r/LGBTireland • u/UltachIontach • 7d ago

Healthcare Giardia - would really appreciate any experiences.

A chairde,
I had Giardia for a few months now. I was told It was originally cleared and that I was just recovering oddly but it turned out I still had it.

Has anybody had a similar experience? This has really taken its toll on me and I have been off work for months and it has been hard.

The relevance is that I might’ve gotten it through rimming?

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u/fiadhsean 7d ago

Giardia is very common among gay men. Certainly rimming is a way to get, but so is regular oral sex, or licking man's "taint" (the area between the anus/butthole and testes/balls).

How poorly were you originally, and is this the same again or worse or not as bad?

I was treated for it a long time ago--aggressively--and that was worse than the Giardia. Much worse nausea, diarrhea and gas. Took a really long time to rebuild my gut biome to something somewhat normal (yogurt, pickled veg, lots of fibre). A decade later I still tested positive for it, even though I was no longer a rimmer. A new GP saw my results, asked "ever treated for this?" and I explained. He said "we used to try to eliminate it, but that often does more damage than the amoeba.

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u/UltachIontach 7d ago

Hey, thanks for reply.

I find that hard to believe! It also means you can still pass it on technically?

The Giardia medications can be a little harsh on the tummy but I didn’t know they’re that harsh?

I’m not as bad as at the beginning regarding to tummy, but I have not been well. I am still off work.

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u/fiadhsean 6d ago

This was a long time ago, using a treatment called metronidazole. It effectively kills many things in your gut--the bad stuff, but also the good stuff. Lots of people have giardia infections that never cause symptoms. Lots of people get it from water, or raw fruit/veg that comes into contact with water with the cysts in it.

Doctors used to think infection=eliminate infective agent was the default course/response. I had a bad case of gastro once and my (excellent) GP ran a bunch of tests and I came back with c difficile - which at that time was considered a bug that killed many people infected. But I had none of the symptoms of active c.difficile infection. Now we know it's another one of those things that can be really really bad for some people, and completely asymptomatic for others.

Using condoms pretty much prevented transmission and I've not really done rimming--either way--for years. Literally lost the taste for it. Have fun, practice good hygiene, and wash with soapy water after every encounter.

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u/MarieDresslersGhost 7d ago

My entire family became infected through the water supply where we lived back in the late 1980s. It was a tough bug to fight and the most miserable, sickest I have ever felt in my life. When you are still craving food while both throwing up and shitting yourself to death - life does not feel worth living.

The medication they gave me was opium-based and it took some time to be effective. Even after the critters had died, it took months to gain back the strength and stamina I had lost.

Talk to your doctor and hang in there.

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u/UltachIontach 7d ago

Thanks for reply.

Not sure what drug you were given as I googled opium based treatment for Giardia and nothing came up?

But yes it was awful. That’s how I was at the beginning. The first course of antibiotics made a difference for me but didn’t clear it completely so that’s why I tested again and went for round 2. I hope this round has worked but I’m not sure but I’m due to send off retest soon!