Threadworms - how many have them?

[Mumof3darlings]

Dear All,

I feel like I am going mad!

1 week ago I noticed DS (age 4) scratching his bum a couple of times, I immediately thought he might have worms. Checked that night by looking up his bum with a torch and immediately saw a wriggling little blighter which quite honestly made me feel sick to the stomach! My DS is a clean little boy, ie washes his hands after loo, not always before eating though and we have a very clean home but I try not to be too OTT with the kids about not touching mud/sand etc while we are in garden etc as I feel like they have gotta play/get germs etc!!!

So I gave kids and me and DH medicine... Next day checked DS no 2's nappy whilst changing him and noticed a worm in there too!!!! agggrrr!!! This sent me over the edge tbh as I felt like the medication was my only hope!!!

OK so in last week I have checked DSno 2's nappy probably a dozen times and nothing... Also checked up DS1's bum while he sleeps every night and it's clean as a whistle.. I need to give the medication again after 2 weeks but to be sure I gave us all it again yesterday just in case.

I have a doctor who advises both on natural and mainstream medicines and he advised we could all take an aloe vera drink each morning which is preventative.. so we are taking this (which I feel is more for my mind than anything else)..

I have cleaned bedding, hoovered, washed, towels have been washed after every wash - the amount of washing I have done this week is as much as a busy launderette!!! Poor little DS1 is marched home from school and told to wash his hands immediately... I am watching other kids in his class and noticed one of them scratching his bum the other day - I am thinking about this subject 100% of the time - I honestly feel like I have become obsessed with it!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had threadworms as a child quite a few times and I have had them as an adult too - immediately treating the problem. It always freaks me out everytime but this time seems worse as I noticed it in both my kids... what am I doing wrong???

I think the worst thing about this is that I feel so alone with it as nobody has EVER told me that their kids have this... Do people just not realise? or is it just that we are unlucky and get it more than others... Today I decided (after 1 week) to tell my DS's teacher. I found it so difficult to do as I am so embarrased and feel so guilty about it. I was hopeful she would tell me that she had seen it a hundred times before - she's been a teacher for about 15 years - but she didn't!!!!!!!!!! She was very nice, very understanding but said she had never known of a child having it before - OMG made me feel like a freak!!!

Help me - please tell me either what I am doing wrong or why it is that people don't discuss this????

Thanks for reading!!

x x

[kateecass]

I am not exactly great at vacuuming and dusting so doubt I have cleaned up any by accident. But I am very strict about hand washing mainly as we have a dog but also hate seeing long fingernails on kids. Also my kids don't really put their hands in their mouths as a rule. That's probably to do with dog germs too!

I used to make my own wipes for DD when she was a baby by putting kitchen roll cut into suitable sized pieces into a Tupperware type container with enough water to keep them wet. That would be flush able wouldn't it?

Will report back when DH goes on the lookout tonight!

[mathanxiety]

If the kitchen roll is sturdy enough to not disintegrate in the bowl of water then it is too sturdy to be flushed.

[IneedAsockamnesty]

has vision of mathan running around with knickers on her head.

i use indervidual fabric bags that get washed with the load

[kateecass]

Errrr, we always flush kitchen roll down the loo when we blow our nose. Oops.

[IneedAsockamnesty]

katee stop it the plumber will charge you a fortune when he has to fix it

[catsrus]

If threadworms weren't common then it would be hard to get the medicine to treat them! for one thing it would be prescription only. Pharmacies are not charities, they can't afford to keep things in stock that might go out of date because no-one needs them . the fact that the medication to treat them is so readily available means that they are very very common, annoying yes, but not a huge deal.

I also saw some research that suggested intestinal parasites like this might actually be good for our general health as the immune system learns to cope with them - it's the old "too clean is a bad thing" argument. don't know how true it is but I certainly had them as a child 50+ yrs ago and my own children all had them. Just like nits they are something you just have to deal with.

Can't believe the teacher saying she'd not heard of anyone having them!

[midseasonsale]

I had worms, I ate raw garlic and then worms dissapeared

[fishandlilacs]

tonight I have found out were having an outbreak. Grim. Going to have to go the doctors because I am breastfeeding my 9m old and don't know what he and I can take-the ovex says to consult a doctor.

I wonder if threadworms have a season in the same way that nits have-I was so surprised to find this thread on here tonight after just making the grim discovery.

I know what tomorrows jobs will be :( bloody things. Steam mopping, washing and damp dusting.

I had them a lot as a child-was a nail biter so I think that makes it worse.

[IneedAsockamnesty]

midseason that is highly unlikly to be why they went.

[mathanxiety]

Sockreturningpixie

[IneedAsockamnesty]

sorry i ment to say that is because the thing in garlic that kills some parisites is not very effictive on ones inside the body unless you eat enough to produce about 6000mcg's of allicin about 3 times a day for at least 2 weeks but that wouldnt be very sensable as it can make you bleed weirdly and be rather sick.

but some people swear by it as a poltice for nits or used as a cleaning agent.

[Mumof3darlings]

Thanks for all replies! Sorry to booboo that you are suffering with these and can't take meds. That puts it into perspective.. Mummified Oh. My. God. You poor thing! I saw 2 single worms and was freaked - pathetic really.

Last (and others) I appreciate your honesty in terms of not taking this so seriously - putting it into perspective, you are right. I AM gonna cause both myself and more importantly my DS psychological damage. This is SO silly and such a shame. He is a happy little boy and today said to me "Mummy I dont want to have to wash my hands ALL the time" I'm getting on his nerves. Normally he is good and totally accepts washing hands after loo and before eating but for example I have said as we walk in from school "wash your hands now you have just come from school where there are germs" then 20 mins later after playing with his toys "wash your hands before I give you and apple" then he does he eats the apple then goes and plays for 5 minutes and I say "don't put your hands/toy in your mouth". Am a nagging him or teaching him? Where do I draw the line?

I am seriously worried that I have given my family too many tablets. The medication is Vermox and it says to take 100mg 2 times a day for 3 days then again like that 2 weeks later. I live abroad and it's
Written in a language that I don't understand. At first I thought it had said 1 a day for 3 days so that's what I did. Then after a week I decided to repeat to be sure we had zapped them. Then after my DH translated I realised that I hadn't given enough so re did it as I thought I probably hadn't done enough. So effectively we have all had 3 then 3 then 6 - so 12 tablets in less than 2 weeks!!!!! Then when I looked at the Vermox information on the net it says that it's 1 tablet then again 2 weeks later. My DS 2 is only 2 years old!!! Have I poisoned him? I am now really worried about this as I am writing it... What have I done? I was so obsessed with getting rid of them I am scared I have harmed my family..

x

[mumtoaandj]

ok- is there an epidemic? we have the blighters at the moment too! i recently had a mc- they cant cause that can they? is that daft to think that? is it also true that you can get them in other areas of your body?

[mathanxiety]

No and No, to Mumtoaandj.

[manitz]

mum of 3 darlings, I am the opposite. It's really got me to buck my ideas up. I've never really enforced handwashing and dd is really scruffy I don't police what she wears. Have just really cleaned her bedroom and sorted her drawers. she claims she has been wearing the same top to school for 2 weeks .

Am going to take on board some of the things mentioned here, like nail brush being part of our routine and more hand washing generally. However I do think maybe you are too far the other way. I think they need a bit of dirt - perhaps I shouldn't let ds2 eat off the floor so often - but a bit of dirt does them some good and the odd worm wont kill them as has been said above.

Also thanks everyone for clearing up why I've been having thrush on a fortnightly basis More ovex in the house as a back up.

Mumof3d, if you are worried about overdosing make sure you take the 2 year old to the doctor. Can you read what the sideeffects are? Perhaps just look out for those if you are not too worried.

[mumtoaandj]

mathanxiety..good and good and thank you

[fuckadoodlepoopoo]

My dc had them and i told everyone! I don't see what there is to be embarrassed about.

Op. Its no big deal, you need to chill.

(our Dr told us to give the second dose 10 days later)

To whoever mentioned it, girls front bums can hurt because they lay eggs in the uretha (wee tube! Excuse spelling)

[Mumof3darlings]

No since this I realise my kids weren't that clean! I want to sound very clean to make myself feel less guilty but I definately opened my kids up to getting worms!

Areas I lacked on were - not using separate towels for kids and even me and DH - how disgusting is that? It wasn't that we all shared the same towel but many a time I would just grab the first one I reached and didn't really know who else had used it. I'm gonna change this as I think it's best to. I also never washed bedding or towels at high temp - only 40degs.

DS2 (age 2) ate food off floor (albeit floor) is tiled and cleaned few times a week (due to his mess!). After dinner he would always find bits of food and eat them off floor - I would joke about how my hygiene standards had dropped since having kids but also agreed with you that they need to get some bugs.. I just didn't think about worms! I am gonna try to get over this episode and move on and try not to be totally OCD with my kids because if I am and they do wash their hands 20times a day and I do everything right at home they could still get them from going to school and putting a pencil in their mouth - I can't stop them from doing this - they are just kids.

I realise that I now sound like I was a complete liar in my original post saying that we were SO clean! I wasn't. Our house is generally clean but is probably a normal home of a busy family! We haven't been super clean freaks so this must be why my boys passed them onto each other - by sharing a towel etc..

Another massive culprit I have thought about (after over analysing this) is a bath towel might be left in bathroom and a DS dries his hands on it after washing them after loo - obviously not a good idea to have hands dried on a towel that's been used on someone else's bottom!!! (cringe!)

Anyway what I am gonna try to do is sort my head out to accepting that we might get reinfected but that that's ok. If we sort our hygiene out so it's better (but not ott) then that should help us not to be riddled!!! Tablets will sort it in future.. I just need to work towards getting to this point in my mind as I still feel quite obsessed with getting rid of them forever!! Hopefully in a few weeks I will feel better!

Still worried about DSs and that I have given them too much medication - cant understand why the prescribed dose seems so much different in Europe to in uk?

Thanks all again. Good luck to those who are also blitzing worms at the mo!

x

[IneedAsockamnesty]

they can hang about in other areas like

vagina
uterus
liver
lungs
stomach
pelvic peritoneeum

but its rather rare unless its the vagina.

to the apsolute best of my knowledge i am unaware of any case any where in the world that a bout of thread worms has caused a mc (im so sorry for your loss but please compleatly put this type of self blame away it didnt cause it)


as far as i am aware the most serious things they can cause are insominia,bed wetting, discomfort, and secondary skin infections due to scratching and sometimes the squits but no nothing worse.

re over dosing a 2 year old vermox is basicly the same as ovex as the active stuff is the same type, keep an eye out for any rashes swollen lips, stomach upsett other than normal squits due to sweetener, fever or tummy pain. see a docter if he gets these.

if he bleeds when he poos (dark blood not bright red) or has a allergic reaction take him to a&e.

but dont fret short term od issues are very very very rare its od's over time like years that cause more probs. seriously dont fret

[Mumof3darlings]

Fuckadoo - good on ya for telling people! I wish I was so brave. I have told 2 people so far - my sons teacher and a friend with 2 kids - both looked horrified and said they had never seen them before!! This has made me embarrassed to tell others.

As someone else commented, it's bloody worrying that a school teacher of 4 year olds would not know much about this!

x

[Mumof3darlings]

Thanks so much sock! You know soooo much !! Well done ! Thank you x x

[FredWorms]

Coooooooeeeeeeeee!

[fuckadoodlepoopoo]

The kids are still young, another few years and most of them will have had it.

You need to stop beating yourself up about cleanliness. It really doesn't matter if they get worms occasionally, its just one of those things.

None of the things you describe are disgusting, just normal in a family home. I get the impression that this has triggered off some anxiety in you and you need to be careful it doesn't escalate. Been there done that and its not pretty.

The teacher probably hasn't heard of it much because people keep quiet about it.

I was told that the most common way to catch them is children at school holding hands after one has scratched their bum. Nothing you can do about that! And you wouldn't want to anyway because they are just being kids and having fun.

[Mumof3darlings]

Totally agree fuck (nice username!) you are so right that this has triggered some pretty awful anxiety. I have been close to tears since this happened. Thankfully I recognized that it had taken a hold of me and I am now trying to take control of my anxiety before it takes control of me! Thank u :-) x

[DownyEmerald]

I think there must be something wrong with me, I just don't find it disgusting.

Did get them as a child - but I mainly remember because of the medicine. Think it was supposed to be raspberry flavoured, and I had an apple and raspberry J2O in the pub the other day, and I could barely get it down. Just the smell brought back the memory.

Ovex MUCH better.

I have changed all beds, pjs, clean pants every morning here anyway. I refuse to deep clean etc. I'm not convinced it will make much difference and sorry, life is too short. It's bad enough with the extra washing in this weather.