I Bet You’ve Heard By Now…
That I am ingesting parasites AKA HDC AKA helminths. You may be wondering why the heck am I doing that? I battle with multiple diseases and my Naturopath suggested I give this promising therapy a try to help with my autoimmunity and inflammation levels.
The goal with taking these helminths is to get an infestation. Yes, people an INFESTATION! With autoimmunity our immune system is attacking itself. One of the theories with this therapy is to give the immune system something else to attack, since it views these guys as foreigners, which in turn keeps it from attacking you (joints, neurological systems, intestines, etc.).
I started this therapy 6 months ago at the request of my Naturopath. My Naturopath said that it can take about 6 months to get an infestation and may take as long to see any marked improvement. During the time I have started this therapy I have been diagnosed with MTHFR, SIBO, A Stool Sample Test that if I showed it to you would make your head spin, EBV chronic infection and an unknown retrovirus infection. PEOPLE! My body needs to take a major chill pill. Every time I got the news of testing positive for something else I would cry for a few minutes not believing I have yet one more thing to add to my health list. I also cried tears of relief. After 13 years of chronic illness, I feel like I am just now getting to the core of my problems and for that I’m extremely grateful. Before I get into more of my experience, I wanted to give you some background to the in’s and out’s of helminthic therapy.
Photo CreditL Biome Restoration
The Low Down
From Biome Restoration :
HDC (Hymenolepis diminuta cysticercoids) is the larval stage of a small helminth. It grows in grain beetles, like mealy worm beetles, which were commonly in our food supply up until about 100 years ago.
It is now widely appreciated that humans did not evolve as a single species, but rather that humans and the micro- and macrobiomes associated with us have co-evolved as a “super-organism.” Human evolution as a species and the evolution of the other organisms that live in and on us have always been intertwined. Modernization, including our use of toilets, water purification, processed food and so on, may have led to the loss of components of our natural biome. Biome supplementation encompasses the idea of adding a wider variety of natural organisms to the ecosystem of the human body.
Selection of the Best Species
Many companies sell probiotics. This helps support the microbiome, but it doesn’t help support the rest of the biome. Helminths, or worms that inhabit the intestines of all mammals, have emerged as a leading candidate for supporting the ecosystem of the human body. Several species have risen to the top of the list as potential candidates for supporting the body’s ecosystem. Several nematode (roundworm) species have been considered, including whipworms and hookworms, but the safe isolation of these organisms from feces (either human or porcine) can be expensive, and some of the organisms can be transmitted from human to human, thus decreasing the utility of these organisms for use in the general population. On the other hand, at least one cestode (tapeworm) species does not pose any of these limitations: the cestode Hymenolepis diminuta is easily cultivated in grain beetles nor it cannot be transmitted from human to human. For information on the life cycle of Hymenolepis diminuta, click here.
Supplementing our biome: An idea for supporting the ecosystem of the human body.
One idea for supporting the ecosystem of the human body is to return to living in a pre-industrial society. People back then had a tremendous amount of biodiversity in their bodies. However, the resulting carnage from the spread of disease and starvation makes this idea unthinkable. Fortunately, a wide range of naturally occurring organisms for biome supplementation can be considered. The criteria are as follows:
(a) The organism provides biodiversity. It supplements the biome.
(b) The organism has little or no adverse effects on humans.
(c) The organism is easily controlled in terms of colonization: No uncontrolled colonization is possible given ordinary circumstances in post-industrial society.
(d) The organism should be amenable to reproducible cultivation at an affordable cost.
For more information, please check out their FAQ section.
Conditions Treated
Presently, doctors have honed in on certain conditions where they have seen great results with helminthic therapy. Those conditions are MS, Crohn’s Disease, any inflammatory bowel disease and asthma and allergies. It is a promising treatment for autoimmunity as a whole, but those diseases listed above have been studied the most and shown very favorable results. For a detailed study, please read this from the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health.
16 comments
Do you feel this treatment has helped? We are considering it for my 9 year old son…to help with his asthma and allergies.
Do you feel a difference now from this therapy?
Hi there! Interestingly enough, I had to stop this therapy since I developed other illnesses that are exacerbated with continuing helminthic therapy. I would encourage you to read some information from biomerestoration.com on what illnesses you should or should not do this therapy with or consult with a Naturopath. I hope for healing for your 9 year old.
Thank you so much for sharing, I’ve read some about this therapy and it seems a little “out there”, but who knows how many things have yet to discover. I’m still wrapping my head aroud FMT and this Helminthic thing, but I have to say that the potential side-effects appear to be less harsh than the usual treatments for MS. So why not give them a try!
Hi Rob! It is definitely not for everyone! Keep me up to date if you decide to try it. My sister has MS and I’d love to hear if it is the source of any relief to you.
I wanted to try worm therapy it is illegal in the US. The university of Iowa 2015 was going to do a clinical test trial but was shut down by the FDA, my paranoid thinking is that UC and Crohns drugs have become a huge money maker, hence FDA is controlled by big Pharma
My sister and I have UC and are on Remicade which has made some improvement but not completely under remission.
So where to go and how much is my question?
Hi there! My advice is to find a Naturopath who is proficient in Helminthic Therapy since the dosage can vary from case to case. After my Naturopath gave me her recommendations, she had me purchase the helminths through a UK company called Biome Restoration. You can find them at http://www.biomerestoration.com. The price varies on dosage.I hope no matter what you do that both you and your sister can find healing from UC.
Hi Kacy
I just had my first dose of HDC today! I was told after I had purchased that you really need to free from SIBO before starting, which is annoying as I probably have it. That is the HDC won’t work if u have SIBO. Has this been your experience? How did u get rid of SIBO? Thanks
Kelly
Hi Kelly,
Thanks so much for commenting! I hadn’t heard about that with HDC and SIBO…interesting. I did HDC for 6-7 months and my new doctor, Dr. Keller thought that since I have about 18 other illnesses that the HDC could exacerbate all of my other problems so I stopped. My SIBO journey….well…have you followed along with my SIBO Journey posts? If you haven’t, here is a link to the first one and there are then links to further installments http://www.sistersundercover.com/my-sibo-journey-introduction/. Currently, we have had to take care of so many other layers of stuff first, that I haven’t even gone into full blown treatment for SIBO (although I tried when I was first diagnosed and it was a massive FAIL). However, the other treatment I am doing will make it easier for SIBO to get gone and stay gone when we do address it. I’d love for you to be part of the journey with me and to hear updates from you too, Kelly.
-Kacy
I did this worms/helminthic treatment for 8 months from BiomeRestore in England for irritable bowell syndrome. Absolutely NO benefit. It cost me well over $1000.00 and no partial refund was agreed to. Looks like mail fraud. How they are still around is amazing. Beware, buyer….
Hi Bo, That is troubling for sure. Unfortunately with most treatments you have to try it to find out if it works for you or not. We are sorry to hear about your experience and hope that you have found another beneficial treatment.
Hi, what a shame I can not understand the video because it has no subtitles. I am Spanish speaking, best regards
Hi good day. Did you analyze the parasites of HIV, hepatitis, etc. before they entered your body? Thanks in advance
Hi Bruno. These parasites were approved by my doctor. I didn’t have them analyzed further. I hope this helps.
Hi, I thought I’d share my experience since I have experience with HDC’s. I started taking HDC’s this past November (2017) as a last ditch effort to stimulate my immune system and rid myself of SIBO symptoms, including fatigue. I had tried several rounds of Xifaxin and herbal antimicrobials and had been eating a very restrictive low FODMAP, AIP diet to manage symptoms in between rounds of antibiotics. Each time, I felt great while on the antibiotics, but the symptoms immediately returned once the treatment ended. I had minimal improvement round to round. I also have autoimmune Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, but this is managed with thyroid medication. The SIBO was really impacting my enjoyment of life in a big way.
The practice of HDC therapy is to start with a low dose (5 HDC’s), then increase by 5 HDC’s every two weeks until you have reached a positive immune response. I was told that the “average” response dose is 20, but some people are low dose responders (5 or less), and some respond at very high doses (60). For me, my positive response dose was 15 HDC’s. At 15 HDC’s I had an immediate cessation of SIBO related IBS (bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea). In disbelief, I tested by eating high FODMAP foods and coffee….all immediate SIBO symptom triggers for me. No negative SIBO reaction whatsoever. I have now been at this dose of 15 HDC’s for about 3 months. I generally eat a low carb Paleo diet, with coffee a few mornings per week and the occasional carb splurge. HDC’s love carbs, so I include them more around dosing days. In the last month, I have noticed some minimal occasional symptom return, but it seems to be related to probiotic use (which I have since stopped along with the symptoms). Because of this, am going to try another dose increase of 5, with the knowledge that more is not necessarily better. Once I have been stable for 6 months, I plan to keep the dose, but reduce the frequency of dosing.
From everything I have read (and I researched this therapy for 1 year prior to trying), dosage is dependent on the individual. Patients with Hashimoto’s and IBS generally have high success rates, although I do not have statistics around this. Since more than 50% of IBS cases stem from SIBO, I figured it was worth a shot: Low risk, high potential response.
Additionally, because my 7 year old daughter was beginning to experience gut issues and was showing early signs of autoimmune disease, we also started her on therapy for long term disease prevention. This was after removing gluten and dairy, which eliminated her visible gut reactions, and looking for any other potential causes of her symptoms. So far, she is up to 15 HDC’s. Because we now do not have any visible symptoms we are hoping to eliminate, we will stop her increase at a reasonable dose (likely 20). After 3 months, we may play with reducing her frequency of dosing. I have read that some patients take the HDC’s once per year and that is enough of an immune modulation to eliminate seasonal allergies, as an example.
Biome Restoration is certainly a great resource for the latest information regarding helminth therapy. Also the book “An Epidemic of Absence” is a great read, although it did not convince me to try just any helminth. William Parker, PhD of Yale is the leading helminth researcher in the United States and reading his essay on HDC’s is well worth your time. HDC’s do not typically take up permanent residence in humans, which makes any potential health risk very low. Similar to the bacteria in probiotics (which also do not typically take up residence in the human gut), these organisms “provide information” and stimulate a positive immune response. They do not treat any specific disease or condition, but improvement in condition or disease is a welcomed side effect. Hope this info is helpful to anyone considering this fascinating therapy!
Thank you for sharing your story Martha! You have some great info and it is wonderful to stress that everyone is different and will react differently to this and other therapies. I’m glad that you have had such great success. This can be a very controversial therapy, but it does work for some and worth a try and worth the investigation. Thank you again.