“Fact: Over 90% of American’s Have Parasites.” (1)
No one, including me, wants to think they have parasites. But after finally researching the subject, I learned that the majority of us have them — bacteria, viruses, yeast, fungus, and more.
I read as much as I could before going from eating a few herbs to doing a methodical whole body cleansing program. I share what I learned in this post:
- How We Get Parasites
- Yeast, Candida, & Mercury
- My 30 Day HUMAWORM Parasite Cleanse Journal + Updates
- HUMAWORM Parasite Cleanse Review.
How We Get Parasites
Parasites are everywhere. Surprisingly, infections are not limited to people who have travelled to a third world country. Microscopic parasite eggs are abundant in the water we drink, fresh water we swim in, unwashed fruits & vegetables, uncooked or undercooked meat, other humans (e.g. kissing, holding hands, shopping cart handles, communal food-sharing, (I read that half the world may have H-pylori which is easily spread, think acid reflux; around 80% of young sexually active adults have at least one strain of HPV), pets (e.g. owners kissing their butt licking dogs), and biting insects such as mosquitoes, fleas, ticks, lice, etc.
“Endogenous (caused by factors within the organism) infections occur when the host’s resistance is lowered, perhaps by malnutrition, illness, trauma, or immune depression. Weakening of the host’s immune system may permit normally harmless organisms already present in or on the host or in the environment to cause illness.” (2).
In addition to the parasite, when parasites live in the body they create toxins (called endotoxins) from their feces, urine — which is 100% ammonia — and dead bodies. A healthy body removes these toxins through the liver, bowels, and skin. However, while in the body, these toxins cause health problems all over: parasite exposure suppresses the immune system, stresses the nervous system, creates a cortisol response, and tears apart tight junctions in the gut which allows parasites to easily enter the bloodstream.
Even without a suppressed immune system, pathogens can be evasive. They are known to create cysts or biofilms — with mercury, lead, and other nutrients — that are like invisibility cloaks shielding them from the immune system. From my experience, I believe this to be true!
In spite of holistic amalgam removal and restoring my gut, I still have symptoms like:
- Inflamed intestines (bloating)
- Fatigue & mild anxiety
- Geographical tongue
- Occasional dandruff
- Sugar cravings
Yeast, Candida, & Mercury
Yeast is a natural fungi, grouped under the umbrella term parasite, that grows in the intestinal tract. In fact, a manageable number are supposed to be in the intestinal tract for proper digestion. To keep the gut flora balanced, certain “good bacteria” eat the yeast to keep their numbers down. However, the good bacteria must be present in the gut to do so.
According to “science”, Candida Albicans, a type of single-celled organism, is the most common type of yeast species overgrowth.
- Candida is present in small quantities in everyone.
- In small numbers, Candida may be helpful in aiding in digestion and nutrient absorption.
- When Candida becomes too abundant, it may be a sign of bacterial infection.
- Symptoms may show up in the gut, sinus, and ear, thrush in the mouth and on the tongue, vaginal tract, athlete’s foot, and numerous skin problems including rashes and bumps. Also fatigue, brain fog, leaky gut (which leads to inflammation throughout the body), etc.
- Overgrowth can also cause strong cravings for alcohol, sweets and breads that are full of sugar and help “feed” Candida / yeast.
- The most popular theories with whole body cleansing is that killing all yeast at one time will allow the body to naturally rebalance with the correct amount of good bacteria & yeast in the gut. But what if the Candida is helping the body?
Mercury and yeast overgrowth also have a correlation:
- Mercury is a toxin that weakens the immune system and interferes with biological functions.
- Mercury may act as an antibiotic that wipes out good bacteria and allows yeast to proliferate.
- Yeast may bind to mercury and heavy metals and prevent them from entering the blood stream as a protective mechanism.
- Yeast may also eat mercury.
Before starting full-time ALA chelation, I took a detour to kill yeast overgrowth & other potential parasites using an organic herbal cleanse from a several-generation-old American company called HUMAWORM. I’m actually quite private, but I share my personal experience because I want to help you and others understand what the process can be like with details that I could not find answers to when preparing my cleanse.
30 Day HUMAWORM Parasite Cleanse Journal – 10/24/15
Day 1 to 3: Thankfully no hives (see allergy info below) or other reactions except right eye is twitching and I am having vivid dreams. Third night, woke to a nightmare about being at war with thin, tall looking amoebas. Strange!? Thought: Is cleanse working?
Day 4: Normal day. Around 9pm die-off symptoms appeared – throat started to feel sticky, left forearm, bicep, shoulder & elbow joints burn. Feels like my left limb is going to fall off and like I caught the flu. Grateful no nausea or headaches from rapid demise of parasites. Never tracked this before but there is a full moon tonight — are parasites more active in my body. Thought: Does killing yeast cause Candida to release mercury and is that why die-off / Herxheimer is so painful in the joints and arms? RG from Humaworm wrote that people are cured of arthritis after cleansing and that parasites love to nest in the shoulder joints and other hollow places.
Day 5-8: Die-off is a b!#@$!. Hard to fall asleep with body pains and difficult to get out of bed in the morning even after 8+ hours of sleep. Clear runny nose. No noticeable changes in bm but the white coat on my tongue is clearing. Thankful body aches ended — 4 days of painful die-off symptoms.
Day 9: I hardly ever go #2 at night (extremely regular morning person). After an hour of light cramping this evening I passed something in stool that could be candida. Also sesame seed like eggs in bm which people mentioned on Curezone. Felt better immediately after. However, my immune system is weak. Thoughts: is this Herx die-of or a chest cold? Symptoms: phlegm, chest pain, deep cough.
Day 10-12: “Chest cold” symptoms continue. Brief scattering in left toe — creepy! Slight pain in lower left intestines. May be easier to view parasites in bm if eating a pureed diet for a few days but too tired to do the extra work.
Day 12-30 HUMAWORM has knocked me off my feet! Still do not know if suffering from a combo of cold & healing crisis. Mucous build up & clearing from the nasal passage to my throat wakes me up several times in the night and leaves me tired during the day. Relief from face steams, Throat Coat Tea, neti pot, and salt gargling. Also saunas. Stabbing pain in my biceps one day, headache another, forehead acne, ear pain, appetite suppressed, and one more cold sore in mouth gums. Too easy to mistake undigested food pieces and fibers in bms for parasites imo so not worth inspecting bm. Biggest positive change is watching white on tongue clear up. Thank goodness or I would have wanted to quit this at least a few times already. Cleansing is not for the weak!
After: Took a few days off to let HUMAWORM Parasite Cleanse continue to clear out of my body before starting the HUMACLEANSE Colon Cleanse. About a week after starting HUMACLEANSE, candida symptoms came back for a few days so re-thinking that I need to do the HUMAWORM Whole Body Cleanse, including a HUMAWORM’s Candida Cleanse, before starting ALA mercury brain chelation full-time.
HUMAWORM Whole Body Cleanse
After completing HUMAWORM’s Parasite Cleanse and most of HUMACLEANSE, I decided to complete HUMAWORM’s Whole Body Cleanse to help my microbiome before starting full-time mercury brain chelation using ALA. That means three more months of herbal cleansing!
HUMAWORM’s order for cleansing the whole body:
- 30 day HUMAWORM Parasite Cleanse, $39.95. Disrupts all nests. If badly infested it will take more rounds later.
- 30 day HUMACLEANSE Colon Cleanse, $58.95. Cleans out all of the dead parasites and toxins that accumulate in the colon from parasite cleansing.
- 15 day Anti-Viral $19.95 & 15 day Anti-Biotic $19.95 (or the Herpes or Lyme’s) – natural cleansing kills extra bacteria in body, viral kills left over viruses. Will try to take with low dose of HumanaTea.
- 30 day Candida Cleanse, $39.95. May take with low dose of HumanaTea.
- 45 day (15 days each) Organ Cleanse: Lung, Kidney, Liver/Gallbladder, $52.95 (saves $8)
- HumanaTea, $48.95. Can be taken with all cleanses. Was originally created for cancer patients. Aids parasite cleanse to pull out toxins, metals… 4 bags makes 8 quarts – moderate 2-3oz 3x/day. 1 packet lasts 7-10 days.
Total days: 165 or ~5 1/2 months.
Total cost: ~$296.50 including shipping.
What I Learned: Herbal cleansing is complicated and finding the right herbal formula for what your body needs is important. My nervous system calmed down after the first round of HUMAWORM’s Parasite Cleanse, my body had more energy, and my mental state was noticeably better. So I decided to try HUMAWORM’s Whole Body Cleanses. Because of the net positive (and wishful thinking), I did HUMAWORM’s Parasite Cleanse for two more rounds post recommended 90 waiting period.
But…I still had yeast overgrowth symptoms?! My theory is the cleanse wiped out both good and bad bacteria. Without repopulating the good bacteria daily and a good sugar-free diet, the yeast were not kept in balance and quickly overgrew. Other members on the Facebook forum also shared similar yeast overgrowth experiences.
Before starting the cleanse, I read Humaworm.com FAQs and Q&A’s on Curezone.com with retired owner RG. Sadly, RG passed away the year I did my first cleanse, but his grand-daughter, Dr. Bailey, has taken on the family business. (She updated some formulas in 2007 so maybe not all the answers from RG below are still applicable.) Dr. Bailey now runs a private Facebook group and answers questions personally. Here is my Q&A with Dr. Bailey:
Q1: While doing HUMAWORM’s Whole Body Cleanse, why were yeast symptoms worse than any time before I did the Parasite Cleanse? Those symptoms cleared during the Parasite Cleanse, were gone during the HUMACLEANSE, and came back strong while doing the Anti-bacteria Cleanse.
A1: Dr. Bailey on Facebook said it could be deep-seated Candida coming to the surface and to do another round of Humaworm Parasite Cleanse. I am not convinced. When I spoke to Dr. Bailey, we decided that ordering HUMAWORM in an extra-strength dose would be an option. (This was also not the solution for my body.)
Q2: I basically had 26 days of die-off with the first Parasite Cleanse. The second time around I did not have really any die-off symptoms until the last two days. I asked Dr. Bailey on Facebook if HUMAWORM had procured the Black Walnut and Wormwood from a different vendor in the past year or if they had changed the Parasite Cleanse formula.
A2: Dr Bailey said no, they have not changed their vendor or the formula.
Unfortunately, herbal cleansing with Humaworm was not a great choice for my body. I wanted it to be the “magic” solution and spent a lot of the time, effort and money into researching and cleansing. I did find two favorite Humaworm products that I continue to use: HUMAWORM’s RG medicated cream for relief from itchy bug bites, acne and rashes (Ingredients: Tea Tree, cloves, sage, thyme, menthol and Camphor. Non greasy lotion contains Aloe, vegetable glycerine, vitamins A, E, D& B5 and silk protein.), and HumanaTea (a.k.a. Essiac Tea) which is a blend of four herbs that soak up mycotoxins in the body when consumed.
What I have learned since is that the yeasty beast is not Candida Albicans as natural or holistic medicine ascribes. I tried several anti-Candida cleanses after Humaworm and my body continued to suffer. I also did a WAPF diet, Paleo diet, went gluten-free, sugar-free, …just not Keto thankfully! Candida may have grown out of control, but I now believe it was because other bacterial and viral infections proliferated and weakened my body’s immune system. And those pathogens (unknown strains of Epstein Barr and Strep) feed off of heavy metals like mercury and other toxins in the body that help them thrive. They also create a lot of neurotoxins as a byproduct that wreak havoc. Thankfully after several years of searching, I have found a better protocol. It is helping and I share it in my upcoming book.
Love to hear your thoughts and experience in the comments section below 🙂
Healing = Nutrients In + Toxins Out
1. Nutrients In
- Nutrition: Microbiome, Healing Food & Probiotics
- Tests: Gut Bacteria, Nutrients & Metals
- Supplements: Vitamins, Minerals & More
- Sleep: Training For Night Owls
- Support: Anxiety + Depression
2. Toxins Out
- Dental Revision: Safe Mercury Amalgam Removal
- Detoxing: Saunas & Rebounding
- Cleansing: Parasites, Candida & Humaworm
- Chelating: Frequent, Low-Dose ALA
- Avoiding: EMF, Travel & Beauty Products
Be Gutsy! ♥ L
*Appendix: HUMAWORM Info
A. Notable instructions from my Humaworm research (~Plus my notes)
1. 30 minutes before eating or 2 hours after a meal take 2 caps. 12 hours later take 2 more caps. 12 hours between doses is the ideal schedule so that the chemical components of the herbs are in your system 24 hours per day for 30 days. But it will just as effective if taken 8-12 hours apart. ~Usually took 2nd dose before going to bed without eating anything after.
2. Regular bms help get parasites and toxins out of the body faster so drink at least two quarts (eight 8 oz. cups) or more of water daily. ~Yes
3. Do NOT take probiotics “good bacteria” during the cleanse. HUMAWORM kills all bacteria, and would cancel out the probiotics. Take probiotics after if needed. ~I took probiotics a few times during the first parasite cleanse to see if it would help after a week of die-off. I did not take them the second or third time because I think there’s less herbs available to kill the bad guys and possibly more die-off from killing the good ones.
4. Works regardless of what you eat so don’t have to change diet. ~Sugar craving dropped the first time I did Humaworm. Second time they increased. After more research, Candida is very tricky and I believe an overgrowth can only be reversed with diet and anti-fungal herbs. Humaworm was not the best solution for Candida overgrowth in my body and in fact may help the yeast by eliminating the good bacteria.
5. HUMAWORM will begin working the first day, however you will begin to feel the effects within 2-3 days. ~Day 4 for me the first time. Really none the second or third time.
6. The body is removing parasites and toxins and this may result in die-off which is a natural cleansing reaction. Die-off can take many forms: headaches, body aches, rashes, fatigue, mood swings, body odor, and gas and bloating, etc. May feel like the flu! It will go away. The stronger the infection, the worse the die-off. ~Body aches, fatigue, feels like flu the first time. Nothing even close second or third time.
7. Most parasites are removed during first 7 days. The rest of the parasites, their larvae and eggs are removed in the next 23 days. ~Don’t know if this is true for me. Die-off is not supposed to be as bad second time around and was not.
8. Due to the life cycle of a parasite and their ability to migrate throughout the body, it is essential to take the full 30 day dose to rid you of the parasites, LARVAE and EGGS, even after feeling GREAT! ~And even if feeling crappy!
9. Do not have to take HUMAWORM 4 days before & after full moon to equal 38 days.
10. HUMAWORM Parasite Cleanse can be taken every 90 days. Not sooner or super parasites will build up immunity to the herbs and will be difficult to kill. ~HUMAWORM does not say it anywhere, but I believe it is because of the Wormwood and Black Walnut herbs.
B. Ingredients & Allergies
I cross referenced HUMAWORM’s ingredients with my ALCAT herb sensitivity test. As you can see below, there are three herbs that could cause reactions:
1. HUMAWORM Ingredients: (25 herbs packed into capsules) Black Walnut 200mg, Wormwood 100mg, Cloves 100mg, Thyme 100mg, Garlic 200mg, Fennel 100mg, Cayenne 100mg, Ginger 100mg, Gentian 100mg, Hyssop 100mg, Milk Thistle 100mg, Marshmallow root 100mg, Pau D’ Arco 200mg, Burdock 100mg, Elecampane 100mg, Fenugreek 100mg, Licorice 100mg, Barberry 200mg, Cascara Sagrada 25mg, Senna 25mg, Sage 100mg, Psyllium 200mg, Yellow Dock 100mg, Cramp Bark 100mg, Peppermint 200mg
- Black walnut contains tannin (which is organic iodine), juglandin, juglone and juglandic acids and it also oxygenates the blood – tapeworms absorb this and it makes them very ill so they will let go and be expelled.
- Wormwood contains the toxins thujone and isothujone and santonin – it also contains sesquiterpene which acts like peroxide by weakening the parasites membranes, therefore killing them.
- Milk Thistle is supposed to help the liver and I purchased some as a support supplement for ALA chelation but have not taken any.
2. My ALCAT: severe chlorella; moderate – black walnut, cascara, elderberry, red yeast rice, wormwood; mild – bilberry, chondroitin, echinacea, essiac, goji berry, huperzine, lutein, maitake mushroom, milk thistle
Two of the herbs that tested moderately sensitive are considered “poisons”: wormwood & black walnut. The child dose of HUMAWORM does not have wormwood because it is too dangerous and black walnut is only recommended for age 3 and up. HUMAWORM says the doses are so small that there should not be a problem. I’ve seen these in many cleansing formulas by other companies. However, years ago, I took elderberry extract (tested moderately sensitive on recent test) and got hives. So if I got hives as an immediate allergic reaction (parasite or not) I planned to stop taking HUMAWORM. I did not have hives so continued to take HUMAWORM.
The first time I cleansed with HUMAWORM I believe it conquered all of the non-yeast pathogens in my body. The die-off I shared in my journal above was not allergic sensitivity to wormwood and black walnut on the first Parasite Cleanse as I did not experience die-off during the second or third Parasite Cleanse. (In hindsight, I would have taken HumanaTea to help clear out toxins faster and lessen the die-off symptoms during the first Parasite Cleanse, similar to Essiac Tea.)