# How long can you have Giardia untreated?



## Guest (Jun 16, 1999)

Does anyone know if you can have Giardia for several years and not have it diagnosed? I read somewhere that the symptoms can increase and decrease periodically. Is it possible to have it long term if you are not treated for it, or if the treatment isn't long enough? I have searched the web for info about it, but have not seen anything about how long you can have it.


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## Guest (Jun 17, 1999)

Flux, we need you.....


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## christine (Jun 4, 1999)

Cheri's Mom--This is what I remember reading about giardia when I had it. Generally, MOST cases of giardia resolve themselves within 10 days to two weeks. The giardia enters the system, "hatches" so to speak, multiplies/colonizes, and then is "shed out" usually causing diarrhea during the shedding process. For most people, this will be the end of it. However, it can continue to go through these breeding/shedding cycles which is why, in an early case of giardia, you will usually have several days of no diarrhea and then BAM, you will have it. This is how mine started. For some reason, there are particularly strong strains or there are some people who are more hospitable hosts to giardia and it doesn't leave. Although, some things I've read say that giardia can take as long as 100 days to resolve. I had it for 2 months before any treatment. Now, maybe if I had waited another month or two it may have disappeared on its own, but I probably would have weighed 90 lbs by then!! There are rare instances where it doesn't resolve and the standard Flagyl treatment is ineffective. There is another drug used to treat it; however, it is no longer in use in the U.S. I think it starts with a "Q" but I can't remember the spelling.Christine


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

I donï¿½t think there is any rule that says giardia must go away after a certain period of time. It seems certainly plausible to have a mild, chronic infection for years, and I donï¿½t think that would necessarily have to rare either. (In a third-world country, you probably couldnï¿½t tell because the people are continually being re-infected.)As far as I know Flagyl is more effective than quinacrine, which isnï¿½t around apparently anywhere. The other drug that is the best is tinidazole, which is not in the US.


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## loosey (May 28, 1999)

I can tell you of my story with giradia. I had it chronic for 5 years without treatment. I was treated with Atabrine (quinicrine, it was available through the emergency drug release program in Ontario up to 4 years ago) and 2 doses of Flagyl (metronidazole). The second dose of flagyl that I was given was double the recommended strength and for twice the recommended period of time. It did kill everything off, including any natural bacteria in the body. I was left with an internal infection and fever that lasted for over a year. I prayed to die because I was in such agony. A Ob/Gyn finally opened me up to discover the extent of the infection. Another dose of a different antibiotic, it cleared. Unfortunately I was still left with the diarrhea. I visited 2 internests, one told me that giardia can go into the upper intestines and go unditected. I then went to the Centre for Tropical Diseases in Toronto, as I travelled in the South Pacific. I was thoroughly checked out and given the all clear with the giardia or anything else, but was told that I had IBS. That was about 8 years ago, and I still have IBS.


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## Blair (Dec 15, 1998)

I think forever. Only some people get real sick. Succesful parasites don't want to disable their host. They just want to ride along spreading themselves across the planet. [This message has been edited by Blair (edited 06-17-99).]


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## Guest (Jun 17, 1999)

Thanks, everyone for answering! I swear this bulletin board is all that keeps me sane sometimes. I spent hours on the internet looking for information about this particular aspect of Giardia, but couldn't find anything. Two summers ago Cheri was treated with Flagyl and seemed 100% better, then about 2-3 weeks after finishing it, it started up again. She went on it again, but not at a higher dosage, and it didn't help much. I've been wondering if she could have had and still have Giardia. I'm going to see if her ped. gastro. doctor will test her for it again. I worry though because from what I've read, the tests don't always show up positive, even if you have it. Anyways, thanks again for responding.


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## Tatty (Oct 23, 2012)

I was diagnosed in 1995 with giardiasis after travelling in India by a test positive stool sample.I was given a single course dose of metronidazole and quickly got better however I soon after developed loose bowel movements but only once a day in the morning and bloating flatulance and was told that I had developed post infection IBS I experimented with many diets over the years but none seemed to cure symptoms completely or permanently then about 2 years ago a special visit from a family member who is a coeliac led us to eat gluten free for a few days the improvement was remarkable and continued for the two years till now with only the odd upset. But then a few weeks back the old symptoms returned out of the blue and it does'nt seem to matter what my diet the same symptoms remain early morning urgency and a lot of flatulence. I began looking in to post giardiasis studies online in relation to this and then it suddenly dawned on me from reading the accounts of others that the parasite may still be living within me all these years later.That maybe the wheat free gluten free diet had subdued it by creating an unfavourable alkaline environment . Then possibly an overindulgence in sugar or something had caused this recent flare up. I know from experience if i talk to my Doctor here in Ireland he will be pretty uneducated in this area and it will take much persuasion to get the right test to prove my theory. so I have decided to embark on a parasite cleansing diet using natural remedies I have been taking Pau D arco tea and garlic and cloves oil for a few days which are lessening symptoms a little but not much I am also taking digestive enzymes and waiting for herbal supplements of Berberine Wormwood and grapefruit seed oil to arrive in the post these I think will prove the most effective and I intend to combine this approach with a gluten alcohol dairy and sugar free diet. I will let you know how it goes.


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## Goldfinch (Sep 9, 2012)

Tatty, I suggest seeing a specialist and getting tested for various parasites or other illness before embarking on a cleansing diet. You may even have a different parasite or you may want to find a doctor with experience in post infectious IBS. From my experience with giardia it does not lie dormant in the system for long periods of time. If there's any bacteria alive after a course of antibiotics, they will just start multiplying and you will be back where you started. Metronizidal (Flagyl) is a nasty drug, unfortunately, and can take a toll on your system, so if you do take it again perhaps consult your doctor about how to maintain a good balance of bacteria in your system. Yes, I know, many docs are not experts and many don't encourage preventive medicine.


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## Tatty (Oct 23, 2012)

Hi i am very happy to report that i am feeling very much better, my bowels have settled and bowel movements have become normal this is without taking berberine grapefruit seed extract or wormwood. but I have taken garlic pau d arco tea and clove oil on a daily basis and stuck to the caffeine dairy wheat and alcohol free diet I also excluded peas and beans. If you are wondering what I eat breakfast consists of buckwheat flakes with rice milk and banana lunch is avocado tomato and onion sandwich made with gluten free seeded bread or fish with mixed salad and banana to follow,and an evening meal of vegetables with fish or millet and vegetables or roasted vegetables with nut roast or one of a variety of mostly vegetable based meals. Goldfinch I have read that the giardia amoeba can remain active in the pancreatic duct and this is why drugs like flagyl are ineffective in some patients and some times tests do not reveal giardiasis cysts. however maybe it is herbs teas and diet maybe it is quelling parsite infection but i do know I am doing something right.


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## Blackamoor (Sep 5, 2015)

Loosey, your story parallels mine. After living in Israel for almost a year, I began getting "flu-like" symptoms that just wouldn't leave. Returning to Canada, my GP diagnosed 'flu'. I became very depressed, had pyschiatric treatment, was diagnosed first with "an epileptic-like" condition. Then that diagnosis was countered by another psychiatrist, who said I was bipolar. I took Lithium but stopped after 6 mos as I became very water-logged and more depressed!

5 years later I went to my GP, who was replaced by his brother, also a GP, who did a stool sample. He asked me if I had ever lived in a tropical country. After hearing my story, he said, "you have giardiasis plus you're anaemic". He boosted my iron levels, gave me 2 doses of Flagyl, and symptoms abated. Years later I was hospitalized and the diagnosis was Crohn's disease. I believe the misdiagnosis & subsequent untreated giardiasis set me up for allowing the Crohn's disease to flourish.


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## Celesteb (Nov 27, 2017)

Hi - So I first got infected with Giardia in May of 2013, diarrhea ensued but I didn't receive antibiotics (flagyl) until end of June 2013. The flagyl didn't work, and I was given two more rounds of more antibiotics, which also didn't work (in Canada btw). By end of October, I still couldn't eat anything, I had lost thirty pounds and my diarrhea was still bad. But now all of my good biotics were gone from my intestine, causing the inability to digest even the little bit of food I could stomach. (Bananas and rice pretty much). By November, I found a science journal study online that Oregon grape root had been used successfully to cure giardia in school age boys in India. I used it as both capsules and tea, and immediately had relief - you could actually see the infection being wiped out in the toilet, as an almost glossy oil on the surface of the water. Fast forward four years to now, I still have bad gas, get diarrhea upon eating any yeasts, sugars or dairies, and yes, still suffer from a giardia infection. With my first infection the intestinal doctor told me that giardia lives in the small intestine, which explains the cramping and pain I was having there. Now when I eat too much sugar or dairy, I get sharp shooting pain and tons of uncomfortable noises from the small intestine area. I flush it out using Oregon grape root capsules, but can never seem to get them all out. From what I've read, once you have it, you can have it for life. While my extreme symptoms of the initial infection are gone, I still definitely have it. Hope this helps other sufferers out there, as antibiotics aren't always a solution.


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## my2cents (Mar 22, 2020)

I had all the symptoms of giardiasis and was trying to live with it. But I received a notice that I should get a colonoscopy because I was turning 50. Well the preparatory meds and fluids whipped out the giardia. Something to think about as an alternative treatment.


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