I had Blastocystis Hominis for 9 years.
And I cured myself.
Here's now:
- Ever since a trip to Brazil when I was 25, I had issues with my gut. It just hurt most of the time. At one point, it was hurting so much, and my quality of life was so bad, that I seriously considered suicide.
- 9 years into the experience, I had Faecal PCR-DNA testing. Essentially, you put a sample of your fecal matter into a vial with some preservative fluid. Send it off to the lab, they analyze all DNA in the sample, and match it against a digital library of known bacteria, yeasts, amoebas, worms and other parasites. I know it sounds a bit gross, but it's all in the name of good science. It flagged up Blastocystis Hominis.
- Once I knew what it was, I did a lot of searching through PubMed. I tried a lot of stuff. Jasmine tea seemed to knock it back, but didn't cure it. Sugar seemed to feed it. Alcohol made it worse. Bread made me very sick. And from what I have read, even the most potent antibiotics have trouble eradicating it. And you really do not want to go down the antibiotic route. It only works half the time, and the list of horrific side effects are enough to make any educated person very, very cautious. It really is a b***** to get rid of.
- The thing that cured me was Papaya seeds. They contain Papain, which has a potent anti-amoebic effect, and is known to be effective against Blastocystis [1] [2]. Papain is an enzyme, it works by dissolving the protective coating that protects any gut hitchhikers. Papaya seeds are also very safe compared to the antibiotic route.
- The PCR test did flag up an "Unknown", i.e. some DNA that that they didn't have in their library. This can happen if you eat raw foods such as Suchi, with a fish that is not in their database. It's entirely possible that something *other* than Blastocystitis Hominis was causing my symptoms, and that the Papaya seeds killed that. Its unlikely, and I guess I will never know. All I know is that I really suffered for 9 years, and after a month of Papaya seeds I got my life back.
Recipe for cure:
- Buy a ripe Papaya at the local supermarket. Discard the fruit (its full of sugar).
- Scoop the black seeds out. Grind them up in a mortar and pestle. I started very slow, and worked my way up to two tablespoons worth of Papaya's worth of seeds every day, either with meals or without.
- It did make me a bit sick if I took too much, especially on an empty stomach. If I felt sick, I backed off the next day. I pretty much took as much as I could tolerate each day, but no more than one Papaya's worth of seeds each day for the last two weeks.
- In this particular case, sugar, alcohol and grains feeds the parasites (they have to eat, just like you do). To be on the safe side, avoid anything with those ingredients. The aim is to starve it, then knock it for a six with Papain.
- I did this solidly for 6 weeks, then stopped. After I got the Papaya seeds out of my system (which took a few days), I felt amazing, full of energy and very, very happy. I wish I had ordered another PCR test, just to prove that I was clean. But I felt so good that I didn't feel the need (and those tests are expensive). Ever since then, I've been able to eat and drink whatever I want (within reason), and I wouldn't feel sick. I got my life back.
If you want to ask me any more questions, email me at shane dot tolmie at gmail.com. After what I've been through, I am more than happy to help.
Update 11th November, 2018
Was contacted by a guy named Dave. He has almost exactly the same list of symptoms compared to what I had, and the same PCR result. He will be trying this method over the next 4 weeks, and he is planning to get another PCR test after completion. We will be keeping in touch. I am looking forward to seeing how it goes for him.
Update 28th November, 2018
Looking back over my notes, I actually took Papaya seeds for 6 weeks (not 4). Not sure the full 6 weeks was necessary. I drank copious quantities of Jasmine tea the entire time. Not sure if this was necessary, but it seemed to settle my stomach. The final day, I fasted for one day then ate around about 6 tablespoons of seeds. Felt very queasy, but once I got the papaya seeds out of my system after about 3 days, I was feeling great. Also if you're on Warfarin, check out the warning here:
https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingre ... 488/papaya
Update 14th October 2023
I have had about 20 people contact me to chat about this post. The technique worked for some, and did not work for others. If the root cause is a gut pathogen, then it might work. If the root cause is anything else, then this will not work. This is an extract of a recent Reddit post addressed purely at constipation:
Basically, you really need to know the root cause before you can treat the problem [of constipation]. You need a diagnosis first, then you can treat it effectively.
- If the root cause is a gut pathogen. I had extreme constipation and gut dysbiosis. Suffered for 8 years. I eventually fixed myself. See:
viewtopic.php?p=58638#p58638. The method is, in an nutshell: find the root cause with stool DNA test. Search for "comp stool analysis with PCR", e.g. Regenerous, Genova, Biron, etc. It will list any pathogens in the gut based on their DNA signature. Its kind of like 23andme but for whatever is living in the stool. If a pathogen is identified, trawl the literature and find out the right method to eliminate it. Papaya seeds worked for me as they are a potent antimicrobial.
- If the root case is lack of digestive enzymes, then fixing lack of protein might help. Aim for RDA of protein per day which is 0.75g per kilogram (56g/day for a 75kg man, 45g/day for a 60kg woman). Sufficient protein is required to synthesize digestive enzymes. I have steak every few days to hit the RDA if I'm short. Everybody says "eat more fibre", but they mostly miss the protein dimension. If you want fibre, eat an apple with the skin on.
- If the root cause is damage to the gut lining caused by gluten, you can also try cutting out gluten and perhaps non-fermented (raw) dairy. There are tests from Regenerous, Genova, etc that can identify this as the root case.
- If the root cause is an autoimmune disease, check out Low Dose Naltrexone, see
www.ldnresearchtrust.com. There are some beautiful case studies of LDN fixing a range of gut-related issues such as IBS, constipation, etc. There are tests gut-based autoimmune diseases for that from Regenerous, Genova, etc.
- If the root cause is unknown, and you want instant relief, then can try this. I had an enema with a small, very judicious amount of peppermint oil. This is mildly antimicrobial, virucidal and antifungal, and has been shown to help with IBS. A while ago I had extreme constipation after a bout of severe ill health related to burns which meant I only slept for 2 hours a night for months. I was passing a small amount of rock-like stools every 5 days. I was literally fading away, losing weight every day. I paid for an enema, the practitioner added peppermint to quote "get things moving". After that, I had Garden of Life probiotics, Kimchi and Sauerkraut to repopulate the gut with good flora. Could have also taken Kefir but I didn't have any. A couple of days later my stools were moving properly with the correct consistency and color. Its almost like magic!
References
[1] Med: Effectiveness of dried Carica papaya seeds against human intestinal parasitosis: a pilot study
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17472487
Abstract
The tropical fruit Carica papaya and its seeds have proven antihelminthic and anti-amoebic activities. To determine the effectiveness of air-dried C. papaya seeds on human intestinal parasitosis, 60 asymptomatic Nigerian children with stool microscopic evidence of intestinal parasites received immediate doses (20 mL) of either an elixir composed with air-dried C. papaya seeds and honey (CPH) or honey alone (placebo) in two randomized treatment groups. Repeat stool microscopic examinations were conducted 7 days postintervention for intestinal parasites. Significantly more subjects given CPH elixir than those given honey had their stools cleared of parasites [23 of 30 (76.7%) vs. five of 30 (16.7%); z = 4.40, P = .0000109]. There were no harmful effects. The stool clearance rate for the various types of parasites encountered was between 71.4% and 100% following CPH elixir treatment compared with 0-15.4% with honey. Thus, air-dried C. papaya seeds are efficacious in treating human intestinal parasites and without significant side effects. Their consumption offers a cheap, natural, harmless, readily available monotherapy and preventive strategy against intestinal parasitosis, especially in tropical communities. Further and large-scale intervention studies to compare C. papaya with standard antiparasitic preparation are desirous.
[2]
https://superfoodprofiles.com/papaya-seeds-parasites
