Doctors recently warned about a peculiar case of a woman – who, in a bid to lose weight took tapeworm egg pills from the internet as a quick fix solution but ended up with devastating illness and side effects.

Experts say the parasites can make a home in your gut after their eggs are unwittingly consumed via undercooked meat products, with some that can grow up to 30 feet long while consuming the host’s post-chewed meals, thus triggering weight loss.

Even though this bizarre practice of ingesting tapeworm eggs for weight loss goes back to the Victorian era, it is unclear how commonly the method was used.

Dr. Bernard Hsu, a US-based oncologist, reported the case study on his YouTube channel, saying the Iowa-based 21-year-old bought capsules filled with tapeworm eggs using cryptocurrency. Referred to as TE, Dr. Hsu said she was struggling to lose weight with diet and exercise, and that is when she came across the controversial method on the dark web.

“TE was intrigued. A ‘forbidden’ method must be so good, and so powerful, that it’s the one true secret that she needs to know,” said Hsu. She initially took two tapeworm tablets and got the results she wanted, even though within a week she began suffering from episodes of stomach cramps and bloating. However, since she was happy about the weight loss, the woman dismissed her symptoms.

However, according to Dr. Hsu, she began worrying after a shocking bathroom incident. “She thought she could feel something flapping and slapping around her cheeks while she was sitting down,” he said. “When she was about to flush, she looked back and saw some tan, rectangular pieces floating around in the bowl creeping out of the bulk mass.”

However, within a few days, she began noticing more symptoms like an unusual lump under her chin, passing out, intense headaches, and cranial pressure, apart from severe abdominal pain.

After it became unbearable, she got herself tested for a bacterial infection which came back negative – but with some more symptoms. “She would have periods in time where she’d suddenly wake up in the middle of the day and she couldn’t remember anything from the last few hours,” Dr. Hsu said.

The doctors found multiple lesions across her brain and other parts of the body – including tongue and liver. She then revealed her dangerous diet. The doctors treating her found TE had ingested two species of the parasite - Taenia saginata and Taenia solium – which released the eggs into her bloodstream causing infection. She was then put on medication to treat the issue.

According to experts, when a tapeworm hatches in your intestine, it begins to feed off your body’s nutrients and grow by reproducing from the proglottids – the chain-looking body of the tapeworm.

One of the biggest dangers you risk with a tapeworm is that you cannot control where it attaches itself – like other organs or tissues outside your digestive tract causing serious damage. It leads to unpleasant symptoms, like:

Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Health and around the world.