Resuming Iodoquinol Treatment

I now know understand why I thought my symptoms might be caused by appendicitis, rather than dientamoeba fragilis parasite. I read on the eMedicine (WebMD) site that "(Dientamoeba fragilis) Organisms infect mucosal crypts of the large intestine that are located close to the mucosal epithelium, from the cecum to the rectum; however, the cecum and proximal colon are usually affected." The 'cecum is the intestinal 'pocket' at the bottom of the ascending colon on (my) right side. The appendix is attached to the bottom of the cecum pouch. So cramping pain caused by parasitic infection of the cecum and ascending colon may seem to come from the appendix.

However, my lower right quadrant cramping pain (especially after eating) was soon joined by symptoms of nausea, headache, fatigue and then left lower quadrant cramping pain after bowel movements. Those were all the same d-frag symptoms I experienced initially 4 months ago and then after treatments with Alinia, Humatin and finally Iodoquinol.

I've read Iodo is the most effective drug to treat this parasite. So today I called my doctor's clinic and left several messages for her assistant, because my doc is on vacation. Then I called the pharamacy which previously prepared Iodoquinol compounded without lactose (to avoid dairy allergen reaction) to fax a prescription refill request to my doc's clinic. That may sound easy, but I spent all morning calling, leaving messages and talking to the clinic receptionist to understand their process and connect with everyone involved in that process, because my doc's on vacation.

So tonight I will begin another 20 days of Iodoquinol (3x daily). I know I will experience side effects of nausea and dizziness for the first few days. Then, when the Iodoquinol begins to kill the parasites, I will experience diffuse (all over my intestinal area) cramping pain and bloating, supposedly caused by 'die-off' toxins from the parasites. (I'm still not convinced of the 'die-off' theory, because I never experienced that with candida, which is notorious for die-off during treatment by nystatin or other antifungal drugs.) Nevertheless, I anticipate feeling a lot worse before I feel better.

I absolute hate the bloating symptom. However, that may have been partly caused by hypochloridia, because I previously took Iodo BEFORE I began taking HCl with meals. HCl significantly reduced my former symptoms of bloating and flatulence. So I may not experience as much bloating while taking Iodo. Whatever happens, I'll pay close attention to lower right quadrant colitis symptoms. If the Iodoquinol completely erradicates the d-frag, I should not experience that lower right quadrant pain after treatment.