Scabies! How itchy after successful treatment?

[whatsnewchoochoo]

Mum has scabies - she treated herself with cream last Monday and Friday (I had her do it again as she confessed she'd missed parts of her body)

She's still really really itchy and covered in red rash.

How long were you itchy for after youd be successfully treated - do you think she still has it? (She's my childcare next week so it would be good to know ASAP if she's still contagious)

She's on antihistamines and a cream of some sort. Making no difference

It was years and years ago that I had it but I think you can carry on being itchy for a bit. Maybe worth talking to a pharmacist.

You're supposed to be itchy for up to 4 weeks but she's insanely itchy. Like she's ripping into her skin all the time.

I hate to be selfish but I need to think about whether she's contagious to my son (I don't want to stop her seeing him unless I have to, they adore each other)

Plus I just really want her to feel better

I don't want to scaremonger and I know this isn't your question but it took me around 6 months to completely get rid of it after the first treatment! That was 6 months of creams, boil washes, sheet ironing, etc. It was a horrendous year (it took doctors 6 months to diagnose it in the first place!). I've never known anything quite like it, just awful

Btw, there is absolutely no way I'd let her look after my DC unless there was no touching involved and the DC wouldn't be touching any of her soft furnishings/clothes. It is so horrific and hard to get rid of that I wouldn't take the risk.

Why did it take 6 months @SierraSmythe and what made the difference in the end?

(She was diagnosed immediately)

I can't keep them apart for 6 months, I just can't but I fear she's may be contagious but I do suffer anxiety so ...

Do you think it took so long to treat because you'd had it so long?

I have no idea why it took so long to treat. I think it's just that all it takes is one mite to restart the infestation and washing and creaming can only do so much. You can boil wash your sheets and towels after every use and then iron (such hard work!) but you can't boil wash all your clothes so they might not be mite-free which would cause reinfestation. They recommend sealing clothes in plastic bags for a week but that wasn't possible for me at the time as I wore a uniform so could only wash on 40 degrees and then had to wear again the next day.

I just continued with the lotion and boiling until the itching stopped and it took about 6 months. I didn't do anything differently. It's making me itch just thinking about it! I'm sure I was just unlucky and your DM won't be the same. Just be aware that scabies is so bad that you would be heartbroken for your DC to catch it. Your DM should wear gloves at the very, very least.

Thank you

Anyone else remember how long they were itchy for?

I had it many years ago when I was around 18. I remember the cream working well and it cleared up quickly. And never came back.

My Husband and I had scabies years ago, caught it from the bedsit we had recently moved into. It was horrendous, I clawed at my skin until it bled. I can't remember the name of the lotion the doctor prescribed, but it was a big bottle of a pale yellow, runny lotion. It soothed it after about 48hours, with the itching gone after about a week. Boiling the bedlinen, towels, blankets etc to break the cycle. My skin was sore for weeks afterwards, as if the lotion burnt my skin in a severe sunburn way, I did scratch myself until my skin bled in places though. It was an awful experience.

I caught it at work (nurse) when I was in my 20s and it went away after a few weeks, but I've been left with permanent skin damage after the second episode in my 40s and still get itchy years later. I take anti histamines, menthol cream and can't use mainstream bath/shower products any more.

has she put all her clothes in plastic bags, hot washed everything? shoes as well in bags. duvets to the launderette?

She's done all the treatment but 15 days from first treatment she's still as itchy as ever.

How are you getting on @whatsnewchoochoo ? We're just back from the GP with a scabies diagnosis for DD and my DH and I

Hi @HLBug - we don't seem to have caught it. Mums still quite itchy (not as bad) 4 weeks later. Honestly nothing has made it better but I think she's had a severe reaction so I really hope it won't be as bad for you all