Oh the horror

[meladeso]

Two weeks ago DC1 woke screaming and eventually we clocked he had threadworm I will never unsee it .

Cue a trip for DH to late night pharmacy, a lot of distraction and we survived the rest of the night.

I later thought about it and realised (yes I know I’m an idiot) that he’s had it weeks, and that I think I have it too. I thought I just had a thrush-like irritation going on around my bottom (sorry about this).

So we dosed him up, we all took the pills too as directed, and kept an eye on little DC2, who was showing no signs.

Seemed all fine.

A week later she starts up with it. So we all take another dose. And as per instructions, wash and launder every bloody thing again.

Here’s the thing - I’m certain I still have it. I have a frequent, if not constant crawling sensation. It’s driving me insane.

I took another dose today which is not the guidance but I’m honestly starting to freak out.

I feel queasy at the thought of it, it’s putting me off food, I am repulsed, I can’t sleep for feeling it and thinking about it, and it’s not exactly conducive to a love life.

I googled today and got the horror stories of people saying they can’t get rid of it and that you should be taking meds every day, and all sorts of things.

It’s making me feel ill and I don’t feel comfortable talking much about it with DH as I hate the thought of him thinking too much about me having it.

I know we’re all grown ups and it’s fairly common, but come on, it’s not very appealing is it!

It’s getting me down so much.

Aibu to ask you lot to talk to me about it please? Any experience with it? Words of reassurance?

Diatomatious earth is a powder which you mix with a bit of water and drink. It is good for parasites because it causes them to dry out. Can be bought on Amazon.

I didn't know you could drink this. I bought it as a "natural" flea powder for the dogs, but it dried their coats out and made them scratch more than the fleas did, so I stopped.

I'm sure I've still got some somewhere.

Op I suspect your continued sensations are either residual inflammation or psychological. Next time you feel it squat over a mirror. If there are worms you will see them.

It's just threadworm and will clear up, it's not bedbugs so you don't need to go mad with deep cleaning, just washing bedclothes, Hoover the day after the treatments, wearing pjs and pants in bed, diligent hand washing will rid you.

OP - reading your post I started to have sympathetic symptoms!!

My point is that these things are really quite psychologically freaky - and it's easy to imagine you can feel something moving when there is really nothing there. A bit like if you think about an itch on a certain part of your body, it's very difficult not to feel it.

If you still have symptoms in a few weeks, see your GP!

Math's regime sounds a lot but she makes very good points, esp re handwashing. I make everyone in the family wash hands every time we come in from outside, wherever we've been, even if only in the garden for five minutes or to collect the post (outside letterbox). And I'm always shouting 'WITH SOAP!' at dses 1 and 2 I'm sure it keeps the number of infections with stuff down. We're not entirely bug-free but D&V is a once-every-couple-of-years thing, last flu was in 2009 and we've had threadworms twice in 12 and a half years of parenting. (Am sure to come down with a whole series of nasties now to punish my smugness).

Get some snoggable garlic - you can eat loads

www.facebook.com/snoggablegarlic/

Amazingly we’ve never had threadworms or nits with our 2 DDs (8 and 5). So far anyway. DD2 in particular is very hygiene conscious where washing her hands is concerned after the toilet so I’m sure that plays a part.

Growing up, though, my siblings and I had threadworms a lot (though never nits). My parents used to remove the worms themselves by investigating inside our bums. (At least my DM used a cotton bud.) Absolutely gross.

Ok so far from this thread I have:

Removed Africa from my visit list
Decided to wear goggles all the time in case I come into contact with someone who has recently been to Africa
Cancelled and plans to visit zoos
Ditto small children
Vowed to sleep with Vaseline on my bum hole every night
And had a good scratch at my hair

Mostly as prophylactic measures and not st all an over reaction on my part

Garlic is harmless and worth a try, but probably won't work - link

Try not to worry too much about them. Over 2/3 of our bodies are bacteria - they massively outnumber our own cells. We are walking, talking hosts for millions of bugs and a few threadworms are not going to do you any harm.

isn't there quite a lot of research to show that the wormy stuff is actually good for us? Strengthens our immune systems??

sn't there quite a lot of research to show that the wormy stuff is actually good for us? Strengthens our immune systems??

The jury is still out, I think. There is certainly no evidence that getting rid of nastier worms of the African type actually improves outcomes for children - which is surprising since those worms cause many side-effects, e.g. anaemia (NB this is not true of threadworms which are harmless).

I have had threadworms but sometimes also get anal itching due to nylon pants irritation, minor haemerroids and fissures because I've given in and scratched -
and certain toilet rolls can make it worse as can eating certain foods (too much bread/red meat causes it for me and sometimes spicy food) and because I have endometriosis next to my bowel. Delightful! But mostly minor issues, especially since I lost a bit of weight. And different from the "worms" itching.

Preparation H moist toilet paper and Anusol hydrocortisone

...are very good.