Lowri’s brain scan showed the ‘discusting’ parasites (Image: PA)
A woman who developed 38 brain parasites after contracting a tapeworm has told how she battled a decade of seizures, psychosis and uncertainty about her future. Lowri Denman, 42, spent two months travelling in India with a friend in 2007. Four years later, she passed a metre-long tapeworm while using the toilet despite having no symptoms. After seeing a doctor, Lowri carried on with her normal life.
She then began experiencing bad headaches and suffered a grand mal seizure in 2011, involving loss of consciousness and muscle contractions. Lowri, of Cardiff, waited three months for a brain scan which revealed she had neurocysticercosis — a parasitic infection of the brain caused by the larvae of the pork tapeworm. She said: “It was just so disgusting to think that these things were in my head.”
Lowri’s dream holiday to India later turned into a nightmare (Image: PA)
Lowri had stuck to a vegetarian diet while travelling to reduce her risk of catching food-borne illnesses. However, according to the World Health Organisation, tapeworms and neurocysticercosis can be caused by water contaminated with tapeworm eggs or poor hygiene practices.
Neurocysticercosis is developed when a tapeworm infection is left untreated, as larvae build up in the central nervous system. It is the most severe form of the disease, and a common cause of seizures.
Lowri was treated for epilepsy while doctors consulted tropical disease experts across the globe to decide on a course of action for eliminating the parasites.
She lost her driving licence due to the risks of having a seizure behind the wheel, and she was advised not to do certain things such as having a bath while home alone.
Lowri began to experience anxiety about leaving the house. She recalled: “It was lunchtime and I was just walking around Cardiff on my own. Luckily I was on the phone to my mate, and I said, ‘I don’t feel well’. Then I passed my phone to a stranger on the street.
“Then the next thing, I come around and my mate was like, ‘You’ve had a fit again’. Obviously, I was really cautious then, just scared of being anywhere, and that happening.”
Lowri was given steroids and albendazole, an anti-parasitic medication used to treat a wide variety of worm infections. Her seizures reduced but in 2015 Lowri said the parasites caused a serious flare-up as they “weren’t dying off as they’d expected”.
Doctors then prescribed another anti-worm medication, praziquantel, but she experienced continued brain swelling. She added: “This went on for at least a year, where I was getting more and more ill, more anxious.
“I had to give up work, had to move home to be taken care of, and then it got to a point where I went on Personal Independence Payments (PIP), and I wasn’t capable of filling out the forms on my own.”
Lowri plans to launch a podcast about her experience with producer Nicola (Image: PA)
Lowri began experiencing severe paranoia, worrying about getting enough sleep and struggling with how the medication made her look and feel. She said: “I just wanted a normal life, and I didn’t feel comfortable being in social settings. I didn’t want to leave the house, really.”
In September 2016, Lowri was admitted to a neuropsychiatric ward for three months due to her declining mental health, and was prescribed mood stabilisers and anti-psychotics on top of her other medication.
She said: “I was having panic attacks, I thought I was going to die, I think. I wasn’t stable at all, all these thoughts and crazy things were going on in my head.”
It is difficult to know whether the symptoms were caused by the parasites directly or due to the stress and trauma of her prolonged treatment, Lowri added.
Eventually, she was able to leave hospital in January 2017 and move back in with her dad. Lowri is now fit and healthy and has not experienced a seizure for 10 years.
She is sharing her story to support others going through a similar ordeal and plans to record a 12-part podcast including interviews with consultants and experts in tropical diseases.
Lowri added: “I spent my whole thirties being ill and anxious and worried and now I’ve moved into my 40s, I want to do something positive with that negative thing — help other people, and not just feel like I’ve lost all of this time.”
Lowri and her friend, producer Nicola Brown, are raising £25,000 through Crowdfunder to launch the project, which was shortlisted for 2025’s The Whickers Podcast Pitch Award.
- You can find out more about the project and to donate here.
