Helminthic therapy and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

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Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder characterized by a group of symptoms that commonly include abdominal pain, abdominal bloating, and changes in the consistency of bowel movements.

The scientific evidence[edit | edit source]

There are many more publications on the Helminthic therapy and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) page. Notably, there are numerous studies on animal models of colitis listed on this page.

2025 Oct Hooked on Worms: Diving Into Human Helminth Therapy (Conference)
✅ 2023 Nov Helminths' therapeutic potential to treat intestinal barrier dysfunction -- Full text | PDF
2019 Mar 18 Schistosoma mansoni Coinfection Attenuates Murine Toxoplasma gondii-Induced Crohn's-Like Ileitis by Preserving the Epithelial Barrier and Downregulating the Inflammatory Response
2018 Jun 19 Characteristics of the bacterial microbiome in association with common intestinal parasites in irritable bowel syndrome -- Full text | PDF
2018 Apr A sticky end for gastrointestinal helminths; the role of the mucus barrier -- Full text | PDF
2017 Jan 2 Helminths and intestinal barrier function -- Full text | PDF
2015 Sep Enteric nematodes and the path to up-regulation of type 2 cytokines IL-4 and IL-13
(Includes mention of increased cell turnover to maintain an effective gut barrier in the presence of helminths.)
2012 May Helminthic therapy: improving mucosal barrier function -- Full text | PDF
2011 Nov 21 Schistosoma japonicum ova maintains epithelial barrier function during experimental colitis -- Full text | PDF

Media Coverage[edit | edit source]

2021 Dec 9 Rosemary's Story: From Food Intolerant to Foodie with Helminthic Therapy - The Sensitive One (Podcast)
2009 Nov Wriggling out of Food Intolerance - John Scott, Foods Matter

The anecdotal evidence[edit | edit source]

Also see Helminthic therapy and bowel function.

The first report is more detailed than the quotes that follow it.

TSO relieves fibromyalgia, IBS and rheumatoid arthritis

"And the impact on my disease, complete cure, is nothing short of miraculous." (Link expired)

"... it was quite a day when I realized all my IBS symptoms had gone. Very happy with the results." (Link expired)

"Having recently added 10 hookworms to my whipworms, the IBS symptoms have halved. I can now tolerate lots of foods that i had previously cut out, such as brown bread, nuts, wheat, citrus fruit, the list goes on." (Link expired)

"ibs no longer causes discomfort…" (Link expired)

"Very sensitive stomach, my doctor classes it as IBS, bowel issues etc. I got to the point where I could not sleep in a bed as my stomach would do cartwheels after half an hour horizontal and I can't sleep. Doctors had no idea, and I started sleeping in a chair. Now after a year with hookworms, I am sleeping in a bed again and my bowel issues are substantially improved." (Reported in a private discussion, Apr 2012)

"17 weeks after the inoculation (with NA), I am in a partial and stable remission from my IBS symptoms (45 days in remission). So, I am very happy..." [1] And an update, almost 8 years later: "HT was the best thing that happened in my life, regarding my chronic inflammatory diseases. I have been doing HT since 2012, and I am currently at my best... Almost full recovery." [2]

☹️ A 40-year-old male with IBS since foreign travel and subsequent treatment with various antibiotics 23 years earlier, who inoculated with a total of approximately 150 hookworm and 2,700 whipworm during a two year period, reported that he had seen no benefits at three years after the first inoculations. He had also not experienced any side effects or overall worsening of his condition that he can attribute to the helminths. (Condensed from a personal message.)

"Second inoculation for the treatment of IBS a week ago. Very mild rash and I am very happy. I was thinking about what my life was like some months ago, and today it is very different. I am feeling healthy and able to do lots of things I couldn’t do before. Able, for example, to do a full time job, without worrying about having to go to the toilet all the time, or about not being able to stay away from home all day. Much healthier and much better quality of life!" [3]

"I have IBS and lactose/gluten intolerance … The symptoms were pain, bloating, diarrhea, gas. I must confess: I was very skeptical about the treatment. But by the 7th week it has been amazing! I can not explain, but I feeling my body "stronger". I took courage and began to eat certain foods (bread, corn bread, soy milk, beans, sweet bread topped with condensed milk) and didn’t get sick. This was impossible until last week!! And, to further test, I ate a sandwich at Subway. Unbelievable! After years, I ate a sandwich and didn’t get sick. Extremely happy with my hookworm fellows! This is simply a new condition for me. That never happened before (in 14 years): to be diet free and healthy, without any medication. I don’t know if this improvement is temporary and how long it will last ... But I'm enjoying every second of it!" [4]

“I have now just gotten back (2 days ago) from travelling around the world since January. I came to one of those ‘lifes to short’ moments, chucked in my job (have to start looking for one now) and had the best year of my life broadening my horizons. I give my worms a big tick for the fantastic year I have had - one of the healthiest years of my life. I have been more tolerant of a larger variety of foods, and after a year of travelling, including third world countries, throughout south America, Africa, japan, turkey, Europe, and north America, I only got a 3 hour diarrhoea episode once (after brekkie in cairo).” (Reported in a private message, Dec 2012)

“The hookworms seem to be working tremendously! Starting in September (5 months post-dose) the symptoms of my irritable bowel started to decline (I had less bloating, diarrhea, etc.). And my intestinal situation has continued to improve. I used to not be able to eat dairy, gluten, kidney beans, eggs, sesame seeds, peanuts, cranberries without major discomfort and intestinal problems. And at this point I can now eat any dairy, small portions of gluten, small amounts of eggs, peanut butter, cranberries. I feel tremendously more healthy. I have gained a little weight, in part because I need to rediscover the right amount of food now that my diet is so significantly expanded. I also think I'm digesting food more than I used to. Overall my quality of life feels greatly enhanced without constant intestinal problems and so many food restrictions. I've had irritable bowel symptoms since I was a small child, so this is really the first time in my life I've felt this well.” (Written 6 weeks after this individual’s 3rd dose of hookworms, and reported in a private message, Nov 2013)

☹️ “Because i only experienced side effects I terminated my hookworms early jan, 2014. I hosted HW for about two years trying to control my IBS. For me it turns out that a different diet is the way to go!” [5]

“I have been getting HDC for the past 6 months for allergic rhinitis and IBS, both of which which I have been battling for years. The improvements were amazing! I've been taking a dose of 25 - 30 every 3 - 4 weeks since September. Both issues are virtually gone when i'm on them. The effects seem to last for 3 - 4 weeks. I can tell when I need a new dose because my symptoms suddenly re-appear. Then when I take another does within a day or two, huge improvement!” (Reported to a closed group, Mar 2014)

“I am currently hosting NA with no ill effects and only benefits. NA has completely mitigated my IBS symptoms, within a few months. Am now at a year+.” [6]

“Hookworm has put my lifetime of post-infectious IBS into an almost remission. I was first hospitalized at age 18 months with chronic diarrhea and pneumonia. I am now almost 57 years old. It took me 16½ months of therapy to get here. I am absorbing foods. I have been able to gain weight. I no longer have a carnitine deficiency and my vitamin D levels increase now that I am absorbing food. TSO worked quickly to get my IBS in remission but I switched to the human worms almost 19 months ago. I had side effects from all IBS meds but the only side effect I seem to get from hookworm is a rash." [7]

“I’ve just hit the 14th week with 25 NA on board and my IBS(D) / SIBO has improved about 50 percent and is improving every week!” [8] And, an update after two years: “I’m symptom free 95 percent of the time. I’m still dosing 1-2 HW every couple of weeks. The powerful combination of low dose naltrexone and hookworms is by far the most efficacious treatment I’ve seen, and the best thing is they're both relatively cheap. I stoped taking whipworms as they didn’t offer any greater benefits.” [9]

“Week 17 (with 5 NA). Wow. So after a long time of little social interaction due to Covid, I met friends for three days in a row… I usually regret having a few glasses of wine and eating out. Not this time though. My gut just shows no real reaction at all. So ALL my terrible IBS symptoms are still gone. No digestion issues at all. I was so used to my gut sending me signals of "don't do it, don't drink, don't eat this, don't do that". Now, nothing. I had small amounts of gluten too and even had some beer. None of that seemed to derail my current well-being. This has to be the worms. And I only have 5 of them so far! I'm beyond amazed by this. Haven't felt like this as far back as I can remember.” [10] And an update, 6 weeks later. “So it's over three weeks after my second inoculation with 3 NAs. Feeling really good overall. I keep improving. No more IBS… My life quality has improved tremendously. I can eat out without problems. And I don't need to worry anymore. Love it :)” [11]

“After almost 30 years of suffering from chronic diarrhea, diagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), I can now say, with great certainty, that I am cured, and that this is a result of using helminths to restore my microbiome. Just 32 days after starting helminthic therapy, in January 2012, with an inoculation of NA, I had the best improvement I had experienced in over 10 years. I then did a further 8 or 9 inoculations of NA between January 2012 and March 2019, and managed to achieve a very good level of remission with up to 80% improvement. However, living in a poor country, far away from helminth providers meant that it was often difficult to get doses of NA delivered to my home in Brazil. Shipments would always take a long time to arrive, and sometimes they didn’t arrive at all. Then the COVID-19 pandemic made this situation worse, so I tried supplementing my NA colony with fortnightly doses of 250 TSO, which are easier to obtain. After the second or third dose of TSO, I am in complete remission. The improvement is 100%, to the point that my intestinal functioning is now sometimes like it was in the early 1980s, when I was under 10 or 11 years old. I can now eat whatever I want, without any restrictions. It's really amazing!” (Edited from several posts in this thread.)

“I'm in month 14 after I started treatment, and I've inoculated so far with 5/3/5/7 NA. I can now safely say that I'm seeing amazing benefits. Gone are the days of terrible IBS-D, gurgling, urge, discomfort, indigestion, fatigue and insatiation, and the improvement in life quality is tremendous.” [12] And an update after 5 years. "It's now been over 5 years and 18 inoculations of NA later. I've worked my way up very slowly from 3 and 5 NAs to my recent dose of 20 NA. I have no symptoms from the worms apart from the rash on my skin. I'm treating IBS-D and gluten/lactose intolerance. There have been many ups and downs and a long adaptation process. I can say that it really affected my IBS-D very positively. My gluten tolerance is better now and my diet is a lot sloppier than it used to be but my body still doesn't like gluten. It is however a lot easier for me to manage the symptoms and the debilitating IBS doesn't flare up even remotely as much as it used to. Overall, I'm very happy and satisfied. It took a lot of trust and hope to stick with it but I did. I will keep at it and can only encourage others as well. It just takes PATIENCE more than anything. [13]

"Just a small number of NA (3) made a difference to my IBS. The first lot gave me an initial flare but I was seeing good results after 6 weeks." [14]

"I started off with HDC in 2015 and they worked. But it became impossible to get them in a timely manner and I stopped taking them. That’s when I started taking the other worms, but I just haven’t gotten the same results. I took NA for a couple of years and didn’t any see improvement with my IBS, and TSO helps for a couple of days after taking it, then stops working for a couple of weeks. The probiotic, VSL#3, has done the most good for my IBS." (Via private message)