Worms and Movements in my Brain?

Worms and Movements in my Brain?

Dr. Bibbi,

I appreciate what you are doing concerning your regular article in the Sun newspaper. There is a little problem I'd like to share with you. Sometimes ago, I was feeling some movement inside my body, I went to a respectable government hospital where I undergo a urine test. The result of the test was negative. The doctor prescribed some a drug amongst which was a worm expeller. The movement disappears for sometimes. But now they've reappeared and it’s as if the worms or so I think have now invaded other parts of the body including probably the brain because I can feel some of the movements there. I even read it somewhere that the larvae of Ascaris can actually travel to the brain. Please what do you think I can do about it? Thank you very much. Please treat this ASAP.

TJO; Yola; Adamawa

Dear TJO,

The plain truth is -- no worms move into the head  of anybody --as in you begin to feel the worms and its movement; okay? Oh some can move across the eye-- the famous Loa loa does this -- and you can feel some in your throat and anus, and a times under the skin -- but in reality when folks talk about worms moving all over their body -- or if not worms -- other things -- some say objects; others say "something", it is well known among doctors all over the world -- as well as psychiatrists and is called "Somatisation Syndrome. Let me explain -- When you hear the word "syndrome" in medicine, it means doctors do not fully understand what is going on. Somatisation comes from the Greek word "soma" meaning body. Yes the patient feels bodily symptoms; no doubt, BUT their origin is not in the body-- there is no physical or organic -- as in organ -- problem; no. Nothing wrong with the physical kidney, lung, eye, brain, bone or any other physical organ--vagina, penis -- call it whatever you like-- It is a problem originating  in -- not the body, but the  mind. How? Does this mean the patient is mad or going mad or imagining things? NOT AT ALL!!!  It only means that there are anxieties, conflicts, worries, uncertainties, guilt, fears, some hidden stress or the other affecting the patient's MIND and causing the symptoms felt... Example? Oh, he could be rewriting JAMB or doing post-JAMB verification. The landlord could be after him. He could have slept with his neighbour's wife; the EFCC could be after him-- these hidden strains are becoming overwhelming and his mind -- since nobody can see the mind to know when and how to take care of it --is now trying to make him resolve the issues by turning the hidden conflicts to bodily symptoms that the mind knows will be easily taken notice of and addressed. In Africans, a whole lot of research has shown that it is such conditions --we call them "neuroses"-- that foster things like the feeling that worms or ants or objects are moving all over the body -- when in reality they are not. The remedy? 1. Explanation as I have done.2. Recognition of the hidden cause of trouble in the mind. 3. Counseling to resolve the issue. 4. Certain anxiolytics or neuroleptics -- medicines that work on the mind-body connection  to relieve these feelings while the patient --if properly tutored has time to sort themselves out.

But then, why did you feel better when you were given worm meds? First-- the doctor should have attempted to document if you had worms in reality -- very simply ordered an analysis of your stool. It really could be you have worms. But if I were to hazard a guess, I would say, no. Worms or worm medicine really had not one thing to do with your feeling better. You see, you just had a psychological relief that is common --- and recognized by well-trained doctors -- that whenever you see a doctor and take some medication whether the medication works or not you and your mind being now put at rest that you are in good hands, begin -- automatically to get better -- even if what you got from the doctor was ordinary starch or just chalk. We call this the placebo effect. It is because of this that Western trained doctors insist on vigorously testing remedies; medicaments and what have you-- just to make sure that they really work -- and the stories of success you hear about whatever the remedy are not just due to the placebo effect. What to do now? See a good doctor (if you want to see us-- send a mail for our address) who understands what he is about. Better a psychiatrist.  He should sort you out easily. If not, send me feedback

Cheers