Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion Helpful Tips Drugs are not a long term solution

I have a question. Are there tests to see if you have parasites and if you do what works to get rid of them? Thanks!

Yes. There are tests and depends on what parasite they are looking for. Your doctor will be able to explain all to you - could also do an internet search : round worms; tape worms; hook worms; giardiasis - and many other pathogens. Tests are usually poop and bloods.

That is correct... The herbs and tinctures I mentioned in my initial post (Oil of oregano, p'eau darco and olive leaf) are both antifungals and anti-parasitic. I've also heard plenty of positive results stemming from the use of diatomaceous earth. I've also been rather keen on coffee enemas as of late due to their incredible capacity to purge the liver and cleanse the colon. All of these methods combined can lead to powerful changes in the gastrointestinal tract. There are also supplements that can be used afterwards to help reinoculate the gut and stimulate new growth of "enterocytes", the epithelial cells that line our digestive tract and form an important barrier that prevents foreign objects from entering the blood stream, which is the primary offender when it comes to autoimmune flare ups. These include L-glutamine, collagen, probiotics, N-acetyl-glutamine and licorice root. I'd recommend researching all of these suggestions thoroughly and ensuring you're implementing the proper procedures at the right time.

I also agree that coffee enemas are really helpful.

And yes there are tests. I took 2 poop tests (one from Doctor's Data and a PCR one from a gastroenterologist) which both came back negative but I still suspected I had them.
I finally got diagnosed with parasites via autonomic response testing. It's like no other test I've ever had and a little difficult to explain so here is the page about it from the doctor's website. http://www.chunginstitute.com/Chung_Inst...se_Testing.html

He diagnosed me with a tape worm and some blood flukes. He wrote me 2 RXs for 2 different kind of anti-worm drugs. The fluke are small so I don't know if he was right about those because I didn't see them, but I saw the tape worm (SO GROSS) so he was definitely right about that.

Anecdotally just from reading various things online, it seems like some people get good results with a blend of wormwood, green black walnut hull, and cloves.

Well, I've made some interesting discoveries over the past couple of months whilst undergoing a very strict detoxification program. I'll just quickly describe the cleanse and then talk a little more about my thoughts (or theory should I say) about what happened. So for starters I generally eat paleo and have been doing so for well over a year now, it's worked for me quite well, however, I didn't seem to be reaching a point of feeling really good, I mean I felt pretty great, but not awesome! I was also battling with constant skin flushing, dry skin on my cheeks and behind my ears and a little dry skin patch right on the center of my chest. These are all clear indicators of excessive toxicity in the system and the liver's inability to process all of these in an efficient manner, in turn, it offloads the extra work to the integumentary system (the skin) which then results in skin flushing and rashes. The first 5 weeks of the cleanse I continued eating paleo; with every meal I would take an antifungal/ antiparasitic such as the ones I've mentioned prior along with proteolytic enzymes to help with digestion. During this time I also started experimenting with coffee enemas, in fact at one point I was releasing so many toxins (parasites, liver flukes, recurvatums, biofilm and who knows what else) that I started doing them daily. I noticed a great reduction in skin flushes, my skin even started to clear up and look a lot healthier which is a huge plus.

The interesting thing that happened was that I experienced a flare up, or autoimmune response (AS) for the first time in well over a year. Basically, I had inflammation in my shoulders, left hip and left knee, a fairly similar response to what I use to get before I started eating paleo.

So here is what I think happened... As we know, intestinal permeability is a huge factor when it comes to autoimmune response because it allows for undigested food matter, pathogens, bacteria, and foreign by-products to enter into our blood stream triggering a self-inflicted immune response. Over time as our digestive system becomes more polluted with candida, parasites and other pathogens, they begin to expel toxic substances into our digestive tract, eventually forming a biofilm, a slimy substance which coats our intestinal lining and creates a nice little home for these unwanted guests to thrive. This leads to a host of problems such as; small bacterial overgrowth, poor nutrient absorption, increased toxicity and eventually deterioration of all other body systems. What I'm suggesting is that the biofilm also reduces the amount of undigested food matter that enters into the blood stream, thus reducing the autoimmune response and limiting inflammation. I think what has happened in my case is that by flushing out the biofilm and removing the pathogens and parasites I no longer have a film or barrier blocking nutrients from entering my blood stream. Now I must be extra cautious when consuming any foods that I may be sensitive to because they can be absorbed into my system much quicker. If they aren't being digested properly in the stomach (possibly due to low hydrochloric acid production) an autoimmune response will be triggered.

I'm still cleansing, in fact upon making this discovery I've decided to go full on with a liver cleanse. I have been making beet juice with apples, ginger, parsley and turmeric, as well as, using herbal remedies such as milk thistle and aloe vera gel to help support my system. Aloe is great as it is high in enzymes, antioxidants, and other great nutrients.

Anyways, I hope this makes some sort of sense, I think this is a really important concept to understand. Opening up the detoxification pathways and eliminating the toxic environment in our system is a first big step! Afterwards, it's important to focus on rebuilding the enterocytes (gut lining) that act as part of our immune system by preventing foreign matter from entering the blood stream. Then we must reintroduce beneficial gut bacteria etc etc.... Then our system can really begin to thrive again.

My rheumatologist also said that NSAID's can prevent the progress of the disease. He was concerned when I was cutting back on them and wanted me to take a minimum of 2 per week for that reason. He even said if I went on biological drugs (which I refuse) that he would still have me use NSAID's for the same reason. He says they don't know what it is that does it, but there is something. In my mind my bullshitometer is ringing however I also can't ignore that I have been taking NSAID's for 16 years now and the disease hasn't progressed.

So interesting about the detox, this kind of parallels my own experience. I would feel good doing CEs and get a lot of biofilm and junk out but only to a point. Then I seemed to be more reactive to my food so now I'm doing them less.