I also have shortness of breath and bowel issues.
I have Tachycardia, as well. It started after my second covid vacciation. I have had severe chest, arm, jaw and neck pain. All I have to do is sit up, or move a few feet and my heart rate sky rockets. I have severe palpitations that I feel in my chest, neck and head. My heart also skips a beat or two. I have found it is normally after my heart rate has went through the roof. Wants it comes back down, it will skip beats. My neck, chest ,and underneath my chin is very inflamed. Spine and back pain. Also beneath my shoulders. I also get very hot, like I am having hot flashes. Like big time burning up. I had all kinds of blod work done, have had several ekgs, chest xrays...etc. They keep telling me everything looks good, which is great. However, I am not right...something is wrong.
Did you get itchy or have a rash? I read that's common. Also, do you think if I just ask my doctor to check for parasites they will know which tests? Not sure where I get a blood microscope test. I tried your website, theunlikelycause.org, but it doesn't seem to work. Thanks for sharing your story. God bless and hope you feel better.
I had a very similar story. My heart rate would be 150 bpm while I was just standing around doing nothing. I'd wake up in the middle of the night sometimes with it racing up to 177 bpms and had to go to the hospital twice. I went to a bunch of specialists over the course of a year and everything was coming back normal for the most part with only some of my levels being at the upper and lower ends of normal. Finally after I started to think I was crazy, I went to my acupuncturist and he ordered a stool sample that revealed that I had a parasite (strongyloides). No one else tested for that!!
As the author mentions, if you have tried EVERYTHING and you absolutely know in your heart that something is wrong with your body don't give up! Try getting tested for parasites. I was down from 130 to 108 lbs, I was bruising like a peach, and my heart was racing unbelievably yet I started to doubt myself because no one could find anything wrong ... that was probably the most difficult part.
After a strict no sugar diet and parasite medicine, my heart rate is back down around 80 bpm when I'm standing :-) Good luck people!!
Answering your question. I took the standard 5 pill card available here in the US. Two for the first dose, then one each day for the next 3 days. 10 years ago, I went to the ER (New Year's Eve) and was diagnosed with bad pneumonia. They gave me an IV of Zithromax. Wow, I literally felt better in an hour! Love that stuff, and notice no effect on my heart other than what I mentioned int he above post.
For anyone who is interested, I have created a website in support of those battling rare and unknown illness.
theunlikelycause.org
I hope it helps someone at least.
Much love xo
@ bbxx - I hope I didn't sound rude, I did not intend to at all. Just letting everyone know my case =) Thank you very much for your well wishes.
@ sasa65 - truthfully, you would need a blood smear to diagnose this sort of parasite. Even then, you may not catch it, but could still have it. Professionals told me this, that it is like trying to find a needle in a hay stack. I had the EXACT thing with my heart, it beat so, so hard and fast, and I mean fast. Very painful!
Please send me a PM if you have any questions, I would truly love to help.
Treatment is quite long for me as I was sick for 14 months before diagnosis, so it's taking me a while to completely eradicate these little buggers. But I am well on my way and nearly there.
Treatment is diet restrictions (I'm a vegetarian now) NO REFINED SUGAR and I'm not even eating fruit. No diary (as candida and yeast can really go crazy when you have parasites) and low gluten intake. No yeast. Don't eat anything fermented, obviously no alcohol.
I am taking high doses of Flagyl & Abbocillin, and literally a bucket load of supplements which include potent immune system fighting pills and probiotics, liver support, bowel flush, as well as very strong micro organism killing herbs such as black walnut and wormwood.
Treatment for me is being done in phases, we needed to strengthen my immune system and go easy on my heart as it was so heavily involved. People can die from the toxin release of the parasites if you start treating too aggressively too soon, it can put your body into shock, so we weened in to it which was great. It has worked. Being careful is key, and treatment takes patience.
I am officially in "phase three'' of treatment, and I start the final lot of very heady drugs, now that my body is ready. One is called Pin-X (also known as Pyrantel) which kills the parasites by paralyzing them so the body can naturally attack and flush them out, and the other is called Constat. It is a heavy duty dosage of chinese wormwood, which has always been used to kill parasites. It is extremely potent.
@ tom_h - I am from Australia. The tachycardia I experienced kept morphing from one thing to another, at first, it was SVT with rates up to 200bpm, then all of a sudden, that stopped and changed in to a slow but VERY hard beat. My heart would hit my chest wall. Then I started getting PACs and PVCs. The PVCs happen a lot more when I take my meds, as I feel my chest heat up with increased blood flow as the parasites were in my heart. I haven't had PVCs in quite a while though! which is great. I have had times were I have had bradycardia, too, and also just general palpitations and sinus tachycardia, where I would feel it speeding up very quickly!
How much Zithro did you take and for how long? I have some Zithro but was too scared to take it as I read it can cause long QT, don't know how true that is though...
woww, i have the exact same symptoms
2 summers ago i got aa very bad stomach virus or w.e it was, i had extreme , tachycardia, muscle aches and constipation, lightheaded, it lasted a week, but i felt like its still in my body, Its been a year now i have tachycardia, i cant workout becuase it beats too fast or hard, i have done holtor monitors, ECG's, echo cardiograms, all were normal, I aslo still have wierd bowel movements, and i feel like theres somehting wrong with me thats living in my stomach or intestine, . What tests do i need to do to check Trichinella ?
woww, i have the exact same symptoms
2 summers ago i got aa very bad stomach virus or w.e it was, i had extreme , tachycardia, muscle aches and constipation, lightheaded, it lasted a week, but i felt like its still in my body, Its been a year now i have tachycardia, i cant workout becuase it beats too fast or hard, i have done holtor monitors, ECG's, echo cardiograms, all were normal, I aslo still have wierd bowel movements, and i feel like theres somehting wrong with me thats living in my stomach or intestine, . What tests do i need to do to check Trichinella ?
If I may ask
a) What country are you from?
b) What type of tachycardia were you experiencing?
c) What was the treatment?
Last year at this time, I had to visit my GP due to a severe respiratory infection. Coincidentally, I had been experiencing a troubling number of PVC's for several months prior, and imagine totally unrelated to my illness. I was given Zithromax (Z-pak) which immediately cured the infection. But my PVC's mysteriously disappeared as well. When I mentioned this to the physician, he told me the Zithromax was not the cause of the vanishing PVC's. But I still think this was very coincidental. By the way, the PVC's returned about 5months later and continue off and on to date, even after my ablation in November.
the one thing I found is sugar! how many things do we eat that really don't have some amount of sugar in it? I was reading ingredient labels like crazy after I read about parasites & bacteria
btw; I know what it's like to have a deadly bacteria in your blood stream - In 1997 I had Group Beta Streptococcus that turned septic; it's not something I want to repeat; but it's always a possibility since I do have it dormant in my blood and each time I go to the Gyn they test me again for it; yup I'm still positive; tested positive just last Friday - since getting sick I've often wondered if this is the cause of my problems, but no dr can answer that question - nothing has shown up since in my blood thankfully
Sian333 What treatment did you have to do for this parasite?
Thank you so much for your information. I dont doubt that you had parasites causing your problems. If you notice I only found 400 cases in 1940, but I also showed the huge difference in information out there--for example 100,000-300,000 were effected on one site and yet the cdc says 12. I did research beyond wiki-lol and in fact I found a site but I cant remember how i found it and it showed there were a large number of these parasites -various under the trichonosis name and they only test one type in the US. I wish I could find where that was. I also read you can be sick much later and longer but the site was not a welll known site and I figured it would be dissmissed. Anyway, I believe you have have this -(trust me, I am not your typical patient--I have to always think outside the box with my body). This is why I asked you for the type of test and type of doc that was willing to test you-outside the standard test. Glad you are doing better and thanks for your post. It got me really grossed out by meat too-lol. As to epidmic-- there are a lot of odd things happening with parasites--so this is no surprise. Have a great day. :)
To those who have an open mind: Thank you. I hope it helps someone.
I am not saying that if you have tachycardia or heart sypmtoms that you have a parasite in your blood. I am not saying that. But I am saying that if you have had everything you can tested, and have no results, and just KNOW that something else is going on, and of course you may have other symptoms (such as swollen glands, vision issues, fatigue etc) THEN you really need to cut to the chase and look in to the reality that parasites DO EXIST and do cause serious health problems.
Please re-read my post to those who are cynical. I did not say I have Trichinella, I said that the parasites RESEMBLED Trichinella. Perhaps I should just use the word parasites. I apologise. I saw it under the microscope also and have done a lot of research and as mentioned it looked exactly the same. My practioner said the exact same thing, and was confident to call it that.
Indeed, I do know the difference between bacteria and a parasite, however, we did see bacteria in my blood under a slide. Just one, near the parasite. It was bouncing around. It was in a red blood cell. The parasites are the issues here, yes. Parasites also carry bacteria, and all of the above release nasty toxins. Bacteria and parasites feed off sugar. Not having sugar really annoys them, and it is very evident.
Treatment for it is working, dramatically...and after being through 14 months of absolute hell, that is enough for me. I'm working so hard to get rid of this horrible thing and it is finally working.
Truthfully, I don't think I'll be able to ever put a name to what it is. There is a huge chance that is it Trichinella, there is also a great chance it is not, and it's just something quite similar.
And to those also saying there were only 400 deaths per year in the 40s and 50s to Trichinella, you are forgetting some huge factors here. If you REALLY research in to it and get in to the deeper stuff (not just Wiki) people were mysteriously dying and they now believe Trichinella was the cause as it was hugely underdiagnosed. These type of things are STILL hugely underdiagnosed, in my opinion.
People need to remember that not all cases are the same, every single human body can cope with things differently and things will differ. For the whole 14 months of this, my glands have been swollen in my underarms, thighs, jaw/cheeks, I have had terrible fatigue, chest pains, severe palpitations obviously, weakness, vision issues, bright red eyes (which is also very typical of Trichinella) and a whole list of weird symptoms.
I live in Australia so I don't see the point of sharing my Dr's name (if anyone is from Aus, however, I would gladly send them the contact details).
All I wanted to do was inform people that there are some strange things out there that can happen to us and to keep an open mind. Someone I know passed away from a similar thing as mentioned, it was confirmed in the autopsy, and it wouldn't have happened if Doctors actually believed him and just TRIED to help instead of put it in the too hard basket and stamp his head with "Insane". Think outside the box, sometimes there are actually things out there.
I know what it's like to be pushed out of a doctors office being told I'm nuts and to cry myself to sleep because I knew something more was going on. I know it sounds dramatic and pathetic, but it's horrible when Doctors don't offer any help. I was lucky to stumble across one who did, at the very last straw.
Everyone will tell you that you're mad, because that's all they know, but it's no a coincidence that I all of a sudden know of 5 people with this happening in one small area.
Please read this article: http://www.helium.com/items/1964320-trichinosis-info
It's very informative and also mentions a story about someone who was experiencing similar symptoms to I was.
RDW is in the CBC which measures the integrity of your red blood width, and also, if you don't want to waste time trying to get a positive for an antibody test, you need a blood smear, which is what I had done. As I mentioned, I spoke to the head of immunology pathology at one of Sydneys best immunology department, and he told me if would be ridiculously hard to get a positive for an anitbody test, yet you could still be extremely infested with the buggers. Quite similar to Lyme disease really, getting a positve reading is so difficult to do. Needle in a hay stack. I was told not to waste my time and to start treatment and that if I improve, then that is a firm enough diagnosis. I'm improving by dramatically! I can power walk again for an hour after not being able to walk 100m! No joke by the way.
Research in to if you want to doubt, fair enough. I was just hoping to remind people that they should never give up if they know something else is going on with them.
Stay happy, healthy and safe =)
I've never been a fan of pork because I'm not a fan of pigs. But proper cooking of any meat will kill the bacteria and parasites (if there are any). I'm surprised pigs have any parasites because breeders generally have to test and treat the animals regularly to pass US regulations. Unless you bought the meat from a friend. Again, bring all meat to the proper temperature when cooking.
The only parasite I'm familiar with that's next to impossible to kill is baylis ascaris. It's a round worm found in raccoons. Doesn't seem to bother the raccoon but in other mammals it can travel and settle in the spinal cord, cause central nervous problems, even death. It takes a blow torch to kill the eggs. So don't ever put a raccoon in your pet carrier.
I too researched and found different things.
In the 1940s there were 400 cases per year (aprox).
Symptoms-are at their worst at 3 weeks
In the state of Maine people infected denied eating the port undercooked or raw.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00000671.htm
100,000-300,000 people a year are infected in the US -
http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/trichinosis
BUT
CDC says only 12 cases were reported between 1997-2001
Lots of types of this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichinosis
smoking and salting and drying and microwaving does not rid the meat of this.
Regardless, I am really grossed out by pork now.
sian333, parasites and bacteria are two completely different things.
The existence of any bacteria in your blood is called septicemia which is a very serious and often deadly condition. I don't think you've had septicemia for all this time.
You mentioned that Trichinella was "very common" in the 1940s and 1950s, but when I gather information on it several scientific sites noted that there was an average of 300 cases per year during those years in the US.
From what I read I thought if left untreated it gets to the heart within a 10-20 days leading to heart failure and death.
Freezing and/or cooking pork kills Trichinella, were you eating raw pork?
Many people report that reducing carbohydrates and complex refined sugars reduces ectopic activity. Carbs and complex refined sugars increase heart muscle enhanced automaticity and that triggers the ectopics. So yes, reducing those will reduce ectopics if enhanced automaticity is the cause..
Sorry I'm being so cynical here but there are lot of holes in this story. Can you share the name of the miracle practitioner?
Oh goodness. I am so NEVER EVER EVER eating bacon again! Gag! I was never a huge pork person, but after reading about pigs--the stuff I learned! They even eat human waste! I just cant believe anyone would ever introduce pigs as food! How did humans ever get to eating ham sandwhiches? Seriously, I am gagging just thinking of it! Thats funny your dad raises them--- thanks for the info--- I cant wait to tell my brother who is raising a pig for his family--- ha ha he will probably eat it anyway (eww).
Sian--please tell us about the doctor and the test.
BBXX - OMG, pigs are brutal. My dad breeds them and every once in a while we'll go down to the barn and find that they've attacked, killed and completely devoured animals as large as forty pound turkeys! I've seen them kill and eat squirrels and chickens too. One mother pig killed another mother pigs piglets, eating all of them but their heads! (This was on Thanksgiving, LOL).
Sian - I remember you posting about your EP back in September/Augustish. You and I had ours at the same time and we were both non-inducible. I am really quite shocked about this. You write:
"For 14 months, I suffered severe tachycardia with no answers as to why. It wasn't, however, my only symptom. I suffered with fatigue, muscle weakness, POTS, spasms, vision issues, swollen glands and bowel issues. I was short of breath, could not exercise, and had frequent chest pain."
I have been complaining about these same exact symptoms (albeit to different doctors because they all seemed unrelated) and more for years now. My fatigue has reached a crescendo and my bowels are a complete mess. I have a consult with a GI in March. This summer I had POTS symptoms galore and it was driving me nuts. I too have spasms, but have been told it's benign, but still annoying. I get them in cycles, mostly on my left side. Every time i go to the GP she notes swollen glands, but my CBC always comes back fine. I'm curious what kind of vision issues you are getting. I went through a horrible episode where the entire left side of my vision in my right eye had this big giant sparkling blob in it. I had every test known to mankind short of them removing my eye and dissecting it and they couldn't tell me what causes it. I will get it on occasion still.
But, I'm really thinking that a lot of my issues are due to my thyroid, just can't prove it, LOL.
I too have noticed that I feel twice as crappy when I ingest any sort of simple sugar. As a result, I have pretty much eliminated it from my diet. Sometimes complex carbs will bother me too. I always chalked it up to digestive issues or surges/dips in insulin.
When you say "we tested other people's blood" do you mean that you brought friends with you to donate to this new physician? Is she a hematologist? I'm just curious because this is truly fascinating.
I'm so glad that you found a reason for your tachy! And I hope that you are well soon!
ps, you wouldnt happen to live near Texas would you? Only asking because I read of some other stuff going on there with the food, so I am curious.
Well, lets me just say after reading this, I did some research on it and I swear I will never eat pork again! I never knew that pigs would eat their own kind or rats! The way everything is going now a days with the food industry, why am I surprised. Anyway, can you explain the specific name of the test the doctor would have to do, because you said standard tests did not show it and we all know the majority of the doctors will do the standard tests only. This is very interesting for sure. Also what type of doctor did you see?
oh wow thanks for sharing that, how in the world did you ever find a clinic/dr to find what is going on if it's so hidden?
btw how do they tell your red cell width is out of shape, what does it specifically show on a CBC? that may help others point to this also.
I'm going to mention to my dr about this just to rule it out; heck at this point I'll try anything to find my cause.