Day 1: Going down the Wormhole

I've gone down the wormhole now! I have just inoculated myself with 10 Necator Americanus (NA) hookworms that I bought online for $200USD using Bitcoin with the intention of treating plaque psorasis and allergies. After conversing with several providers I chose one that had good reviews and were very professional and responsive. Lastly, they ship to the US which is a convenience lifesaver. (Contact me directly if you want more information.)

My heart was beating quite fast as I unwrapped the package. I said a little prayer (can't hurt) and followed the instructions and placed it on my shoulder. About 12 minutes later it started itching from the larvae penetrating my skin, but let's be real, having suffered from plaque psorasis for 10 years now I'm already used to a burning itching sensation on my arms and legs. I'm intrigued about what's to come and will be documenting my experience and testing how/if my microbiomes changes along the way using a home UBiome test ($220 USD).

I chose to start with 10 NA as a low-medium range dose. Many people choose 25 right off the bat but I was encouraged with results that showed 5-10 NA can have the same benefits without some of the gastrointestinal side effects.



While my girlfriend and some other people in my life find this whole thing concerning, I am fascinated with the potential. I decided to go ahead with helminthic therapy after trying UV therapy and using topicals for decades with little control of the plaques. After more than seven months of careful research on helminthic therapy while weighing the potential side effects and cost of this type of experimental therapy (e.g stomach ache, heartburn) against using pharmaceutical biologic drugs (like Humira) and its side effects (e.g headache, cancer) and cost.

The fact these biologic drugs have only been around just over decade and we don't really know what the lifetime side effects of them are versus having a small colony of 10 NA which have been living in humans for thousands of years seems to be a saner approach.

Also, fuck Big Pharma. Humira is one of the most profitable drugs of all time  with each patient costing over $20,000 per year to treat! If helminthic therapy for me is successful and I can treat psorasis instead with a few hundred dollars (out of my own pocket) then I demand my insurance company's accounts payable department to write me a personal letter thanking me!

Down the Rabbit Wormhole with some "Old Friends" 

I'm 27 years old with an Ashkenazi Jewish background (like 98% according to 23andMe), and besides environmental allergies and plaque psorasis have been quite healthy. I run, bike, dance, and do yoga at least 4-5 times per week. I love to travel to developing countries and have just returned from a four month trip around Southeast Asia this past year. Frankly just eating street food off a bike-trolly in Vietnam probably has as much risk of contamination as this well packaged

Plaque psorasis has gotten worse over the last 10 years and has been popping up on more parts of my body causing physical and and emotional discomfort. That said I have never wanted to mess with my immune system using pharmaceutical immunosuppressant drugs designed to treat psorasis as the side effects are too long to list here.

Last year I read Moises Velasquez-Manoff's An Epidemic of Absence: A New Way of Understanding Allergies and Autoimmune Diseases and spent countless hours reading the helminthic wiki, individual blogs, documentaries I slowly became convinced that this was worth trying based on the "old friend" hypothesis. 

I now embark on this journey and will be blogging every week or so as my own record and I hope you learn something too!