Scratch that last post! Continuing medication

In light of recent recommendations from various people in the HT community and after some thought, I realized that weaning off of Levothyroxin 50mcg thyroid supplement is going to complicate the experience in various ways, and is not a very smart thing to do at this stage.

This makes sense for several reasons:

• If I don't feel better after inoculation it will be hard to know whether it's from a decreased thyroid function or because the helminths didn't work
• Shocking my immune system multiple times in the course of a few weeks will probably not produce the results I expect, and will complicate observation and make it harder for others to learn from my experience
• Helminthic therapy most likely won't cure my hypothyroidism anyway according to Dr. Marc, so I'm just setting myself up for failure

So although 50mcg isn't much, I think it makes sense to stay on it for a few months after I feel better and at least perform some blood tests before making any significant changes. I certainly don't want to introduce variables that could convolute the results of this therapy. Doing so wouldn't get me or the community anywhere with any degree of certainty.

Weaning off thyroid supplement, beginning month-long fast soon

**EDIT: Change of plans, see next blog post**

For no reason other than the fact that I ran out of my medication and have no refills, I'm going to discontinue taking Levothyroxin for a while to see how my thyroid levels are with just the worms. I understand that this may be a stupid idea (in fact, I know it is), but I think I can handle a slow thyroid for now while my body adjusts to the helminths. I typically start seeing the effects of my hypothyroid 2-3 weeks after discontinuing the medication, so I have some time before things start feeling extra lazy.

And finally, Ramadan begins on August 1st, so I will be fasting from sunrise to sunset, most likely producing even more fatigue. I should have a good idea of what my energy levels are like typically before I get the helminths, and  then should be able to use it as a comparison.

Lately I've been feeling ok; not bouncing with energy, but not falling asleep everywhere either. I have been averaging 9 hours of sleep and eating several meals a day though, so I suppose I shouldn't expect any less.

Oh and my allergies have been flaring up for no reason lately. Watery eyes, sneezing, increased sensitivity to certain fruits.

Only a few more days now!

The beginning of the end

The purpose of this blog is to document a relatively underground and fairly experimental therapy used to treat a variety of autoimmune diseases that I am eager to get rid of.

I will be writing very few (if any) educational posts on the therapy itself, as there is a staggering amount of information out there already, all of which you can find here.

Below is my health history as well as some statistics about my physical well-being to give you a better idea of where I am and how big (or small) of an effect the helminthic therapy will have on my body. I've had allergies for about 7 years now and fatigue for at least 4 years.

Current Health Stats

• Male
• Age: 22 yrs
• Height: 182 cm (6 ft)
• Weight: 80 kg (175 lbs)
• Body fat: 9%
• Diet: Moderately healthy 
• no fast food, soft drinks, or juice
• less than 50g sugar per day
• high in omega 3
• 2500-3000 calories a day
• GNC Mega Men multivitamins + Super B-complex daily
• 3+ days of weight lifting per week (no cardio)
• Average sleep: 8-9 hours a day over the last 5 years
• Cholesterol/vitamin levels within normal range (recent blood test)
• Current medications: Levothyroxin 50mcg (thyroid supplement)

Chronic Symptoms

• Unexplained fatigue despite abundant amount of regular sleep and treatment of hypothyroid
• Food allergies:
• Various fruits - peach, apple, strawberries, pears, tomatoes, other similar fruits
• Soy, almonds, peanuts
• Seasonal allergies:
• Spring season from April - August
• Grass, trees, ragweed, pollen
• Misc. allergies:
• Dust mites
• Pet dander
• Mosquito bites? (they always swell up beyond the typical bite)
• All allergies except for mosquito bites and soy have been confirmed by a specialist through skin tests

Prior treatment attempts

(Allergy)

• Allergy Treatment: 3 years of immunotherapy - 5 allergen injections, increasing in dosage, daily, then weekly, then bi-weekly, then monthly
• Result: Negligible improvement in seasonal symptoms
• Allergy Medications:
• Zyrtec
• great success for 2 years of allergies, then it stopped working
• Benadryl, Claritin, Claritin-D, Allegra, Allegra-D, a few other brands I don't remember
• None successfully controlled symptoms
• Variety of alcon eye-drops
• No effect
• Naphcon-A eye drops
• Temporarily relieved symptoms, but dangerous long-term health effects (vasoconstrictor)
• Variety of nasal sprays
• Helped with congestion, but usually increased frequency of sneezing
• Annoying to apply
• Corticosteroid injection (kenalog 80mg) - Amazing relief of symptoms for up to 3 months
• Dangerous long-term health effects
• Liver flush
• Didn't do a single thing for me. My recipe was 4 organic cage-free egg yolks, a table spoon of olive oil/sunflower oil, and several limes.
• Nasal irrigation
• The water wouldn't flush out of my other nostril because I was too congested to allow any flow of water, so I couldn't quite get any relief from this treatment, though I heard it helps a lot
• Herbs and Supplements
• High doses of vitamin C
• No noticeable relief
• Grape Seed Extract
• No noticeable relief
• Stinging Nettle (for natural production of corticosteroid)
• No noticeable relief

(Fatigue)

• Levothyroxin (taken for past 6+ months)
• Helped tremendously with skin and nail condition
• Initial energy improvements, but nothing extraordinary
• Hair thinning accelerated
• Vitamin B-complex
• Helps a little bit, but isn't enough
• Exercise
• Helps the most, but also isn't enough

Further Notes on Symptoms

My seasonal allergy symptoms typically included itchy eyes, conjuctivitis (swollen eye lids) which prevented me from being able to wear contacts, major congestion (which interfered with sleep), incessant sneezing, hives, itchy skin (at worst cases), and extra sensitivity to certain foods. I wouldn't say the symptoms are dangerous as much as they are terribly uncomfortable (to such an extent that sometimes I rather lay in bed for days to wait out the discomfort).

My food allergies aren't particularly dangerous, with the exception of soy and the occasionally peach, both of which make my chest feel like it's closing up.

I also tolerate pet dander and dust mites reasonably well, with some minor congestion or light sneezing.

Needless to say, I don't quite understand where my fatigue comes from, as I've done many blood tests hoping to find the root of the problem to no avail.

Next Steps

I will be getting my initial treatment of 35 helminths some time next week, so expect some delicious photos and a detailed post! I was told that I would eventually host a total of 130 or so hookworms over the course of my treatment, so this is just the first step. I do expect a reasonable amount of improvement within a couple months of my first dose, but I don't want to get my hopes up.

The end result will hopefully be complete remission of my allergies, and (if i'm lucky) maybe my thyroid will return to normal, although I doubt it. I also expect my energy levels to normalize and my sleep needs to decrease considerably.

Stay Tuned
-Logan