Parasite Diagnosed

[Savannah1421]

Have had major stomach/bowel problems for nearly 3 years.  Started off with mild constipation where I had to use a suppository ever few days.  For the first year things were manageably and I was able to live a fairly normal life but after that things deteriorated - I have seen 3 Gastro Specialiasts and it was the last one that came up with the idea that I may have picked up a Parasite on one of my trips and that all my problems may be linked to this.  I was referred to a Microbiologist and after several visits had faeces/blood sent to Bangkok to test for a particular parasite that he thought I might have.  It is the only place in world which tests for this certain Parasite - he told me it would be about a 6 week wait - 11 weeks later the results came back positive.  Have a Parasite - Gnathosomasiasis - common in tropical countries like Thailand and I have been there many times.  It can survive even in vegetables that have been boiled.  I was given medication to hopefully kill the Parasite ????  which was agony for 2 weeks.  Nothing has improved - I have chronic constipation - have to use Picolax every 5-7 and have severe R side abdo pain starting from under my rib-cage down to my hip bone.  The Doctor has said there is a possibility of Surgery but he wants to wait until 2010 to see if we can re-train my bowel to work.  

I take Lyrica 150mg for the pain - was told that the pain I have is due to nerve damage caused by the Parasites as they can literally nibble their way through your nerve endings!!!!

This is/has totally ruined my life - I used to be super active, now = nothing.   Just want to sleep as that is the only way to avoid the PAIN.  HELP........................????????????

[Matthew007]

I'd slip him a $20 bill and say "there's a few more of those if you heal me!"

j/k (sorry..laughter..best medicine)

WELL on a serious note I HOPE HOPE HOPE you get some help and answers!! Let us know what happens! :)

[Savannah1421]

It is 3.40AM, I am seeing a new Specialist at 9.30AM today............was hoping for a good sleep but woke up about an hour ago.  I hope this new Doctor comes up with some new ideas or ?????  He has to, he is the Head of Gastroenterology at The Alfred Hospital which is one of the largest hospitals in Australia.  My appt. was next week but he was able to see me tomrrow!

Nervous, have had so many false hopes before, even over a year ago and = nothing!  

[Matthew007]

also side note...mints will help you calm that system down..peppermints and such..but yeah I'd maybe go on a total liquid/clear liquid diet..it's rough but that'll bring some relief if it's severe colitis going on in your right side of the colon but still that won't fix you.. also you could try doing miralax (it's totally safe long term) to totally either clean you out or take pressure off the walls of the colon (might bring pain relief..)

if there is nerve damage (hope not!) then yeah..maybe surgery but i'm not the expert but i'd rule out everything you can before you get to that point :S good luck...

[Matthew007]

Hey there Savannah..

well there's a few things that come to mind when it comes to pain..

what drug were you put on?  Flagyl?  Well there's a chance it could be the same bug that is still with you.. maybe repeat stool studies should be done to check for white/red blood cells.  Sometimes there are drug resistant bugs out there and you might need to go on another run...

Another idea is maybe the bug has infected your gallbladder and is causing pain.  Your gallbladder is located on your right side and I know when my got inflammed I couldn't lay on my right side at all...my guess is you're gallbladder is now infected with whatever this is or is just inflammed.  I'd suggest an ultrasound/HIDA scan to double check and make sure it's ok.  I'm sure you've done this test before but also doing a liver/pancrease blood test just to make sure those 2 are ok...pancrease pain can cause major doubling over pain like you're describing but usually it's more centered than right side pain.

Also if you haven't done a colonoscopy that's something to look into as well because you could be suffering from some ulcerative colitis or severe colitis of some sort which is causing you some major problems on the digestive side.  No doubt with that bug you had your body probably had some serious colitis of some sort and maybe you're still dealing with ulcerative/chron's or something else in your GI tract.  That's probably why your doctor is suggesting possible surgery to remove that portion of the GI tract because it's so inflammed...have they done any ct scan with GI contrast to see if there's inflammation?  Have you done a colonsocopy?

Also when you go on powerful antibiotics sometimes that can totally screw up your digestive enzymes/healthy bacteria.  You could be totally now intolerant to lactose/casein/soy or something else like celiac...gluten/wheat..

I've heard people with colitis need to constantly drink fluids..but you could give your bowel a total rest by going on liquid only diet (jello soups) and such..to maybe help with the pain.  As stools go through that area i'm guessing you're having major pain (which makes sense)... you could do this (with doctors approval) and just give your bowels a total break..and hopefully it'll calm down.  Sometimes a short trial of prednisone maybe also take the inflammation down but usually you want to diagnose ulcerative colitis or whatever is causing the problem first before becoming a lab rat and doing trial and error but the risk of a short dose of predisone would be small.

Anyway just some thoughts.. Severe pain on the right side is either gallbladder or really bad colitis...another run of flagyl, or colonsocopy to find out what exactly is going on i there would probably be best.  :S sorry your life went upside down..hope we both get better :S