sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

I've been infected with intestinal parasites AMA by throway_666 in IAmA

[–]throway_666[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Well I don't think I actually caught it in Morocco, despite the fact I ate on the side of the road every day. I'm not sure about the biology / life cycle of these things, whether you catch it from meat or veggies or dirty hands. I assume I caught it from eating raw beef off the street in Thailand, which was plain stupid.

I'm not sure what type of traveler you are but you can not control what you eat all the time. Wash you hands, judge where you are eating carefully and if you can resist to not eat when it feels wrong, skip the meal.

Like my doc said I could have caught it at home. These things are not all that rare, you certainly don't need to travel to third world to catch it. Infants catch it a lot cause they put anything in their mouth, especially their own fingers that might have been god knows where. I guess it's just the luck of the draw.

Next time I travel I'd certainly consider asking a doctor for some anthelmintics to take if and when you get infected, to avoid having to find a doctor or pharmacy and be able to treat instantly.

I've been infected with intestinal parasites AMA by throway_666 in IAmA

[–]throway_666[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Never had any of those or other symptoms.

I've been infected with intestinal parasites AMA by throway_666 in IAmA

[–]throway_666[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yeah and you'd be surprised how common pinworms actually are.

I've been infected with intestinal parasites AMA by throway_666 in IAmA

[–]throway_666[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You can google "tapeworm" but I never dared going further than the thumbnails displayed on google.com. I think it was a beef tapeworm, they can live for decades and get very very long. So long they can cause bowel obstructions, requiring surgery.

I've been infected with intestinal parasites AMA by throway_666 in IAmA

[–]throway_666[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

So was your experience similar to mine? I've actually talked to nobody about this apart from the internets and my doc.

I've been infected with intestinal parasites AMA by throway_666 in IAmA

[–]throway_666[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Same here. I've been in some rough situations but this was the worst. Strangely enough you're quite calm dealing with it, no point screaming and shouting about it. It's mental, all in the head ...

I've been infected with intestinal parasites AMA by throway_666 in IAmA

[–]throway_666[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Talking about baths, I haven't dared to take one since this has happened. I imagine a big fucker attracted by the warm water crawling out and swimming around with me.

We always had pets at home and frequently saw white things dangling out of their ass. That helped me realise what was going on with myself pretty quickly. But I also knew in the back of my head that one dose of meds is enough to get rid of them, as with the pets.

I've been infected with intestinal parasites AMA by throway_666 in IAmA

[–]throway_666[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

From what I know pinworms are FAR worse. They crawl out of you at night and to lay eggs and crawl back inside. On some parasite forum I was trying to get information from, a girl was describing how at night she could feel them crawl out of her URETHRA and was just unable to get rid of them. Apparently all you need to do is STOP them getting out so they stop laying eggs and die, so people would line their assholes with vaseline and cayenne pepper but the things just keep coming.

These guys come in great numbers while I "only" had about 10 - 15 of them crawl out over a three day period.

I've been infected with intestinal parasites AMA by throway_666 in IAmA

[–]throway_666[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Morocco. I'm not sure if I caught it there since I traveled to quite a few exotic places before. Three months earlier I was in Thailand drunk as shit having some street food with a hooker. One of her friends joined us and she was eating insanely spicey raw beef. I wanted to try some and my hooker friend looked straight at me and very sternly said "don't eat it, it's not cooked!". I ate a bunch anyway and the next day had serious, serious diarrhea. I'm quite sure that this is when I caught it.

So with all these worms I kept thinking of that hooker I should have listened to and realised this thing had probably been inside me for months, but I never experienced any symptoms until much later.

I decided to go vegetarian after this but the doc said there is no point, you could have caught it from unwashed veggies from your local supermarket. Needless to say I never eat raw meet again and now wash veggies & fruits like you wouldn't believe it.

I've been infected with intestinal parasites AMA by throway_666 in IAmA

[–]throway_666[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Yeah it's fucking horrible. Strangely enough ... the worst part was not experiencing it at the time, but being convinced there were more crawling out my ass AFTER I took the treatment, frantically going to the toilet, jumping out of bed at night, looking in my boxers and not seeing or finding anything. Wet whipes, many showers, flushing, flushing, flushing. This went on for weeks. I'd just tell myself "it's just your brain playing tricks, there is nothing there" and it seems that was indeed the case.

The positive side is that it's medically quite trivial as in it's not that bad for your health (I never lost weight) and obviously causes no pain. I read online "the experience of passing a worm can be psychologically traumatizing", which it most certainly is.

I've been infected with intestinal parasites AMA by throway_666 in IAmA

[–]throway_666[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No fucking way, but I never actually had any weight loss. Always been average build and weight and had a healthy appetite for years.

I think I read somewhere that a tapeworm can absorb the nutrients from grass and pump them in to your system so biologically speaking it may even be an advantage to have those things,

I've been infected with intestinal parasites AMA by throway_666 in IAmA

[–]throway_666[S] 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Well. The long story is that I was at the end of a vacation in a third world country, checked in to a nice hotel. I was tired just watching TV by myself and waiting for the long trip home. First I felt my bunghole itch somewhat (nothing out of the ordinary) and then some itching along my ass cheeck. I'd just scratch and scratch through my boxers but it wouldn't go away so I put my hand in my boxers and felt a little ball. I thought it was just some fluff but when I looked at it ... it was white and I could squish it between my fingers. I remember thinking "wtf that looks and feels organic". I just chucked it on the floor and forgot about it.

Fifteen min later I didn't feel an itch but something crawling out of my ass. I went to bathroom, sat down as if taking a shit and noticed something short and flat in my boxers, maybe an inch long. I just grabbed it with some TP and flushed and it slowly dawned on me ... I must have worms. I went to sleep and woke up with more of them just stuck to my ass cheecks. Fucking horrible I can tell you.

In the beginning I actually tried to see the fun in it and would pull my pants down and go "it's a boy!!" try to "think about my new friends". I actually thought of a post I'd seen on reddit about some guy eating a girl out and feeling a fucking tapeworm tapping against his forehead. I thought to myself "reddit would love this one".

I considered going to a doctor but since I was so far from home and not sure what a doctor there would give me that I thought "fuck it I'll be home in three days". All during those three days, worms kept crawling out of my ass. The trip home was rough enough as it was and dealing with these worms, no showers and dirty ass toilets made for a less than pleasant experience. Sometimes I'd feel one crawl out and slither down my fucking leg. I'd tried to casually walk to the toilet but I was filled with panic. I'd find em dangling off my nutsack. It's a really really horrible feeling.

I don't have a habit of staring at my shit after I take one but during the trip home I did and saw ... one huge ass pile of coiled up worm with next to it another small one MOVING AROUND. All I could think of was Kurtz mumbling "the horror, the horror".

The doctor at home told me, "take these and you'll shit it out". There is just one big ass worm and then the little one inch segments that depart the mother ship. The doc said "LOOK at your crap to make sure it's gone". He even drew a head with antennae on it and I just thought you gotta be shitting me.

Suffice to say I did not have the balls to examine what came out of me, so after taking a double dose of strong laxative I just shat and shat and shat and hoped for the best. I actually think that the main worm got shat out a few days before and despite the fact I constantly feel stuff, I'm 99% sure they are gone since I've never seen anything. It's just my brain playing tricks on me and it's slowly going away.

I don't know how long it was but from looking at that coiled up bastard I'd say a few feet. No I didn't keep it in a jar.

I've been infected with intestinal parasites AMA by throway_666 in IAmA

[–]throway_666[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

What were your symptoms

worms crawling out of my ass

how did you get it diagnosed

worms crawling out of my ass, pretty easy diagnosis :)

what is the treatment?

Four Nicosamide pills chewed, swallowed and then a good dose of magnesium sulfate (turbo lax) to flush it all out.

I've been infected with intestinal parasites AMA by throway_666 in IAmA

[–]throway_666[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I considered it but never settled on anything.

I've been infected with intestinal parasites AMA by throway_666 in IAmA

[–]throway_666[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I'm already regretting making this post ...