AIBU to give up and let the bum worms win?

[BumWormFatigue]

Seven blissful weeks ago, I'd never heard of pinworms / threadworms. Then our toddler was beside himself trying to itch his bum one night, and after researching and looking in everyone's poo, I confirmed pinworms in all four of us 🤢.

Bought Ovex and dosed the household. Cut nails, boil washed everything, thorough showers and fresh towels every morning for everyone. Shampooed the carpet, bought new pillows for the children etc etc. We all take our shoes off and wash hands when coming home anyway, but also bought a nail brush for added thoroughness.

10 days later, toddler up again trying to scratch. GP recommends early 2nd dose, which we all have. Same again two weeks later. We still all have pinworms.

I am sick of laundry and getting up early to shower two furious small children before nursery. The cure is beginning to feel worse than the disease, seeing as three of us are asymptomatic, and the toddler is only bothered periodically. A bit of piriton and sudocrem on his bumhole seems to sort it on nights he is bad. Also, I've spent an absolute fortune on Ovex, which is money we don't have.

So AIBU to just ignore the problem? Or should I carry on all the extra cleaning / getting up early / Ovex indefinitely?

Any miracle cures for the little buggars appreciated too, if anyone has one.

There are some diet based suggestions here: https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/condition/intestinal-parasites#:~:text=Avoid%20simple%20carbohydrates%2C%20such%20as,used%20traditionally%20to%20kill%20parasites.

Don’t leave tooth brushes out
make sure seat is down on loo before flushing

Is anyone at nursery/preschool? The eggs live in the play dough etc. can you approach the childcare settings and suggest a deep clean?

Shower up the bum hole for everyone, every morning without fail for a week…but!! You need to stop the source.

I had them while pregnant and couldn't take ovex. I had read to drink carrot juice, they don't like it. So I bought loads of that. It's not the nicest but they did go

DONT YOU DARE

if you succumb to the bum worms they will eventually continue to spiral around society until they get to me AMD I WILL NOT STAND FOR IT

😭

that’s it. I’m going back to lockdown. I can’t bear the thought of another infestation of bum worms 😔 this was about the worst it’s ever been here!! 😂

Thanks. Our loo weirdly isn't in our bathroom, so toothbrushes are never anywhere near.

The loo is always shut for flushing poos anyway, but will start with wees.

Two Ovex treatments should do it, I'm surprised that hasn't done the trick. Since it hasn't I'd assume you've been re-infected, possibly by the same source as last time (I'd suspect school/nursery).

When we had them I didn't buy any new bedding or towels but made sure of scrupulous hand hygiene (short nails, frequent nailbrush use) and pants on overnight. We caught them twice (but nits only once, there's a blessing) but Ovex sorted it with two doses each time.

That's insane.
A couple of doses of Ovex and NONE of the additional precautions you have taken have always sorted the problem out. Thread worms are, in my experience, very easy to eliminate.

You toddler is obviously getting reinfected somehow.
Do you have a cat?

This is the issue - they both go to nursery a few days a week. The other days, we go to play cafes / park / stay-and-plays. It's a poorish area that we live in, not sure whether that plays into it. But either way, I'm sure they must both be around loads of infected children and resources all the time. Which is another reason I just think "what's the point in fighting it"? Because I can't just keep them home indefinitely 😕

I agree with pp, you must be getting reinfected from somewhere else. DD had worms in December. One dose for everyone was enough to get rid of them and I did nothing else other than washing towels, bedding etc and making sure DD washed her hands more and stopped biting her nails! Didn’t need to buy new pillows. I’d check with the toddlers nursery if they go to one (or any playgroups) it may be spreading from there.

Are you definitely still seeing them? Or just feeling the itch? A lot of people go to town on scrubbing and cleaning the bum and can damage the skin. It continues to itch for weeks after the worms have gone.

Also, with my 2 year old, I thought he still had them for a while after treatment until I realised it was actually fibres from the nappies.

No. We do have house rabbits, but I read online that the worms pets and other animals get, are different to the ones in humans. Although I have heard colloquially of children getting them from pets, so who knows!

If you haven't, notify the nursery
Our toddler got jis in there and the manager was very grateful I let her know as soon as I discovered them. She initiated a deep clean that day and replaced the play sand. She said that they nearly always only find out when it's at epidemic stage because people are too embarrassed to let them know.

Two doses later we were clear. I still did quarterly prevention doses for us all for a few years so I would never have to go through it again!

Mine were the same but didn’t catch till nursery. Can you say to nursery to put out a text:email to parents? Some kids are asymptomatic but could be spreading. You’d hope the parents would treat them if they discovered they had them. Your kids are getting reinfected cause you’re doing more than enough at home. 🙃

Have you told nursery? If not you must. They need to throw away the play dough, plasticine because those can carry eggs from under children's nails.

Ask each place you attend with the kids to put out a note/text to all parents and also so they can bin any play dough, change sand, give everything a once over clean etc.

Mine had them once and a quick dose of ovex did the job. Your kids are getting reinfected somewhere.

I agree with telling the nursery. They need to chuck the play dough and sand out

My youngest just had his settling in sessions at nursery last week, and I did tell his key worker then, when we were going over any medical stuff. It's the same building that my eldest goes to pre-school, and also where the stay-and-play sessions are.

She laughed and said she had a granddaughter who got pinworms a lot, and that some children just did 🤷‍♀️.

I hadn't mentioned it to my eldest's key worker, as he's fully potty trained, so there's no reason anyone would have to be near his bum. I will email though, seeing as it's been suggested.

Yes, have been doing this for weeks, but I'm getting sick of it lol.

Iron the bedsheets.... apparently the heat kills them....I did this when my dc had them...WORST TIME EVER by the way. You have my sympathy. Iron all underwear too

You didn't mention if you are washing the bed sheets.
Also you definitely need to tell the older child's key worker as they need to be washing hands after the bathroom and before eating.

Trim his nails.

Take the normal dose three days in a row. Kills them completely and you don't need to re-dose. (Disclaimer this is what I do because it's the packet advice for the exact same drug at the same dose, in the country I live. Obv do not contravene medical advice on the say so of a random interneter.)

Cut children's nails as soon as you notice they are long enough to get a line of dirt under them (preferably sooner)

You don't have to shower in the mornings or shampoo carpets. That's overkill - just get them to wash hands ASAP first thing in the morning, before eating, and if you notice any hands-in-pants activity. You can wipe around their bums with a flannel if you want, but it's probably not necessary.

Clean pants on for bedtime and stick them in the wash in the morning and then wash your hands after putting the washing on.

I feel so bad for you, I struggled most my childhood with recurring ‘worms’. I have no advice but I know how awful it is so I manage you all find a solution