In this post, I will share a brief bit about parasites, common types in the US, symptoms and my recommended treatment. This post also includes information on deworming children and a reluctant spouse as well. I am sharing my personal experience because quite frankly, it was underwhelming. I did have round worms and hook worms, but it was not horrifying, uncomfortable or long and drawn out. (Also, no toilets exploded in the process). Get Combantrin HERE and no, it is not sponsored. I am just a big fan, and enjoy sharing things that make life a littler easier at times.
Parasites are more common than we realize.
My first introduction to parasites was through a brief continuing education class for a preschool I worked at while in college. The class was about pin worms (also called thread worms) and how it is the most common parasites in the US, especially among young children. It is spread by the ingestion of their microscopic eggs from an unsanitary surface that has come into contact with someone who has been infected. Young children are curious and many experience the world through their mouths – it’s easy to see how one may share more than just saliva with their classmate. The best way to prevent pinworms is basic hygiene. Washing hands regularly with soap and water to physically rinse off eggs, cleaning under nails and keeping them short so eggs don’t accumulate under nails, and washing bed sheets and carpeted areas regularly.
While it is typically thought that one may become infected with a parasite SOLEY due to poor hygiene, parasites are in the soil, on vegetation (fruit peels, unwashed vegetables) and in/on animals around us. Roundworms and hookworms, both fairly common parasites, live in the soil and do not need a host to live and thrive as they will feast on organic matter. They can infest soil from animal feces, domesticated animals and wildlife. The best way to prevent round worm or hookworms living around your yard is to deworm your pets or livestock regularly. Even so, eggs can attach themselves to fur and hitch a ride to an unassuming human host. If you have an indoor pet, make sure bedding, and carpets or floor are cleaned regularly.
Something else to note that may put one at risk is climate. It appears that these types of parasites enjoy a warm, tropical or subtropical climate (In the south of Tennessee, it gets swampy during the summer. High moisture and humidity often remind me of the rainforest).
While there are quite a few parasites out there that one could become a host for, threadworms (pinworms), round worms and hook worms seem to be the top 3 most common in developed countries.
What are the symptoms? What to look out for.
Symptoms seem to be varied and pretty broad or generic, based on parasitic load. They can be as mild as bloating or as severe as disturbed sleep and mood. The most common symptom for children who have pinworms seems to be an itchy bottom but that is not always the case. Other symptoms can be psoriasis, eczema, head aches, body aches, stiff joints, and decreased or increased appetite, swell as weight gain or weight loss.
Putting two and two together.
I shared how I was recovering from long term COVID symptoms in this post and while my symptoms and healing have massively improved, there were lingering symptoms that wouldn’t budge like joint stiffness and low back pain, inability to digest my food well, trouble sleeping and clenching my jar at night and occasional bloating after eating. I also had terrible cystic acne which I assumed was due to ongoing hormonal issues from no longer breastfeeding as well as the use of high dose antibiotics (another post for another time). Going through illness and intensive treatment, set my body up for unwanted guest. We live on a farm, we have livestock and pets. We all shower regularly but one thing that put me at extreme risk was never wearing shoes. I am barefoot most of the time in the grass or in the garden. I don’t blatantly walk upon fresh animal business but even after the initial business has biodegraded, eggs, larvae, and adult worms will be left behind in grass and soil.
I started to read up on parasite cleanses and most everything I found that was natural seemed to be an involved 1-3 months and the results and reviews seemed varied. Most seemed to think they had nothing and felt the cleanse or products they used didn’t work at all or that they were going to take them preventively regardless. Other reviews, some had photos to prove that it worked (close up, #2 smears) which showed parasites. I had decided that I didn’t want to guess or wait months for results, I wanted a swift and effective way to treat worms if I had any, and also be able to see proof. Proof I got, and some of my symptoms let up over night – specifically my nagging low back pain, bloating, and issues with digestion. My acne even let up a bit, which was unexpected.
I’m going to spare you photos, but like I tell all my friends on Instagram in this story highlight – If you dig, and look really well and zoom in with your phone’s camera and light, you will find them if they’re there. You cannot just turn around and look down and expect to see a large and obvious sign. They are not the size of earth worms. They are small and well camouflaged if you catch my drift.
Here’s what I used and here’s how it works.
I read about worms in an Australian mum blog. They were raving about Combantrin, an Australian brand of dewormer that covered pin worms, whip worms, hook worms, and round worms. I was intrigued since the dewormer was in a convenient one-dose chocolate that apparently wasn’t awful. It came in 4 squares of 6. (4 chocolate squares, each with 6 indented rectangles). Based on my size, I ate one of the 4 squares, and gave my family their respective doses. The chocolate was also appealing over other types of dewormer I had read about since it’s recommended to treat everyone in the family at the same time. This was a one time dose, then a repeated dose 2 weeks later. Seems easy enough.
Combantrin is conveniently made into chocolate squares that taste like sugar-free milk chocolate. No one complained about having to take their medicine in chocolate form. Combantrin works by paralyzing, not killing, adult worms so they detach from the intestinal lining. It does not kill eggs, so a follow up dose is recommended, should there have been eggs and they hatched. After the worms are paralyzed and detach, they are then transported out of the body the next time one goes potty. Some of my friends reported a rumbling tummy similar to a hunger rumble and another reported that her stool was more loose than normal. There was no explosive diarrhea, vomiting, or anything dramatic reported by any of my friends or my family. It was seriously underwhelming. I was anticipating having to run to the bathroom or be incredibly uncomfortable or sick to my stomach but the day was nothing short of normal.
I chose this method as the active ingredients have mild side effects. I always say, if our detox pathways are supported and we are healthy then my body will not have a difficult time metabolizing the ingredients and getting rid of them after it’s been used. Active ingredient : Pyrantel Embonate equivalent to 100mg Pyrantel and it Also contains : Milk chocolate, milk protein, lactose, sucrose, soy. May contain traces of nuts. For those with an allergy, they recommend their combantrin-1 tablet which I couldn’t find an amazon link for but you can order from Australia.
As far as dosing and treatment goes, I opened the box and converted our weight from pounds to KG so I could figure out how many chocolate squares each of us got. Here are more details about dosing.
All in all, this was an underwhelming and easy form of delivery. I would definitely take it regardless if I was experiencing symptoms or not. It’s simple to use, effective, and honestly, will become one thing we do more regularly since we live an active lifestyle outdoors.
I answer specific questions about deworming and share my experience on Instagram.
