To want to just burn everything we own

[Livelovelaughfuckoff]

Scabies. DS first brought it home from uni last year and he has suffered for 9 months (doctors missed it for the first 3 months and took them another 6 to prescribe the correct dose of Ivermectin. This only happened because eventually (no idea how the rest of us swerved it for so long) DS then caught it at Xmas but they wouldn’t give ivermectin first had to try permethrin. Whole family treated washing and tumble drying everything or bagging it for seven days, hoover everywhere, steam cleaning furniture. Repeat the process a week later.

As expected the permethrin didn’t work for DS2 but the ivermectin has worked for DS1 so now DS2 has ivermectin and again the rest of us are having to do permethrin. So another two weeks of changing beds and towels every day for three days, bagging, washing, tumble drying and steaming. Tried to push for us to all have ivermectin but no go from the doctor.

So stressed and overwhelmed keeping up with the washing and bagging clothes. Have spent a fortune on extra clothes, bedding and towels as jus can’t get it all washed and dried for everyone to have a clean set of everything 3 days in a row and the repeat a week later.

DH is fucking useless at remembering to bag his stuff and refuses to buy more work trousers and I suspect is re wearing things rather than changing and bagging (he has no symptoms at all never had to be fair but still follow the bloody protocol to be safe!)

I’m feeling murderous right now. Please tell me anyone who’s had to do this that it goes eventually. Aside from the washing and cleaning nightmare DS1 has really suffered over the last 9 months mentally and DS2 has scratched his legs to the point of bleeding and looks so down.

@Owenspannas have added a photo waiting for it to be reviewed.

We've not had scabies, but I strongly recommend non-drowsy antihistamines to ease the itching (try fexofenadine - ask for the generic version it's cheaper than branded and usually fexofenadine is less likely to make everyone sleepy. Or use the other types of antihistamines at night to get sleep. (Piriton, Nytol, Cinnarizine).

Ask pharmacist for calamine aqueous cream (may have to order it) as this soothes the spots without drying the skin like calamine lotion does.

I suffer very bad hayfever - itchy eyes and nose and hives, so have tried everything.

Wrong thread @Wetcoatsandmudagain! I know which one you mean to post on because I was reading it too.

It’s bloody awful. DS21 picked it up in Prague last summer. It takes 6-8 weeks for symptoms to appear so was well infested before diagnosis. Permethrin was a waste of time. He started using Derbac which has almost cleared it up but he treats himself once a month more preventative.
It has totally messed up his second year at uni. The intense itchy has messed up his sleep pattern he has become a bit agoraphobic because he doesn’t want to pick it up again. He was invited to go to Prague last week for a boys week, he declined saying he preferred it in the summer rather than in the winter . But I think the thought of picking it up again was the main reason.

Fortunately, we were able to eradicate it from home. I had a mild case but again I now use the Derbac lotion once a month.

Things that have helped. I wash everything at 60-70deg. All washing goes into the garage where the washing machine is and sits there for at least a week before washing.

DS left most of his stuff at uni for a month so any mites would have died off. They have hard floors throughout the flat. Like home he uses a plastic bag to seal dirty clothes etc in for a week before washing it at a high temp.

He is taking anti histamines daily to help the itching.

We haven’t tried ivermectin yet but I think we will wait until he returns for the summer. We can bag and seal everything and store it in the garage for a month before hot washing the whole lot. Then store it sealed until he returns in September.

Unfortunately the effect on his mental health is a little harder to sort out. He’s not an anxious person, he’s pretty laid back but the lack of sleep and his social responsibility ( he didn’t want to pass it on to other students so had not been attending lectures) has impacted on his studies and he’s given up. Hopefully this and some other unavoidable issues will support an application to reset and retake his second year.

In his words he feels like a leper and had a miserable time. Despite every effort, he has been meticulous about hygiene both personal and with clothing this condition has plagued him. I suspect that the mites he picked up are super resistant to the pesticides used. Scabies is endemic in the Czech Republic.

Many hotel chains and properties take great pride in their eco credentials. They publicise the fact that their linen is now washed at low temps to reduce their carbon footprint and I feel this is the root cause. Washing at 30deg doesn’t kill the mites. The hotel bed you sleep in may well be clean but current laundry practices could mean that it is teaming with scabies mites. Not just from the last user but from being washed with infected sheets.

The rash and itching is an allergic reaction. People may become carriers if they don’t have a severe reaction. For those that do it’s a living hell.

I had it for 18mths, husband and sons didn't get it.
It eventually vanished overnight when I stopped the cream application and doused myself in tea tree oil.
Good luck x

Sorry your son has had such an awful time, his experience really resonates with what ds1 has gone through. I think we might also continue doing preventative measures for a long while yet.

Poor you, OP. I feel for you, I do. Perhaps the uni has some suggestions? Weak suggestion, I realize. But, I mean, it must be rife.
Can you fumigate the house?
Itching all over just reading this thread!

Worth adding that steam hot ironing kills the mites! I do wonder if ironing was not just about wrinkles but killing bugs of all sorts!!

Yes I do wonder! DH and DS’s wear most things without ironing them maybe they need to start!
Have a hand held steamer so I’m steaming the inside of shoes!

I would be tempted to use Indorex flea spray over the house. And also the mattress, into the bagged up items etc.

My daughter st uni has it, and this is what I told her to do. As the active ingredient is the same as the scabies treatment.

This is my own theory, as it makes sense to me and is what I do when there have been fleas (pets) and it works.

Not got the ivermectin anymore and can't remember specifically which one we used (it was just a livestock one) but we did also use this (photo incoming).

Can you buy ivermectin online? I buy it from Amazon for my guinea pigs (obviously I know you're not a guinea pig...)

I knew this would be about scabies. Ds brought it home from uni in 2024. Bloody awful things.

The oral sort is supposed to be prescribed by a consultant dermatologist as opposed to a gp. Dunno why. Also dont know why ivermectin isn't used as first line treatment. I think there's less to go wrong than using the lotion.

We have had oral ivermectin from GP for ds but they don’t hand it over easily and only once you’ve tried the first line treatments like permethrin first

Had this in 1995 when I worked in a pub. We all had it landlord and all the family. I took it to my family I had 2 kids at the time and was living with my mum! We passed it on to my grandparents. Everyone who worked in the pub got it and passed it on.
But I remember us getting a grip of it after a few weeks but my mum was an obsessive washer anyway. My grandparents had it longest we then wondered if they were the source as they never changed their bedding! The landlord has a horse and his wife said he was the source!
Can't give you any more tips than already posted but it did go. Just sending solidarity cos it wasn't good and my mum has never forgiven me for the shame!
I hope you get sorted soon. Allevia antihistamines are very good too.

Oh this sounds horrible. Like bloody threadworm and nits. You think you got rid then they just come back.

My son and his partner got it once. Luckily my son realised almost immediately what it was - was a medical student at the time - and he got treated very quickly and we washed everything in hot water and it was over very quickly. Nobody else in the house got it. So swift diagnosis and treatment lessens the horror.

I would be tempted to burn your husband's work trousers. I mean he is unconcerned his sons are miserably itchy and bleeding. Obviously participating in the treatment plan and buying more work trousers is absolutely beyond him as is postponing cleaning the gutters/digging up the driveway at the weekend. It is so much better in his mind for you to do all the extra work while he sneakily just ignores sensible precautions and keeps the infestation going. I mean I would actually be getting rid of him permanently and certainly wouldn't be contemplating having sex with him ever again. But please don't go staying at random hotels for one night and moving on so that you infect dozens of other people.

Well I managed to get it out of the gp too, but when I saw the consultant he asked me how I'd got it from the gp as he wasn't supposed to prescribe it. I just pleaded ignorance. I just think there's less to go wrong with a tablet than there is for lotion.

Can you not get a spray? When our cats had fleas I didnt want to take chances so I bought this super toxic spray - went crazy with it in the house whilst the pets were shut outside and the kids were at school.

I so sympathise, we're another family whose ds bought it home from uni. No one else caught it but he had a dreadful time and none of the doctors or pharmacists diagnosed it until we went private... even they weren't sure but said treat for it anyway.

He alternated derbac and the permethrin weekly and eventually got rid of it.

Apparently if you catch it again the symptoms start sooner as your body knows what it is and the reaction starts. I'm hoping there won't be a next time though!

My DH caught it when he stayed at Aston Business school for work (has refused to stay there ever since). The GP prescribed permethrin cream for the whole household although I never did seem to get any symptoms. DH didn't think it worked so did a second application. His skin seemed to start looking slightly better but still itching like crazy. He was told that it can take weeks for the skin to recover. It didn't seem to be getting better so he saw a private GP who recommended Betnovate (?) and dermol (?) cream. Apparently he had sensitive dry skin which had reacted badly to either the mite or the treatment.

He's fine now provided he moisturises with the dermol after showering.

It's like nits on steroids!

I didn’t burn his clothes today but I have said fuck it and washed them all at 60 degrees and put them in a hot dryer. If they shrink I don’t care! I will be washing all his things at 60 degrees from now on and he has a separate laundry basket anyway so his unbagged things won’t touch ours. I don’t understand his think because he has bagged some stuff but others not at all and some in a bag but not tied up 🤷‍♀️

I have somewhat had a meltdown tonight and he is off to a self serve laundrette tomorrow with half a dozen bags of bedding and towels and is not to return until they have all been boil washed and tumble dried.

Sorry to hear others have gone through it but slightly relieved that it’s all past tense which gives me hope!