches at times
"brain fog"
Soft stools
Before the Paromomycin, diarrhea occurred periodically, but not so much now.
Nervous system anomalies, semi-numbness at fingertips, twitching lip, etc.
I made and used sodium acetate-acetic acid-formalin (SAF) fixative, which is necessary to preserve the protozoa during processing. I ordered Weigert's iron-hematoxylin stain and made the other necessary solutions. (I'm a chemist so I have a small amount of experience with this sort of thing ;) )
Here is photo of D. Fragilis from the literature:
This was taken from Johnson et. al. CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY REVIEWS, July 2004, p. 553–570. They used the same fixative and stain. The magnification is 1000x.
Here are the photos from my stool:
The camera was cheap, but I think you get the idea. The magnification was similar.
I have obtained secnidazole and doxycycline from Mexico. I am going to follow through with the Australian regimen:
Secnidazole 400mg, 3 times a day
Doxycycline 50mg, 2 times a day
Does anyone have experience with this regimen? The individual drugs themselves seem well tolerated, but I'm a little worried about the combination. Powerful stuff.
-BaDnOn