This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

On this thread, I plan to give updates on how I'm doing in regards to helminthic therapy. I'll be starting treatment in about a week.

With this treatment, I hope to put my RRMS into full remission. I was diagnosed in Feb. 09, and since that time I've had 3 attacks. I don't use any of the CRAB drugs, so this will be my primary form of treatment.

Once I start treatment, It's expected that I'll experience some flu-like symptomes for the first few weeks. Many patients report significant swings in their MS symptomes during this time, as the immune system adjusts it's self to hosting the helminths (worms.) Once the worms have settled into my small intestine, they will live there for the next three year at least.

If anyone any questions on the very unconventional approach, I'm happy to answer any of them.

Sheldon

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Nectar americanus. They seem to have the most scientific evidence to support them, and on a more practicle level they're the only option available right now from Jasper Lawrence and AIT

I happy that they do at least have that part of their business up and runnung again, otherwise I'd likely be heading back to the the third world to take some barefoot walks

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Trichuris trichiura live can live 20 years in a human? I wasn't aware of this. AIT was only offering a guaruntee of 18 months for whipworms, vs. 3 years for hookworms.

The FDA actually isn't allowing Jasper to do any business in th US now, which has set about all of the changes that have occoured in recent months. After an unsucessful attempt to restart his business from Belize, he moved to England, where he is now based. He's had trouble getting the incubation process going again, mostly due the the difficulty of incubating worm larva in a cold british climate, and literally needing to start from scratch after losing all of his equiptment. He's just been able to start producing hookworms again, and he's now focusing on getting whipworm production going again.

The FDA drama is also why I've been camped out in Canada, as the athorities won't allow him to ship to the US. I'm just glad the waiting is almost over.

I'm actually sort of looking forward to the innoculation in a twisted sort of way. I'm sure it won't be pleasant, but it'll give me something to brag about to my hard-core tatooed and pierced friends! Methinks it's time to win some money on fear factor!

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Great article, Bob. I hadn't heard of this before. Rather Ironic that he discovered their potential benefit when he originally intended to elimiate them. I tend to agree with his thinking that our bodies have these allergic reactions for a reason, not just to repel benign encounters.

So as I type this, my right arm is itching like under the patch that I used to apply the larvae. It arrived quicker than anyone had anticipated, which was none too soon, as I'm just in the beginnig stages of going into a relapse!

I don't know if there's any data on the effects of innoculation with helminths during an active relapse, it's going to be very interesting to see what happens from here...

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Ok, so it's been almost a week since I took the hookworms. As far as side effects from the worms go, my patch itched like crazy for about an hour, and then off and on for the next few days. A rash accompaied the itching, which has now nearly disappeared. So far, I've havn't had the cough, the stomach cramps, the flue-like feelings that are possible after infection.

My relapse has progressed, and is now affecting most of my right arm and leg. My coordination has been affected somewhat, but less than it has in previous attacks. I'm hoping that I've reached the plateu, but then again, when I'm relapsing, I'm always hoping that I've reached the plateu. Since the hookworms don't seem to have stopped the relapse dead in it's tracks,(that would have been the best case scenerio) I'll now be looking to see how far it goes, how long it lasts, and how much residule damage is left when it abates.

That being said, hookworm larvae are not a corizol shot, and should not be expected to have the same effect

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Others who have gone on helminthic therapy, for MS as well as other disorders, have reported major improvements even within the first week, but it's easy to see how the placebo effect may influence that. They usually tell people that they'll need to wait 8 weeks before starting to see benefit from hookworms. I'm certainly hoping for the quickest reaction, but I won't be surprised if I don't see one right away. There are antigens and misdirected T-cells circulating around in my blood that may take time to come into balance.

And then the question begs: If this relapse starts diminishing sooner than expected, can that be attributed to the hookworms, or is it like any neuro would say, just the natural course of the disease? I'll definetly be using my past relapses as a basis, (and I really hate to use two MS cliches in one paragraph) but there's very little about MS that can be said to be "typical"

By the way, do you know of the MS/whipworm study that's underway at the University of Wisconson? I'm very interested in it, but it seems that it's constantly being postponed.

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Update: Two weeks after infection

The symptomes from the hookworms have been minimal. I've felt a bit flu-ish a few times with some head and throat congestion, and have made a few extra trips to the bathroom.

As far as MS goes, this relapse that started days before I took the hookworms seems to have hit a plateu. Much of the numbness in my right leg has nearly returned to normal. My right hand and arm continue to be affected as well as both feet. My coordination has been affected, but not nearly to the same extent as it was in my most previous relapses.

The weather's been beautiful here in Montana, which has promped me to throw another variable into the pot; This week I started hiking 3-4 miles a day, and I was pleasantly surprised to see what I was still capeable of.

To put it simply, I'm optomistic that the worst has past.

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Thanks Bob,

Even in the two days since my last post, I can feel improvement, so it seem to be going well, as far as relapses go. The worms may be playing a part in this improvement, but with all of the suppliments and herbals I've been taking, I certainly can't pinpoint it to that.

As you say, the real test of their effectiveness will be time. Going on a regimine of vit D, soy lesicen, and tumaric didn't prevent another attack from happeneing, so as they may (or may not) be helping to reduce the severity of this relapse, they wern't able to prevent it.

AIT says that people usually don't start seeing benefits until 8-12 weeks after infection, so my disease course over the next year will provide the best picture of how well this procedure is working