I have an unknown autoimmune condition which manifests in sinus issues and gastrointestinal issues (clinically diagnosed with lymphocytic colitis, which is rare to the tune of 0.06% prevalence). Immunological/autoimmune pathways are clearly involved as mast cell stabilizers, antihistamines, and immunomodulators had a strong effect. After exhausting the resources of conventional medicine, I made a list of like 25 things to try that included everything in the world that made sense, ordered from least crazy to most crazy. And eventually I got to the bottom of the list. At that point the only reasons to not do it were pretty silly (shame, fear, etc) so I did it. I've done a lot of "crazy" things in my life that make a lot of rational sense.
What people don't understand is that people who do crazy stuff like this are not crazy. They are mostly doing what any reasonable logical person would do. They've just gotten to the bottom of the list.
> What were the results?
It had a marked significant positive effect on my immune system. A year after taking them I expelled them as (1) it's possible they had a side effect I wasn't enjoying (GI-related) and more importantly, (2) I had since discovered the Autoimmune Paleo Diet which is remarkably effective for managing a wide variety of autoimmune diseases. So the issues I once suffered from are much more manageable since discovering that diet and learning more about that..
Regarding (1), expelling the worms didn't fix the side effect, so it could have been unrelated. To this day I can't say for certain one way or the other.
"What people don't understand is that people who do crazy stuff like this are not crazy. They are mostly doing what any reasonable logical person would do. They've just gotten to the bottom of the list."
This is a very important point. Anyone who reads an article like this and concludes that the self-inoculating patients are "crazy" has probably never suffered from a serious, quality-of-life-threatening autoimmune condition. I haven't myself, but an ex of mine suffers from Crohn's Disease; when it's at its worst, it seems to inflict severe misery.
With Crohn's in particular, where one looks forward to potentially losing one's _entire_ gut (not just the large intestine)... The bottom of the list is populated with surgeries and colostomy bags.
Not the end of the world, but the calculated risk of certain parasitic infections vs the risk of all the other insanely expensive and much more side-effect-laden drugs isn't so illogical.
Condolences about the condition - happily the diet works. I definitely agree. I don't see it as crazy at all, even though I admittedly haven't been in a similar position.
If you don't mind me asking, what else was at the bottom of your list?
Not OP you're replying to, but exponentially more expensive drugs with often scary side effects (one drug I was on intentionally weakens the immune system—and bad things can happen if you get sick), ultimately leading to the nuclear option of removing more and more of your gut to try to cut out affected areas.
However I recommend reading the book, because the diet is pretty restrictive. I also recommend getting in touch with an open-minded doctor who you can show the diet to and they won't hand-wave over it.
What people don't understand is that people who do crazy stuff like this are not crazy. They are mostly doing what any reasonable logical person would do. They've just gotten to the bottom of the list.
> What were the results?
It had a marked significant positive effect on my immune system. A year after taking them I expelled them as (1) it's possible they had a side effect I wasn't enjoying (GI-related) and more importantly, (2) I had since discovered the Autoimmune Paleo Diet which is remarkably effective for managing a wide variety of autoimmune diseases. So the issues I once suffered from are much more manageable since discovering that diet and learning more about that..
Regarding (1), expelling the worms didn't fix the side effect, so it could have been unrelated. To this day I can't say for certain one way or the other.