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Albendazole/Albenza--Questions related to parasites

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Posted 6/17/2011 1:59 AM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone. Sorry I haven't been around much. Been kind of busy lately. I've had some new, and embarrassing, symptoms come up which is pretty common for those of us with Lyme disease. However, I didn't think I had this dreaded thing called "parasites", but I do.

Anyway, I found a MD/ND who has some experience treating parasites in Africa when he goes there for his yearly missionary trip. He treats them for a variety of medical needs, but parasites are very common where he goes to treat these people.

He said my parasites (Yep, I saved some to show him) were different than what he's seen in Africa, but he gave me an Rx for Albenza and said take it for two weeks. I wanted to get Ivermectin as I've read more positive reviews about this for those of us who have lyme and parasites. In fact, there is a couple of studies that show that people being treated with Ivermectin finally get better and seemingly have no more Lyme symptoms. Pretty fascinating information. I will find the link and post it later.

The doctor didn't want to give me this as he felt Ivermectin is to hard on the liver and too toxic. He said he might do Rx it to me (reluctantly) after my parasite panel comes back and if it shows up negative. I told him if he did the parasite test I would only do it if he used Metametrix which specializes in parasite testing. The doctor never used an out of state lab for parasites, but he was willing to do this since I insisted on it. He's pretty open minded, but not Lyme literate. He says he has patients who have lyme and he knows how much they can suffer with it, so he doesn't brush it off or deny it exists. That was nice to find a doctor who actually believes lyme exists in our state and has patients who have it.

Anyway, anyone have experience with this med? If so, would you mind sharing with me how you did with it? Side effects, effectiveness, how did you take it? I read that it should be taken with 40 grams of fat and the pill should be chewed or crushed into soft food because it doesn't absorb well. Anyone know about this?

This is a potent medicine that has some, potentially, harsh side effects. I am not at all looking forward to taking it, but I also would like to rid myself of these parasites. If anyone here has taken this, or Ivermectin, please share your experience on how you did with it if you will. Any input and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Gary
Posted 6/17/2011 10:22 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Gary,

Sorry you are having such distressing issues.

My only experience with Albendazole is with my goats. They take it on an empty stomach, but then, they have the two stomachs! And they have never mentioned any side effects.

Compared to the other wormers we use, Albendazole is the gentlest by far. But there are some pretty noxious medicines out there. One smells a lot like diesel!!

Well, this has been fabulously useless to you, but I thought it might give you a laugh -- and you did say "any input".

Take care
Posted 6/21/2011 2:40 AM (GMT 0)
Well, thought I'd update everyone and hope that maybe someone here can share their experience with me. I started the Albendazole a few days ago and I think it might be helping, but it's really too soon to say for sure.

Three side effects that I've been experiencing so far are, blurry eyes, low energy and esophagus pain. That's the worst part of all, the esophagus pain. It isn't even listed as one of the side effects, although stomach pain is listed.

I take it ground up in my non sweetened yogurt to help it absorb better. The pain has been real bothersome today. This is why I hate taking pharm meds as I'm so sensitive to them.

Anyone here, other than achievinggrace's goats, experience taking this and have any problems with it? Any suggestions on what I can do to help with the esophagus pain? I'm not going to take a pill tonight as I think I need to have a break and will start again tomorrow morning.

Any feedback would be appreciated (from humans, not goats). ; )

Gary
Posted 6/21/2011 11:35 PM (GMT 0)
Hey Gary, If any goats respond will you let us know? Giggle!!

On a more serious note, from what I am reading it says that a severe sore throat (along with some other symptoms) can be a sign of an infection and you should contact your doc right away. Do you consider your throat pain to be 'severe'?

I just found a site called "Healthline" and they say that a side effect of this drug is sore throat. Here is a link to that page:
www.healthline.com/goldcontent/albendazole

I hope that this is over for you quickly! Take care of yourself!
Trav
Posted 6/21/2011 11:47 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Gary,

Sorry but I don't know anything about this medication..  From what I do know is that everyone has parasites, they just can't be avoided.  We breathe them in, they are in the foods we eat, etc.

There are many good parasite cleanses out there (I have done them in the past and plan on doing one again soon).  I think colon cleanses are excellent to do as well as coffee enema's (as you probably know already the coffee acts as a stimulant to break up the fecal matter that sticks to the sides of our intestines).  Some people swear by colonics (irrigating the colon by a professional).  I never had one done and do want to try that in the future.  Yeah, I have a list of things I want to try! 

Are you moving your bowels often?  If not, you may want to up your magnesium. 

Last but not least are some interesting articles about parasites:

http://www.appliedozone.com/parasites.html

http://www.coloncleanseguide.com/articles/get-rid-parasites-through-colon-cleansing

http://www.halifaxholistichealth.ca/images/colonics.htm

Hope this helps a tiny bit,

Denise

Posted 6/22/2011 12:38 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Traveler, I don't have a sore throat, just having some esophagus pain. Yesterday it wasn't bad but this morning it's come back again. Seems to come and go. I read the side effects of the medicine and and watching for that. So far it's been tolerable but whether or not it's effective only time will tell.

Denise, thanks for the information and links on the parasites and cleanses. I was doing the Gaia Para-Shield parasite cleanse which had the three main ingredients in it for parasite cleansing. It didn't really affect me too much. I have better results with a coffee enema for some reason. The day after a coffee enema the parasites show up. I read it's the acid killing them off.

My doctor told me to get colonics while on this medicine. I plan to do that this week. Will be my first time ~~~shudders~~~. Oh well, if I can do coffee enemas I guess I can handle this--I hope. Looking forward to it in one way, in another way NOT! Denise, how about you go first then let me know how it goes??? ; )

Appreciate the input. Hoping this gives me the breakthrough I've been needing. Kind of hit a plateau the past few months and nothing I do seems to get me past it. I've read that parasites may be the thing that is keeping many of us sick. In Europe a common medicine they give for Lyme treatment is Ivermectin which is a very potent parasite med commonly used for horses believe it or not. They're having some pretty good success with this. I read some other LLMD's are starting to use this too with pretty good success.

Here's a couple good articles to read on this. Notice on the first link a person commented below that she's improving using the same medicine I'm on plus something called DEC. Not sure what that is but will look into it.

www.lymediseaseresource.com/wordpress/ivermectin-for-chronic-lyme-i-give-that-to-my-horse/

www.lyme.no/gjesteskribent/eva-sapi-ph-d

Dr. Klinghardt has a parasite protocol that incorporates about four or five anti-parasitic meds that apparently are helping people get better. I hear it's a real hard protocol to get through, but if you can do it many people are getting better after years of failing to get better on abx. Seems to be an area that we don't give much thought to, and for good reason--gross stuff! But it also may be the key to getting better for some of us. Don't overlook this as it could just be the answer some of you are looking for.

I'll keep you all posted on how things go. Thanks again for the input--appreciate it!

Gary

P.S. Mod's, not sure if the doctor named here is permitted. If not please delete it and just use Dr. K. Sorry if I broke any rules on this.

Post Edited (GWB) : 6/22/2011 6:43:34 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 6/23/2011 11:00 PM (GMT 0)
Sure Gary,

I'll go first, LOL!  Seriously, one day I am going to try colonics, the problem is finding a reputable professional to do it in the mountains where I live... 

I haven't had a chance to read the links you posted but I will..  Also, it's been a long time since I looked at Dr. J's book but didn't he have a fasting cleanse recipe?  I know he did in his first edition book.   Perhaps that fast would also help rid the body of parasites..  I remember it contained wolfberry juice as well as some other interesting ingredients.  Have to dig out that book!

I watched colonics youtube video's and people said it's seems worse than it really is... They also said they felt great afterward! 

Let us know how it goes okay? (no pun intended)... 

Denise

Posted 6/23/2011 11:23 PM (GMT 0)
I'm with you Gary ~~shudder~~

No you are find mentioning Dr. Klinghardt, as he is in the media, so his name is already very public!
Posted 6/30/2011 9:18 PM (GMT 0)
 

Hi Gary,

I took abendazole for pinworms.  It helped, but ultimately they seem to have come back.  They can be difficult because they're so common, and I could be picking up eggs from them at the schools I teach at or wherever.

I have done natural parasite cleanses before, Dr. Natura's brand, and the regime recommended by Hulda Clark. 

Ivermectin is a pesticide, which is neurotoxic.  It's commonly given to pets so they don't get worms.  After dealing with body lice (picked up from a youth hostel in Toronto)and mites (picked up in Missouri), trying every natural remedy first, I was forced to use pesticides.  The pesticides have damaged my body in several ways.  If I am around them at all, my eyes burn and I get headaches/blurry vision.  My liver and kidney fuction is diminished because they are trying hard to get ride of the pesticides.  Now if I eat any nightshade, I get burning eyes and joint pain.  Nightshades are white potatoes, tomatoes, all peppers (except black peppers), and eggplant.  Nightshades contain solanine, which is a natural pesticide for the plant, but causes neurotoxic inflammation in people.  Since it is cumulative in the body, adding the solanine on top of the pesticide exposure is why my symptoms are so severe. 

Perhaps this is why your doc is hesitant to prescribe this to you.  Best wishes!

Posted 6/30/2011 10:39 PM (GMT 0)
Lyme14, so sorry you got messed up taking the Ivermectin. Your timing couldn't be more perfect. Today I saw my MD/ND for blood tests for my liver and kidney since he wanted to check it two weeks after I've been on Albenza. Now I'm on a one month break from it then go back on it for two weeks again. Will get the results soon.

I doubt that the meds did any damage to me but they were a bit harsh on my stomach. They also made me tired and gave me headaches which I contribute to the toxins and die-off. The colonic I had a couple of days ago helped with the abdominal pain. It was my first one and I was really impressed with it. Didn't hurt at all, just a bit of pressure at times but was always bearable. Lots of ugly stuff came out.

Today I told the doctor that I'd really like to have a Rx for Ivermectin because many of the Klinghardt patients were having some good results from it. I belong to the Florida Lyme Group on Facebook and a couple of people have mentioned how they have finally gotten better using Ivermectin. One gal said to use only 3mg per week as it's very potent and, yes, there are dangers to taking this drug.

Now that you have posted this I'm very reluctant to go forward with it until I finish the Albenza protocol. After the four week break then I go back on for two weeks. Maybe it will do the job for me, I don't know.

May I ask you, how much Ivermectin did you take when you were on it? How often did you take it and how long were you on it? I'm not familiar with solanine. What is that? How did you manage to get these meds since most doctors are not willing, or very reluctant to give them?

Are you going to be able to recover from the damage that's been done to you from the meds? Can you detox or take anything natural to help you heal? What are you taking to get the pesticides out of your body? I'm so very sorry that you had so much damage done to you. Breaks my heart to hear this. Are you doing detox baths with epsom salt and hydrogen peroxide? I highly recommend it.

Hope to be able to talk with you more. My email is on my profile so feel free to email me if you'd like. I sure hope and pray you do recover from the damage that's been done to you. I appreciate you sharing too as it has given me some second thoughts about taking this. The doctor did tell me not to start Ivermectin until I finish the Albenza and he still was very reluctant to do it but I was persistent. Maybe I better rethink this before I jump.

I appreciate you taking the time to share your experience with the meds.

Thank you.

Gary
Posted 6/30/2011 11:01 PM (GMT 0)
 

Hi Gary,

I will email you and give you the long story on my pesticide exposure.  I'm in Chicago.  Norman F. Childers has written about solanine in Nightshades.  If you search for his name, you can find his writings.  He made the connection when cattle grazing on potato fields were coming down with arthritis, and found it affects people, too.

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