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Threadworms and Pregnancy

9 replies

Mum2Be2023 · 05/10/2022 13:11

Hi all. I found the messages on this topic more than useful over the last few weeks and I wanted to add in my experience to help anxious mums to be in the future. I have a 4 year old who I found to have threadworms at which point I was 12 weeks pregnant. The pharmacist was clear that I was not to take the medication (Vermox). I found myself to have them a number of days later. To say that this was traumatic is a wild understatement and I have spent the last 3 weeks obsessively thinking about them and feeling absolutely disgusted as the thought of them living in my body and sneaking out of my bum at night. Following the "natural" recommendations online, I have taken to (i) eating raw carrots, (ii) 2 cloves of raw garlic ingested daily (iii) grapefruit seed extract in my smoothies, (iv) 70grams of sunflower seeds a day, (v) drinking apple cider vinegar in a pint of water and, finally, diatomaceous earth which I also mix into my smoothies. I started the DE on week 2 at which point I was still clearly suffering from threadworms. Over the last few days (I am now week 3), I think I may be in the clear. I have not seen any live ones and have seen the odd one that looks dead in my poo. I also vaseline up my bum and shove a vaseline covered piece of tissue up my bum (not in my bum, if you understand), as I imagine they cant migrate beyond that. It seems that in Australia, they have a product Combantrin Chocolate Squares for threadworm, that while are still category C in pregnancy, contain pyrantel which no longer licensed in UK or Ireland but is considered less of a tetrogenic risk than what is in the vermox. I ordered this, it takes two to three weeks to arrive and will consider taking it if I still have any symptoms at that point, at which time I will be 18 weeks. My obstetrician told me that the advice in the hospital is 6 weeks of strict hygiene (that goes without saying) and if no success, take the meds. I am super cautious about taking any drug in pregnancy however so it will very much be the last resort. If anyone has any wisdom to share, I would very much like to hear it. I feel like the natural recommendations may not yield the results people hope. If you had told me three weeks ago that I would be on constant worm alert, I would have despaired. It is just so annoying that pregnant women are told to go and live with it.

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Mum2Be2023 · 11/10/2022 11:39

Just in case anyone is following this, I was wrong last week to think I had beaten the worms. Still see an average of one a day, coming on week 4 of following all steps. I am getting more stoic. This shall pass and I shall have a healthy baby.... I think if I take the meds I will worry for the rest of the pregnancy that I have damaged the baby in some way so it really is a catch 22.

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NeverCleanAgain · 11/10/2022 11:43

Eh? I had threadworms in pregnancy, went to the pharmacy, was given Ovex and was right as rain within 24 hours. It’s safe to use in pregnancy and you don’t have to spend weeks twatting about eating raw garlic and vaselining your arsehole.

Mum2Be2023 · 11/10/2022 13:13

Thanks for your message. Love it. I do feel like a fool with the raw garlic and this diatmoaceous earth. Maybe I am being a total fool about this. What week were you in when you took it?

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NeverCleanAgain · 11/10/2022 14:54

I can’t remember exactly which week it was, sorry. I know it was definitely before I found out the sex - I’m guessing it was somewhere between 12-16 weeks?

NeverCleanAgain · 11/10/2022 14:58

Are you in the UK? My pharmacist was absolutely fine for me to take it but this was a few years ago now. Wondering if the advice has changed.

Mum2Be2023 · 12/10/2022 21:47

I'm in Ireland. Pharmacist here specifically asked without prompting if I was pregnant and then cautioned against use for me and my 20 month old who had no symptoms. I gave her a dose though as she bathes with the infected kid. Thank you, you have been so helpful! Only one observed today and that was on a very close inspection. I am beginning to feel somewhat hopeful that I might beat them myself. My big fear is that baby is not perfect in some way and I irrationally or otherwise feel a guilt for that. The fact that these drugs are categorised as C - possible risk - is really cruel when there appears to be absolutely loads of babies born with no problems at all. I'm going to let all the readers know how I get on as I got great info from this site but some posters dont let you know how it all turned out for them!

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Helpmeheal · 12/10/2022 22:28

No advice but sounds f-ing awful. Hope it clears for you soon.
Sure I've read about ovex being OK too.

Mum2Be2023 · 18/10/2022 17:38

Just for mums to be scrolling in the middle of the night surviving threadworms... I will be week 5 on Thursday and still find one or two (dead) on my cotton wool covered with vaseline shoved between my butt at circa 1am. Dont know if the vaseline has killed them. Whole process has been a nightmare. The skin on my hands is dry and cracked from obsessive overwashing. It has caused my skin to CRAWL. Going to take the drugs (the combantrin from Australia) next Thursday week, on exactly week 6 after I saw the first one if I continue to see them at that point. I will be 18 weeks and cannot see any scientific study which suggests it can hurt the baba. So my experience has been - I have tried very bloody natural remedy and they didn't clear them for me. I will update!

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Mum2Be2023 · 26/10/2022 10:05

Hi all, - an update. The threadworms are no more since Friday or Saturday. That is exactly 6 weeks since I found them on my kid, and 5 weeks and one day since I found them on myself. So the internet advice that they take 5/6 weeks to clear seems exactly right. I will never forget the trauma of the past month, and I think that if I were to advise another pregnant mum, I would say that I would 100% take the combantrin at any time in pregnancy, and the vermox from late second trimester. Now I have no medical training at all so take that with a pinch of salt, but lets say I got them again next week, at 19 weeks, I would gobble down the combantrin. I had a good scan this week where I saw ten little fingers and ten little toes so that eased the fear of causing some issues anyway.

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