Health Anxiety/Worms

[Piggel]

So I’ll preface this thread by saying I’m not really sure what I’m looking to get out of this. Whether it’s just to vent or offload. But hoping some lovely internet strangers can help.

A bit of background - I have a DS who’s 18 months old and in nursery. And I’m currently 29 weeks pregnant with another DS. Pregnancy with my 1st was great, this pregnancy has been riddled with anxiety. But the reason I’m posting is because the current anxiety is around worms (gross I know) and just wondering what I should look out for should my DS/us get them. I’m hoping that being armed with as much info as possible will help make me feel better.

Now I’ve had these thoughts for around 10 days, so would like to think that if DS or any of us had worms (myself and DH) it would be obvious. I’ve been checking DS’s nappies and my own stools and haven’t seen anything. I had worms as a child and a teenager (unfortunately I kept getting reinfected as a teenager so think this is playing in the back of my mind) and I distinctly remember seeing the worms in the poo and on the toilet paper. I haven’t seen anything atm. And feeling itchy! I’ve done a lot of googling to remind myself what they look like so feel certain I would be able to spot them? My DS hasn’t show any signs of having an itchy bum throughout the day or night. He’s still sleeping through the night but has a cold atm. So his poo has been a bit mucusy and his bum a bit red. But haven’t seen anything wormlike! I’d also like to think that between my DH and I, nursery and in-laws that we would spot something in the nappy if it was there! Was there anything anyone’s toddlers or children did to indicate something was up other than the bum itching? I know these things can be treated by Ovex which is readily and easily available so again, not sure why it’s getting to me so much.

I just want to add that I am seeking support for my mental health. The rational part of my brain knows that this train of thought is over the top and can be resolved, and even though I had the horrible experience I had when I was a teenager, I did eventually get rid of the worms. Before this pregnancy I really wasn’t that bothered about getting ill or parasites etc as it’s just part of life. They gave me the ick and made me itchy for a few minutes but I was able to move on with my day. But this pregnancy has sent me a bit loopy. Any advice would be much appreciated. And fully aware that I’m opening my own can of worms by posting this - excuse the poor pun!

Thank you.

Hi OP, you've answered your own question- this is your health anxiety talking. Speak to your midwife about it.

However threadworms are just a fact of life that are very common in pre-school/primary age kids . They are annoying
but harmless. Almost every family will have experienced them as they will have caught them at nursery/school from someone's else's family, so need to feel bad, it's not your fault. Treatment is easy, may need to be repeated if they get reinfected by others at school

Common sense advice is:

keep a stock of Ovex in the house in case you need to treat.

Prevention:
Ensure everyone maintains sensible hand hygiene ie wash hands before meals and after going to toilet
Ensure nails are kept short.

Diagnosis:
Itchy bum, particularly at bedtime, is the classic sign of threadworms. Use phone torch to check if they are present. They are easy to spot, little wiggling things like short piece of cotton.

Treatment:
Everyone in the house should take Ovex if possible (not if you are pg) 2 doses 2 weeks apart.
Wash all bedding and underwear at 60C
Affected people should wear underwear st night to reduce risk of scratching > transfer to mouth ( I know gross)
Damp dust and hoover bedrooms thoroughly.