I have nits and I've completely fallen apart. Please help

[Wills]

I am phobic about nits/fleas/small creatures in general. This morning I found 5 nits in my hair. I've completely lost it. I've cried numerous times, been to Argos and bought a nit zapper, been to the Chemist and bought chemicals. I've "zapped" my head until it was incredibly sore. I've washed and conditioned it and then gone through with a metal nit comb. When dh gets home tonight I've got chemicals to put in. About the only thing I haven't done so far is shave my head! I feel sick to the stomach and every time my head itches I want to cry again. My dh has told me to get a grip and be rational, the problem here is that phobias aren't rational. Its nothing to do with worry about whether my hair was dirty or clean etc its purely the idea of something crawling around my hair makes me want to scream. How in hells bells am I going to deal with this!

Oh and should I wash the bedding and disenfect all hair brushes.

Yes re: bedding and hair brushes. If you have done nit combing and will do chemicals later then you should be fairly clear by the morning. I feel really sorry for you I hate nits too. Having some chocolate usually cheers me up a bit?

Oooh if you blast your hair with a hairdryer it might slow them down or something? No idea if that would actually work but you never know.

Heat won't kill them so hairdyer/straightners wont do anything. They can't survive for long off the head so no need totreat hats/bedlinen/hairbrushes etc

Oops, that was rubbish of me! Sorry! To be fair the hair dryer thing was complete conjecture on my part - my mum used to rinse the comb in boiling water to kill them I'm sure so I kind of assumed heat did kill them. I stand corrected Stand by the chocolate suggestion though, for general cheering up purposes.

Oh poor you - it's such a disgusting thought when you know they are there. But I don't understand why you need to wait for your husband to come home before using the chemicals. We have used the mousse treatment and it was very easy to apply. I did my own hair and the kids quite easily.

I felt much better once i had nuked them.

Thanks ladies. I've just gone and washed my hair and conditioned it again as it wont stop itching. Does the itching indicate that nits are still there?

I've not seen a mouuse treatment. To be honest the lady in the chemist was trying to stop me from buying every single brand. I am aware that I'm not handling this incredibly well.

I am reluctant to say anything now cos I have a feeling everything I know about nits might be rubbish(!), but I always assumed the itching was from the little bites. If you've gone through it lots with a nit comb I wouldn't have thought there would be many live ones still there surely?

Does anyone else see a Lyclear ad at the top of this thread?

I think you'll itch just because you're so aware! You've done all you can for now by the sound of it. Can you get a good friend, or DH, to nit comb you with conditioner to do a visual check for any lurkers? Condition and comb every other day for the next 2 weeks just in case of any eggs - but hopefully you've got them quickly and they won't have had the chance. How big were they?

I must admit that I haven't found any more since the original 5 this morning although buzzy zapper thingy did pause just the once. So what your saying is that the itiching is not them walking but rather left over bites?

Poor you...i got them from dd a few months ago. Wet combing every 2 days for a fortnight did the trick for us. Even using the chemicals must recommend a 2nd application in a weeks time as you will not get them all first time round due to their life cycle.

The itch is the irritation from the bites so the fact that your head is louse free doesn't make it stop itching (allow a while for that). There may be eggs left still but traet agin in 7 days and any that hatch will be cleared. For peace of mind I comb dd's hair after every bath, to catch any sign of them asap.

Sympathies and hugs. Both my DCs have had them a couple of times - just the thought of them makes me itch too. Also having blasted your hair your scalp will be battered and sore so will feel tender and itch.

Have you tried the stuff advertised on this page?

Distract yourself - go out or something, I'm sure it will help.....

FWIW just being on this thread has made my head itch, so part of it really is psychological.

So I've got to wash the bedding and all brushes (with what?). And what about the towels?

they die within 24 hours if they've fallen off your head, so just change your towels and bedding, wash as normal, and you should be fine

I washed everything, but i am paranoid! i just did a hot wash for the towels/bedding and washed brushes in as hot water as i could stand, with plain soap and disenefctant...probably didnt do much but made me feel better.

I'm not sure you absolutely need to, but I really wanted to so washed everything on a hot wash with biological powder.

When my DDs have had nits my head always itches whether they have passed them on to me or not - in fact I am feeling a bit itchy now just thinking about it!

If you've combed through with the nit comb you have probably managed to get all the active crawlers anyway so just use the chemical stuff which should zap the samll ones. You do need to repeat the treatment in a week to get rid of any eggs which may have survived and hatched. Re the bedding and brushes it is not necessary to wash them as the nits won't live that long without the scalp to feed on (very yuk emoticon)but I always feel better with fresh bedding etc!

Oh and remember to check the whole family including DH.

I've already checked my two girls (aged 7 and 3) and didn't find any. Ds is only 1 barely has any hair yet. DH is at work and torn between laughing his head off at me and being midly irrated at the fact that I phoned him whilst he was on the tube and the lady next to him got up and moved away.

To be honest although they make you itch a little, I do think that most of the itching is psychological. But personally I would also find it hard to wait for treatment. Poor you.

Here is the mousse:-
www.headlice.co.uk/products/full_marks.asp

We followed up with use of the nitty gritty comb. Never had a problem since then and that was 4 years ago.

www.nittygritty.co.uk/ng/index.jsp?page=/productListing.jsp

oh Wills, you poor thing. I am like this about slugs and snails . I hope you get it sorted soon x

I have also found a couple in my hair in the past, very common when a parent!!

Try not to use the chemicals (they don't always work anyway). Get conditioner in your hair and section your hair off. Go through each sectioned hair with the nit comb. You will get them all out.

When dp/dh gets home he can check to see if there are any eggs that will need removing.

Apply conditoner every day until you are sure there is nothing left.a And check your hair with the nit comb regulary. I check mine every other wash, and then every wash if i have found any in the childrens.

Your scalp is only probably itching because you have aggrvated it with the nit comb already. And because its in the mind..so itching happens!

It must be doubley horrible for you as you have a phobia, but sadly dealing with head lice is a very common part of being a parent! Wash all your bedding and check the childrens hair every evening.

Good luck.

Don't do chemicals - they don't always work that well. Go for Hedrin - it really works, I promise. If you can afford it just do everyone in the family once a week (Thursday night is Nit Night in our family!) whether they need it or not. It's non toxic and the nits don't get immune to it.

They are horrid, but I'm afraid they are unavoidable. If you do the weekly hedrin you sould never see them again.