Recurring threadworms despite repeated treatment and cleaning, has anyone cleared them?

[MyPoliteOtter]

I’m about the end of my tether and don’t know what to do, just hoping I’m not alone/ hoping to get some reassurance from anyone else..

Our family has has recurring threadworms since December now and I just don’t know what more I can do! My daughter had a red and itchy bottom and vagina and was scratching and waking multiple times a night shrieking when we finally put the pieces together and worked out what was wrong - we’d thought she had poor personal care at nursery and night terrors up to that point before I saw one on her and got her treated.

Our first round I had a 3 month old baby so he couldn’t be treated and doctors were reluctant to treat me as I was breastfeeding, but eventually gave me medicine when I found I had them, but I was treated out of sync, so unsurprisingly they came back 3 weeks later..

Round 2, baby still too young to be treated, and yet again, they came back again.

Round THREE, baby was finally old enough for medicine, so we treated all together,
and are now 12 days post our last dose, but my daughter is now waking again in the night, and I have nausea and day time genital sensitivity/discomfort which have been my only symptoms before (I don’t get the ‘itch’) so I just feel it in my bones they are back once again..

I just don’t know what more I can do!! We are washing bedding constantly, hoovering daily, towels washed right away, clean clothes every day, my hands are red RAW from washing, we have done multiple medication rounds with even an extra 3rd dose just to be sure, but they come back again and again. We told her nursery, all they did was put up a bulletin but not much else it seems..

I am getting so depressed now - I feel like such a failure and that we will NEVER be rid of these things. It’s utterly ruining my maternity leave as all I do is clean and not enjoy my baby, and I am constantly on alert for ‘contamination’ or risk. Every time my daughter wakes in the night I think they are back, every time I get a ‘damp’ feeling I think they’re back. My little girl is 3 and at nursery lots so can’t watch her all the time and constantly puts her hands on her mouth. My son sucks his thumb too..

My question is - has anyone else had repeated reinfections? How long did it go on for you? Did you finally clear them? What helped in the end? Did you get your GP to escalate to a specialist or did you change the dosing?

I feel so scared and lost and worried we’ll have them forever.. any advice or hand holding welcome x

Sounds super promising either way, I’ll start this, thank you!!

Oh man, moving not an option sadly but definitely feel like burning the house down sometimes :’( so glad it’s gone for you though, I’d never wish this on my worst enemy.
no sandpit but they do play in messy trays a lot which could be making it worse..

Thanks so much, i worry with my baby about how much medicine is safe for him :( but so glad that has worked for you

Thank you so much, I’ve been leaning towards weekly dosing being key too as I get symptoms return before the fortnight is up which makes me think the buggers are coming back faster than the 14 day window!! So glad this has worked for you

My ds had them aged 4. We took ovex every 2 weeks 3 times. That seemed to do the trick with all the washing and damp dusting but a few years later they came back. Did the same process but unfortunately I’m now paranoid about them. I wish you could easily test if you still have them. I also don’t know why you can’t get “bum worm chocolate” in the UK.

Sorry OP, I really feel for you. Try to relax about it, you can only do what you can.

My daughter had them repeatedly for a year. It was hell. The best thing I done, which is what finally got rid of them, was put her to sleep in a onesie (summer jumpsuit) so she couldn’t get her hands to her bum to scratch at night.

also you MUST wash all hands really well the moment you wake up

good luck. 🤞

My daughter is the one who brings them home. In the morning we take her pants and pyjamas odd in an empty bath then immediate shallow bath or shower to wash her bum thoroughly. Pyjamas straight to the washing machine.

have you cleaned their teddies?

paint your kids nails with the horrible tasting paint to try and keep them out their mouths (I know that’s hard with yours being so young) and copious hand washing

@MyPoliteOtter read up on the lifecycle of a threadworm if you haven't.
You need to break the cycle to win the battle.
Pants at night under pyjamas because you will scratch without knowing it at night. (Scratch cycle broken)
I used to put a thick layer of sudocrem on bottoms at night like if they had as babies (stops egg laying cycle)
Wash hands with soap especially nails in the morning (stops eggs going into body orally - another cycle breaker)
Plus medication

It is possible to break the cycle, you just need to be on top of it

Are you doing the morning showers? This washes away any of the eggs and honestly I think this is what’s did it for us. And for some reason my daughter has caught them SO many times.

presumably DD is getting re-infected at nursery.

I would add you need to remove sugar from your diet as much as possible. No sweets/ chocolate/cake.

We did this, treated weekly for three weeks and it broke the cycle, it was seven years ago but not seen them since. It’s a bit old school but to stop the itching a peeled clove of garlic in the bottom and Vaseline on the outside.

@MyPoliteOtter I wasn’t questioning whether your daughter had them - 100% once you’ve seen them on your kids you can’t unsee that! My dh never saw one and didn’t understand how traumatised I was. I meant that it may not automatically be spreading to the rest of your family, if that’s any comfort. Good luck with it. As another poster mentioned, sandpit and mud are often culprits, as there are lots of eggs in them. My youngest lived in his nursery’s mud kitchen so that’s why he got them so much I think.

What @BertieBotts said. In the end my ds had one pill morning and evening for 3 days. Was the only thing that sorted it. When it finally worked his poo was basically white with worms!

It sounds like she got a really bad infestation originally which can take longer to clear out. My 4 year old has had them twice and both times he's been up in the night shrieking and the second time I spotted it much quicker and got on top of it straight away.
are you showering her in the morning to wash away any new eggs? Very short fingernails. Wash sheets daily on hot wash for at least a week. Wash toys too. Mention to nursery also.

Someone said it earlier, but it really does help. Put them in onesies at night, it means they can’t scratch.

I would keep her off.
If you're not working, does she need to go in? Mine were never in nursery when I was on Mat leave.
Make sure every morning you wash everyone's bottoms and hands as they lay the eggs at night.

I too wondered if keeping child from nursery for a while makes sense. Not ideal ... but neither is this constant reinfection.
Onesie is good.
Also very very short nails ... this is where the eggs lodge.