EXCITING UPDATE! We have recently come across a new medical provider who actually believes what is going on, and has said they are happy to work with anybody experiencing these symptoms, including remotely. Please see their information by going to our resource page here and looking for “Lighthouse Complex Care”. We are not affiliated with them, and we do not receive compensation or anything else from them, we just have been impressed with how caring they are.
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“My husband and I have been battling parasites and doctors for two years now,” says this reader, who reaches out to us in a desperate time in which her health is declining and she is not getting the help she needs. Our reader and her husband have been diagnosed with strongyloidiasis, Morgellons and some type of filarial infection, among other things.
As our reader understands already that we will not be able to provide any direct medical advice, as we are not medical professionals, we will not bother with our usual statement regarding this issue. We will instead start by simply retelling our reader’s story for those of our other readers who might relate to it and either understand that they too need to seek medical help, or just feel comforted in knowing that they are not alone.
Our reader and her husband have both been struggling with health-related problems for two years. They were first diagnosed with strongyloidiasis (a chronic parasitic infection), eczema (a skin condition that causes redness and irritation), “possible psychosis” (a mental disorder which generally involves losing touch with reality), Morgellons (a skin condition characterized by sores from which various matter is discharged), and delusional parasitosis (a mental disorder constituting one being convinced that they have a parasitic and/or fungal infection without actually having one), “just to name a few.” After all of this, they were also diagnosed with filariasis (a parasitic infection of filarial worms) and recommended to check out Mayo Clinic (a reputable nonprofit medical center). Our reader was then able to find a doctor that believed them and tried to treat them “empirically.” That was until the pandemic started and her husband lost his job.
“We are farmers on the outskirts of Fort Worth [TX],” continues our reader. She mentions that when this all started, she “only had enough knowledge on the microscope of parasites to be able to look for eggs in goat poop.” She is now “getting tired and losing steam,” and understandably so. Her first question to us is about her delusional parasitosis. “I know y’all can’t help me with the medical side of this but surely you can tell me if these delusional worms will ever go be delusional somewhere else and leave us alone.” We will finish recounting all of the context before addressing any of the questions.
The second inquiry made by our reader concerns claims made by the CDC and WHO about the nature of the parasitic infections our reader was diagnosed with. According to our reader, these claims state that “United States Citizens without a travel history cannot get these parasitic diseases here.” She has been trying to find other sources that substantiate these claims but has been unsuccessful, and asks us if we have found any such sources. She adds that the fact they are farmers “should have alerted someone in infectious disease but it didn’t.” Our reader also contacted her extension office to ask them “if they had the most recent vector surveillance data,” and they responded by recommending them to contact the state representative, who then did not respond to our reader’s attempts at contacting them.
One of the reasons our reader asks that we help her find sources that back up the claims made by the CDC and WHO is because of her ongoing battle with Uveitis (a form of inflammation of the eye), and so she has trouble reading at times. She concludes her submission by saying that she hopes to hear back from us and see her story posted, and that “if anyone would like anymore details [she] would love to provide them.”
With regard to her first question, this is not something we can answer her on with 100% confidence or credibility. As our reader already knows, we are not medical professionals, so it is not our place to tell our reader if her delusions may go away or not. What we can point to is JAMA Network’s dematology page where they chronicle examples of successful treatments of delusional parasitosis, showing that it can indeed be treated if the work is put in. It should be noted that as this is a mental disorder, it takes the work of not only the doctors and psychiatrists to treat this problem, but the patient too. Mental disorders are very subjective and so it is impossible for anyone to say when or if such a disorder might ever “leave [our reader] alone”, as she put it.
When it comes to our reader’s second question, we are not sure what kind of answers our reader is hoping for. Firstly, we would assume that our reader does not have a travel history, because otherwise she would not be asking about these claims made by the CDC and WHO. Secondly, we would assume she does not agree with said claims, seeing as her language when describing the doctor who “believed” her about her parasites suggests that she does not consider these delusions, and so does not think that these parasitic infections are exclusive to US citizens who do have a travel history. Given these assumptions, we would make a third assumption that our reader was hoping that we would not find other sources that substantiate these claims. And yet, she repeated this question twice in her query and has been wearing herself out looking for more citations that back up these claims. This is all a long-winded way of saying that we did not find sources that specifically agreed with the CDC and WHO, but instead found sources that stated facts to the contrary, and we do not know if that is a comfort or a curse to our reader.
Out of all the diagnoses our reader and her husband received, the two of them which are parasitic are strongyloidiasis and filariasis. Many make the mistake of calling Morgellons a parasitic infection when it is not, and this is likely because some of the symptoms overlap with delusional parasitosis. When it comes to strongyloidiasis, the NCBI states that while Strongyloides stercoralis (the nematode which causes the infection) is native to “tropical regions” such as “Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin American,” it is “also endemic in southeastern United States.” It goes on to say that most cases in the US are in immigrants or veterans who have been overseas, but the key word here is “most”, which implies that it is definitely not all. Now, when it comes to filariasis, it gets a little more complicated. The NCBI’s article on zoonotic filariasis lists several types of filarial worms that can cause the infection, and our reader did not specify which type she was diagnosed with. Either way, there are various types of filarial worms found across the United States, from the Dilofilaria tenus found in raccoons to the Dirofilaria subdermata found in porcupines. This shows that filarial worms, and thus filariasis can most definitely be contracted within the United States with or without a travel history.
Before we wrap up this article, we wish to make one more comment on our reader’s situation and perhaps aid her in finding the help she needs. It is unclear whether the diagnoses she and her husband were given were by the same doctor or multiple, but it is very strange that our reader has been diagnosed with psychosis and delusional parasitosis along with actual parasitic infections. One would think that if a medical professional diagnosed someone with a parasitic infection, they would not also be told that they are making it up. Of course, there could very well be more context to this situation that we are not privy to, but if our reader has any additional information that would clear this up, we would appreciate it. What we will say is that it seems our reader needs some real answers about what her situation really is and what she can do about it.
As opposed to going to her doctor, there are actually a few alternatives for treating specifically parasitic infections. First, our reader can consult the ASTMH (the ‘American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene’), where they have a service that locates infectious disease physicians within the given area of the patient! Likewise, she can search for a local parasitologist by doing a Google search for “medical parasitologist (Fort Worth)” or “tropical medicine specialist (Forth Worth)”. Additionally, the PCI (Parasitology Center Inc.) is generally a great resource for all things parasites, and if our reader wishes to, she can also contact Dr. Omar Amin via the website for any help relating to her problem. ul to a lot of people, if not comforting for those going through something similar who does not feel seen. We appreciate that she is aware we cannot give her any direct medical advice, and we hope that this article was somewhat informative nonetheless. Finally, we end this article with a quote from our reader’s submission which speaks for itself. “I do understand that you are not allowed to tell us a whole lot,” our reader says, “I would just like to know that through our morbidity, people are aware of the hidden parasite problem here in the US.”
Jodi Graves I am in Parker county. I would love to talk to locals that have suffered like I have
Thank you! There has to be a way!
I’m in that area too please feel free to contact me let’s talk I’m going thru the same thing
The CDC and the WHO need to start believing people even when they have proof like myself from the ELISA blood test. They think you can’t get these parasitic diseases unless you travel overseas well guess what they’re wrong cuz I have schistosomiasis so does my 7-year-old and we never traveled outside of the USA. 2 years I’ve been suffering because they don’t know how to treat this disease even infectious disease doctors in my area. Praziquintel one round did not work for me and my daughter. My research states you should take it once a month for 3 months or longer depending on how severe. That could be the reason why or I have more than one parasitic disease that’s not yet found. I wish the best for everybody on here and I feel your pain. I’m just really concerned about my little girl. This parasitic disease can affect your organs she can become sterile and then she can’t have kids when she grows up, and can complicate the child’s growth and mental state and she’s already forgetting stuff that she learned in kindergarten. These doctors are a real trip and I’m in New Jersey. They just can’t believe I have a positive test for me and my daughter. If they would have believed me 2 years ago I could have been disease-free & my daughter but they didn’t. They want to say that you’re crazy and you have parasitosis. It’s not right for a patient to be treated like this something must be done.
I recently found a few things and they are finally after 10 years coming out so fast its a bit scarey. I started using peroxide treatment has to be food grade. Bought the book the one minute cure. What really did it fast though was methylene blue. I found it by accident. They used it years ago cured malaria in 2 days. It was hard to find info on it how much to take etc. I am sharing to those as frustrated as I am about this. It’s the most debilitating infection and no one helps or believes you. It does exist and I had to get meds from foreign countries to treat myself I’ve used everything from antibiotics , vermox, Flagyl, to turpentine. Anyone afflicted with this knows we will do just about anything to rid ourselves of this. We suffer alone friends don’t believe us family or doctors so we suffer in silence. That’s the worst part 9f this infection we learn we can’t tell anyone or they will label us crazy. I for one cannot go on. This methylene blue is my last hope. My body is no longer mine. Delusional not. I have a letter that DOP exists in 1 out of 100,000. Karl Ekbom 1938 started DOP with absolutely no notion of what damage a parasite can do. Once labeled DOP every Dr after that doesn’t question first Dr. One hospital diagnosis was ” fear of parasites” I am having some severe problems these things have caused yet I will not put myself through the heartache of telling another Dr and be humiliated. I will continue to study and order meds as I have done. I think I may finally getting the population down we will see. My heart and prayers to anyone suffering from this infection. You are not alone.
I was infected with filarious on 1992 when I lived next to fort Ord in california’ I went to doctors 3 times to ask for help in diagnosing my condition and was told it was impossible because I had not traveled to a tropical area. So I bought a microscope and have monitored my skin condition and watched the changes in my skin as my infestation grew. I use double sided tape to take sample from different areas on my body to stay aware of the number of worms on my skin and have learned alot about what happens as the infestation grows’ I know that hydrogen kills the adult worms immediately. I try and do a hydrogen bath using a cotton ball over my entire body at least once a week. I dont think the peroxide kills the eggscause they encase themselves in some sort of covering . But the peroxide helps slow the infestation down a little. If you want to prove to yourself that you are not delussional do what I did anfd get a microscope , glas slides, and two sided tape. use the tape to lift samples from your skin, put the tap on the slide with the side with the skin particals facing up and look at it thru the micoscope, If you think you have them around your eyes, use the tape close to that area. you should be able to see thread like objects visible n the tape amongs the other stuff on the tape. This helped me when I started to think I was delussional. And I didn’t get the filarious worms from a misqueto bite either. But I know no doctor is going to believe my experience with this desease and thats ok.
Many parasitic diseases come in fact from tick bites and flea bites and other anthropods. It’s highly likely that besides for the parasite problem, she is suffering from gram negative infections such as Rickettsia or Q-Fever. Lyme is a type of Rickettsia. Many doctors now agree that there is such a thing as chronic lyme or other tick borne disease such as the thousands of strains of Rickettsia. This is because often the parasite is introduced by the bite as these parasites are on the ticks or insect vectors. In fact some ticks have been identified with many different parasites. The treatments for chronic lyme, by ILADS I facetious disease specialists, who now have Congress approval for treatment with antibiotic protocols, will be helpful. Many of these illnesses require treatment of both. Just treating the parasites or treating lyme and not parasites is usually unsuccessful. That’s because they strengthen each other in order to bring down the immune system. Many AB will also kill parasites. I recommend the Jadin protocol which helped me. It’s not an easy fix which shows it’s a genuine treatment. It takes time and toxins from dying pathogens can be painful. Also check out Prof Richard Horowitz who wrote why I cant get better
Good luck
H
Lisa Houston, Texas
I to you and suffering from
Something it’s affecting my eyes and my nose ears and my whole body and my scalp on my head , I have no energy by myself every tired and this is actually doing something to my health and my husband thinks I’m crazy but my kids on the other hand are suffering too went to a doctor twice and they looked in my ears and my nose and tell me that I don’t have nothing that they can see or diagnose so I was sent home still waiting for my kids to get seen by their doctor that’s been totally booked since covid
I will be back to explain with pictures on my symptoms what it looks like etc. I can tell you it’s some kind of worm when the light hits this one or parasite makes itself invisible but it’s there because if you stick a q-tip you can feel that there is something there when light hits its ,it’s blackish red depending on your light. I’m really sorry to get concerned with my health as my daughter being complaining of the same thing that I’ve been complaining about this pain that me and my daughters received is near our heart and don’t last long but is kind of scary and the
overall exhaustion at times our nose is so blocked with this thing that I cannot pull out because it’s so gooey or just smart to hunker down when it’s being pulled on but like I said I will be back with pictures and more detail information.
I too have been dealing with something that is in my eyes and skin and recently. I went to use the bathroom and looked down at what looked like a bullseye or round circle with a dot in the center. I used a old straw to investigate and notice several blackish/dark ashy purple round shriveled up raisen/grapes all of them had this round circle with a dot in the center. I had put them in a air tight single serve jelly jar in water. When I put a flash light to it the round circles are actually bright blood red. I believe it is a mouth part or how it was attached to my insides. I have clear pics but don’t know how to load them on here.
I would like to offer Anissa support but have no way to contact her. Please give her my information my name is Charity 8177989707 c_*****@*sn.com
I’m from ft.worth too. North Richland hills, suburb of ft.worth.
Also a sufferer
Can affect anyone
I’m 22, female, med school student. not delusional. Didn’t even believe In this shit till it happened to me
Scabs sores worms coming out of my fucking bellybutton.
Could use a godamn friend rn
Charity, we recommend contacting the Parasitology Center (PSI) at https://www.parasitetesting.com/, 480-767-2522, which is run by Dr. Omar Amin.
If you want to try to find a local doctor who will understand what you are going through, you can try consulting the directory of the American Society for Tropical Medicine here: https://www.astmh.org/for-astmh-members/clinical-consultants-directory
Note that email addresses are automatically removed from comments because they attract spammers.
I would like to clarify… that we have not been diagnosed with psychosis or delusional parasitosis. Those were just listed in the “differential diagnosis” list on the medical records that we requested. I am assuming that my husband was diagnosed with delusional parasitosis by the dermatologist at the VA in Dallas because they wanted to put him on risperidone and not an anti-parasitic without bothering to actually do some research. We then went to a trusted family physician that diagnosed us both with a microfilariae infestation and noted that the swollen cervical lymph node on the back of my neck was possibly caused by a parasite. He referred us to an infectious disease doctor at Southwestern University but they said that they were only accepting patients with gastrointestinal parasites. His office worked tirelessly to get an infectious disease doctor to take us to no avail. Eventually we were told that the Mayo Clinic was our only hope. The Mayo Clinic also told us that they couldn’t help us because they were only accepting patients with gastrointestinal parasites. That was around May of 2019. It is now November 2020 and we have been on our own. The morbidity is not so fun but we are finding our way. It is the inhumanity that really hurts.
We have been put through a lot of unnecessary suffering and I know that we are not the only ones. We are in the Fort Worth Texas area.