A little history: I find my plight very discouraging in that with all the professionals I contacted, not only did they lack skill in prescribing effective treatments but they knew nothing about environmental controls or diet.

I had been to three dermatologist and three different general practitioners and none of them knew anything about the parasites. Finally, I found an old timer dermatologist who spoke of bird mites inhabiting window air conditioners and how those who walk in the room with the window unit on begin itching like crazy. It made sense because many times while standing in my living room, I'd feel a sensation like something was jumping on my ankles and lower legs. Even though I had sprayed the area of the room where I spent most of my time with ammonia solution, I began wondering how much recontamination had to do with my continuing plight.

He first prescribed ORAP for me in 1996. Click here to go to Family Practice Notebook.com wherein Orap listed as the preferred treatment for those confirmed having parasitic infection. Anyway, he also prescribed sulfur with Vaseline as a topical ointment and Pimozide (Orap) to be taken internally. The diagnosis was parasitic fullicultites and prescription was for 1 mg BIO ORAP (pimozide). I took it for about six weeks. I never used the sulfur and Vaseline because I controlled the symptoms of itching and biting with my diet.

I had used the ORAP successfully in the mid 90's. However, it's a strong anti-psychotic medication with potentially bad side effects.  For me I noticed slight loss of motor coordination. My feet sometimes felt as though they were asleep as I walked down steps--I had less control of my feet than usual. It was a small inconvenience and worth the side effect to get rid of the itchy biting symptoms of the parasites.

By the time I had become re-infected in Feb 04, my doctor had retired from practice and couldn't write prescriptions. So I went to my GP and asked for a prescription of ORAP. She had several problems with my request. First there were no visible signs of any infection on my skin other than a few unhealed papules (no rashes or major outbreaks) so it was possible as far as she was concerned that it was "all in my head." Secondly, ORAP can have some strong side effects. Even though I gave her a copy of my diagnosis from the old timer, she wanted to speak to him and scheduled me to see her again in a few days--seemed like forever. Fortunately for me, she was able to contact him and he informed her of zyprexa which she prescribed a month's supply. I've included my diagnosis below. The challenge is to find a doctor to go along with giving it a try rather than one who wanted to send me to a psychologist. I returned to see her a month later, reported substantial improvement and she renewed my script for a six month's supply at a dosage of one tablet of 2.5 mg zyprexa taken at bedtime. I've never taken zyprexa for that long. Usually my ichy biting symptoms completely disappear after about a month with Stage II of the diet. But in retrospect that may have been a mistake to advance from Stage I to Stage II that quickly and to stop the Zyperxa. With Zyprexa I noticed that had less severe side effects than ORAP. Click here to read more.  But then come back and finish this report because there's a ton of information on how I disinfected my surroundings, and eliminated infestation so I could stay rid of them.

To be successful in using the ORAP or zyprexa, it’s been imperative for me to be strict and avoid all of the offending foods listed in Phase I of the diet. The effects of all types of foods are unknown and I experiment with them on a very selective basis since if I consume any offending food it could mean a two week backslide—backslide in that I’ll have a reaction in the form of a papule that takes up to two weeks to get rid of it. Even a small sample at Costco of something with an offending ingredient, or one tiny tic tac is sufficient to cause this backslide. The backslide never encompasses itching and biting unless I blatantly go off the diet for a period of time. The longest I’ve been off the diet was for six months while taking Mepron and Bactrim. Other than that time with Mepron and Bactrim, usually the itching and biting return within seven days of going off the diet.

Both ORAP and zyprexa are generally used as meds for psychosis. ORAP often used for Turrets' Syndrome and zyprexa as an antidepressant. Recent information indicates that continued use of zyprexa leads to hypoglycemia and or diabetes in some patients. However, instead of using this medication year in and year out as it's used as an antidepressant, I was only on it for a couple months so taking it for only a month or two should be no problem--check with your doctor.

If I were to do this over, instead of advancing to stage II of the diet within weeks and stopping the zyprexa when all symptoms were gone, I’d stay on the zyprexa or the new alternative discussed in the next paragraph for the entire six months and stay strict with stage I of the diet to test if these meds plus the diet is a possible cure. Of course, I’d also do a few other things that are described a little further down in this report.

Another sufferer reported that his doctor was familiar with the parasitic condition and prescribed Doxepin. He said, “Doxepin almost makes the condition unnoticeable you take 1x a day at 10mg… To my surprise my doctor said he actually knew some

close who had suffered from a condition similar to mine.  He stated that doxepin acts 

to inhibit the allergic response the body is having against the pathogens.  At first

this drug makes you very tired but then my body got used to the drug. I for the most

part have rare irritation.  I can even eat normally (I don’t suggest you go crazy).

I do suggest following your diets in order help the purging of the parasites.”

It is widely used for a variety of maladies as stated in the website, “Doxepin ( Adapin, Sinequan, Zonalon ) can also be used for the treatment of anxiety, chronic skin disorders, itching, panic disorders, peptic ulcer disease, postprandial hypoglycemia, posttraumatic stress disorder ( PTSD ), sleep disorders, or to stop the cravings of smoking, swelling, and to decrease nightly urination. Doxepin ( Adapin, Sinequan, Zonalon ) has been used to combat chronic pain in, arthritis, diabetic disease, herpes lesions, migraines, pain in cancer patients, tension headaches, or tic douloureux.”

 

The ORAP and zyprexa gave me the same type of relief and the diagnosis was parasitic fullicultites. 

In summary, for quick relief in addition to the diet I used ORAP or zyprexa, others used Doxepin or zoloft:

1. ORAP 1 mg for ten weeks

2. Zyprexa 2.5 mg per day at bed time for up to 6 months with blood lipids checked after 4 mos.

3. Doxepin 10 mg once per day. (duration unknown)

4. Zolof 25  mg once per day (duration unknown) 

5. Risperdal  11/2mg to 2 mg per day (duration unknown)

Please note that each of us may have different parasites as explained in this section of the report and what may help one person may not help another. 
I've used ORAP and zyprexa successfully but can not speak for Doxepin or Zolof and I can't know if ORAP or zyprexa would benefit someone else's parasitic condition.

2. If you related with the symptoms I described at www.DStressdoc.com/skin-problems.htm you most likely have what is described as Morgellons. Very few doctors are aware of this disease and if you go to http://www.morgellons.com/ and read every page, it describes the symptoms but doesn't give the causative agent.

Basically there are several basic symptoms as associated with Morgellons:

• Non healing lesions or sores
  Fibers or filaments on skin
  Itching on skin
  Stinging or biting
  Hair Loss
  Chronic Fatigue
• Brain Fog
  Hard nodules under the skin
  Fibromyalgia or joint swelling and pain
• Black specs
  
  

Usually no one has all the symptoms, but instead five or six of them. Some sufferers are highly contagious and some are not contagious.  Dr. Harvey of Texas (advisory board of directors of Morgellons.com estimates that 96% of Morgellons sufferers have Lyme disease as a by product of the parasites.

It’s estimated that there are 2,000 Morgellons sufferers in this country—nearly ten percent have subscribed to this report and receive email updates as new information becomes available. From extensive communication with many of these sufferers it is apparent that there are several parasitic organisms at work which means Morgellons is more of a catch-all phrase since no organism has been identified as the exact causative agent.

Organisms found or suspected to be associated with Morgellons are:

1.      Collembola (spring tails)

2.      Strongyloides stercoralis and a variety of other nematodes

3.      parasites shown at http://www.morgellons.org/index.html

4.      mites, fungus, yeast…

5.      heavy metal toxicity (mercury)

6.      Lyme and protozoan infection

The question is which comes first, the egg or the chicken?  Some experts believe that Lyme may simply be in our bodies and with lowered immunity caused by the parasites, it is strengthened and activated. Then some believe that the parasites are carriers of Lyme. The same arguments can be made for protozoan infection as well. It’s an endless circle as most experts agree that a compromised immune system contributes to an overall susceptibility to infestation of parasites. One thing for certain, as soon as the immune system is compromised you are a susceptible host to a broad slew of organisms. And in the treatment of some like Lyme, using antibiotics, conditions to encourage growth of fungi and yeast are produced which (a catch 22) can cancel the effects of the Lyme treatment if certain precautions and diet is not used. 

And this isn’t so far fetched as this is said to be true of cancer as well. The abnormal cells exist in our bodies and are kept in check by our immune system until such time as the immune system is challenged at which point they multiply and take over. The types of stressors that challenge the immune system is often a chemical stressor which can be aggravated by psychological stressors such as life crisis contributing to depression.

Whatever the source, for 95% of Morgellon sufferers, Lyme and or protozoan infection is a reality with which to deal.

Back to the parasites, Some sufferers find that their condition is highly contagious whereas others find that they are not contagious. Infection is usually through direct contact. It can be from the environment or from another person.

Environment: I contracted it from a dust cloud that descended upon me as I was pulling a strangulating vine from a tree in my back yard. It was easy for me to identify the moment of contact as within 48 hours I was going crazy with itching and so was my significant other. Some who have contracted parasites trace the infection to an infestation of rats, others bed bugs, another to a cloud of dust from cutting down a tree, others to gardening… Many can not pin point the event of contamination and that may be because they were contaminated by doing something quite naturally—an everyday occurrence such as having sat in an infected chair.

Physical Contact: Yes, contact can be from intimate contact as with sleeping with an infected person (sexual contact not necessary). It can be from wearing infested clothing, sitting or lying in an infested chair or bed. Usually at least 15 to 20 minutes of direct contact with infected clothing, bedding, chairs, rugs… is required to supply sufficient body heat to hatch the eggs.

I caught it from a dust cloud, yet it’s easy for me to give it to others who come in close contact with me if I’m active with the itching and biting as I did with my mother, girl friend, and a few relatives. Many have shared in their emails that the entire family has been infected—some are more reactive than others to the parasites.

Following is a discussion of the various parasites that are suspected or have been found in sufferers:

1. Collembola known as spring tails. So named because of their ability to literally spring from rugs, furniture… onto one’s ankles and legs. Apparently they can either detect body heat or movement from inches away and spring into action. According to information at http://www.lemnatec.com/collembolen_faq_en.htm approximately 6,000 species exist. Normally they play an important role in the ecological environment.

A study conducted under the auspices of the National Pediculosis Association (NPA) in Needham, Mass., and the Oklahoma State Department of Health found over 90% of those in the study diagnosed with delusions of parasitosis were infested with collembola.  The full report in pdf format is at http://www.headlice.org/report/research/jnyes.pdf  Twenty people participated in the study.

From the report, “Pollen, conidia or spores, hyphae, mycelium or fibers, or what appeared to be clumped skin or cellular debris were identified during the first six months of image analysis. One or two-cell algae, nematodes, or what appeared to be insect eggs, larvae, or embryos were also identified. Although everyone in the group had at least one of the above findings, none of the findings were a common factor in every subject, making it necessary to continue looking for a common denominator.” They eventually identified collembola as the common factor in 18 of the 20 participants. This was conducted by skilled technicians and it took them over six months of studying the microscopy to identify the parasites—something your doctor needs to know. The eggs were 20 to 100 microns in size and the organisms were from 50 to 300 microns in length. A micron is one millionth of an inch.

The report notes that, “collembola are abundant in waste water and contaminated environments making them of growing ecotoxicologic importance (Hopin, 1997)    Generally, they feed on decaying mater, algae, fungi, and bacteria… Typical collembola habitats are moist environments with high humidity and abundant organic debris.” What’s unknown is whether collembola is simply an opportunistic parasite that enters a lesion caused by something else or whether collembola are the cause of Morgellons—more research is needed. It appears that they generally are a common factor with which we must deal. The noted presence of nematodes in some of the samples leads us to the Strongyloides stercoralis and other nematodes which are discussed in the next section.

Microscopic images from skin scrapings at 100 power are available at the above site for researchers. I was able to obtain them and would gladly include them in this report except for the fact that they are copyrighted. The organism is definitely difficult to discern and only with careful scrutiny was I able to see the indicated parts of the organism from the photo of the slide. You can go to http://www.missouri.edu/~bioscish/coll.html. The elongated one is very similar to the one found in the study.

Most physicians and experts would say that it’s impossible for this insect to exist in human hosts. But then, they would also say that flies can’t exist in humans. An expose done on Ripley’s Believe it or Not TV show reported on a child in India who had somehow swallowed a fly and began actually giving birth to the larvae through a lesion in his abdomen. Treatment by the physicians was to simply let all the larvae be hatched over the course of time at which point the lesion healed and the incident passed without affecting the health of the youngster.

And you will always find someone arguing for the insects/parasites being the result of some kind of biochemical warfare. Who knows, but then the symptoms of sufferers have been reported for hundreds of years—long before biochemical was a word. Is it becoming an epidemic or is it that because of the internet, sufferers for the first time in history can find each other?

I eradicated spring tails by diet and disinfection using diatomaceous earth and dilute ammonia spray. But, I suspect that’s an assumption that they are eliminated—the ones in my surroundings were killed, but the one’s residing internally may have simply been put in remission initially with ORAP and the diet. Subsequently I’ve used zyprexa with the diet and also have found the diet alone can put this parasite in remission. Using ORAP and or zyprexa along with the diet may make it speedier and more effective than with the diet alone, but neither work without the diet. I went to the cdc site for recommended treatment and there was no mention of the existence of the parasite in humans.   
http://www.guaranteed-scabies-cure.com/eguide/ is a site that offers a mud pack with diatomaceous earth and essential oils for applying on the lesions. I haven’t any experience with their products nor as of this writing have I received any testimonials from anyone using the products so there is neither a recommendation or a non recommendation.

2a. Strongyloides stercoralis—a rare nematode described in some literature as a round worm, other literature as a hook worm and still other literature as a thread worm. It’s transferred thru infected feces. One could step barefoot onto infected dog or cat feces or from cleaning shoes inadvertently touch infected feces that were stepped in. Rodent droppings, bat/bird droppings (may have been in that cloud of dust that descended upon me). The experts don’t believe it can be transferred without physical contact with infected feces, however, if you study the life cycle, there is a part of the cycle when the larvae do exist on the skin of the infected animal. The unknown is whether these larvae can lay eggs or stay alive themselves almost indefinitely in infected clothing and furniture which is a characteristic of at least one of the parasites infecting me.

It can also be identified by stool analysis. However, according to Dr. Klinghardt in Seattle , the stool for many parasites need be analyzed within 20 minutes of elimination to identify them.

Nevertheless, even if time is not an element, here's an irony. Veterinarians test animal stools routinely for parasites such as round and hook worms. In fact, I used to have a dog kennel and used a microscope to routinely check our dogs for worms. But, never doth a doctor suggest a stool check for humans. I wonder why? Don't they think the nasty little critters can get into our bodies? I should have thought to analyze my own stool years ago, but then I really didn’t know for what I was looking. When I learned of the possibility that the itching and biting were the symptoms of this rare nematode (Strongyloides stercoralis), I got out my microscope from the days of raising dogs and examining stools. I found the critter on the cdc url along with the cysts.  Of course, I examined my stool within minutes of eliminating as opposed to labs which by the time the stool is collected, sent and examined, days pass by.

My doctor wrote a script and had my stool analyzed at the local Lab core for confirmation—they found nothing which didn’t surprise me since all my symptoms were in remission at the time.

It can also be identified with an antibody blood test -- Strongyloides Igg—which I believe is the better route to go. Parasitic Disease Consultants at 2177 Flintstone Dr. , Suite J, Tucker GA 30084 is a lab that performs it for about $75. Phone number is 770-496-1370. They require approximately ½-1ml blood serum to run the tests. It must be frozen and sent overnight. You can also ask to see if your HMO lab can have it sent to a lab in CA called Focus Diagnostics. Click here for instructions on how you can send a sample direct to a laboratory.

I spoke with Dr. Kagan of Parasitic Disease Consultants and he doesn’t feel that Morgellons is connected to Strongyloides stercoralis. But it doesn’t mean that it’s not a parasite that is compromising our immune functioning and complicating the issues. Some sufferers have gotten better by utilizing treatment for the parasite.

Following is a CDC (center for disease control in Atlanta ) url http://www.dpd.cdc.gov/dpdx/HTML/Strongyloidiasis.htm is a cdc site that gives you the life cycle of this worm in even greater detail. Another site is http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~parasite/strongyloides.html and additional medical info at http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic843.htm and http://www.diagnose-me.com/cond/C654193.html.

It states, Clinical Features:
Frequently asymptomatic.  Gastrointestinal symptoms include abdominal pain and diarrhea.  Pulmonary symptoms (including Loeffler’s syndrome) can occur during pulmonary migration of the filariform larvae.  Dermatologic manifestations include urticarial rashes in the buttocks and waist areas.  Disseminated strongyloidiasis occurs in immunosuppressed patients, can present with abdominal pain, distension, shock, pulmonary and neurologic complications and septicemia, and is potentially fatal.  Blood eosinophilia is generally present during the acute and chronic stages, but may be absent with dissemination.

Laboratory Diagnosis:
Diagnosis rests on the microscopic identification of larvae (rhabditiform and occasionally filariform) in the stool or duodenal fluid.  Examination of serial samples may be necessary, and not always sufficient, because stool examination is relatively insensitive.
The stool can be examined in wet mounts:

• directly
• after concentration (formalin-ethyl acetate)
• after recovery of the larvae by the Baermann funnel technique
• after culture by the Harada-Mori filter paper technique
• after culture in agar plates

The duodenal fluid can be examined using techniques such as the Enterotest string or duodenal aspiration.  Larvae may be detected in sputum from patients with disseminated strongyloidiasis.

Diagnostic findings

• Microscopy http://www.dpd.cdc.gov/dpdx/HTML/Strongyloidiasis.asp?body=Frames/S-Z/Strongyloidiasis/body_Strongyloidiasis_mic1.htm shows what the larvae looks like in the stool
• Antibody detection -- a good reference for you to print and give to your doctor. I understand there's an antibody blood test -- Strongyloides Igg. One subscriber's  HMO lab had it sent to a lab in CA called Focus Diagnostics. Paul of Paul's protocol reports a lab in TUCKER GA, (770) 496-1370 Parasitic Disease consultants that also tests for it. It's important to note that according to the cdc that once the antibodies are found, they will always show up on future tests only tells that there was an infection either present or past. Of course if you're suffering from these symptoms you damn well know it's present.
• Morphologic comparison with other intestinal parasites

Treatment:
The drug of choice for the treatment of uncomplicated strongyloidiasis is ivermectin with albendazole* as the alternative.  All patients who are at risk of disseminated strongyloidiasis should be treated.  For additional information, see the recommendations in The Medical Letter (Drugs for Parasitic Infections).” Search for Strongyloides to find the recommendations.

http://www.path.cam.ac.uk/~schisto/Nematodes/Strongyloides.html is another microscopic view of the larvae in the stool from a fecal smear.

Medical treatment recommended are: albendazole and ivermectin.  In addition to these, http://www.medletter.com/freedocs/parasitic.pdf suggests thiabendazole at 50 mg/kg/d in 2 doses X 2d.  which I understand is becoming the treatment of choice. For information regarding this drug, go to http://www.drugs.com/MTM/thiabendazole.html which tells you what it is, its use, how to take it and so on. The brand name in the US is Mintezol.

For some, it may be important to repeat the above dosage every two weeks for up to two months.

 The cdc also suggests that the parasite may not show up in every stool sample so several samples should be taken for analysis. But what can you do in the mean time? 

a. If you have a good relationship with a veterinarian, you can show him the cdc microscopy analysis and ask him to analyze several of your samples.

b. You can contact some of the labs on the google search or any search engine you use. I found the Great Smokey Laboratory that does a stool analysis for $56. Your doctor has to order the collection kit. They are familiar with Strongyloides stercoralis and they have you collect stool samples over a three day period. Contact info:
Great Smokies Diagnostic Laboratory/Genovations
63 Zillicoa Street
Asheville , NC 28801
Telephone: (828)253-0621 (800)522-4762 Fax: (828)252-9303
8:00AM - 6:30PM Eastern Time, Monday through Friday

c. Purchase an inexpensive microscope—good ones on ebay that link to your computer with a camera are less than $300. But you could probably pick one up without a camera for less than $50 that will give you 300X or greater. The larvae and the cysts are not visible to the naked eye.

Depending on the reflection of light, the cysts sparkle in the microscope. If you want specific details on how to prepare a slide—it’s easy, email me at knic@comcast.net. I’m sparing those details as I don’t want to gross anyone out reading this information.

Suggested treatment for the nematode parasite is at: http://www.medletter.com/freedocs/parasitic.pdf that suggests thiabendazole at 50 mg/kg/d in 2 doses X 2d which I understand is becoming the treatment of choice.  Once every two weeks up to two months in duration. This site is recommended by the cdc.

My general practitioner ordered a stool sample collected and it was analyzed by my local Labcore where nothing was found. It didn’t surprise me in that at the time it was taken, I was symptom free and the local labs may not be equipped for proper identification anyway.

From communicating with Joanne at http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/finding1cure/ I learned of an herbal dewormer at http://www.restorebody.com/ . Joanne claimed to have great results, although she still has the disorder, so I ordered it as a back up plan in case my doctor dallied and he did. I figured:

a. The nematode is in my stool and I'm pretty certain as to what I saw on the slide.
b. After nearly 60 years of living, I probably could use a good de-worming.

If you recall, I was 99%+ free of all symptoms (except for a few old papules on my scalp that never healed) for over 10 years. Then I was re-infected in Feb  04, dealt with that, learned that there are really two stages to the diet, and then just 6 months after starting the antibiotics in June of 06 for Lyme disease (seen next section) I was eating completely normally (anything I wanted--fruit, doughnuts...), and then quite suddenly, all the terroristic symptoms returned within two days. It happened so fast that I inadvertently infected my girl friend who really know nothing of my plight since I was symptom free from long before I met her. Click here to see new skin lesions she contracted. Being re-infected is no picnic. Again I learned a little more about the diet and fine tuned it. This time I didn't use zyprexa, but relied totally on the diet. 

A subscriber has used several wormers and has offered this evaluation with them listed from the best as first.

3. DrNatura Colonix

4. Q-based Para Cleanse Formula

5. Barefoot dewormer. Due to my seriousness of my condition, I always used twice the recommended dosage. For Barefoot, I took one bottle within two days for eight days. They had no any effect to me at all due to my condition really bad."

2b. Other Nematodes.
http://www.skinparasites.com/ is a site by James R. Garey, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Director of Facilities, Safety and Security, College of Arts and Sciences, University of South Florida . He reports that a nematode to be a "onchocerca like" worm was found in one sufferer’s sample. This nematode is suspected to be transmitted by via the black simulium fly from Mexico . The page goes on to explain how some worms can exist in a dry environment.

The DermaTechRx site at http://www.guaranteed-scabies-cure.com/eguide suggests the presence of Schistosoma worms under the skin contributing to the symptoms of itching and biting and provides a list of websites with more information about the parasite.

3. Cocoon fiber generating parasites as shown on the Morgellons site www.morgellons.org: This one is an unknown. The best approach is first with the diet—this diet is universal as it works with a whole host of parasites as opposed to some diets that are effective for certain parasites. Then I’d throw at it everything possible for it’s unlikely that it’s the only parasite as well.  It seems that most of us have gravitated to Morgellons because it’s at least a name associated with the symptoms of itching, biting, and nonhealing lesions from which 100% of us suffer. The fibers, cocoons and fuzz balls are not typical to all of us. Typically Dr. Harvey and the doctors listed below generally treat the Lyme and Protozoan infection resulting in strengthened immune function which is supposed to be effective in getting rid of the parasites. 

4. Mites, fungus, yeast: Mites are definitely a part of the equation, but most likely the quill and elemite that has probably already been prescribed has taken care of them. If not, the diet along with the bathing protocols using Epson salts followed by tea tree oil wipe of the body does take care of them.  However, I suspect that mites could be the vector (carrier) of collembola (spring tails), other parasites, and Lyme and protozoan into your body.

Fungus and yeast. Skin fungus is usually diet connected. Getting rid of it is to go on the diet and use topicals such as Lamisil or Lotrimin. For extreme cases, Lamisil is available in tablet form. Of course, environment is important to reduce damp moist areas with dehumidification. Using an air purifier such as Ecoquest which kills molds, bacteria and fungi is also recommended. 

Internal fungus and yeast complicate the treatment of Lyme. Lyme is described as a Trojan horse as it finds its way into a white blood cell and then hijacks it and uses it to replicate. Lyme also uses any fungus or yeast cells that may be available to reside. While in the yeast or fungi, the Lyme is not affected by antibiotics. Whether or not it has an intelligence that sends it looking for fungi and yeast when it’s threatened by antibiotics is unknown. It probably simply has an affinity for fungi and yeast.

Effective treatments for Lyme include not only antibiotics but also anti fungal meds such as Flagryl or Fluconazole. Although some doctors may make dietary recommendations, most (including the one’s I’ve consulted) do not make any dietary recommendations except to supplement antibiotics such as zithromax with acidophilus or probiotics. Unfortunately a poor diet cancels out the best of probiotics or use of antifungals. Stage I of the diet along with acidophilus and antifungals will give one a fighting chance and then, according to Dr. Klinghardt (specialist in the treatment of Lyme) more is required. More of his approach follows.

5. Mercury toxicity:  Heavy metal sensitivity is caused by high concentrations of metals in the body-particularly from amalgam filings in one’s teeth. Specialists believe that toxicity compromises the immune functioning and makes the system venerable to parasitic infection. One solution is to remove the amalgam filings and replace them with amalgam free material. Once the toxic materials are removed along with a cleansing diet and immune strengthening nutrients, the immune functioning is restored and the parasites neutralized. To learn more about mercury toxicity go to http://www.holisticmed.com/dental/amalgam/

From my experience, there generally is more than one way to “skin the cat.” I would suspect that heavy metal sensitivity is a co-factor. In other words, there are other factor at play and we’re back to the chicken and egg question. And that is, if one strengthens one’s immune functioning, uses anti parasitic drugs/nutrients, and some of the techniques discussed in the following, the heavy metal sensitivity may be minimized as for many of us, replacing offending filings could keep a dentist in business for a decade and be very expensive.

Several sufferers who have had this sensitivity and undergone the expense of filing replacement will be keeping us informed of progress. To date, one has reported complete success and is free of all symptoms as a result of this approach.

 For additional nutritional advice, go to http://www.mercola.com/article/mercury/detox_protocol.htm

http://www.mercola.com/article/mercury/detox_protocol.htm

for an in-depth approach. Notice the importance of diet (the King diet fits it to a T) and the importance of minerals (Sango Coral is the best mineral supplement available as the minerals are in ionic form.)

6. Lyme and Protozoan: The biggest hurdle in my success was to find a doctor that knew something about the contagions with which the scourge complicated my life--Lyme disease and protozoan. (every thing else I could control), for without the ORAP or the zyprexa, the best I could hope for was a fairly limiting life as opposed to a totally miserable very limited life.

Now here's the tricky part, finding a doctor who knows something about parasites or at least one who will listen and not pass you off to some specialist who knows nothing either. ORAP, zyprexa or Doxepin along with the diet will provide you practically with instantaneous over night relief. If you have an early case, a double descending dose of Prednisone may wipe it out too. However, most doctors are reticent to prescribe any of these medications without a clinical diagnosis and of course, this is the catch 22—no diagnostic tools are widely available. So they are more likely to pass you off to a specialist who in his considered opinion thinks that the lesions will simply heal themselves if you stop scratching them. In the meantime, until you find a doctor that will work with you, the diet will get you off to a good start and is something you will want to continue doing anyway regardless of what other treatments you do.   

I did find several doctors who treat Lyme differently than with the standard medical approach. The difference between these physicians' protocols and general medical approach to treatment of Lyme is the extended use of antibiotics coupled with anti fungal meds and the testing labs that they use for diagnosis. The reason anti-fungals are used is for two reasons:
1. long term use of antibiotics eliminates good bacteria as well as the Lyme bacteria resulting in an over population of yeast.
2. the Lyme bacterium (borellia) as mentioned before seeks out yeast and fungi and actually will take residence in the yeast or fungi where it is not susceptible to the antibiotics.

Typical testing labs such as LabCore or Quest are not dependable for diagnosis of chronic Lyme (borellia) or the protozoan (babesia).

The first doctor I consulted was Dr. Harvey of Texas since retired. Click here for transcript of my intake session in which he explains the etiology of Lyme and the protozoa and the connection to Morgellons. Dr Harvey had a blood sample kit sent to me. I took it to my GP who took the samples along with samples for complete blood count. I FedExed the kit to Bowen labs in Florida . They found indications that I had both Lyme and Protozoan, click here for the microscopy. Dr. Bransfield, on the other hand doesn't recommend Bowen labs. He feels they have too many false positives and instead recommends IGeneX, Inc., 795 San Antonio Rd. Palo Alto , Ca 94303.  Phone 800.832.3200 or 650.424.1191 fax 650.424.1196.

 My intake with him consisted of 45 minutes of him going over the various symptoms of Lyme. Click here for the transcript of that intake. The essence of that intake was more of a Lyme symptom questionnaire in which he asked me about a hundred questions about my symptoms. In comparison to most who are affected by Lyme, I actually am relatively symptom free and I attribute the diet and the supplements I use to maintaining relatively excellent health over the last 14 years.  

The earliest you can get an appointment with these doctors is 3-4 weeks which is why I went to my attending physician for Orap or zyprexa. If I had it to do over, I'd have stayed on the zyprexa for at least six months and on stage I of the diet instead of advancing to the second stage. And I’d have used some of the nutritional immune building approaches of which I’ve since learned and will share in this report.   

To most of these doctors, the infecting parasite that causes Morgellons is still a mystery to them. They seem to know little about the parasites. Their approach to dealing with Lyme is antibiotics coupled with anti fungals (to prevent unhealthy yeast to develop in the gut and to complicate the long term antibiotic treatment-a good idea. And they generally don’t advise any dietary recommendations. A far improved approach is discussed later in this portion of the report.

My mother's physician after reading Dr. Harvey's protocol which also goes into the etiology of Lyme and Protozoan infection treated her for four months with antibiotics and anti fungals and she still has sores in her mouth that haven't healed. According to him, cat's claw has been found most effective against Lyme, click here for details.  To learn more about cat's claw click here for Dr. Howensteins' site.

Most of these doctors either send blood samples to Bowen labs, 1200 S. Pinellas Ave., Units 11 & 12, Tarpoon Springs, Florida 34689 Phone # 727-037-9077. Or Igenex Labs, a795 San Antonio Rd., Palo Alto, California 94303. Phone # 650-424-1191 or 800-832.3200.  The doctors also get a complete blood panel with cbc from a local lab. Dr Harvey was in favor of Bowen labs and Dr. Bransfield was in favor of Igenex as he felt that Bowen had too many false positives (his opinion--nothing documented). Go to the question and answer page click here and search for Bowen to obtain details as to how to submit blood samples--Fed Ex packaging requirements and so on. 

If I had it to do over, there's enough information here that would have saved me the wait and expense of the specialists. My general practitioner conferred with the dermatologist I originally saw (since retired from practiced) who initially prescribed ORAP for parasitic fullicultites and ten years later on suggested that zyprexa was the new treatment of choice. She could also read Dr. Harvey's protocol , order my blood tests from either Bowen or Igenex and prescribe the antibiotics and anti fungals if Lyme or the protozoan is found. She could also become acquainted with Dr Howenstein's information and suggest that approach as well. And she could become familiar with Dr. Klinghardt’s approach. However, many doctors don’t believe in long term antibiotics and will refuse to follow Dr. Harvey’s protocol or the complicity of Dr. Klinghardt’s since they are nutritionally ignorant. Some claim that the medical board would make trouble for them if they strayed from the standard protocols in the treatment of Lyme. You may have to search for a doctor—generally one who practices holistically and favors nutritional approaches over the medical.

From the interview with Dr. Harvey, it's my understanding that the parasites are normally destroyed by a strong immune system. But because of our immune systems some how was  compromised--perhaps while fighting a bacterial/viral infection or the introduction of a form of Chlamydia-not the sexually transmitted strain--from dust outside, these parasites take up residence resulting in protozoan, bacillum, and fungi infections in our blood--in fact some of them hijack white blood cells and use them to reproduce. These contagions aggravate all kinds of serious existing health problems that one might have. The basic goal is to clean out the organisms and strengthen the immune system at which point the parasites then might take leave although this didn't happen for me. In retrospect, it might have had I stayed on the diet instead of splurging with every tasty that I had forgone in the last ten years. With my laboratory photos, Dr Harvey sent me a physician's protocol which further explains the etiology of the blood contagions. Click here to go to it.

If blood tests indicate the presence of the Lyme or Protozoan, an antiprotozoan medication (mepron), zithromax plus antifungal meds, if necessary, are used.  The meds I've been on are mepron sus glax which is an anti protozoan agent, metronidazo, SMZ/TMP (Bactrim for 3 months--an anitbiotic), later zithromax for three months--another antibiotic, and now biaxin for another two months (another antibiotic). Simultaneously Fluconazole (100 mg once/week -- anti fungal) and Flagyl er 750 mg two days in a row per week. The mepron is used for 120 days. Some, who's immune system are highly compromised are given a treatment involving shots of gamoglobulin to boost immune function. According to Dr. Bransfield, there's a theory that Lyme can hide inside fungi or yeast cells to escape antibiotics and that's why the anti fungals are used by many of these doctors--it's also a great reason to be on the diet as it's anti fungal and anti yeast producing in nature. 

Another combination of meds which helps comes from a fellow sufferer: "A while back I went to Dr. Bransfield which is a Dr. that you recommended. Although Dr. Bransfield doesn't know all about this sickness, he has been the only Doctor that has given me prescriptions. He was in contact with Ginger Savely (leader of the Morgellon's foundation) and she informed him that she gives her patients Sulfur and antibiotics. He prescribed Biaxin XL 500mg tablets (take 1 in the morning and 1 at night) and also to Sulfameth/trimethoprim 800/160 tabs (generic brand of Bactrim DS tabs) (2 in the morning and 2 at night). I started taking these this past Summer. It seemed to help quite a bit..." 

click here for my initial interview with Dr. Harvey. Dr Harvey has retired from practice effective 9/6/05 . Below is a list of physicians he recommends in his place.

Dr. Bransfield in Red Bank, New Jersey at 732-741-3263--prefers patients with psychiatric issues. I leaned of this during my intake interview with him which you can read by clicking here.

I learned of Dr. Bransfield from Dr Harvey with whom I've had my initial consultation and blood tests. Please note that neither physician is connected with this report in any way and neither physician has supplied any information for this report. 

Both charge $350 for the first hour (no medical insurance accepted. Dr. Harvey has since retired and has supplied first a list of doctors or health professionals in the Texas area and then Nationwide:

Texas :

1.      Mary Parrish, FNP, Del Rio 830-774-4094

2.      Gamid Moayad, MD, Bedford ( Dallas ) 817-540-3388

3.      Girginia Savely, FNP, Austin 512-892-7076 (may be limited in the number of patients she’s seeing)

Highly recommended is David Martz, MD of the Rocky Mountain Chronic Illnesses Specialists, LLC located in Colorado Springs, CO—no phone number given (probably and oversight)

Natiowide:

1.      Charles Jones , MD , New Haven CN (Pediatrics) 203-772-1123 near Hartford airport

2.      Robert Bransfield, MD, Red Bank, NJ (Psychiatry) 732-741-3263 near Newark airport (only interested in working with those who have psychological complications such as bipolar, depression...

3.      Josepy Jemsek , MD Huntersville, NC 704-987-2111 near Charlotte airport

4.      Gregory Bach, DO, Colmar , PA (Internist) 215-997-9421 (very difficult to get an appointment)

I don't know which ones will do a telephone intake and even though they may be more progressive than most general practitioners in treating Lyme and Protozoan with antibiotics and anti-fungals, neither of the two I've used as physicians impress me when it comes to environmental disinfection issues and neither have even hinted at the value of diet--something Dr. Klinghardt and maybe some other physicians may find very valuable. I can only say that with any physician you use, you will need to constantly take care of environmental disinfection including bathing protocols until you get rid of the pesky things and are itch symptom free and the diet is of utmost importance no matter what medical or nutritional approach you use. 

Otherwise, the key to this I believe is in a posting by Dr. Klinghardt regarding the treatment of Lyme disease. http://www.healthfreedomsolutions.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=60 by Dr. 

Kklinghardt. It is one of the most comprehensive protocols I’ve read and most enlightening. It’s mainly about the treatment of Lyme disease—makes no mention 

of Morgellons—however, extensively addresses the issue of parasite removal. If you read it, you will see as part of the protocol many of the treatments (cat’s 

claw, salt & vit C…) in this report. You will also notice that diet is an important part of his protocol. I used to think there was one treatment that would handle this 

parasite thing and that it was important to identify the parasite, now I’m getting the feeling that we have to throw everything at it we can and that it’s not just one parasite but probably a hodge podge of them. 


Here’s some details about him: He has a waiting list a few months out and he favors children. No insurance...have to file yourself.  About $320 an hour...need to commit to long-term care.  He will also "just" consult.  He works out of 

Seattle

 area...doesn't travel.

His number to book appointments is 425.688.9220 Another phone number is 425 688 

8818 He is on the LDA's(Lyme Disease Association) Lyme literate Doctor list...

Throwing everything at it that you can: About Lyme disease he says, “Today many, if not most Americans, are carriers of the infection. Most infected people are symptomatic, but the severity and type of the symptoms varies greatly. The microbes often invade tissues that had been injured: your chronic neck pain or sciatica really may be a Bb infection. The same may be true for your chronic TMJ problem, your adrenal fatigue, your thyroid dysfunction, your GERD and many other seemingly unrelated symptoms.”

Remember 95% of Morgellons sufferers have Lyme. He says, “The list of significant co-infections is limited: roundworms, tapeworms, threadworms, toxoplasmosis, giardia and amoebas, clostridia, the herpes virus family, parvovirus B 19, active measles (in the small intestine), leptospirosis, chronic strep infections and their mutations, Babesia, Brucella, Ehrlichiosis, Bartonella, mycoplasma, Rickettsia, Bartonella and a few others. Molds and fungi are always part of the picture. The pattern of co-infections and the other preexisting conditions such as mercury toxicity determine the symptom-picture but not the severity.”

Not a pretty picture, is it?
He uses a several pronged approach which I will summarize. Personally, I’m putting as many of these prongs to work as I can for after having read the post, it seems logical that we have to throw everything at Lyme and the parasites that we can. Overall, it’s two basic goals:

1.      build immunity

2.      make your body an unhealthy place for parasites to reside. 
 
His first prong is geared to improving the immune function and he uses:
1. pulsed electromagnetic fields (KMT-microbial inhibition frequencies)
2. niacin in high doses (12)herbs,
3. minerals,
4. bee venom
5. antiparasitic medication
6. antibiotics

1. KMT is relatively a new technology using a small device that feeds small levels of current to the body at simultaneously several specified high frequencies which create an interference pattern that creates thousands of harmonics which are then manipulated into the specific published microbial inhibition frequencies for destroying bacterium, fungi, molds… It also wakes up the immune system. Lyme is described as a Trojan horse in that it makes it way into white blood cells, and then takes over and creates a multitude of Lyme to invade other white blood cells and repeat the process. The device is available for $1.350.00 plus $20 shipping by calling Nancy of Biotools at 541-488-|6770.

The rife machine is a different device that uses a transmitter to produce radio frequencies to interrupt the life cycle of foreign organisms in the body. I haven’t seen any data that says one is more effective than the other.

2. Niacin (vitamin B-3) in high doses. Typically thiamine (vitamin B-1) is suggested at 100 mg per day although all the B vitamins are recommended as a B-100 supplement. The challenge here is to find a multi B vitamin that has no offending ingredients which might be something like aloe vera.  NOW of www.nowfoods.com produces a capsule with no offending ingredients except for the capsule itself.

3. Minerals—I use ionic minerals—a product called zooma which is the Sango Coral Calcium marketed in a less expensive package as Xooma. I could write a page as to the benefits of this package as it hydrates, is an antioxidant, chelating agent… Read about it at http://www.dstressdoc.com/alkaline-coral-calcium.htm which is available as Xooma. You can order it by going to go to www.xoomaworldwide.com/richardkuhns.  Click on the “Join xooma now” link  which will take you to a page where you can order as a preferred customer or a distributor, click on preferred customer and it’ll take you to an order page. Just complete it and if you select ‘auto ship” the shipping is free and you’ll get the real Sango coral calcium once each month delivered to your door at a new low price.

4. Bee venom therapy. http://www.beevenom.com/beevenomtherapy.htm is a site which describes the use and application of the therapy. http://www.ahealthyme.com/topic/beevenom is another very informative site on the subject. Bottom line is that it must be injected and administered by a trained practitioner.

5 and 6. There's much more in Klinghardt's report which at the present time I am short of time to complete. Go to for additional detail.
 

Alternate approach to Lyme disease:
My mother's physician read Dr. Harvey's protocol has had her on several antibiotics and the anti fungals. In the beginning, even with the anti fungals, she developed fungus and had to stop the antibiotics for a short time. He had her take acidophilus or probiotics to build the healthy bacteria in her gut. She has several lesions in her mouth that haven't healed. In our last appointment he announced the new approach which is cat's claw* as being an effective treatment for Lyme.

Morning treatment starts at one drop in an empty glass. She is to add 4oz of water to the glass, wait a minute and then drink it.  That night, the dosage goes to two drops in the same manner. Next morning is two drops and the following evening is three drops. Every evening an additional drop is added until she reaches 20 drops both in the morning and evening.  She instructed to watch for rashes--the Hertzheimer reation. If a rash occurs, she's to stop adding drops and go back a couple drops until the rash clears. He will take her off the antibiotics when she reaches 40 drops per day at the end of two months (including the build-up in dosage).

She reached her 40 drops, but after a lot of up and down. Seems that when she got to about 18 drops morning and night, her bowels became loose. He backed her off to 10 drops twice a day and brought her up to twenty. 

*note that there is a TOA controversy. Some say that cat's claw should be TOA free. What is TOA? TOA's are Tetracyclic oxindole alkaloids (Rhynchophylline, Isorhynchophylline, Corynoxeine, and Isocorynoxeine). It's been reported that the only company selling TOA free cat's claw (which by the way is made from the bark of a species of vine that grows in the forests of Peru and Brazil) conducted a research study--"manipulated test-tube studies (in vitro) and were not confirmed in animals or humans"- upon which this recommendation has been adopted by many. Go to http://www.rain-tree.com/toa-poa-article.htm and decide for yourself. From what I gather, TOA's actually benefit the immune building process and from now on, I'll use cat's claw with TOA. By the way, the vine got the name Cat's Claw from gripping cat-like claws that grow from the vine which allow it to grip onto the trees and undergrowth in which it grows. 

This is the first part of a two part treatment. The second part of the treatment is to add Taurox to the twenty drops morning and night of cat's claw. Twelve drops once a day under the tongue on an empty stomach. Hold under tongue for 30 seconds before swallowing. It's available on the internet and some health food stores handle it. It's about $35 to $40 per bottle. 

A book I'm told is worth reading is Healing Lyme by Stephen Buhner through Amazon at roughly $14.  He describes an herbal protocol with powerful herbs as a core treatment for Lyme, or as an augment to antibiotics.  It is a must read for the technical explanation of the spirochete and to have as an arsenal if antibiotics prove to fail. 

What I’m personally doing to beat the parasites is:

1.      antibiotics—zithromax, or Bactrim, or

2.      antifungals (Flagryl once per week)

3.      acidolophis one or two per day three hours before or after antibiotics

4.      cat’s claw and taurox worked up to 20 drops cats claw twice per day plus four drops of taurox.

5.      B100  one capsule daily (remove the contents from the capsule)

6.      complete nutritional system multi vitamin  three tablets per day

7.      sea salt and vitamin C  (1/4 teaspoon four times a day dissolved in warm water) plus 2 – 4,000 mg/day of vitamin C

8.      Sango coral calcium (xooma)  2 bags per day.

9.      assimilator (enzymes) to counter the high fat diet.  Four to six capsules per day (remove contents from the capsules)

10.  pomegranate (two capsules twice per day with food) (remove contents from capsules)

11.  healthy coffee (small mental treat and it’s good for the skin) black with stevia as sweetener 2-3 cups per day.

12.  Ellagiderm cream for any new papules (Neosporin Plus will work too and is less expensive)

13.  Diet, diet, diet, diet, diet—very strict with it.

Additional treatments that make sense and I would consider are:
Phenolated iodine--waiting for results from two people who are using it.

The phone Number for Kevin Meehan is 307 734 8044, please correct. The important part of the treatment is the iodine is phenolated, that means it will seek out and kill parasites and mold/fungus. This is a total different chemical makeup from iodine, please note.

Buy it by the pints for about $25 at http://www.bodymindspirithealing.com/women.htm

16 oz for about $5 from http://www.healingpeople.com/store/meyer.html

  this portion of the report completely revised 4/11/06