It's time to take my third dose of whipworm ova already--can't hardly believe how it sneaks up on me. There's not much to be done by way of preparations. I will plan on eating a lighter, less challenging, diet than usual today and for a few days going forward. Then, I will take a little vial of clear liquid out of my fridge, which I hope and pray contains 500 viable TT ova, and drink that up just before bedtime tonight, which is the quietest time for my belly, so there's less chance of the eggs getting swept out the digestive tract. Tomorrow and maybe for a day or two after, I will take a good dose of imodium to slow down my digestion and give those fellas the opportunity to settle in. Other than that, life will go on as normal.
I have yet to reap any benefit from the wigglers I have taken thus far, and that is to be expected. If I am calculating correctly, the first dose I took 8 weeks ago should just be getting attached to the lining of my colon and will soon start laying eggs of their own. Don't worry, these eggs cannot be fertilized in my colon, so there's little risk of developing a raging worm population. They should harmlessly pass through my stool and into the toilet. I will take a stool test in another month or six weeks to make sure those eggs are there, which is the only sure way to know if the worms are alive. (Barring another colonscopy, which I'm not up for.) Once we know they are alive, it will still take a little while for me to expect to feel much better, and even then, it will likely be a slow improvement, not like flipping some kind of switch. So I'm thinking that by Christmas time, I can expect to feel better.
Of course, knowing all of this does not stop me from reading into every single symptom I'm having. The last month has been a little extra rocky for me, and I'm hoping that means there is a battle being waged by my immune system trying to expel my worms and my worms fighting right back. I've had more b.m.'s, they have been less formed, they have come throughout the day (whereas they are usually bunched up in the morning), they have been more urgent, and I've started seeing some blood and just a bit of mucus again after having gotten that under control earlier this summer. All of this could mean the worms are getting settled...or it could mean nothing. I hate that about having UC. There's just no way of controlling all the variables to know what's causing what.
But I do think I'm doing a bit better this week. Have been eating and drinking a bit more freely the last few days, and have had no urgency emergencies. Of course, some of this may be attributable to the fact that I went coffee-free for a week (fell off the wagon today, but I'll get back on), plus I added YET ANOTHER enema to my daily regimen for the last 8 days. So now, in addition to my daily asacol, prednisone, azathioprine, and monthly Remicade infusions, I take two suppositories, a hydrocortisone foam enema, and a hydrocortisone liquid enema each day. Geez. When you put it THAT way, one really wonders why I'm not doing better than I am.
Which makes me all the more hopeful that the worms are the answer! God, I sure hope so.
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