Oh the joys. Parasites and viruses.

I can't remember a time when we haven't had multiple experiences overlapping each other, graying the fine line that once existed between symptoms and results, cause and effect.  I hear myself relentlessly repeating, "it could have been, or it might be..., but I just don't know".

As you may know from reading my blog, Gavin has a parasite called Dientamoeba Fragilis, once labeled as a protozoa/amoeba, but more recently relabeled as a flagellate.  Lyme Disease is also a flagellate and as I am reading about the D. Fragilis, I am learning about the similarities they share, such as the many changing forms this parasite has....making it hard for any conclusive fact to be established about it's life cycle and stages.  One thing that has been determined is that it doesn't respond the same in a body as it does in a test tube or slide.  It isn't even known, if this parasite goes through a cyst change during it's unknown life cycle.  We don't know, if it hatches or reproduces with the full moon or new moon, or BOTH.  There is overwhelming evidence that these creatures cannot survive outside of the body, suggesting fluid transmittance or the use of another "host" to transmit them successfully from person to person.  It is most likely that they are hitching a ride on other parasites like B. Hominis or pinworm, etc.

I have a theory about how Gavin could have gotten infected with this one-celled parasite and perhaps has had it since birth (since all of his symptoms have been there since then).  When I was about 19 years old, I experienced a case of pinworm infestation which was ironically short-lived and didn't require treatment.  If D. Fragilis hitched a ride way back then, perhaps the pinworm situation resolved itself, but I could have been carrying around the D. Fragilis, asymptotically, which is not very uncommon.  Along comes this helpless baby boy who contracted my parasite in utero and never had a chance against infection from the very first breath he took.  He was immediately sensitive to foods like dairy and soy, he bloated early on, had torticolis (not sure if it's even related, but part of the big picture of his health), bowel movements varied from constipated to loose from the very first bite of "solid" foods, he had a seizure by the time he was a year old, and mood swings and control freak are understatements!  So here we are three years later, with possibly three years of damage from this GI-disturbing parasite.

What does all of this mean for families like ours who are trying tirelessly to rid themselves and/or their children of this monster?  It means experimenting with many treatment protocols.  We did multiple natural parasite cleanses from Humaworm and Artemesia to W-W from Pure Herbs and even higher doses of black walnut hull.  Although he always experienced some level of die-off, the symptoms never seemed to subside fully, he continued to have behaviors that waxed and waned with the moon cycles, very typical of parasite infestation.

Alinia was recommended by our DAN! doctor.  He gave us a script for just Gavin, 5 days worth.  So I did more research before even considering giving this RX to him.  I wanted to know more and had quite a bit of information already under my belt confirming that Alinia should only be used, if the doses are going to be high enough and used for long enough to rid him of this pesky intruder for good.  Just giving 5 days of meds could create a super-bug rather than killing it off, especially considering it travels with the ever-resistant B. Hominis which has a very long cyst cycle.  When a parasite is in it's cyst form, it is impossible to kill, so that means either knowing it's life cycle (which we don't) or treating for an entire month, plus a few days, to ensure hitting the exposed, non-cyst phase.

So as a last resort, we decided to attempt the Alinia, BUT only if we could have the longer dosing schedule and for the entire family since it is highly probable that this originated with one of us, and even if it didn't, we could pass it between us again post-treatment, all dependent on it's method of transition, but I don't like to take chances with our children and their health.  Our doctor was open to the treatment protocol I had found to be successful with multiple other families and ironically, our insurance actually covered it!!  Over $1000 per person worth of prescriptions, yippeeee!!

So here we are, on our third day of taking the Alinia (two days before the full moon), all of us.  I expected to be in a world of hurt, but surprisingly, it's been pleasant....well, hahahahaha, except for those around me, since I am very clearly effected by some form of die off, if you know what I mean (blushing).  Not very ladylike to say the least, teehehehe.  Gavin has had some gas as well, bowel movements were perfect for the first two days, but today we had what we have come to call Flagyl-poop.  Grayson was put on Flagyl years ago, for high levels of Clostridia (bad bacteria) and his BMs were hideous, they floated like chunks of cotton candy, attempting to stick together in what looks like it might have resembled a BM before exiting the body.  It is undeniably a die-off symptom.  Another interesting fact is that the Alinia also kills anaerobic bacteria like e.coli and clostridia, both of which we know Grayson has had, via stool samples.  This prescription has many modes of attacking our boy's ailments.  Lets just pray the results are permanent!

To add insult toinjury, two days into taking Alinia, poor Grayson contracted Coxsackie (Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease).  He developed a sudden high fever, lethargy, not hungry, sores in the back of his throat and he slept much of yesterday after  I loaded him up with 40,000IU of vit D3, OLE (which I confirmed wouldn't interact with the Alinia), Virastop and Lauracidin.  He woke without the fever, but was still very lethargic until bedtime, which he did not fight one bit.  He was ready.  Today, his mood is great, his eyes look bright, he is energetically playing with Gavin and he wants to eat, but his throat hurts too much to swallow anything solid. 

Amazingling (knock on wood), Gavin hasn't shown ANY signs of this illness....yet.  The contageous period can last weeks as the virus sheds, so I am praying Gavin's immune system is fighting it off successfully.  We are helping him with the natural anti-virals too.  In fact, Gavin is like a new child yesterday and today!  His mood swings are GONE, he is cooperative, compliant, happy and bouncy, his speech and ideas are more complex, he is playing nicely with Grayson (who is playing nicely back, HEAVEN for me), his belly was even flat for the first two days on the Alinia.  Today he has a little pouch after the strange BM, but still not as protruded as usual.  He's amazing, and I am relieved.  There is a glimmer of hope that perhaps this is Gavin's main health issue, and that perhaps we will have it resolved with treatment.

We just ordered follow-up hair tests with Doctor's Data, Inc. to see the progress we have made after a year of chelation with Gavin and two with Grayson.  The results should be in between tomorrow and Tuesday...I am so anxious!!  Maybe, just maybe, Gavin will still not meet Andy Cutler's counting rules and maybe, just maybe, this parasite will resolve the issues we were tying to mercury toxicity, and maybe, just maybe not having him vaccinated was the smartest thing we ever did!!  We'll see, one can hope, right?  Without hope, our days look dark.  I prefer to see the light at the end of the tunnel, even if my perception may be slightly off occasionally.  It can make the days in between seem less stressful.