# Vermox???



## Levi_501 (Aug 13, 2011)

Hello people

We have now been living here several months and one of my colleagues asked if we had de-parasited?

My imediate response was, what are you talking about???

He went on to tell me that most Mexicans take Vermox once every six months to a year to kill any nasties whisch may be living inside you.

Has anyone else heard about this practise or do you do it???

Thanks in advance.


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## johnmex (Nov 30, 2010)

I have been here 20 years and never taken anything for parasites. Maybe if you eat at questionable taco stands you should though ....


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## Belizegirl (Oct 21, 2010)

I have heard of the practice and first heard about Vermox from one of my expat friends who take it. She strongly recommended it. 

I later spoke to local friends and they told me to absolutely not take it. I think I like their advice.


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

We have a number of friends that swear by it as they travel throughout Central America.
It is actually for amoebas and about the only way to kill them. Unchecked they cause a diarrhea cycle that goes away and then comes back worse. I don't take periodically but if I do have a bout of diarrhea that is more than once, I take it and then again 30 days later in case eggs were laid. In 10 years, maybe 3 times but I keep a supply that has been used by friends multiple times.
Amoebas are not a cleanliness issue such as bacteria that are killed by the standard disinfectant process.


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

If you are infected with parasites, you will know it.

THEN is the time to take this drug. It's not a prophylactic, and no medication is benign. Why on earth would you take something that kills parasites that you don't have, if you don't need it?

It's relatively free of major side effects, but you can be allergic to it. And, like most things that can cause allergic reactions, repeated exposure to it will increase the likelihood of a reaction.

If it were me, I'd pass. I'd want to be able to have it as an option if, and when, I actually needed it.


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

Unfortunately experience here is not that straight forward. Amoebas tend to cause a period of diarrhea and then it stops. It then comes back 2-4 weeks later but more severe and this continues till a real problem causes hospitalization. In my case, I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Sort of reminds me of Lyme's disease which also cyclical and becomes very serious if don't respond to a bout, in the case of Lyme's disease, joint issues.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

*Vermox*



Levi_501 said:


> Hello people
> 
> We have now been living here several months and one of my colleagues asked if we had de-parasited?
> 
> ...



I have been given Vermox, one pill does it, on occasions where I have had bad diarrhea for more than 12 hours. I have seen this for over 30 years and yes I know many people here who believe doing it every 6 months or every year. Now I would go to my clinic before taking it again and have myself checked out. Dysentery that I had here has horrible. I cannot look a bowl of pozoli in the face since then.


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## maesonna (Jun 10, 2008)

The medicine in Vermox *isn’t* some toxic poison, it works by interrupting the metabolic cycle of certain parasites. Our human metabolism is different, and it has no effect at all on us (unless there is an allergy, as noted above). So it’s very safe. Why wait until a potential parasite infestation is so bad that it’s causing symptoms? Better to take it every so often just in case.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

*Vermox*



maesonna said:


> The medicine in Vermox *isn’t* some toxic poison, it works by interrupting the metabolic cycle of certain parasites. Our human metabolism is different, and it has no effect at all on us (unless there is an allergy, as noted above). So it’s very safe. Why wait until a potential parasite infestation is so bad that it’s causing symptoms? Better to take it every so often just in case.



I have been asking around about Vermox. My wife, her family, friends and most of the ones I asked take it every 6 months. So about 90%.


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## tepetapan (Sep 30, 2010)

Why would you take any drug like this before seeing a doctor and have lab tests run. It is s used to treat infestations by worms including pinworms, roundworms, tapeworms, hookworms, and whipworms. Without tests how would you know what worms, if any, you are treating? The dosage is different depending on the worm. 
Do a google search and do a bit of research, become informed.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

tepetapan said:


> Why would you take any drug like this before seeing a doctor and have lab tests run. It is s used to treat infestations by worms including pinworms, roundworms, tapeworms, hookworms, and whipworms. Without tests how would you know what worms, if any, you are treating? The dosage is different depending on the worm.
> Do a google search and do a bit of research, become informed.


I am just relating what is a common practice and have no information other than that. I have seen this done all over Mexico by people and many are in the health system. The pill is very inexpensive, I know.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

*Sreet Venor Food*



johnmex said:


> I have been here 20 years and never taken anything for parasites. Maybe if you eat at questionable taco stands you should though ....



LOL I usually ask people working close before eating at street vendor food stands. But on several occasions was hungry and looked for a large crowd before buying. This usually works but sometimes when being in San Diego for 6 or 7 weeks and returning my system can't handle these foods and I have a bad gas problem that day and night. 

It is a weird thing and my ex sister in law said the same happens to her when going to San Diego. She said the common food bacteria stain in Mexico is e coli A and in the US it is e coli B which a DR, told her. 3 days here and I am set to go.


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## tepetapan (Sep 30, 2010)

AlanMexicali said:


> I am just relating what is a common practice and have no information other than that. I have seen this done all over Mexico by people and many are in the health system. The pill is very inexpensive, I know.


 I have lived in my part of Mexico awhile. many people say to take an anti bicho drug every 6 months but no one I know ever does. The doctors want a lab test so they can prescribe the correct drug and treatment depending on the bug you have. Of course, if my wife ends up with some parasite she says I need to take the medicine also. I fell for that story the first few years I lived here but did some checking afterwards. No way I am taking some of those medicines unless I am showing symptoms. Like was mentioned, Vermox is only for worms...and the dosage changes with the specific worm.


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

The biggest issue with taking a medication that is meant to treat infection on a casual basis is that the organisms can become resistant to it. Take it every few months, "just in case" and if you are, unbeknownst to yourself, infected, you may kill some of the organisms. But the ones that you don't kill will be stronger against that medication, and will pass that increased resistance to their offspring.

As we all know, things that live by growing in the bodies of other organisms tend to generate lots and lots of offspring. And, if we constantly try to kill all of them, we prevent our bodies from developing resistance to the more common invaders.

That's one of the reasons why I am so against "hand sanitizer", which is, mostly, causing a perfectly good antiseptic to become useless. The same goes for spraying antibiotics on your kitchen counter. Our bodies are finely tuned feedback mechanisms. If something is out of balance, they are supposed to fight them. But with little or nothing to fight, they overreact when there is something to fight.

Hence the upswing in asthma, which is, at base, an overreaction to inhaled irritants.

BTW: while it's true that, for the most part, mebendazole isn't toxic to humans, if you have impaired liver function, it's dangerous. And who knows what damage can be done, using it routinely, when it's meant for acute use, only?


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## maesonna (Jun 10, 2008)

This is why I mentioned above the mode of action of Vermox: it blocks their little wormy metabolisms and starves them to death. It doesn’t work the same way as an antibiotic or a poison that kills most of the organisms and leaves a few strong survivors to breed more resistant ones. 

The scientific literature says that while resistance wouldn’t be theoretically impossible, no resistant populations have been found in the types that infect humans.


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

I think that given all the info that one of four things regardless of how many more posts:
-People will never take Vermox
-People will take Vermox if prescribed
-People will take Vermox if they think a situation warrants
-People will take Vermox on a periodic basis as preventative
I doubt if people in one category that they will be moved to join another.


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## Detailman (Aug 27, 2011)

mickisue1 said:


> The biggest issue with taking a medication that is meant to treat infection on a casual basis is that the organisms can become resistant to it. Take it every few months, "just in case" and if you are, unbeknownst to yourself, infected, you may kill some of the organisms. But the ones that you don't kill will be stronger against that medication, and will pass that increased resistance to their offspring.
> 
> As we all know, things that live by growing in the bodies of other organisms tend to generate lots and lots of offspring. And, if we constantly try to kill all of them, we prevent our bodies from developing resistance to the more common invaders.
> 
> ...


A later comment mentions that Vermox doesn't act the same as an antibiotic and if that is so fine and good. I don't know so I won't comment on it.

But I did enjoy your overall comments. What you say is very true about taking antibiotics. Many people stop taking the medicine as soon as they feel better rather than taking the entire prescription. Big mistake! Other people get their doctors to prescribe it when they have a viral infection - not a bacterial infection. Big mistake!

Today we are faced with super bugs and part of the reason is the overprescription of antibiotics when they are not warranted and also not taking the full course when it is warranted.

We are our own worst enemy, sometimes!


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## Levi_501 (Aug 13, 2011)

Thanks for the abundance of replies; can of worms I think!

Still unsure, but thnks for the input.


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

Detailman said:


> A later comment mentions that Vermox doesn't act the same as an antibiotic and if that is so fine and good. I don't know so I won't comment on it.
> 
> But I did enjoy your overall comments. What you say is very true about taking antibiotics. Many people stop taking the medicine as soon as they feel better rather than taking the entire prescription. Big mistake! Other people get their doctors to prescribe it when they have a viral infection - not a bacterial infection. Big mistake!
> 
> ...


It doesn't act as an antibiotic. But life is amazingly good at finding ways around that which would extinguish it. There are helminths that infect other mammals which have adapted to the point where there seems to be resistance to Vermox. Horses were mentioned in the literature.

It's a bit overly optimistic, I think, to assume that the same can't happen to the ones that infect us.


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