The Secret To Treating Blastocystis Hominis: Don’t Treat It.
- Have you been struggling with chronic digestive issues?
- Have you completed stool testing and been diagnosed with Blastocystis hominis?
- Have you been told by your GP or naturopath that you need to take antibiotics or do a comprehensive gut
detoxification protocol to get rid of Blastocystis? - Have you already completed many rounds of antibiotics & gut detoxification protocols and still have Blastocystis?
- Have you gotten rid of Blastocystis and still feel awful, if not worse?
Stop Trying To ‘Treat’ Blastocystis Hominis
This may be a difficult idea to comprehend if you’ve been convinced that Blastocystis is the root of your chronic digestive symptoms
Logically it makes sense that Blastocystis must be the underlying cause of your digestive issues – you’ve had sluggish digestion and gut symptoms such as cramping, bloating, gas, abdominal discomfort and alternating bowels, you’re unusually fatigued, and have never been the same since travelling overseas & having a bout of gastroenteritis
Or maybe you have an autoimmune condition such as Hashmitos thyroiditis or Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), and have finally uncovered Blastocystis, which must be the main culprit
What a relief to find out you have Blastocystis and can now treat it using antibiotics or herbal treatments…
If only it were that simple
The reality is that according to the research we do not know if Blastocystis hominis is even a parasite, or pathogenic (disease-causing)
There are an estimated 1 billion people worldwide that have Blastocystis hominis, most of whom have no symptoms and are healthy
I meet so many clients at my practise in Sydney who are frustrated at having chronic gut issues, fatigue and brain fog, where all the typical recommendations and supplements they’ve been taking have not helped at all, and in many cases are now feeling worse
If so, this information is even more important for you
After consulting with clients and specialist practitioners in this area over many years, I educate as many people as I can that Blastocystis is most likely not very important
In my experience working with clients there are other underlying drivers of chronic digestive issues that are being overlooked
Before I go on any further, I’d like to highlight one very important point:
There is no known eradication strategy for Blastocystis hominis
Regardless of what any supplement company or practitioner has claimed
If anyone is claiming that you need no further investigation and just need to take a round of antibiotics/herbs and you’ll be fine, find a new physician
If i meet someone in Sydney or via skype and they have uncovered Blastocystis hominis, my approach is to focus on the entire clinical presentation of the individual, and come to ‘diagnostic closure’ by investigating and ruling out other things going on with your gut health.
This is incredibly important to understand
Most people make the mistake of fixating on Blastocystis as the cause of all their health issues, and typically go straight in with heavy antibiotic and herbal treatments, which typically leaves people with even more chronic gut issues that makes complete resolution harder to achieve in the long term. Antibiotics can temporarily relieve symptoms, but typically come back in time (and often worse)
Many practitioners – medical and naturopathic – immediately go in with the ‘kill’ approach, not really understanding the impact this is having on their client’s microbiome (and therefore, their entire well being)
GPs generally don’t know much about it and may prescribe antibiotics which don’t work, whilst negatively impacting the gut microbiome even further
Specialists may treat with extremely heavy antibiotics which typically leave people much worse-off, or just throw their hands up and admit they have no idea what to do about it and to ‘just live with it’
Many well-meaning naturopathic and herbal practitioners immediately treat with very strong herbal antimicrobials and essential oils, without investigating any further into the client’s gut microbiome and overall health picture
Herbal antimicrobial treatments (especially essential oils) can also have collateral damage on the gut microbiome as prescription antibiotics do. The major issue with all of these approaches is people end up much worse than before, regardless of whether or not they got rid of the Blastocystis hominis, due to side effects of antibiotics
GPs typically won’t go down the path of ruling out Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth, Chronic Gut Dysbiosis, Fructose intolerance, or Intestinal Hyper-Permeability (‘leaky gut’)..
.It’s crucial to investigate all other potential gut issues
There are many things that could be going on with your gut health that need to be ruled out:
- Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) (hallmark symptom is chronic bloating)
- Dysbiosis (imbalance of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ gut bacteria)
- Post-infective IBS (very common after travelling and having gastro)
- Ulcerative Colitis
- Crohn’s Disease
- Fructose Intolerance
- Coeliac Disease
- Gastro-Oesophageal Reflux Disease (GORD)
My Approach
Test – Don’t Guess!
Thorough investigative case-taking by a qualified practitioner is extremely important
Seeking help with the right practitioner is essential, don’t put yourself through unnecessary stress by trying to figure it out yourself!
- Ubiome Stool Test & Complete Microbiome Mapping (Nutripath) are the two stool tests I routinely order to get an accurate assessment of the gut microbiome. These stool tests are DNA-based, using quantitative PCR technology. They are highly accurate & sensitive, and are the preferred testing method over any ‘culture-based’ stool tests
- Majority of my clients are also tested for Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) – the majority of clients I’ve worked with who have Blastocystis ended up having severe cases of SIBO & chronic gut dysbiosis. By identifying the true underlying causes of their symptoms, we were able to treat appropriately without doing any more damage
Steven Judge
Sydney Naturopath
Wholistic Medical Centre (Surry Hills)
(02) 9211-3811
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Hello there and thank you for this information .
I have had ongoing gut issues for awhile now and last year was tested for blastocystis hominis .
I was treated with a herbal tincture which seemed to help and now 6 months later it seems to be creeping back .
I’m hoping to be guided in a new direction.
Hi Steve,
Happy to help, many clients of mine have found this blog and have worked with me since. Appropriate testing and analysis ensures people get the treatment they need.
You can book an appointment online or email me with any further queries – bookings@stevenjudge.com.au
Thank you for this very interesting article. Is there a reason why you mention autoimmune conditions in this context, and specifically Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis?
Thanks.
Hi Janie,
Main reason being that to treat any autoimmune condition you need to address gut dysbiosis, intestinal hyper-permeability (leaky gut) and/or Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)
Hello.. I live in Melbourne and was diagnosed with Blasto about 7 years ago although I think I’ve had it much longer.. have had antibiotics to no avail.. can you help
Thanks
Tricia
HI Tricia,
Sure can – I work in clinic and via tele-health, bookings can me made online via my wesbite. Any specific questions/queries please email me at bookings@stevenjudge.com.au
Treated for Blastocystis with antibiotics a few months ago after stool analysis revealed the cause of symptoms…going ok so far but not 100%…pretty sure these nasties triggered psoriasis…
What’s your recommendation as far as effective treatment?
Hi Saira,
It depends on underlying factors – i get all my clients to utilise microbiome testing to assess for gut dysbiosis, laky gut and/or SIBO, and treat depending on what their main drivers are. Alongside all appropriate blood testing to direct treatment properly
Hi Steven
Just reading this blog from you
How are you ?
I m from hinterland Gold Coast
I did just an ordinary poo test done by my doctor
It showed 2x parasites
Dientamoeba fragilis and blastocystis hominis
My doctor said to take antibiotics for 10 days what l ve been not doing for long long time as not keen on it
Symptoms are that l have for more than 6 months now
lots of grumpy music 😊l make in my stomach area BUT
MOST IMPORTANT is to get rid of is the itch on my female organs between my lips down there Sorry
AS VERY ANNOYING
I thought was fungal , was getting fungal vaginal cream for this , not helped much ,
So did a swob test
THIS came out negative. I m happy with that
But need to get rid of the itch now still
Doctor said parasites can itch there too
Is this so ?
I hope you can help me !
Thanks Steven
Hi Gerda,
Hard to answer without a proper discussion and consultation of your medical history, but I personally would suspect gut and vaginal bacterial dysbiosis, leaky gut and/or SIBO would be at the root of this problem, rather than the parasites