The 'This Month' post is triggered by a paper emerging in the journal Gut Pathogens describing a clinical pilot study on the efficacy of triple antibiotic therapy in Blastocystis positive IBS patients. The article is free for download here. The triple therapy consisted of fourteen days of diloxanide furoate 500 mg thrice daily,
trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (cotrimoxazole) 160/80 mg twice daily, and secnidazole
400 mg thrice daily. Six of ten patients achieved eradication. Please have a look at the paper for more information.
Sometimes I get contacted by people who have been trying to get rid of Blastocystis. And on the odd occasion, I receive accounts that I'd like to share - completely anonymously of course - hoping that the information will benefit those interested and that I can stimulate interest in the field a bit. But also because I think that sometimes people expose themselves to MASSIVE antibiotic treatment that might cause more harm than good (microbiota perturbation).
Below you'll find three examples dealing with the eradication of Blastocystis. Kindly note that this is not a post on IF or WHEN one should seek to eradicate Blastocystis, and please also note that this should not be interpreted as 'medical advice'.
I obtained permission from the patients in Examples #1 and #2 to share their stories, which have been eidted slightly for clarity.
Example #1:
I'm now in a period with phases (after pain during 2/3 weeks, no more pain during 2/3 weeks, then pain again, then no more...). All tests were carried out in the same way at the same lab."
The patient's current Blastocystis carrier status remains unknown. However, the present story demonstrates the ferocious concoctions taken into use to clear Blastocystis.
Example #2:
"Metronidazole for 10 days failed, then, a few months later, I tried metronidazole plus paromomycin for 10 days, flanked with 3 doses of nitazoxanide and one dose of albendazole, and I am now convinced that that heavy chemo-treatment worked, since several tests, including my most recent one, have been negative since that multi-drug treatment. Some lingering mild symptoms, possibly related, or not, kept me wondering, but I am now convinced the bugs are gone."
Example #3:
The last story is my own, and it describes how I inadvertently lost my Blastocystis strain. Please note that I have no financial interests to disclose. Moreover, I don't believe that I ever suffered symptoms from Blastocystis colonisation.
I spent most of my childhood in the countryside in Denmark. Moving down from Norway, my parents had bought a small farm, although they were not farmers. We did have some animals though, e.g. cats, a dog, chickens, sheep, and at some point even a couple of tortoises. I don't think I ever received antibiotics throughout childhood, except from once when being hospitalised due to surgery back in 1975. In 1990, I sustained a severe bicycle accident and was admitted to hospital; I believe I must have received some antibiotics back then, too. I have travelled extensively, and spent several months in e.g. Laos and Thailand in 2003/2004, three weeks in India in 2007, etc.
I started testing myself for Blastocystis only in 2009, and just like at least 20% of mankind, I was positive. Since then I re-checked myself every now and then, and I was always positive for the same strain (evidenced by DNA analysis), ST1 allele 4. However, in early 2014 I had major dental surgery, and I was prescribed tablets three times daily for six days. These tablets contained amoxicillin (500 mg) + the beta-lactamase inhibitor clavulanic acid (125 mg). A couple of weeks after completing antibiotic treatment, I tested myself a couple of times, and Blastocystis had vanished! Also today there is no sign of it...
I wish that I had been able to map my intestinal bacterial communities both before and after treatment to identify the effect of the drugs on my gut microbiota, thinking that Blastocystis disappeared due to microbiota perturbation rather than a direct effect on the parasite. I don't remember changing anything in my diet around the time of 'conversion'; only thing that I can think of is that - for a reason I no longer remember - I took to ingesting large amounts of freshly chopped ginger and consumed quite a few cups of 'ginger tea' (basically just a ginger infusion) around that time. But since ginger consumption is very common in parts of the world where Blastocystis is common, I don't attribute eradication to ginger consumption. I may be wrong of course.
For now, I just wanted to post the information and let the examples speak for themselves.
Reference:
Nagel R, Bielefeldt-Ohmann H, & Traub R (2014). Clinical pilot study: efficacy of triple antibiotic therapy in Blastocystis positive irritable bowel syndrome patients. Gut pathogens, 6 PMID: 25349629
Sometimes I get contacted by people who have been trying to get rid of Blastocystis. And on the odd occasion, I receive accounts that I'd like to share - completely anonymously of course - hoping that the information will benefit those interested and that I can stimulate interest in the field a bit. But also because I think that sometimes people expose themselves to MASSIVE antibiotic treatment that might cause more harm than good (microbiota perturbation).
I obtained permission from the patients in Examples #1 and #2 to share their stories, which have been eidted slightly for clarity.
Example #1:
"Two
years ago, I was declared positive for Blastocystis after traveling to India.
My symptoms included abdominal pain, weight loss, rectal itching, constipation
or diarrhoea (yes, it's supposed to be 'or') -
I could be constipated for 7-10 days and then have a big diarrhoea "in one go". I took:
I could be constipated for 7-10 days and then have a big diarrhoea "in one go". I took:
- January 2012: Fasygin (tinidazole) twice daily for 3 days => still positive after treatment.
- February 2012: Bactrim Forte (co-trimoxazole) three times daily for 10 days => still positive after treatment.
- March 2012: A combination of Bactrim Forte (cotrimoxazole) three times daily for 10 days and Tiberal (ornidazole) twice a day for 5 days. Then, Intetrix (tiliquinol) twice a day for 10 days => still positive after treatment.
- May 2012: first-line-treatment from Australia = combination of Bactrim Forte (co-trimoxazole) twice a day for 10 days / Secnidazole 3 times a day for 10 days / Diloxanide Furoate 3 times a day for 10 days => 3 consecutive Blastocystis-negative stools (tests in July 2012).
Then
no symptoms anymore till February 2014, when the same symptoms came back, and I was stool-positive for Blastocystis. I
took:
- March 2014: Flagyl (metronidazole) 3 times a day for 10 days, then a combination of Paromomycin 6 times a day for 10 days / Doxycyclin 2 times a day for 10 days / Bactrim Forte (co-trimoxazole) 3 times a day for 10 days / Saccharomyces boulardii 4 times a day for 10 days.
- Test in April: Stool-positive for Blastocystis.
- May 2014: Nitazoxanide 2 times a day for 10 days / Furazolidone 3 times a day for 10 days / Secnidazole 3 times a day for 10 days.
I'm now in a period with phases (after pain during 2/3 weeks, no more pain during 2/3 weeks, then pain again, then no more...). All tests were carried out in the same way at the same lab."
The patient's current Blastocystis carrier status remains unknown. However, the present story demonstrates the ferocious concoctions taken into use to clear Blastocystis.
Example #2:
"Metronidazole for 10 days failed, then, a few months later, I tried metronidazole plus paromomycin for 10 days, flanked with 3 doses of nitazoxanide and one dose of albendazole, and I am now convinced that that heavy chemo-treatment worked, since several tests, including my most recent one, have been negative since that multi-drug treatment. Some lingering mild symptoms, possibly related, or not, kept me wondering, but I am now convinced the bugs are gone."
Example #3:
The last story is my own, and it describes how I inadvertently lost my Blastocystis strain. Please note that I have no financial interests to disclose. Moreover, I don't believe that I ever suffered symptoms from Blastocystis colonisation.
I spent most of my childhood in the countryside in Denmark. Moving down from Norway, my parents had bought a small farm, although they were not farmers. We did have some animals though, e.g. cats, a dog, chickens, sheep, and at some point even a couple of tortoises. I don't think I ever received antibiotics throughout childhood, except from once when being hospitalised due to surgery back in 1975. In 1990, I sustained a severe bicycle accident and was admitted to hospital; I believe I must have received some antibiotics back then, too. I have travelled extensively, and spent several months in e.g. Laos and Thailand in 2003/2004, three weeks in India in 2007, etc.
I started testing myself for Blastocystis only in 2009, and just like at least 20% of mankind, I was positive. Since then I re-checked myself every now and then, and I was always positive for the same strain (evidenced by DNA analysis), ST1 allele 4. However, in early 2014 I had major dental surgery, and I was prescribed tablets three times daily for six days. These tablets contained amoxicillin (500 mg) + the beta-lactamase inhibitor clavulanic acid (125 mg). A couple of weeks after completing antibiotic treatment, I tested myself a couple of times, and Blastocystis had vanished! Also today there is no sign of it...
I wish that I had been able to map my intestinal bacterial communities both before and after treatment to identify the effect of the drugs on my gut microbiota, thinking that Blastocystis disappeared due to microbiota perturbation rather than a direct effect on the parasite. I don't remember changing anything in my diet around the time of 'conversion'; only thing that I can think of is that - for a reason I no longer remember - I took to ingesting large amounts of freshly chopped ginger and consumed quite a few cups of 'ginger tea' (basically just a ginger infusion) around that time. But since ginger consumption is very common in parts of the world where Blastocystis is common, I don't attribute eradication to ginger consumption. I may be wrong of course.
For now, I just wanted to post the information and let the examples speak for themselves.
Reference:
Nagel R, Bielefeldt-Ohmann H, & Traub R (2014). Clinical pilot study: efficacy of triple antibiotic therapy in Blastocystis positive irritable bowel syndrome patients. Gut pathogens, 6 PMID: 25349629