View Full Version : Insect in toilet?
LuckyFish
Jul3-04, 10:13 AM
My first post! Okay...this is going to sound really weird. My 32 year-old brother is CONVINCED there was an insect inside of him (not to be too graphic..but he found it in the toilet, after using). He said it resembled a silverfish or earwig and was alive. I say this is impossible...it had to have been in the toilet before. He has had irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) for about 3 years now...and is convinced he has 'found his answer'! He even has a Dr.'s appointment scheduled to confirm this! I think he has lost his mind, and will certainly waste his money...not to mention embarrass himself. There is no way this is possible.....is it???
Thanx, in advance, for any sincere replies.
:)LuckyFish
Well, a colonoscopy will resolve the situation for him, although I hear they can be a pain in the Rs.
Tell him to ask the doctor about Crohn's disease.
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/crohns/
LuckyFish
Jul3-04, 10:34 AM
Thanx for reply, Adam! Yes...he's having all that checked. But my main question is about the bug!....whether or not that is physically possible. I say an insect cannot survive inside the body. Worms (yuk), yes, but not a 'healthy
six-legged insect! What do you think?
Thanx again, Mate!
:)LuckyFish
Thanx for reply, Adam! Yes...he's having all that checked. But my main question is about the bug!....whether or not that is physically possible. I say an insect cannot survive inside the body. Worms (yuk), yes, but not a 'healthy
six-legged insect! What do you think?
Thanx again, Mate!
:)LuckyFish
It can survive unfortunately. The waste would actually perserve the insect until it 'came out'. Check it but I think it is possible. Nothing to worry about however. The insect is too small to do any damage really.
The Bob (2004 ©)
LOL, i hate to laugh at IBS but has anyone seen the Ladykillers?
Dont want to stray off topic though.
Welcome to PF!
He doesn't even consider the fact that the insect crawled into the bowl during the night?
Occams razor.
Paraphrased:
When presented with two possibilities, the simpler one is usually the truth.
This actually belongs in the biology forum. Um, no I don't think the story is possible, or has he visited any exotic countries and picked up some tropical bug? The thing he should do is check his feces for bugs, if they're in there, they'll come out. That is what the doctor will ask: a sample to send to the lab, they won't do a colonoscopy.
Interestingly you mention irritable bowel syndrome: recently researchers found out that having worms in the bowel quesces the inflamatory reaction associated with the IBS. They've actually done clinical trials feeding patients with worm eggs, that hatch in the bowel and go through a single life cycle (they can't reproduce so the egg eating should be repeated once in a while). Maybe he should inquiry about the option. (I'm not joking.)
While you're on the topic of beasties in your body...
...did you know that you swallow around 8 spiders a year? :yuck:
You most probably did :rolleyes:
Moonbear
Jul3-04, 04:46 PM
I think you should be more worried about having an exterminator take a look at the bathroom if you have silverfish landing in the toilet...they live in moist places, so a nice steamy bathroom, or one with a water leak and rotting wood somewhere is an ideal habitat. You may need to check out the Home Improvement thread rather than the Biology forum...unless you need the insect identified! If it was an insect and not a worm of some sort, it wouldn't have been living inside him, certainly not years. But, if he has irritable bowel syndrome (or similar symptoms), it's probably worth the visit to the doctor anyway, though you just know the doctor is going to have a hard time keeping a straight face when he explains about the bug in the toilet.
Ivan Seeking
Jul3-04, 11:36 PM
I recommend a Raid Suppository.
Ha, i must be sad and stupid to laugh at the adverts at the top of the page, lol.
Ha, i must be sad and stupid to laugh at the adverts at the top of the page, lol.
Which one? They keep on changing. :confused:
The Bob (2004 ©)
BUGS live in sewers
very eazy for them to climb up in to a toilet-bowl from the sewerline
pop any manhole to check
or if not on a sewer line bugs can come down the stack vents
but it DIDNOT come out of him
tooo many years as a surveyor for a water&sewer dept
This is all too similar to the thread about the woman that thinks she gave birth to a frog. http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=32959
A frog? Blummin eck! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
BoulderHead
Jul5-04, 10:26 AM
Luckyfish,
If your brother had found intestinal worms I could believe it, but Silverfish or Earwig I’d have to see to believe. It seems he would have needed to swallow it whole (doesn’t he chew his food prior to swallowing?). Surviving lack of oxygen might be one problem, bathing in stomach acid another. Being encased in feces wouldn’t happen until further down the digestive tract…
Did I ever tell about the time I used a pliers to attempt pulling an intestinal worm the diameter of your thumb out of a cow’s behind? Yes, about 20” was already hanging out and the ‘skin’ was clear, allowing you to see some yellow twisty guttyworks. It was freakish, but my regret was when the body snapped in half and soaked me with an amount of juicy worm-stuff. :yuck: :eek: :biggrin:
Entropy
Aug16-04, 02:01 PM
Lets just hope it doesn't lay eggs inside of your brother!
The Bob
Aug16-04, 02:03 PM
Lets just hope it doesn't lay eggs inside of your brother!
Not nice, but they will clean his insides out. :wink:
The Bob (2004 ©)
While you're on the topic of beasties in your body...
...did you know that you swallow around 8 spiders a year? :yuck:
You most probably did :rolleyes:
Ack, I thought that statistic was 8 spiders in a lifetime. If it is 8 spiders a year, that makes me much more arachnophobic than I already am!
The Bob
Aug17-04, 02:47 AM
Ack, I thought that statistic was 8 spiders in a lifetime. If it is 8 spiders a year, that makes me much more arachnophobic than I already am!
I thought it was in a lifetime as well.
The Bob (2004 ©)
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