Re: Parasite ID

This is EXACTLY what I've been experiencing off-and-on for the past three years. I'm a 36-yr-old male living in the United States. It started shortly after I got married and had a honeymoon in the Caribbean.
These dark, tissue-like strings showing up in your stool looks identical to mine. Dramatic weight loss and gain. Brain fog. Pretty much everything you mentioned. Also, I notice my tongue is coated white when I'm having these problems.
When it was at it's worst, it was accompanied by a strange vomiting syndrome and I lost close to a hundred pounds, then my weight went back up again when the vomiting stopped and I was able to eat. I was also getting suicidal ideation and other mental symptoms, which was extremely scary for me because I have no history of Depression or mental illness. I had just gotten married and had everything to live for, so it didn't make any sense.
I wish I could tell you whether this was candida or parasites. I lean toward the candida explanation, but I don't really know for sure. I too have had parasite tests and stool cultures done and they all come back negative. I've been to doctors and naturopaths. They all say I'm medically healthy and have no explanation for it.
I became so desperate at one point, I sent away for some medicine they give to primates from the UK, illegal to sell in the US for human consumption. It was a white powder I had to mash into guacamole (because it's fat soluable), and it was supposed to destroy the "chitin layer" of whatever candida or parasites are in your colon. I think it helped a little, but ultimately didn't make it go away.
Once I noticed my symptoms were much, much worse when consuming sugar, it became a lot easier to manage.
After trying all kinds of supplements and remedies for years (and continuing to suffer), the thing that finally helped me manage it is avoiding Sugar and occasionally drinking a six-week course of pau D'arco tea. Traditional Medicinals makes it and it should be easy to find at any health food store.
Once I did that, I was in remission for more than a year, feeling great at a weight of 160 lbs. Lately, as I've become more lax about eating Sugar and things our body turns into Sugar (like commercial pizza, potatoes, ice cream and the like) my weight has slowly creeped up past 200 lbs and my stool is looking like yours again. I just bought a box of pau D'arco and I'm hoping that will flush it out.
Please, if anyone can identify what this is I would love to know so that I can fight it and hopefully eliminate it completely. It's a horrible, horrible thing to live with.
Thanks for sharing your story and pics. It's good to know I'm not the only person dealing with this.
Good luck, my friend, and I hope me sharing my story helps you in some way.

--Steve