So.........threadworms (and I've looked in archives and am now beside myself)

[Aero]

These wee parasites have been plaguing dd (possibly for months and have only been discovered now) and though we've all taken treatment, I'm now totally paraniod about re-infection. I don't think it's possible to do any more cleaning/washing than we've done this week and the prospect of keeping this regime going for the next six weeks is scaring me to death - I'm constantly chasing my tail as it is. We're all wearing knickers 24/7 and I'll be changing/washing everything regularly, but has anyone got any positive stories to tell - like that they just disappeared after treatment. If not, then any further advice/tips to stop me going frantic would be appreciated immensely. I already feel like the world's crappest mum for not spotting this sooner. Had no idea about the night-time soreness and the fact that they could make their way into her vagina (where the persistant night-time pain was). I just thought these were something I'd see in her poo!! (v sorry for too much info) HELP!!!
I'll bump this tomorrow as I guess it's rather late now................

The dear little chaps have visited us several times, Aero, but the treatment always shifted them - double dose, 2 weeks apart, each time. It sounds as if yours are entrenched so you may need a further dose (or poor dd might) but you are doing all you can otherwise. (Keep everybody's fingernails very very short too.)

Good luck and don't feel bad for not spotting them - my kids have always had to tell me that they have them!

ds had them once when he was at nursery - they are vile and you have my utmost sympathy.

However, with just one treatment they disappeared.

Thanks Jan - I had a feeling you'd reply as I saw you were still up. The bad feeling is more to do with visiting the GP about 2 months ago and she suggested testing for it if other tests came back negative (as they did), but she never mentioned that the symptoms were very typical of threadworms. Really thought they were just something I'd see!! Guess I was in denial, then things settled for a while and all was forgotten until this week when we've had two hours per night of sobbing and sobbing with the pain!! Felt worse as I got totally snappy with her on night three as was soooooo tired. Will defo buy another treatment to have in-house as they're still there (in the evidence iyswim) after two days. Any idea how long it should be before we don't see any more?
Ds is loving that t-shirt btw - wears it all the time!

Thanks jp - just what I need to hear atm.

treatment cleared ours up too.I know how you feel though i was cleaning like made and felt unclean and that I had let my family down.Of course I hadn't thay are as common as nits but people just don't talk about it.My tips are keep fingernails short,wet dust everywhere,wash fluffy toys and I read to iron all the underwear on a hot iron to kill eggs.Hope this helps

my friend has got a house like a shiney pin and her children have had them 3 times.She felt the same as me at the time sallystrawberry but i read that worms are like nits it is not a cleanleness thing at all is it.

my friends kids have them v regularly but to be honest they are always digging around in the garden and they all arent scrupulously clean AND the kids are older so parents are probably more lax with their hygiene

Oh I'm glad he loves the T-shirt, Aero - I will tell DS2, he will like to know it's having a life!

I don't know how long it takes before the worms disappear completely, only that they tell you to take second dose 2 weeks after first. Two bits from sally's link:

1. Adult worms live for up to 6 weeks.

2. The eggs can survive for three weeks and sometimes hatch on the skin and re-enter the bowel. Swallowed eggs hatch in the intestine, and after a couple of weeks the worms reach adult size and begin to reproduce.

So I think the pill kills the existing adult worms, but not the eggs, which go on to hatch and grow, and then the second dose catches them before they have time to lay eggs themselves.

(But as it says the eggs can survive for 3 weeks, it might be worth taking a third dose after another 2 weeks just to be on the safe side?)

don't no abotu thread worms but i opeend a can of worma - dyer remember@ everyone took the p*ss!

the pillow calls ...........

they just disappeared after treatment

with ds1 about 12 months ago. Did all the washing and boiling and hoovering and they disappeared

Thank you all - afraid I had to crash last night - all this cleaning is so tiresome!! Great tip about ironing knickers Catwalk - the thought of actually doing the critters some damage fills me with pleasure!! Will do that if they don't disappear. Have also washed fluffy toys and basically anything that can be washed - duvet included! The task for today is to do the sofa covers! Lovely, esp as I'm feeling pretty run down myself, but ridding the house of these creatures is taking priority over everything atm.
The place looks like a palace (apart from the sofa!!)
Ss - no symptoms from the rest of us, but it defo is worms. Suffice to say, there's no doubt. We were asked to send in a stool sample, but there was no need to send it in as the problem was very obvious in the end. Tbh, I'm very relieved to know what the problem is as it's been going on for some time, but although easy to treat, what a PITA with the risk of reinfection being so high.

Bath toys will need special attention, I boiled ours

My DD had been complaining of pains in her tummy and a sore vagina for weeks. She went to the toilet one night and came in screaming as there was a worm on her finger! When I checked she was riddled with them - I was 8 mths pregnant at the time and we'd just recovered from our first nit infestation. I can't say how sick I felt and upset that I hadn't spotted them sooner.

Everyone took the medicine except me and we were very particular with washing everything. They disappeared after one course of the stuff though.

Gosh, I wasn't particular about anything! A nurse friend suggested worms might be the cause of her discomfort so I took her to the doc who gave us all the treatment and it worked straight away. The next problem was that because it hurt her to poo, she became constipated and then, literally, anally retentive. She was 3.5 and trained for over a year and suddenly started poong in her pants. She reckoned that if she didn't want to poo she didn't have to, but of course you can't always control it. I had to stay everywhere with her in case. It must have lasted about a month and was VERY stressful. But yes, the worms pushed off straight away!

Ours kept recurring for over a year and I also boiled everything and was ultra-clean. I'm amazed at all the stories of worms clearing up straightaway - perhaps there are different strains with varying levels of resistance.

I think it depends where they're coming from, Droile. Nail-biters and finger-suckers probably get them more often than average (though where they actually pick them up from doesn't bear thinking about, ugh).

Glad to hear those positive stories - am amazed too - if it's as much a PITA as headlice, there is no hope for us - dd (yes the one and only) had it three times on the trot before we were finally rid......and I think it will be if all the things I read are true - just so much cleaning and washing has been done and now the whole cycle starts again.
Ah well, back to the hoover!!
God bless piriton - think that's what knocked the itching on the head and granted us some much needed kip! Think I may well re-dose in two weeks to be on the safe side.

my son did get them 3 times but he was a nail biter... a quick chat and a few bribes later he is worm free and nail full!!

Don't forget the toilet door handle and the toilet handle... as if you have not had enough to clean... and bath toys!!

The house has never looked so clean - I think I've become a little excessive on the handwashing front!!
Going through bathroom wipes at a magnificent rate!
Am going to re-dose anyway in a couple of weeks. Can't do any harm and I want to make sure ALL the uninvited visitors leave!
Ewwwwwwwwwwwww!
The good thing is though that dd is feeling miles better - no more itching for the moment, but I will not be complacent - the hygiene obcessiveness goes on.................

You may have seen my old posts on the archives. We had a lot of problems in the autumn term.

I was sure that DS1 was becoming reinfected at school, so I gave him another dose of the medicine at the beginning of the Christmas holidays and it did the trick - no more bottom scratching!

My sister (who is a teacher) reckons that sandpits are a prime source of infection - she says that if there is an outbreak of threadworms at her school they always change the sand in the sandpit - so look out for that one if there is sand at dd's school.

I know wht you mean, I felt like a terrible mum too.

Oh dinasaur - that could well be the source of our problem. Dd loves the sand and plays in it most days. Am fairly sure the initial infection was from school and tbh I'm not convinced it will go away overnight. Also the head-teacher is a bit wishy-washy, so am not confident that measures will be taken by her to inform parents that there has been (at least) one case and to be on the lookout for symptoms. I believe the eggs can also live in plastecine!! Lets face it - they can live pretty much anywhere. I really don't have a good feeling about this regarding re-infection.
Will mention the sand thing to her teacher though.