The Story of “A” All In One Place

Because the story of “A” is so remarkable, in large measure because of the extremely young age at which the subject started helminthic therapy for a severe and aggressive case of Crohn’s colitis, I have decided to create a static page for the story.

There is also the hassle of managing updates since I have to update the links between the various instalments, you never know where in the series of posts someone will first encounter it.

So from now on I am going to update this page, and simply notify everyone with a brief post.

Here are the four sets of emails, edited to protect everyone’s identity, sent me by her parents since “A” started on helminthic therapy, whipworm.

It is impossible to maintain emotional distance from anyone who comes to you hoping to find relief from what are often extraordinarily destructive and awful diseases. Particularly when you have been in their position, I had lost hope of ever being well, and knew modern medicine would never provide me with a safe, effective therapy for my asthma. Cure? Forget it.

But whenever a child is involved, an infant, the whole thing is extremely emotionally charged.

Imagine being a parent in that position. Talking to a complete stranger that you found no the internet. Talking about purchasing an intestinal parasite with which to deliberately infect your infant, the stakes being the highest you can imagine.

In your first conversation with this stranger he concludes his introductory comments with “Although we are not aware of any evidence in the scientific or medical literature, and there is certainly none in our experience, of harm being caused by infection with the types and numbers of organisms we use, we believe it is common sense to consider that death or worse may be a consequence of using our therapy. As with introducing anything into your body for the first time, one cannot be certain of the outcome”. I then usually discuss something cheery like Reyes Syndrome, as an example.

Typically the parents are very concerned, tense, frightened, and upset. I cannot, ethically, do anything to reassure them. Therapy is not always successful, although children do respond much quicker and in far greater proportion with strong results than adults generally. But I am not running a revival tent meeting. Opening with words to the effect that “your child may die as a result of this therapy” does nothing to make anyone feel any better. All I can do is promise to do our best, do so if they decide to proceed, express my genuine sympathy, and offer what limited information is available.

For those of you who are not parents, when you just see your child fall and graze their knee, or bark their shin, a shock of sympathetic pain, it is a jolt, goes through your body. It is a remarkable, and not pleasant, experience.

Imagine then watching a child barely capable of speech, wasting away before you. Distressed and in pain almost constantly, passing blood in their stool, and having yourself had the disease knowing with a certainty that modern medicine was not likely to offer anything but an increasingly dangerous series of pharmacological, and in the end surgical, interventions. Over the course of years.

All the while your child would lose out on most of what makes childhood fantastic, and would suffer from malnutrition so severe that I am no longer surprised when meeting adult Crohn’s sufferers who are slight in build and short in stature, if their disease manifested even as late as early adolescence. Diseases like these in children rob the child of their childhood, and the parents much of the joy of being a parent. It requires constant vigilance, is enormously expensive, and emotionally draining and wearing, over the course of years and decades.

Crohn’s, like many of the diseases we deal with, is something modern medicine has no answers for. If you look at the statistics for it, and for all the diseases that constitute this hidden, silent epidemic, of chronic inflammatory diseases that are related to autoimmunity or immune dysregulation, what you see at best is that all these enormously expensive and mostly dangerous interventions simply move the graph of physical decline to the right by a few years, perhaps 3-4.

The outcome doesn’t change, unless one of the drugs kills you, but you might buy a few more years of relative health.

Way to go big Pharma, the medical community, and our regulatory authorities, for creating this situation, and approaching it with so little imagination, creativity and common sense.

That is the context of this story, which I have edited to remove my commentary in the original posts.

It is a long story, so settle in, and take your shoes off.

Part 1

“Jasper,
Attached is a copy of an account of “A’s” treatment of Crohn’s using helminthic therapy. I hope it will be of some use to you, and it is yours to do with as you want, as long as we are kept anonymous.

I would like to thank you for your hard work, and let you know I appreciate what you have done for us. I’m sure my wife has told you on the phone, but I wish to do so personally. A continues to do great, and I couldn’t be happier. Please pass this sentiment on to anyone else involved with your business. We are grateful.

Please let me know that you received this.

Sincerely,

Name redacted”

Here is the letter to me that he attached to the above email:

This is an account of my two year old daughter’s treatment of Crohn’s disease using Helminthic therapy, interjected with my, her father’s, personal opinions and experiences. I’m providing this to Jasper Lawrence, at his request, on condition of anonymity. I’ve tried to limit the content to things I believe were important to our family’s decision making, and I’ve tried to omit any specific scientific references, as these are things one should read for themselves, and draw their own conclusions. It is also hoped by me that it will be of good use in providing some type of comfort, if needed, to any who are interested in trying the therapy for their children. Or that it will at least be of interest to those who know that one need not follow conventional wisdom to find success.

My daughter, “A,” was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at the age of 14 months, after a colonoscopy in January, 2010. Symptoms consistent with the disease appeared in December, 2009. She had chronic diarrhea, and blood in the stool. She also was generally colicky (i.e. irritable, whinny, clingy to her mother, etc.) She has a family history of the disease, her Aunt has Crohn’s, and I have ulcerative colitis. It is important to note that the disease is extremely rare in one so young, and symptoms are usually severe.

I was diagnosed at the age of 18, and in the 9 years I’ve had it, have ended up in the hospital twice, tried many drugs, and have had several very rough years. Anyone with the disease, or who knows someone personally with it, knows what I mean when I say it is a rough ride. (I will also say I have had many, if not all, of the best experiences of my life in the interim and even during flare-ups, and that I have learned much also from the bad times) There is no need to describe all the unique problems a Crohn’s patient must face here, suffice to say they are often unpleasant. It is not the type of experiences one pictures as the immediate future of their one year old child. Needless to say the news was rather devastating for a time to my wife and me.

We took A to a very prestigious hospital’s pediatric G.I department from the beginning. Her doctor started her on Flagyl first, to no effect, then prednisone and Pentasa. From the start there was talk of Remicade and 6-MP as treatment options if she could not sustain remission after weaning from the steroids. The steroids would help the symptoms for a time, but without fail the symptoms would return when she was weaned past a certain point. The Pentasa dose was also increased to no avail. One cannot stay on steroids for too long, least of all a small child, so given the circumstances we were forced to consider the options.

The prospect of taking hard medicines for any illness is not to be taken lightly, especially in very young children. The side effects of these drugs can range from the mild to severe, to even deadly in very rare occasions. On top of knowing that, these particular medications, while currently being given to children, have never been studied in young children, at least as far as I know or was told by the G.I’s. They are certainly not approved by the FDA for that particular use. One could conclude, or at least accept as a possibility, as I did, that the long term use of these drugs on one so little is more then likely not going to end up well.

But of course the effects of the disease can be worse. The doctors will tell you “We need to treat the symptoms she has now, now, and deal with any potential side effects in the future when they present themselves. Who even knows what will be available in a few years?” That is very true, and it put my wife and me in a difficult place to make a decision. Most doctors, and people in general, find it hard to look past next week. I couldn’t help thinking of A at 13, and 18, and 30! Knowing the potential and unknown side effects of the drugs most likely to be needed for A, and knowing that she could not stay on prednisone much longer, and knowing the severity of the disease itself, we were torn on what decision to make. I’ve tried to make this point clear, that it was not an easy decision on what course to take, as it is no doubt a common sentiment with many people in similar circumstances.

Looking back it is clear that there were two particular instances of good fortune bestowed upon our family during this time of indecision. The first was a recommendation by A’s pediatrician of another G.I to try. A’s original G.I, while very qualified, seemed to treat her more as a subject to be studied, and less as an actual person. The doctor was very prestigious, with her name on many studies, but did not seem the right fit for us. She seemed content to put A on any drug necessary to stop the symptoms, and then draw her blood for some study or another, that no doubt will someday change the way we view IBD in children! I am being literal. This did not seem the best course to us, so we packed up and went to the new G.I. The first thing she did was recommend to my wife the book “Breaking the Vicious Cycle”, a diet approached method to treating IBD and other diseases. Right away we could tell this doctor was different. This was around May, and A had been on and off the prednisone since around February. (I would like to stress that if you can’t seem to get along with your doctor for whatever reason; my advice is just to leave! I made the mistake of staying with a doctor for years who seemed content to run a drive-thru clinic, rather then a quality health care center. This was a costly mistake, and one I would not repeat with my child. There are doctors who will care for their patients, take time with them, get back to them, and treat their sentiments with respect. I found one for myself, and one for my daughter too. It is very important!) The second event was a visit my wife had with my G.I, around the same time as our doctor switch. They talked of A’s circumstance, and our apprehension of the drugs, and she suggested we look into Helminthic therapy. She had heard there was a place in Mexico you could get the treatment, but did not know much beyond that. I had known a little about the therapy, but had no idea one could actually get it, short of participating in a study in Europe. With no time to waste we began our personal research and journey towards Helminthic therapy.

I find before I jump, I prefer to look down first, rather then up, to measure the risk. Through our research we found that the helminths presented extremely little to no negative effects, while offering the potential for dramatic improvement. This is a stark contrast to the conventional drug treatments. (I’ll note here that anybody doing anything should rely solely on their own judgment of the facts which they have done the homework on themselves, especially in a case such as this. I’m not trying to tell anyone what to think; only what I think based on my knowledge.) Imagine the relief that such a treatment, while not as simple as a written prescription, at least existed, and was possible to obtain. With little downside and unlimited upside, the choice was finally clear. My wife had a little problem of squeamishness at the thought of worms in our one year old, but that did not prevent her from backing the idea. My wife made a chart showing the pros and cons of Helminthic therapy against those of 6-MP and Remicade. We presented our case to A’s G.I. I believe she was a little startled at our suggestion, it was unexpected even to us a few weeks earlier, but she did not dismiss it. She knew that one course or another must be taken quickly as nothing to that point had worked. She did her own research and even talked to some other people in the hospital about it while we contacted Jasper at Autoimmune Therapies.

Searching for where to obtain helminths will no doubt lead one to Autoimmune Therapies, and we were no different. I emailed Jasper and we set up a phone consultation. We asked him any questions and concerns we had, and he addressed them. This was around June. We knew the risks, and the costs, and we were ready to get busy. A’s health had waited long enough, and I was getting antsy. Jasper set up another phone consultation, this time with A’s G.I, which I believe she insisted on, and which I also believe Jasper was happy to oblige. They hashed out the dose, and the choice of whipworm, and while the doctor could not explicitly bless a treatment banned by the FDA, she did agree to continue to treat and monitor “A” (Jasper – a requirement of obtaining therapy from us is that the client or their parent inform a doctor of their intentions and obtain the agreement of the physician to continue to treat the subject, although no doctor can recommend it, yet) no matter what course we chose. She even has us come in on days she normally does not take patients, and has stayed well past closing time to sit and talk with us. Do you see the importance of a good doctor? I thought it best that I should take a standard dose of helminths too. A could not say much beyond mama and dada at the time, and if there were to be any side effects, I wanted to experience them too. I talked it over with my doctor, and she seemed to think it was a good idea and had no problem with me taking them as well. So in July, with everybody on board, we were off to get our dose of whipworm, both nervous and a little excited about what the future may hold.

It was agreed by all “A” would stay on her current dose of prednisone until she took the helminths, and then begin a slow taper. She had been on and off, only to be back on them for the past six months! But health was our goal, and one must accept short term setbacks for long term goal. We came home from obtaining the helminths, and after a few weeks something amazing happened. “A” started to undergo a personality change. She started being much more easy going. She started playing with her big sister more and better. She no longer had to be by her mother’s side or in her arms constantly. We could even leave her at Grandma’s house for a while, something we had not been able to do due to her moodiness. I will tell you her whole disposition changed. She was happier. I can attest to the fact that being sick from Crohn’s changes your whole mood (Ask my wife!). Depression, moodiness, tiredness, are all symptoms. Those symptoms seemed to be leaving our daughter. She looked better. For months she had dark, baggy eyes. She had looked sick. Now she was looking good. I noticed, Grandparents noticed, her doctor noticed. She had energy and life, something she had not had for months. Rejoice! All the while we were weaning her off the steroids. For months A had not had a good stool, most often it had blood in it. Now her stools were improving. Not all better, still occasional blood, but my wife, the head diaper changer, said she couldn’t remember when she had had a good poo. Now she would have great stools, at least some times. It was, and continues to be, an up and down battle with stool quality. (I’ll speak my thoughts now on the subject of the ups and downs. When I would experience a flare-up, my stools would never get better until I took prednisone, or tried a new drug. They never did it on their own. Hers does. I would have to go many times a day to the bathroom, she has had whole days where she hasn’t gone at all, and most times it’s once or twice a day. When I would get sick, I never felt better, I would only get worse, and worse, until I took the steroids. She never seems to be sick, but her stools are not always completely broken down, and there is still occasional blood. But just the last few days she has had perfect poos. It does not seem consistent with the progression of Crohn’s symptoms, which is get sicker and sicker until taking new or increased drugs, which seems particularly true in the youngest of patients. I talked this over with the G.I, and she agrees that it does not seem to be the Crohn’s. My thought’s are that it could be side effects from the worms themselves. Helminthes infection and Crohn’s symptoms are very similar. As far as we know, no one has ever intentionally given helminthes to a one year old, and almost certainly never one with Crohn’s. Who’s to say how they will affect her? These are my thoughts only on the subject. It’s important to note that these particular symptoms are very mild, and even her doctor has said she’s not concerned with them, but I bring them up as this as an account of facts, and of anything I think would be important or useful for someone else.)

So at the beginning of September, 2010, she was completely off steroids and all drugs for the first time since she got sick. She had gained a pound and her blood work was great. All our side effects were great! What more could we ask for?

It is now January, 2011, over one year with the disease, and almost six months with helminths, and four months with absolutely no drugs! She even just two weeks ago had a stomach virus with throw-up and diarrhea and has bounced right back. Anyone with Crohn’s will tell you she must be doing well. She’s continued to gain weight, her blood work has continued to look good, and A is happy and doing great. She has even started to use the potty herself; something I can assure you is a unique concern when dealing with a very young child with Crohn’s. Her doctor is happy, and I believe has even recommended it to other of her patients where nothing else seems to be working, although I do not speak for her actions. Jasper is happy, we’re happy, and Grandma lets it be known that little “A” is a little miracle! I can only hope the good effects continue, but who’s to say? Ask me how she is doing in a year. I never expected this to be a quick, easy fix to such a difficult problem, but I must say it has worked wonderfully and at least as well as could be hoped for. For now we are all happy, and we have given our little girl her childhood back.

One always hears expecting parents respond to the question of whether they want a boy or a girl with, “it doesn’t matter as long as it’s healthy”. Well, to truly appreciate health one must be sick, and then be well. My advice to someone considering this therapy for their child, or for themselves, would be, do not wait. I’d hate to think where we would be today had we not been fortunate enough to come upon the therapy, and to have the courage to take action. First convince your mind of the right course. Do your research and draw your own conclusions. It’s amazing how many people can read the same thing and come to so many varied ends. The truth is usually very simple. Once the mind is convinced, the action should follow. I knew this was the only course for us because I thought it had the least chance of exploding in our face, with the best chance of succeeding. My thought is that this should be a first course of treatment, before any harsh drugs. If it doesn’t work, then try the drugs, at least you will have tried. And the child would have been on the drugs anyway. I don’t view medications as evil, and certainly not unnecessary, only that obviously safer alternatives should be tried first. Once you start the drugs, it is very hard if not impossible to get off them. This was what I was trying to avoid. I know that even if A must take the drugs one day, I will sleep easy knowing I did what I could when I had the opportunity. Plus, the disease tends to get worse in time, and thus harder to treat. Start early, if at all possible!

I’ve heard it said sometimes that to take worms on purpose is disgusting or that people just can’t get there minds around it. They would rather just take the drugs. Well, having to run to the bathroom twenty times a day is disgusting, if you can get there, toilet bowls full of blood are disgusting, being so tired you can’t stand is disgusting, needing blood transfusions is disgusting, a bowel resection is disgusting, cancer is disgusting, seeing a child going through all this is disgusting. Seeing an innocent baby condemned to suffer for a lifetime is disgusting. I’ve heard it said that the treatments effects can be explained by the placebo effect, or that there are just not enough studies to convince people of the therapies benefits. Well, explain the placebo effect to a child who does not even know she has a disease and who never knew she took a treatment to save her. Explain that to a child who can’t say placebo. I assure you that A was the ultimate double blind study. A perfect test subject!

As parents our children are our responsibility, so we must do what we know is best for them. That’s what we did. I wrote A a long letter the day before we got her whipworms. In it I told her my thoughts, my guilt, and my hopes. I explained a lot of my own personal experience with the disease, and reasons for the decisions we made on her behalf. I thought it only fair to explain to a future, mature girl or lady, who had no say in the matter, why her father took the actions he did at the time. Actions that could affect her entire future. I let it be known that I did not know if this would cure her, help her for a while, or even help her at all, while stating that I hoped it would be the former. I suppose this letter is really for her too, as much as any one else who wishes to read it. It is a testament to an amazing little girl who I love.

Part 2

We had the colonoscopy done yesterday with amazing results. The doctors first words to us after completion were “I’m now a believer in this therapy”. “A” had absolutely no signs of Crohn’s anywhere. She said someone else looking at her would think there was not a thing wrong with her. The worms were alive and kicking, and she gave us some pictures. [A’s Mom] and I couldn’t be happier, we wanted to jump and shout. The doctor said we should get more worms, and that the biopsies should be in within two weeks. She seemed very pleased as well.”

Part 3

I thought I’d write you on a few things, as the good news on “A” has gotten better. First, we got the shipment (whipworm – Jasper), and everything went well. I realize I have yet to pay for it, but I will fax the credit card information to you early next week. I apologize for the delay. The second thing is that “A’s” GI got the biopsy slides back from her recent colonoscopy and the results were fantastic. They showed only mild inflammation, and no granulomas. Her previous slides from last years colonoscopy had shown bad inflammation, and granulomas everywhere. Her doctor said particularly the granulomas disappearing was “amazing”. I’d like to know to what extent of amazing the disappearing granulomas are, but I can’t find much information on granulomas as it relates to Crohn’s. But none-the-less it is obviously a great thing, and further reinforces the effects of the therapy. I also mentioned to her that you would be interested in talking with her, and she said that was fine. I’ll give you her information again, Dr. Name and contact information redacted – Jasper.

So good luck. She seems very excited about “A”, as are we.

On another note, I found a group on parents of children with IBD on the web. I read some of their stuff, and felt a particular kinship with both them and their kids. Needless to say, much of the subject matter is not pleasant. I was struck by the fact that their experiences could be an alternative for ours, had we not been so fortunate. I plan on posting a little thing about our experience with helminths. Perhaps someone could be moved by the irrefutable facts of “A’s” success. I’m not at all sure of the response I’ll get, if any, but if you don’t mind, and someone is interested, I could pass your information on to them.

continued

It’s good to hear from you again. You may post what you would like on your blogs, we trust in your discretion. Another good thing on “A”, is that since she got the second dose she has gotten even better. Her stools have been almost completely formed for weeks now, and we have seen absolutely no blood. This is certainly her longest run yet.

We will continue to stay in touch, hopefully with only good news! Thanks again to you and everyone else involved.

Part 4

“It has been over two years now since we began treating Crohn’s disease in our daughter, “A”, using helminthic therapy.

Specifically human whipworm, from Autoimmune Therapies, and she is today doing better then ever. She was around 21 months old when we started helminthic therapy, she had been diagnosed at 14 months of age, and had not responded to any attempted treatment of the disease, except steroids.

She is now over three and a half, and is as happy, healthy, and as beautiful as any parent could want from a child.

Two years ago my wife and I could have only hoped the future should be so bright for her, and us.

A has now taken four doses of the helminths, and each time her condition has only improved.

I can assure you it was not a straight line to good health, but rather a gradual improvement. Like any good, long term investment, there were setbacks along the way. Despite our better judgment, every time there was blood or diarrhea, in the back of our minds, we would wonder if it was the beginning of a major flare, one that would require the drugs we tried so hard to avoid for her.

But the reality was that it never even came close to that. There is no doubt she is doing better now then a year ago, and certainly two years ago. She continues to gain weight, in fact she is 34 pounds, and her stools continue to improve. We have even begun introducing different foods to her diet, with fantastic results.She can play endlessly with her sisters, is as cheerful as could be, and she is even a little chubby, something we’ll take any day of the week over the alternative.

She has not taken any medication for the Crohn’s disease since shortly after she began helminthic therapy.

Suffice to say, treating our little girl with helminthic therapy was the single best decision we could have made, given the circumstance. The treatment has enabled her to live a normal life with Crohn’s disease, rather then one riddled with pain and fatigue, pills, injections, and steroids.

It is not lost on our family, the thought that today we can focus on teaching “A” to read, and swim, and good manners, rarely worrying or even thinking about the fact that she has Crohn’s disease, instead of living in the bleak future we imagined for her, and us, two and a half short years ago.

I’m proud of what we did for her, and we’re thankful to Autoimmune Therapies for the opportunity to do it.”

<h3Editorial

As it happens I am proud too, particularly of those who work with me to do this. I talk a lot, too much perhaps in the past, of the sacrifices my family has made. Far too little has been said about the team working with me.

All, in different ways, are making very considerable sacrifices to be able to make sure people like “A” continue to get the probiotics they need. Our chief scientist, who had a very good career before I came along, has essentially sacrificed that to peruse this. That is just one easy example to identify and explain.

One day soon I hope that it will be possible to acknowledge their courage, the risks and sacrifices they have made, and to do so completely publicly. I am the figurehead for a group of people who are all intelligent, hard-working, dedicated, principled and very high-integrity individuals.

All intelligent enough to not want their name to appear on my blog.

Here’s to hoping that will one day change, and their accomplishments and courage can be lauded publicly.

More Information and Context About the Story of “A”

We were invited to present as Guest Speakers, apparently this is is special, I got a distinctive badge with a nice blue ribbon, at the biannual Autoimmunity Congress, 2012 edition, in Granada, Spain.

It was a great honour, particularly given the very prestigious immunologist who sought me out and gave us the invitation.

For it, a client, who happens to be a doctor, wrote a comprehensive case study, based on full access to “A’s” medical records and with the full cooperation of her parents and GI. I will be posting a link to that presentation in some format, at some point. I have to convert the speaker’s notes to audio, I cannot just throw the slide deck up, so it is going to take a little time and effort.

I no longer make promises about when I am going to post something, I write this at 7 am on Sunday morning where I live, having worked the night through. I am short on time, and there is a lot going on, all of it good.

I am very busy, but I will have that up relatively soon, think weeks or months, not days, along with my overview presentation, they made an exception to their rules allowing only doctors of people with PhDs to present so I could speak, as well as the other case study, also prepared and presented by a client who happens to be a doctor. He did one on a subject with Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis with great before and after MRIs, and comprehensive medical records.

But we are opening a new laboratory and working on a lot of other things, too. So please be patient.

I will of course update this page with any news, good or bad, as it arrives, and leave a note on the main blog when that happens.

Links to original posts

Part 1: Part 1 of the story of “A”

Part 2: Part 2 of the story of “A”

Part 3: Part 3 of the story of “A”

Part 4: Part 4 of the story of “A”

20 thoughts on “The Story of “A” All In One Place

  1. Hi I have read your story and would really like to ask what happened when “A’s” Daddy took the whipworm, as my 15 year old grandson has been diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitus and has had four different tablets, none of which have worked except for the steroids which have induced Glaucoma. At present he has had to stop medication as the side effects out weight the fact that the medication is not working anyway.
    He has absolutely no life, is 5ft 8in and weight 8st 3lbs. He cannot leave the house as he is needing the toilet constantly…..more than 20 times a day every day. He also suffers from agonising stomached pain before he needs the toilet and also during using the toilet.
    I really wanted to find out if “A’s” daddy had any changes in his IBD, as he mentioned that he had the whipworm administered the same as his daughter.
    I know that my grandson cannot cope anymore with this illness and has spoken about giving up and suicide.
    Please can you help me in any way possible, any minute information you can share would be treated with the utmost confidentiality. I want only to give my grandson his life back and the chance to follow his dream of going to university to study to become a Doctor.
    Thank you so very much for sharing the information about little “A” and your trials.
    Warmest regards
    Sharon….xx

    1. Hi Sharon

      I’m really sorry to hear about your grandson and would like to suggest that whoever is responsible for him gets in touch with us. They can contact our Customer Service Manager on +44 2081 235 364 or email him at: customer_service@autoimmunetherapies.com

      You can read some of the many helminthic therapy success stories from adults with ulcerative colitis at this link: http://www.foodsmatter.com/natural_medicine_comp_therapies/helminthic_therapy/articles/ht_success_stories.pdf

      Fran

  2. My son has Crohns Disease The most extreme cases doctor has ever seen in child his age. I am very interested in information on this whipworms treatment. Sounds like something we would definitely like to look into any information you can give me would be great to get my son and myself on the right track.
    Christy

    1. Hi Christy

      All the most important information is gathered here: http://blog.autoimmunetherapies.com/helminthic-therapy-basics/

      Once you’ve read this, call our Customer Service Manager on +44 2081 235 364 or email him at: customer_service@autoimmunetherapies.com and he’ll answer any remaining questions you may have about the therapy.

      Fran

  3. Oh my gosh, what an amazing story!
    I’m keen to know …… Have you had any flare ups since you took the whipworms? I have tried every treatment going after a particularly bad flare of UC. I have had the issue for 17 years, over half my life but I am still rather attached to my colon!

    1. Hi Nichola

      You stay attached to your colon for as long as possible!

      In those people for whom this therapy works (and it works for the majority) flares are less likely to occur once the worms are mature and have begun to deliver the benefits of immune regulation that only helminths can achieve. There are a lot of helminthic therapy success stories from people with ulcerative colitis at this link: http://www.foodsmatter.com/natural_medicine_comp_therapies/helminthic_therapy/articles/ht_success_stories.pdf

      If you want to know more, once you’ve read these, please get in touch with our Customer Service Manager on +44 2081 235 364 or email him at: customer_service@autoimmunetherapies.com

      Fran

  4. I have had crohnes/collitis for 27 years, 2 bowel resections and am presently on remicade. Over the last 6 months my iron levels have dropped thru the floor as well as my vitamin D levels. I have just started to see a natreopath and for the first time in years feel hopeful. Although I am completely grossed out by the idea of worms in my body, I think those of us who have chronic diseases hit a point of desperation and I certainly feel that way. I am desperate for some quality in life where I have the energy to go for a walk, clean my house and even work (haven’t worked in 6 years). How to you take the worms and where do I go to get them?

    1. Hi Janelle

      It’s completely understandable that you feel grossed out about having “worms” in your body, but we are all hosts to millions of weird tiny creatures, some of them a lot more scary than helminths when seen under a microscope. For example, a hookworm looks positively cuddly when compared with a dust mite!

      The good news is that people who use helminthic therapy never actually see a worm at all, and even when they’ve matured inside the intestine, they’re still extremely small.

      Those who need hookworms are supplied them as invisible microscopic larvae in a tiny amount of liquid which you put on a dressing and apply to your arm. And anyone who needs whipworms will receive these as invisible microscopic eggs in liquid which is taken as a drink. So really nothing to be grossed out about at all!

      If anyone has a really serious problem with the idea of using living organisms in therapy, there’s an article by one of our clients that should help them:

      http://www.foodsmatter.com/natural_medicine_comp_therapies/energy_medicine/articles/worms_eft.html

      I suggest you contact our Customer Service Manager on +44 2081 235 364 or by email at: customer_service@autoimmunetherapies.com so that he can explain everything else that you need to know about the therapy.

      Fran

  5. Hi:) My name is Lenore Shapiro and my daughter has Crohns. She was diagnosed at 12 and is now 24. You can read her story on our website nibdinkids.com and FB The Foundation for NIBD. We are a non profit that supports and raises awareness for nutrition research for juvenile IBD. Let’s change the way we first look at this devastating disease. We also help adults, but early intervention is one of our goals in educating people in the importance of proper nutrition. Our research abstract is on our site or you can download the full paper at Pubmed.gov search Grovit.
    Thank you,
    Lenore Shapiro
    NIBD
    http://www.nibdinkids.com

    1. Hey Lenore

      So what do you think about the possibility of removing the need for reliance on any special dietary protocol by replacing the helminths whose absence is arguably responsible for this disease?

      Fran

  6. I admire you all for the work you are doing. It is truly amazing to see people not giving up when presented with obstacles and persevering because you know there are people like A and her family who need you.

    1. Thank you, Cara!

      One day, we hope that this therapy will be mainstream and available from doctors, but until then we’ll carry on doing what we’re doing now.

      The obstacles do make things difficult at times, but seeing people getting better as a result of what we’re doing is amazing, and comments like yours help to get us over the biggest hurdles!

      Fran

  7. […] “It has been over two years now since we began treating Crohn’s disease in our daughter… (who was) diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at the age of 14 months… Treating our little girl with helminthic therapy was the single best decision we could have made… The treatment has enabled her to live a normal life… rather then one riddled with pain and fatigue, pills, injections, and steroids… She is now over three and a half, and is as happy, healthy, and beautiful as any parent could want…” http://www.jasper-lawrence.com/the-story-of-a-all-in-one-place/ […]

  8. Thank you for sharing this amazing story. Reading The story of “A” and her fathers very personal account of the journey he has had has left me filled with hope. I am also very grateful to be at home alone enjoying some quiet time as reading this has opened the floodgates and allowed me to do some much needed crying.
    My now 10 year old daughter was diagnosed with moderate to severe Crohn’s in February 2013 after suffering greatly for five months. We have had a very rough year trying to get a handle on her disease and we are currently enjoying two months of remission thanks to my daughters willingness to cooperate on an extremely limited diet. She is also taking azathioprine a risky drug that I do not believe is doing anything for her. I would very much like to have her off of this horrible carcinogen as soon as possible but I am so afraid that I will be proven wrong, that it is doing something good for her. So while I feel like I should just be enjoying this nice relatively quiet time every mission I also feel very anxious about her future. A flair can start any day what will happen when she catches a stomach bug? What will happen when she starts puberty? Will my eight-year-old son be next? We currently have the greenlight to begin Remicade, we received it five months ago and we chose not to give our daughter this treatment because of the unknown risks as well as the known risks. I have heard of Helminth therapy but admittedly felt squeamish at the thought of infecting my daughter with worms. But after reading the story I feel so much better and so incredibly hopeful. Thank you so much for sharing!
    Sincerely,
    Adriana

    1. I am very sorry for the delay in replying, I stepped back after a crazy eight years to take stock.

      It can help and does, sometimes radically, most of the time. To learn more go to autoimmunetherapies.com and go to the contact page. Follow the instructions, we deal with too many enquires and it is too lengthy a learning process to deal with outside our system.

      When, if, you send your questionnaire in from the contact page indicate somewhere on the form that you want to have me conduct the interview, our Customer Service person will set it up.

      I hope things are going well, and look forward to speaking with you.

      Jasper

  9. Am 61 now. Had drastic weight loss at 11. Mother took me from Dr. To Dr. Who all told her I was “just growing”. Five foot four inches tall and 77 pounds is definitely not growing. Finally at 14 was hospitalized because of weight and 5.5 hemoglobin. Was not given transfusion. Sent to “teaching hospital”. Was misdiagnosed as having Sprue. Went on gluten free diet gained 11 lbs. hemoglobin up to as high as 9.9 sometimes. Had unrelated surgery at 19 and was told had Crohn’s. Was not treated. Started eating gluten again and at 21 had skip area bowel resection as back to 77 lbs. 5.5 hemoglobin etc. have had relatively healthy life since then. But, as have gotten older have already had total knee replacement due to lack of cartilage not arthritis. Have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia myofascial pain syndrome and chronic fatigue. Have been told this all happened because of being in malnourished state for 10 years during “formative years” and being in 3 multiple rollover auto accidents. Wonder if this therapy would help me now. Am chronic hepatitis B carrier from transfusion at 21. Also chronic carrier of Epstein Barr. Though never had any symptoms of it. Believed to have been caused by time spent on high doses of steroids. Again wonder would this therapy help me. Still have IBS. Let me know what you think. Would love to feel “normal” just once in my life. Maybe even improve quality of life now. Would greatly appreciate your opinion.

    1. With chronic infections there is an increased risk associated with using an infectious organism that modulates host immune response, particularly when first adopting the therapy. As your immune system is forced to divert resources to the new guest, and later as your immune system changes posture, there will likely be fewer resources available to fight your chronic infections, and you may, temporarily or perhaps for as long as you host helminths, a worsening of your symptoms due to your existing chronic and incurable infections. As well Fibro is a disease that requires we take a much more gradual approach when a client first adopts the therapy, and Fibro sufferers are more sensitive to the therapy, more likely to develop symptoms like diarrhoea temporarily, at least at our regular doses. Hence going slower, with smaller doses, which requires more of them, and so therapy takes longer to apply. However, while as with everyone, I cannot and will not promise a particular outcome, I can promise we will do our best to help you, and that some in your situation have benefited. If you want to learn more, we send out a lot of links to discussion groups during the process, please visit our contact page and submit a completed Questionnaire so we can discuss things properly. Therapy is always tailored to the individual, doing so is just more important with someone like you. http://autoimmunetherapies.com/contact.html. Jasper

  10. I have suffered with abdominal pain for more years that I begin to recall. Different surgery’s that doctors thought it was the cause of my pain. My Internist just have not only given up on me but actually mocks me. It is worse just before I have a movement and then very intense after. I grew up in Cuba, my parents spend much of my childhood managing children’s homes. Worms, some quite large, were a part of a once a month thing. My mother would give those suspected, a dose of castor oil. The rest oof the day was a party to see who had the most or the biggest worms. When I turned sixteen I became the “nurse” in a Free Clinic for very poor children. I am familiar with worms, never heard of them being good to have. I have been diagnose with Irritable Bowl Syndrome. I am seventy three yrs. old, and have more wrong things including an autoimmune system. Can you help?

    1. Perhaps, I cannot promise except we shall do our best by you. I can say we have helped others who have suffered similarly with similar or the same complaints. Whether the underlying issue was the same I could not say, and of course this is not a miracle cure, it does not always work. Sorry for the delay in replying, I could not access this blog for a long time, it was being moved and my IT guy is part time and there were lots of other issues I had to address. If you go to our contact page and submit a questionnaire we will arrange a call, as well as send you links to other sites and groups where you can explore your options more. http://autoimmunetherapies.com/contact.html. Jasper

Comments are closed.