Day 1

I woke up this morning with the helminth patch still applied (you're supposed to keep it on 12 hours). The tingling/itchy feeling had subsided. When I removed it, there was no notable rash but just 4 small red dots as ATI had indicated. I confirmed with them that this was a good sign, although not definitive, I had been infected as desired.

The rest of the day was interesting. With the arrival of my son and his startling growth gaining 4lbs in his first month, my left elbow had become very sore and stiff from lugging him around. Likely a combination of arthritis (another autoimmune disorder) and strain making it so I could not extend my arm (even when not holding him) fully without a lot of pain and stiffness. It had actually been getting progressively worse.

However, in the afternoon I noticed my arm was not stiff nor exhibited anything but minor soreness when I extended it. I also noticed that my sinuses, while not clear, were not inflamed as had become the norm since weaning off my combo steroid/antibiotic. I actually felt like I do on the first day of a new steroid burst. Coincidence? Psychosomatic? Possibly. However, the folks at ATI describe a "bounce" that some people feel typically between day 3 and 14 lasting a day to a week with a reduction in symptoms (occasionally as soon as day 1). Its not known why but there are a couple of hypotheses with the most plausible being that you just infected yourself with a pathogen and the immune system focuses its response on fighting it just as it should. It reduces its negative autoimmune responses in other areas of your body. Basically, a mini-affect like the whole helminth therapy is supposed to provide.

The worms do not migrate to the intestines and settle into their normal course until around week 3. Thus why people's responses happen immediately and then recede and then take many months to bring the immune system into balance.