Threadworms that won’t go away!

[Rainbow24x]

We have been battling with threadworms in our house for months now. My DS was at nursery where I assume he caught them and passed them onto me. Being pregnant I was told I could not take the medication. Treated DS several times but just kept coming back. Spoke to obstetrics who said I could take the medication which I did 5 weeks ago and a repeat 2 weeks later. Also treated DS at this time as he was due to start school so thought if nursery was the culprit this would do the job. Even treated my partner who says he’s never had them but I just don’t feel they are away although I haven’t seen any live ones. Sorry if this is TMI but stool still looks really grainy with speckles in it and which I’m assuming is from the worms? I can’t really find anything online to back this. Has anyone else had this experience? Going out of my mind and due to deliver the baby very soon! I am cleaning everything to an inch of its life boil washing bedding etc

maybe try three doses in a row, rather than two? just in case you didn't break the cycle properly.

I have been considering taking another dose but when I spoke to the Dr they said to only take it if I see live ones which could take until there’s an infestation. I am demented and have serious mum guilt about giving my DS the medication all the time

Threadworms are the bane of my actual life at the moment. The trouble with threadworms is that the eggs are so tiny as to be invisible to the naked eye, BUT they remain viable up to 3 weeks. So if they are on bedclothes / carpets etc, they can be picked up on fingers and accidentally ingested again, starting the cycle.

A pharmacist told us to put vaseline around the bum hole (sorry!) before bed - this means the eggs get stuck and can't shake off all over the place in the morning. Shower first thing & wash vaseline away. Helps to reduce the chances of accidental reinfection.

Other measures we have employed:

• Regular thorough hoovering, especially around beds (and including bed frames).
• Regularly cleaning the bathroom door handle / wiping down the toilet flush / changing the hand towel.
• EVERYONE in the household takes the tablets AT THE SAME TIME, no matter whether or not they think they have them. Adults are often symptomless so your partner may not realise he's had them. I'm glad he took the medication anyway!
• SCRUB everyone's fingernails with a nailbrush immediately after getting up in the morning. If anyone's scratched their bum unknowingly in the night, this will get rid of any potential eggs.
• Make sure everyone washes hands and scrubs fingernails before mealtimes or before eating snacks.

I'm not sure about speckles in stool. You really only see the worms in the stool when you've taken a dose of medication, because they all come out dead/dying en masse. If you've got a healthy batch of threadworms living in your gut, I don't think you'll see them unless you check around the anus at night. Is that the only reason why you think you still have them? Are you itching? Is DS itching? If you don't have any symptoms, I honestly think you can relax! (Lots of children live with threadworms with no idea they have them, which is why infection is so common in primary-school-aged chn.)

Just read your update. The first time we got them, I was also going out of my mind wanting to be sure I'd got rid of them. I'd say they've come back on average once a year for the last four years. It's very annoying, but at the end of the day, children are highly likely to pick them up at school, loads of people live with them unknowingly, and they aren't really an issue if you're not having symptoms. I found I had to reset my thinking on this one and accept that parasites are part and parcel of being a human, that I couldn't be sure I'd got rid of them, but that I wouldn't worry about it until someone got symptoms again. It was very hard. I feel for you!

I had this, it just came back a month or so later, either reinfected or just never left the body. I read that Uk meds like ovex we use, the worms are immune to it now and they dump their eggs and the cycle continues. You see dead worms but some eggs survive. I got hold of the Australia med, different to ours, different chemicals and it worked and never came back. It was a chocolate one for children on eBay combatrin. Expensive but worth it.

You'll thank me for this tip!

I hear you! It’s just awful. I have been doing all of the above. Vaseline round the back end for months which didn’t make a difference except to the itching. DS hasn’t complained of itching recently although I’m unsure if he is doing it during the night. I am waking up itchy however I don’t know if it’s in my head or not. I am becoming obsessed over it and my hands are a mess from constantly washing. At times I can see small white flakes on my underwear during the day although nothing moving. Due to deliver my baby any day now and I just can’t relax

If you're scrubbing fingernails before you eat, I think it's pretty unlikely you're reinfecting yourself. Kids get reinfected all the time because of poor hygiene, and because they have such close contact with other children with poor hygiene. I think the itching might be in your head - I've had this as well! Maybe try Sudocrem to see if the itching stops and it helps put it out of your mind? I'd perhaps mention it to your midwife as well to see if they can reassure you. I wonder if it's playing on your mind particularly because you're so close to delivery.

When Dts had them you absolutely could see them wriggling in their poo.

You need to treat everyone in the house at the same time whether symptomatic or not.

I'd hazard a guess that someone at nursery isn't being treated and that's how your son is picking them up.

It'll be nits next...

@LadyCactus I will give the sudocrem a bash. It makes me feel better knowing I’m not the only one in this horrible situation!

@boulevardofbrokendreamss weve had ongoing issues with them for several months and really the only time you see them wriggling about is when there’s an infestation. Everyone in the house was treated at the same time 5 weeks ago. I was hoping now DS is at school that we would be able to break the cycle. It’s very frustrating and hormones added into the mix definitely aren’t helping

I feel your pain we are on our second case of these buggers 🥺. Had a gap of a year and bam back again and it's my son that's brought it home I had hoped as he's a little older now 7 we wouldn't have this issue but guess not.