August 6, 2019
It all began with a gurgle.
My family and I had just returned from a wilderness survival course about ninety miles outside of Spokane, during which we had learned minimalist fire-making skills, shelter-building, self-made adhesives from coal, sap, and clay, primitive weapon skills, small animal trapping, wilderness first aid, and much more.
And of course, we learned to filter water from the creek nearby our camp, primarily using old plastic water bottles stuffed with sand, ground-up charcoal from the campfire and leaves, just like this.
Heck, I was so impressed with my handy little self-made water filter that I probably consumed over sixty ounces of water from that alone…
…and I highly suspect that at some point that little filter didn't quite do the trick against the microscopic parasite Giardia.
Anyways, back to that gurgle.
I was sitting at the kitchen table, finishing up a bit of sweet potato and bratwurst dinner I'd made fresh after returning from camp when the tiny gurgle in my gut happened. I'd felt a bit tired and rundown all day, but had attributed that to three days of wilderness survival. However, after the gurgle, I got a bit lightheaded.
So I pushed myself away from the table and went upstairs to lay in my bed for a bit and read.
There was that gurgle again. It felt like a pocket of gas.
Naturally, I tried to fart.
And I realized halfway through that fart that there was plenty more than just gas coming out.
I stumbled to the bathroom and experienced the most disturbing bout of foamy, gassy diarrhea I've ever had. Things went downhill fast from there.
Based on follow-up stool testing results I got a few days later, I had become infected with the dreaded parasite Giardia. In this article, I'll tell you exactly what I did to get rid of my Giardia (without the use of antibiotics) and to support my gut health after the ravaging intestinal inflammation that Giardia produces.
What Is Giardia?
Giardiasis is a diarrheal disease caused by the microscopic parasite Giardia. It is transmitted when a human or any other animal ingests cysts shed by other infected humans or animals.
These cysts are usually acquired from fecal-contaminated water, food, or even inanimate objects like a door handle or, say, a dollar bill someone was handling right after they took a sans-hand-washing giant poo.
A parasite is an organism that feeds off of another to survive, and Giardia definitely fits that category. Once a human or animal (for example, cats, dogs, cattle, deer, and, of course, beavers – which give Giardia it's famous “Beaver-Fever” moniker) has been infected with Giardia, the parasite lives in the intestines and is passed in feces. Once outside the body, Giardia can sometimes survive for weeks or months, and it can be found within every region of the U.S. and around the world.
Giardia infection can cause a variety of very painful and disturbing intestinal symptoms, which include:
- Foamy, fatty, and stinky diarrhea that comes frequently and violently (AKA “peeing out your butthole”)
- Horrible smelling gas or flatulence that clears a room instantly
- In the case of any well-formed poops, greasy stool that can float
- Intense stomach or abdominal cramps that got so bad for me it felt like someone was digging a knife into my stomach
- Upset stomach or nausea
- Chronic fatigue and a feeling of weakness in the muscles
- Dehydration and weight loss
Giardia was first described in 1681 after Dutch microscopist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek observed the protozoan in one of his own nasty diarrhea stools…
“…wherein I have sometimes also seen animalcules a-moving very prettily…albeit they made a quick motion with their paws, yet for all that they made but slow progress.”
Van Leeuwenhoek is actually describing what is now called in scientific literature a “Giardia trophozoite”.
Here's what this gut-ravaging supervillain actually looks like… just as you'd imagine…
…like something out of a science fiction horror movie:
Once the little Giardia cysts emerge, the Giardia trophozoites use their flagella tails to swim to the microvillus-covered surface of the duodenum and jejunum sections of the small intestine, where they attach to your gut cells (enterocytes) using a suction-like disk located on their front surface. Damaging lectins on the surface of Giardia bind to sugars on the surface of enterocytes, which damages microvilli, and significantly halts nutrient absorption. Rapid multiplication of these trophozoites (literally becoming billions and billions of count strong over the course of hours and days) eventually creates an actual physical barrier between the enterocytes and the intestinal lumen, further interfering with nutrient absorption.
This entire process leads to gut cell damage, villus death, intestinal hyperpermeability (leaky gut), and brush border damage that causes a reduction in digestive enzyme secretion, direct damage to the intestinal mucosa.
Oddly enough, some people get a Giardia infection and have no symptoms at all, or don't have symptoms for weeks, months or even years. But in most people, symptoms of giardiasis may last 2 to 6 weeks. Occasionally, symptoms last longer. As a matter of fact, chronic, long-term irritable bowel syndrome, bowel dysfunction, intestinal damage and gastric upset can last for years, even decades, after the infection occurs.
Scary stuff, eh?
Why Not Just Take Antibiotics For Giardia?
So why didn't I immediately jump into a regimen of common antibiotics used to treat Giardia, such as metronidazole, tinidazole, or nitazoxanide?
Frankly, this is not only a fast-track to create antibiotic resistance bacteria (which doesn't do the rest of the world a great service), but these things aren't as effective as you'd think.
For example, metronidazole has been associated with recurrence rates as high as 90 percent, and the prevalence of clinical metronidazole resistance may be as high as 20 percent.
In addition, common side effects of the most popular antibiotics used to treat Giardia are almost as bad as Giardia itself, and include:
- Nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, and stomach pain
- Diarrhea and constipation
- Dizziness
- Headache
- Unpleasant metallic taste
- Rash, itching
- Vaginal itching or discharge
- Mouth sores
- Swollen, red, or “hairy” tongue
- Generalized chronic fatigue and drowsiness
- Significant muscle weakness and full-body tiredness
Instead, after speaking to several of my very well-informed physician friends in the realms of naturopathic medicine, allopathic medicine, gastroenterology, and Ayurvedic medicine—along with reviewing an extensive body of literature on Giardia (including the very helpful, well-researched article Giardiasis: Pathophysiology and Management by Dr. Jason Hawrelak)—I opted to pull out as many stops as possible to naturally rid my body of Giardia and support my gut health after the post-Giardia damage without the use of antibiotics or medications.
Using the strategy you're about to discover, within three days of the first onset of symptoms I was back on my feet and at about 75% function, and within five days, was pain-free in the gut with normalized bowels. By seven days after the first onset of symptoms, I was performing hardcore workouts and felt absolutely amazing.
Now I know you're wondering, so here's exactly what I did…
The Natural Giardia Treatment I Used
The following are the exact herbs and dietary components that have the best research behind them for killing Giardia via a variety of mechanisms.
1. Garlic – Chop into small pieces and consume regularly throughout the day to maximize allicin intake. This is better than buying pills, although if you do go with pills, Allimax is the best brand. Allicin has very good anti-giardial activity, specifically against giardia. Garlic may also stimulate mucosal production of nitric oxide synthase (the enzyme that produces NO), thereby increasing the release of NO by enterocytes, which may also have direct giardiacidal effects.
2. Insoluble fiber – Insoluble fiber intake has been demonstrated to markedly increase the relative number of goblet cells along the GI tract and significantly enhance luminal mucin levels in the small bowel. This may partly explain how fiber can prevent and treat Giardia infections. In my case, I chose sweet potatoes, carrots, hazelnuts, flaxseed powder, pumpkin seeds and papaya seeds (both of which have anti-parasitic activity). Because the gut is very sensitive during giardia, I did not eat the nuts or seeds whole but instead blended them with the flaxseed powder to make a nut butter that I ate with organic canned sweet potato and mashed carrots. Whenever I ate during the day, I'd typically just have a few tablespoons of this, along with the collagen yogurt and bone broth (see below).
3. Probiotics – Probiotics may interfere with Giardia infection through a number of mechanisms, including competition for adhesion site in the gut, competition for nutrients that would otherwise be utilized by pathogens (such as glucose) and stimulation of the immune response. I chose the SEED probiotic due to its encapsulation technology that resists breakdown in the acidic environment of the stomach, and also the prebiotic fiber, which can help in the same way as the insoluble fiber. You can listen to my podcast with the chief researcher for SEED here, and you can also click here to get SEED, and use discount code: BEN15 for a 15% discount. I timed this separately from any anti-bacterials, and also separately from any charcoal or clay (you'll read about both below), so for me, this usually meant taking probiotic capsules immediately upon waking on an empty stomach.
4. Oregano – There is very good antigiardial activity of many herbs, particularly those rich in flavonoids and tannins. I used Kion brand Oregano, which has very high carvacrol content (80.12% to 80.46%). Carvacrol is the primary active component of oregano, but is notoriously low in most store-bought brands.
5. Berberine & Oregon Grape Root: Berberine salts and extracts have demonstrated in vitro inhibitory activity against Giardia trophozoites and berberine sulfate in particular has been shown to induce morphological damage to Giardia trophozoites, including the appearance of irregularly shaped vacuoles, swollen trophozoites, and the development of glycogen deposits. For the first two days, I harvested Oregon Grape Root (along with small amounts of the anti-parasitic leaf Wormwood, that I put into tea), because Oregon Grape Root acts in a nearly identical manner to berberine, but this harvesting and chopping process eventually became exhausting while trying to manage the Giardia, so after two days I switched to 4g/day of Thorne Berberine capsules. I took this in mid-morning, and early evening.
How I Managed The Nausea & Diarrhea From Giardia
At times, the stomach upset and nausea from Giardia makes it feel like someone is digging a shiv into your stomach, and the diarrhea is, well, as mentioned earlier, some of the most upsetting, nasty, foul-smelling, foamy, liquid stuff that's ever going to come out an orifice in your body.
1. Nausea. For the nausea, I kept things pretty simple: I chewed on ginger root and liberally used peppermint essential oil on my upper lip and also rubbed into my abdomen. Sure, there are plenty of other helpful tips for nausea, colds and flus that I talk about in posts like this and this, but I had enough trouble as it was trying to do all the rest of this while still keeping myself twenty feet from the nearest bathroom, so I kept this part of things pretty simple.
2. Diarrhea. For the diarrhea, and to assist with sopping up the toxins generated by Giardia, both bentonite clay and activated charcoal can be effective. What I did was two twelve ounce glasses a day of water mixed with a heaping tablespoon of bentonite clay and also a heaping tablespoon of activated charcoal powder. I timed this separately from my other supplements because these can interfere with absorption of other supplements. I found the most effective times to take them were mid-afternoon and late evening. As you can probably imagine, this doesn't taste very good, so I added a dropperful of liquid butterscotch toffee stevia to the mix.
How I Supported My Gut Health After The Giardia Damage
Of course, as you've already read, not only does the gut become damaged during the Giardia infection, but if you don't make attempts to repair the damage afterward, you can suffer the ravages of the infection, including irritable bowel syndrome, for years and years after getting Giardia.
Here's what I did about that:
1. 3 shots of “Restore” liquid each day. This supplement, which I talk about in this podcast with Dr. Zach Bush, contains lignite, which has protective effects on the intestinal barrier). You can get it here and use code: BEN15 for a 15% discount.
2. One serving of colostrum per day. This also helps to seal the lining of a leaky gut, particularly in athletes. My order of colostrum didn't arrive until after the Giardia symptoms were gone, but I began it right away. Based on my discussion with the Renegade Pharmacist here, it appears that it's best to dissolve the colostrum in your mouth to maximize the absorption of its growth factors. This is the brand I used because it's chemical-free with no artificial compounds.
3. No dairy. Giardia impairs the body's ability to digest lactose, the form of sugar found in milk, cheese, and other dairy products. So I avoided dairy like the plague.
4. Collagen yogurt. I stirred together two cans of organic coconut milk, crushed and mixed in 10 of these “L. Reuteri” tablets (a trick I learned from Dr. William Davis, and first reported on it here), a teaspoon of sugar, and 10 scoops Ancient Nutrition collagen (you can use code: BEN for 15% off any order). I then let this sit in a food dehydrator at 110 degrees F for 24 hours. This brown goo was very tasty and very nourishing to my gut. L. Reuteri is a powerful bacteria. It reduces multi-organ inflammation while rapidly replenishing the gut microbiota.
5. Upgraded Bone Broth. Each day, I had at least two cartons of Kettle & Fire Bone Broth, but upgraded it with Dr. Thomas Cowan's burdock root extract (use code BEN to get 15% off on your order) and powdered turmeric (both of which have anti-parasitic activity), along with black pepper to increase absorption of berberine and also for the inhibition of parasitic activity that piperine has, and a hefty pinch of my favorite salt for rehydration.
I also used an oral form of BPC-157 in my protocol. More on that below.
Fringe Natural Giardia Treatments (Immune-Boosting Peptides I Used That Most People Don't Know About)
What I discovered about peptides for bacterial and parasitic infections actually surprised me quite a bit. If you don't know what peptides are, then you'll need to listen to my epic podcast with Dr. William Seeds this Saturday on these peptides and many others (click here to sign up to be notified as soon as it's released) and also to my podcast with Jean Francois Tremblay on all things peptides.
1. LL37. LL37 is one peptide that can be incredibly effective for gastric inflammation, parasites, SIBO, and a variety of other bacterial infections. I had my physician order me peptides from a high-quality source (in this case, Tailor Made Compounding) and injected 200mcg (20 IUs) of LL37 2x/day, subcutaneously in the abdominal region.
2. TA1. Thymosin Alpha 1 (TA1) is the second peptide I used, at 1.5 mg daily (50 IUs) also subcutaneously. This one hits the immune system hard and helps to repair the intestinal lining with the above supplements. It can increase the innate immune response and upregulate natural killer cells to bring in more direct defenses to battle the parasite and the inflammation at the same time, upregulating the immune system's ability to recognize foreign invaders and phagocytize compounds, and release cytokines, chemokines, and proteases to destroy parasites.
So LL37 and TA1 in combination will activate macrophages to destroy Giardia. These are the “big guns”, folks.
3. BPC-157. Finally, I used Body Protection Compound 157 (BPC-157), which is the most powerful gut supporting peptide out there, at 500 mcg injected as two daily 250 mcg doses, subcutaneously into the abdomen. Taken orally (you can get it oral form here and use code BEN for 15% off) or as an injectable, it is very efficacious for a wide variety of gut issues.
The Anti-Parasitic Biohacks I Used
There are a few other techniques, or so-called “biohacks” I used that I couldn't find too much research on, but that I think helped quite a bit.
1. Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy (PEMF). Using my Pulsecenters PEMF unit, I placed the paddles for 20 min, twice per day, over my abdomen at a Power of 100 and frequency of 9.9. This is based on some evidence that extremely low-frequency PEMF may have some amount of anti-parasitic activity.
2. Daily Myer's Cocktail from FastVitaminIV. These IVs are a combination of magnesium chloride, calcium gluconate, thiamine, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, calcium pantothenate, vitamin B complex, vitamin C, and dilute hydrochloric acid. Every day, in an attempt to get the vitamins that my gut wasn't restoring, I self-administered a 30mL push IV of this cocktail. You can listen to “How To Get Your Own Vitamin and NAD IVs, The Truth About Umbilical Stem Cells, Peptide Injections & Much More With Dr. Craig Koniver” to learn more about this tactic.
3. Probiotic Enema. Five days after the infection began, when the diarrhea was completely gone, I did a probiotic enema retention to repopulate my ravaged colon. As gross or off-putting as it may sound, you can repopulate your good gut bacteria by sticking a tube up your butt and funneling probiotics into your colon – very much like a coffee enema, but performed with probiotics rather than a cup o’ joe. My friend Matt Gallant is a professional poker player and biohacker who has created a recipe for a probiotic enema, which he introduced to me in the podcast “Probiotic Enemas, Digestive Enzyme Myths, Breathing 10 Kilograms of Oxygen, Low-Protein Diets & More!”. It maximizes absorption by minimizing the distance that the probiotics have to travel through the digestive tract, bypassing the acidity of the stomach and mainlining the bacteria directly into the colon.
For this enema recipe, you will need:
- One liter of coconut water
- Five capsules of Matt’s P3-OM Probiotics
- A large glass jar with a lid, such as a mason jar
Mix the coconut water and P3-OM capsules and blend well with a fork, whisk or latte frother. Pour the whole mixture into the glass jar and put the lid on it. Let the mixture ferment for three to six hours, depending on room temperature, as warmer temperatures help speed up the process. You can even leave it overnight. You should eventually see bubbles in the mixture. If you don’t, then let it sit out until you do. Once the whole probiotic bath is cultured and you can see bubbles, keep it refrigerated until you are ready to use it. To administer the enema, you will need an enema kit. I prefer this stainless steel one. Once the mixture is administered, hang upside down from an inversion table or yoga trapeze or lay on your back with your legs up against the wall for about 20 minutes to let the mixture soak in.
Summary
So that's it!
Rather than having debilitating Giardia for weeks, suffering from a ravaged gut for months or years, or having to put up with all the side effects of anti-Giardia antibiotics, I instead took the aforementioned measures to beat it naturally and felt back to 100% just one week after that first tiny gurgle.
I wrote this article because anytime something happens to me and I figure out how to deal with it in a unique and natural manner, I love to share the information with others so they can benefit too. And I hope or a loved one has.
I know you probably have plenty of questions, or perhaps your own Giardia tips or Giardia experiences or Giardia natural treatments to add, so if you do, please leave your thoughts and feedback in the comments section below and I promise to reply.
Saccharomyces boulardii has reasonably good research on giardia and other intestinal infection prevention and treatment. Time the capsule 2 hours after your antibiotic of choice.
PLEASE DONT PUT MY NAME ON THE INTERNET! Feel free to use Giardia Jayne – but no last name. I think I just sent it to you without thinking. I just told America I gave them ALL. Giardia…..which is impossible but you know how people can be. I really don’t need my last name out there…..trying to make Giardia Jayne trend….. Giardia Jayne has Giardia Brain, and that’s what causes migraines. Chronic Fatigue and IBS, the AMA created this mess…. THE LIST OF DISEASES IS REALLY LONG! Please help me tell America about the symptoms of LONG Giardia.
The world discovered LONG Giardia in 2013. I’ve had it for over 60 years. I know the rest of America has it to- unless a person is defending themselves against parasites. Doctors NEVER do a Giardia test unless a patient insists on it. It causes just about all of the unexplained diseases in America. I’m trying to tell them, but they aren’t listening. Finally I posted-Giardia Jayne has served cake all over America. Hopefully millions will soon be flocking to your door. Thank You for the treatment protocol and product links. I will have to work into it, this is very painful.
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The list goes on and on of things to take or try will cost you thousands….. Try going to: www.planetmsm.co.uk buy the flakes take 500mg for a week to start to get used to it, then take 1000mg 3 times a day no more….. for 4-6 weeks or 6-8 weeks if you have a bad case. DO NOT buy any other MSM as many have fillers and cheap MSM. I researched this MSM thoroughly to be the best recommended by a doctor on the net as the best MSM. MSM will coat the stomach lining and the parasites fall off. I have given this to various people and it has worked for them and they were over the moon after suffering for so long. You have nothing to lose but hopefully gain if it works for you. Cut sugar out as much as you can as it feeds the parasites. You just add the MSM to water and stir it. Drink plenty of bottled water. You can give it to animals with giardia according to their size in their water bowl. I give gsd 500mg a day. Also PANACUR Liquid ONLY for ANIMALS works well for giardia less harmful than metronidazole. Hope this helps….
You’re right! This article was written to sell you a bunch of stuff! I had it years ago and just took some Oregon grape root and probiotics and I was fine.
I’ve been doing something similar for my dog for 7 months now since he was 9 weeks old using Black Walnut Hull Tincture and probiotics. You don’t get rid of Giardia in a minute if it’s well established.
Black Walnut Hulls and probiotics work well for dogs ( or people ) together with colloidal silver internally and enterically coated garlic to preserve the allicin content. Caution with the garlic though.
Hi Joe
Any side effects to MSM?
Best wishes
Louisa
Do you take the MSM with food or without food? If it coats the stomach, will it prevent other nutrients and supplements from getting absorbed?
How do you figure out the correct dose for cats based on weight?
hey Valery, I discuss MSM in much more detail, including dosage, here: https://bengreenfieldlife.com/transcripts/episode-359-full-transcript/
Thanks so much for the detailed description of your symptoms along with the remedy. I ate at a very reputable restaurant
a week ago after not dining out for months due to Covid. Felt fine but woke up in the middle of that night and rushed to the toilet. Didn’t throw up or anything so didn’t think it was food poisoning but obviously got something. This has persisted for a week without other negative symptoms. I’m going to try your methods before I go the antibiotic route.
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Is there a website for the Dr who has the stuff to get rid of the heroes cold sore virus.
I’ve come to here late so not sure if people are still answer comments on this excellent post. I plan to do this as I have an amoeba infection that my first course of MTZ didn’t kill off completely (or I got reinfected from my wife) and I can’t get to my doctor in NYC because of coronavirus. I did an google sheets plan of this which I am happy to share a link to for everyone. Where I plan out a slightly simplified version of what Ben presents here. Questions from me to clarify:
– Dose of colostrum? How much how many times a day?
– Do you eat an other food whilst going through this, I am assuming not and that is what I am planning
Cheers!
I’ve kills my giardia with 100 ml of sweet annie tincture, then added fresh garlic cloves.
I have parasites and I have ed been fighting them for many months. Everytime I go back to get my brother who now has a catitor , unrininie infection, and decreasing health. I seem to be reinvested as if the beginning. Iv tried everything . From gasoline, pesticides, and animal sprays. This place is hell , a death dorm.
I am now trying essenial oils which WAS helping until now. Nothing works!!
Try Grapefruit Seed Extract. I lived in Bolivia for 3 years and had everything from Typhoid to Giardia to Salmanella. All Called Bichos(bugs) by the locals. The only remedy that worked, long known by the countries missionaries, is GFSE. My wife in particular fought Giardosis to the point of hospitalization and IV antibiotic treatment to no avail until a dear friend brought this to our attention. She had been fighting it for 11 months.
Best wishes!
Hello Christopher,
How much of a dose? How often? and for what length of time does one take grapefruit seed extract? I tried it but am wondering if I either didn’t take enough at one time or didn’t take it frequently enough…
Try 500mg 3 times a day of Grapefruit Seed Extract… Make sure you get a good one as many I read have things added to them. This is a good one to take https://www.revital.co.uk/products/nutri-advanced-berberine-grapefruit-seed-120-capsules…… If this fails try MSM www.planetmsm.co.uk buy the flakes…… Hope this helps.
If you are in need of a herbal medicine for hiv or herpes you can search for
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This article most definitely is designed with you making money as a priority. There is very almost no scientific strength to the basis of any money-making claims here.
My lover is infected these last 19 weeks. All his ribs are sticking out. He’s as weak as a kitten. 4 times I picked it up by kissing him, and 4 times I zapped it by eating handfuls of charcoal. After I’d got rid of it, my guts were still sore, so I drank kaolin, which draws the inflammation like an internal poultice.
However, he is too much of a wuss to eat charcoal (“Ugh, it’s black!” ) so I decided to avoid deep kissing and just have a hug, bury my face in his lapel.
Result? Instant re-infection. Someone told me after that’s the worst thing I could have done – lapel is where you cough out all your germs onto – and cysts full of babies will survive, even dehydrated, on lapels, bedding, door handles, light switches etc etc etc so it’s TREAT YOUR ENVIRONMENT & CLOSE ASSOCIATES AT THE SAME TIME AS YOURSELF. While treating, wash ya sheets, clothes, use antibacterial wipes with an added splash of meths, that’s more effective than ethanol which we drink, on every door handle, light switch, ANYWHERE people touch.
Cut out sugar & carbs until clear – micro-organisms love it.
If you’re feeding yourself then you’re feeding them only eat things they hate. E.g. 1/2 a lb of bacon with no bread f!oods them with a level of hydrachloric acid they can’t survive. Their cysts will survive, tho, and hatch out a week later. Eat carbs for a week so they get used to alkali. Then eat another 1/2 lb bacon on its own, the new generation wil! have no resistance to acid. Job done.
Even so, if you’re with someone who won’t treat themselves or sterilize their place, you’re going to have to spend the rest of your life on charcoal and clay until they die. Sorry, folks, but that’s the brass tacks.
make him smoothies and coffee and put clay in it! can’t tell the difference
someone mentioned turpentine. This is going to sound nuts but I chewed on some pine sap yesterday and it may have purged the giardia from my system. I had explosive diarrhea afterwards. Why does no one mention wormwood? I went and got some from my garden last night to eat fresh.
or psyllium husk? take food grade dichotamacious earth too…
For the nausea you can take a benadryl pill. The little pink one for allergies. I learned this trick from the hospital.
Brian says: I have had inceasingly devestaing mal-absorbtion of nutrients and severe liver malfunction during 21 years prison where medical care is non-existent. Spent last 9 months “out” on the medical “hamster wheel” getting nowhere FULL TIME. Finally deduced I had liver flukes from trips to S.E Asia. Tried massive 2 mth wormwood + herbal cleanse. passed some flukes? Then ordered hundreds $ anti-fluke pharma meds from asias. Got very sick and passed lots of “young flukes”? Turns out they were protozoans! with tails. looks like grapefruit pulp with tapered “tail”. Passed lots of mucus-like sacks of tiny frog-like “eggs”. Turns out that was immune reaction to eggs on intestinal walls CAUSING MAL-ABSORBTION NUTRIENTS. Spent THOUSANDS$ on supplements and such. Now found $7.50 bottle veterinary PENICILLIN in a feed store. Will now use diabetic syringes to inject 5cc doses of it in buttocks. Medics in Vietnam did same to wounded immediately before first aid. Of course will use probiotics afterward to replentish. This will kill off majority of protozoan infestation allowing for immune system and herbal stuff to catch up.
Been a long miserable experience. PENICILLIN PATENTS EXPIRED LONG AND big pharma “discovered” designer antibiotics which are invariably WEAKER than penicillin and don’t kill effectively, only “injure” populations of targets, Follow the money! There’s no $profit in CURING ANYTHING!
Using farm supply antibiotics? Hopefully this practice stops very soon. The world will see antibiotic resistance killing hundreds of thousands of people due to the indiscriminate use of antibiotics from farm supply and elsewhere. You were foolish to inject yourself. What if you had an allergy to penicillin?
In my opinion, you were neither clever nor educated in dosing for yourself. The reason big pharma needs to develop designer drugs is because of individuals like yourself who abuse antibiotics helping to fuel the resistance the world now sees. Don’t think that using probiotics will help you either. I call for all and any antibiotics be removed from every location to prevent self treatment which will lead to world self harm.
Lord almighty, can’t you entertain any thought except those implanted in your mind by those with a PHD? They only get 7 years training. You get a lifetime of learning your own body …. think for yourself, woman!
It is this persons body and they can do what they like with it. You are mistaken to think this individual is the cause of antibiotic resistance, that is most certainly the fault of the medical profession who have been over perscribing for years even when they were warned as early as the 1970’s of the consequenses.
Somewhere recently I was directed to “Piper Longum ( aka Long Pepper ) in a powdered form. It is taken in a spoon ( I load a capsule ) and take it with a good probiotic yogurt ( they recommend a spoon of honey) before any other food. It tastes like black pepper on steroids. it is ground quite fine by the manufacturer I use. It sure clears me out, and most people I talked too only use occasionally if the low energy malaise returns.
I got giardia a bunch of years back and cured it with one herb, raw osha root, chew on some every hour. Results are noticeable immediately. After a day I felt normal but kept chewing for another day to be sure. *shrug*
Did you chew the osha root nonstop all day long or just chew a little for a few minutes each hour?
Where do you get osha root?
All power to you Ben but Giardia is very nasty. There is a time and place for using antibiotics and this was one of them. I think you should have just taken the antibiotics despite your concerns about antibiotic resistance etc. Yo would have been feeling much better, much quicker. My friend had Giardia and took an antibiotic and was literally feeling 50-70% better within the hour.
Don’t know about that…. I’ve seen people destroy their gut biome with a cocktail of antibiotics. They did restore their guts, but it took a month to do it. Giardia is tough, and often return when the antibiotic is stopped. Also, a 1-hour recovery is suspect.
I have done 2 rounds of antibiotics to combat giardia, which I am still fighting. Though I did find relief from symptoms after a couple days of taking antibiotics it did NOT flush out the giardia, and within a few days after stopping my giardia symptoms were back. But instead of just dealing with giardia symptoms I was now also dealing with eczema, poor appetite, IBS, my tongue tasted looked and felt disgusting (sounds not a big deal but realllly bothered me ALOT), and an all around feeling of unwellness that was different than prior to giardia or the giardia symptoms.
Just prior to the last full moon (when parasite eggs hatch) I began to feel the fatigue again so instead went with a natural route. Did diatomaceous earth, probiotics and veggie caps of thyme oil. The next day (saturday) I barely left the bathroom. By Sunday afternoon I felt completely myself again. I kept up with probiotics and thyme oil, with every other day adding oregano oil as well. A couple weeks later I am experiencing the giardia symptoms again, but MUCH lesser, so this tells me my natural remedies are working much more effectively AND without the adverse gut effects I received from the antibiotics.
Thank you for this super helpful and well written post! I will be adding the garlic, fibre and broth to my daily regime, as well as the probiotic enema.
Antiobiotics are a problem, not a solution.
Thanks for sharing your “remedy”! I’m currently 3wks post giardia infection and am doing the diotomacious earth and oregano oil along with a cinnamon, ginger and garlic cocktail.
Can you keep us/me updated on your progress if you don’t mind?!
Much thanks and hope you heal up 100%!!!
Sara
WhaT portions do you use for the cinnamon, ginger, garlic cocktail?
LOL. Giardia GROSSS.
I went to India in the 1990s & got giardia. A lot of the long stay British travellers sweared that grapefruit seed extract was great at treating giardia. Always great to read your posts Ben, it would be great if you could come across the pond to do some talks etc
ray peat warns of heavy metals present in some both broths. I’d check it out with the amount your having.
Im sorry but this just feels like you took the chance to plug as many affiliates as possible. Its not a good look.
He drinks.his own coolaide, nothing wrong with making money on things that help people
I agree with you Jeff. Lots of plugs and shoutouts in the article. No offense but the plugs are a huge turnoff for me. I don’t mind the ND articles, but lets see some unbiased peer reviewed medical research from other sites that aren’t biased towards alternative medicine. Lets look at the pros and cons of your treatment vs traditional standard medical treatment with antibiotics, or even traditional based treatment with probiotic treatment regimens after to promote and restore the gut biome, lets see pros and cons with accurate stool analysis 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months post treatment. Lots of unnecessary suffering and experimentation if you ask me, and you most likely spent hundreds if not thousands more compared to the price of an antibiotic and some probiotics. It would be nice to have objective data to see what the status is of the giardia infection currently. I’m sure you started out with great intentions with health promotion, but now you’re turning into a hack with all your plugs.
I’m sick, I hate this Giardia! I’ve tried SCRAM, lots of garlic, oregano oil, grapefruit sweet extract, charcoal, goldenseal, ginger, to many things! I’ve fasted for 3 days I’ve reduced sugar intake. I only slightly got better after the SCRAM and then came right back. This is way to much Ben for a simpleton like myself, to much money I’m sure. I hate antibiotics and have been forced to take to much as a child. I want to be healed! Me and my poor boy have it. He’s 2 years old. We haven’t had a positive test but I’m sure it’s what we have. The symptoms are spot on.
add bentonite clay to the mix. that is key and most important to getting rid of Giardia
Hey Ben,
Sorry to hear this!
One of the reasons I found you years ago was my bout of this little bug. I had 3 false negative tests. I did 3 rounds of flagell. And my gut has never been the same. Lots of speculation with IBS and SIBO.
Best of luck.
Warmly,
Greg
Hi Ben,
My puppy has Giardia. I was tested, but thankfully do not have it. However, my dog is on his 2nd round of medication and still has extremely bad diarrhea. I am worried that he is nutrient deficient and that the Giardia plus medication is interfering with his development at such a young age. From what you did to get rid of them, what do you recommend is safe for dogs to try?
Many thanks!
Hey Sarah, I would recommend running some of these remedies by your vet. Or you can try asking the Kion Facebook Community. https://Facebook.com/groups/GetKion
Ben, I had a friend who is a Veterinarian inject himself with an animal vaccine for Giardia. He was hiking the Appalachian trail and he used it as a preventative measure. Not suggesting anyone do that (or even how to get ones hands on it) but he hasn’t gotten Giardia.
I had a positive giardia test back in april with no real symptoms. I found out I am pregnant now in June. My naturalpath was recommending a medication called Alinia, which I opted not to do since I am pregnant and wasn’t having symptoms. Its now August and I am having the symptoms now (major stomach pains, diarrhea getting more frequent). Im going to try your protocol but Ive found the berberine containing herbs to not be recommended during pregnancy. All the others seem to be ok, would you add any tweeks? My appetite is still ridiculous but I am worried nutritionally for the baby now that the diarrhea has been strong for over a week.
I am a healer and have practised full time for 21 years. I used cinnamon water as a foot soak to kill parasites in the body. Take 2 or 3 cinnamon sticks depending on the size of them. The ones I used were3 inches long and about the size of a dime in circumference. Bring these cinnamon sticks to a boil in a quart of water. Once it comes to a rolling boil, turn it down to a simmer for a few minutes. Let cool enough to use asa foot bath. May add cold water. Soak feet for at least 30 minutes. Notice that one can taste the cinnamon almost immediately when you place your feet into the water.
Do this a few times. You can use the cinnamon sticks over and over until they do not give off the cinnamon smell.
I also use sassafras oil but do not recommend it to pregnant women and children. I only use 2 drops of sassafras oil in a foot bath for 15 minutes.
Do you know if the cinnamon bark has the same components as cinnamon oil? I’ve had two severe reactions to cinnamon oil – once from ingesting cinnamon candy and losing all the skin in my mouth and one from topical when I made my own deodorant. I had a severe skin reaction throughout my body for a couple months. I think I might have parasites, but I don’t think my system can take any more antibiotics. I’m a delicate flower.
I would highly recommend taking this protocol to your doctor and going over it with him or her.
I’m also pregnant 22 weeks and have this nasty parasite. Did you end up getting rid of it and how?
I wonder What Effect Turpentine would have on this and others like it.
And Castor oil too.
It made me think of Dr. Jennifer Daniels ‘super cure’. Turpentine.
Thoughts?
So. Basically you did not survive the wilderness, without coming home and taking a load of supplements! Next time stay at the motel 6 😀
Ben – I picked up Giardia once when hunting and I was a mess – however, my wife’s mom told me to drink black tea and within an hour I was doing much better. I am a geologist and travel the planet in nasty places and have use this trick many times. Just a tip from an old geologist in Coeur d Alene.
Cheers,
John
sound familiar?
1. Stay on Gut Fix, with added non-fermentable carbohydrates in moderation. Squash, potato and white rice can be used to keep carbohydrate levels high enough to where you have what you need.
-If you have a juicer, juice 1-2x/day with fresh plantain leaves, 1/4 medium cabbage, 2 small to medium beets, 2 carrots, 2 stalks celery, 1 piece ginger. You can kind of hack this with a blender, but a juicer would work better, and you’d drink this once per day.
-Use herbal antibiotics and tinctures daily, such as goldenseal extract, phellodendron, coptis, cordynopsis, garlic extract, and oil of oregano. If you already have oil of oregano, I’d up it to 20 drops per day, then add in a Goldenseal extract from a GOOD source like MountainRoseHerbs.com at another 20 drops per day.
-Get on Mastic Gum. Use 1mg per day. I like Jarrow Formulas for this.
-No Kombucha or any other fermented, pickled, etc. foods
Hey Ben
Wish this kind of info was available in 1996 when my health was devastated from a year in Bolivia. Noone in Canada could help me and standard medical treatment was useless and negative. I found my way to functional medicine but still nothing like you have laid out here. Seems it was likely B Hominis and D Fragilis that got me. Still suffering 20+ yrs later altho much better than initially. Lost years of my life, all ability for sport and activity and career as i struggled. Tnx for this.
This may sound paranoid. But it’s usually spread through feral animals in the low income nieghbourhood and 3rd world countries. It could even pass-onto pets. Better keep a distance from animals.
I live in west Tennessee, in March 2019, I started having this tiny pain in the top left side of my stomach, as this pain progressed to severe pain through out the up part of my stomach and diarrhea, so did the progression of me trying to find what was wrong with me. I seen 5 GI doctors, about 6 primary care doctors and even went to Vanderbuilt. A year into having this a friend of mine told me: you have a parasite. She reminded me of our town having a broke water line and we were under a water boil alert. I did not know that we should have boiled the water. I could have only gotten this Giardia from my local area because I don’t travel and I don’t have any animals. Finally, in Nov. 2020, my friend called his friend who is a Veterinarian and he told him that I probably have Giardia, so when I went back to the doctor they could not find it through any tests I did. One of the nurses I seen even told me that we don’t have parasites in America! How un-educated some people can be. After I educated my self about Giardia, I knew I had it. It wasn’t till this July 2021, that it was finally found through a lab in Colorado, and so I decide to go the herbal therapy due to being on so many rounds of regular antibiotics the past 2 1/2 years. It is helping, but I still having issues. As I search for answers and read I am afraid this is going to last for longer than I want it too!
I just pray that anyone who has this can find help, because I have been treated terrible through out our local medical field. I still don’t have a local doctor to go too.
I know it sounds strange (and may be scary) but in many developing countries they use H2O2 (Hydrogen peroxide) to kill Giardia.
Drink a very week diluted solution in water (too strong is very dangerous) it will cure you by the next day. I have used it quite a few times successfully.
How weak is a weak solution?