Internal parasite?

[TableForTwo]

I'm pretty sure my betta, Buddha, has an internal parasite, however he shows no symptoms whatsoever. He has normal poop, eats like a little piggy, and is extremely active. About a week ago I saw a small white worm hanging from his anus that was about half a centimeter long. The next day it was gone, but their was (and still is) a tiny white speck that slightly protrudes from his anus. It's not ich, and I doubt it is an ovipositor as he is definitely a male. He has a beard, very long fins, and his body shape is different from that of a female betta. Could it be part of the parasite showing? I also read that, although very rare, males sometimes do have ovipositors. Is that another possibility?
I've been feeding Buddha Anti-Parasite Medicated Fish Food since I saw the worm-like thing. I don't know how much it's helping. He hates that food with a fiery passion, and thus I have only been able to trick him into eating no more than half a pellet of it every day (I am still feeding his normal food as well. I doubt it's very healthy to only give him half a pellet a day).
Yesterday I bought Api General Cure (I would have earlier, but I was not able to) and dosed his tank. The white speck is still there, but then again the treatment just began. I took his filter out because it has carbon in it, and due to the way the filter is designed I'm afraid of breaking it if I try to take the carbon out. I'm assuming if it is a parasite that it has already laid eggs in the water. If I put the filter back in the tank after the treatment is over, will I risk reintroducing parasites? Or would the parasite eggs in the filter die from drying?
Jeez, I really hope Buddha's alright. He's my first fish and it would be horrible if anything happened to him. Help is very much appreciated!

[callistra]

That white bit could be him hemorrhaging his intestines a bit.. otherwise i don't know.

Bathing in General Cure won't work for internal. Is he pooping brown daily?

[Myates]

Is there a way to get a picture posted?

With internal parasites the fish will start to waste away, even when eating heartily.. you will see more white in the waste, and at times if you look real closely at it you can actually see it twitching around.

Without a picture, it's hard to say what is going on with the white spot you are seeing..

I want to say keep him out of the medications until we know for sure what is going on.. if possible, make the tank bare-bottom, or if he is in a QT tank, leave him in that for the next week or so and keep an eye on the waste.
Then if you see more white waste then you can use the medicated pellets, General Cure and 1 tsp of Epsom Salt (per gallon).. for as long as the directions read on the General Cure. You will want to be doing daily 100% water changes, redosing the water with the ES and General Cure each time. Why having him in a clean tupperware container (soap residue free), or a QT tank during treatment is ideal.
Make sure you clean out the gravel real well in his home tank.. the carbon in the filter should be easy to remove, as you would want to do monthly changes of the carbon filter.
If it is a small tank, then go ahead and keep the filter out during treatment (rinse out the sponges and such to remove any dead bacteria), take out the gravel and rinse it under hot water to kill off any eggs- keep the gravel out during treatment, so no eggs will hide in there, you can keep an eye on his waste, and makes the water changes easier.

On a side note- General Cure is one of the treatments available for internal parasites- use that in combination of Epsom Salt and the anti-parasitic medicated pellets for internal parasite treatments.

Real young males sometimes will have the egg spot, but that tends to disappear after 3-4 months. If this spot is new, then it could be a parasite- just something that isn't common, seeing an internal parasite in that situation.

The waste will be long, thin/stringy and white for internal parasites.

[callistra]

General Cure doesn't really work for internal parasites well. The two medications are not absorbed through the gills which means they rely on what water the fish gulps to treat and in my experience it's not very effective (or at all) and feeding the meds works much much better.