It's been 3 1/2 days since I gave her the mebendazole tablet but she's still passing live worms. Is it normal to take so long to kill them off?
She's more comfortable at night - not up crying for an hour at a time any more - but she still has disturbed sleep, so they're still bothering her.
Can anyone reassure me hat the meds are working properly and it's normal to take so long to kill all the worms?
My daughter is experiencing the same thing. We've had problems on and off for months, and we think we are rid of them and then they're back.
She wakes up and says she has 'the tickles' again and is generally disturbed through the night. What makes it worse is that she says it tickles in her anus and her vagina. She is only 4, so sometimes the details get muddled in the panic, so I never know quite where the problem is.
If they are in her vagina, will the standard medication be solving the problem?
Well, I hope the medication will reach everywhere but I don't know for sure. My daughter's 8. She gets very upset when the irritation bothers her. It seems to be quite painful at times.
I've called our GP this morning and I've been told that we need to wait another week before giving her more medication. I've already had 8 nights of disrupted sleep - by next Wednesday I'll be a wreck and who knows what state she'll be in!!!
I guess if we have to wait, then we have to wait.
I'm told that the first lot of meds kills all the worms but not the eggs. The remaining eggs hatch out within 2 weeks which is why you take the second med dose 2 weeks after the first. The second dose kills all the worms that came from the eggs that the first dose didn't catch - but it kills them before they mature enough to start laying more eggs. Well, that may be the theory but I'm not convinced that the first dose has killed off all the worms my daughter had. After taking the medication, she improved over the first 4 nights but then it seemed to get worse again.
The constant cleaning is also very tiring - and I'm ironing everything in the hope that any eggs that escape the washing and tumble drying process get killed with the heat off the iron!
It's going to be a looooong week......
Hope your daughter's infection clears up quickly.
I know exactly what you are all going through! I've had them for 9 weeks on and off. I have taken 4 tablets (two early as I could feel my tummy rumbling!), the liquid form and the sachet form. I am in hell! They won't shift. My hands ache from washing and I wash bedding/towels everyday.
I have one last sachet to take on Friday! They are dead in my stools but quite long. This surprised me. Okay...now to get down to the nitty gritty and ask advice....
They were in my vagina (know idea how). When I'm passing these are they dead? I can't tell. More mucus on them. It gets worse...
The mucus in my nose (yes, you read right!!) is worm like hence the fact the blighters are there. Today I found a one on my eyelashes!! I am demented. I don't know how to kill these and they are probbaly causing the re-infection. I am in hell!!!! I've changed diet and bought all the herbal stuff that's recommnded. I am seriously considering colonic irrigation but this scares me!
Does anyone know how to blitz the ones in vagina, nose, eyes? They appear dead but I have no idea why they are coming out of these places.
Sites on the internet say this can happen in heavy infestations (just can't shift it!!) but I think my doctor will think I am mad (having actualy cried in her office 2 weeks ago. Imagine - a grown professional of 30 (me!) crying like that.
ANY ADVICE will be greatly received.
Thanks
It's recommended that people who are suffering these worms wash immediately after they rise in the morning. I think this may be to get rid of any eggs that have been laid overnight before they can hatch.That may help you to cut down on the chances of re-infection. Here are other measures that may help:
For the moment I've switched to disposable wipes instead of facecloths and cloth dusters so that I use them once and then they're binned. Not very enviro friendly - but a measure against re-infection.
Every hard surface - furniture, toys, etc has been wiped with a disposable wipe. After cleaning it, I've removed a lot of the stuff that normally sits out so that I don't have so much to clean every day.
I've also washed, tumble dried and ironed everything that will take that sort of punishment. My daughter has a couple of teddies that can't be washed so I've sealed them in plastic bags and put them in the deep freeze to kill off any eggs that way.
I've got an anti-allergen filter on my vacuum cleaner - I've renewed the filter so it's in tip top condition and I've hoovered all carpets, beds and upholstery.
I normally have a hand towel in the bathrom that we share but I've replaced them with a hand towel each. I change these towels every day. Bath towels get used once and then they are also taken for cleaning.
Tea towels are used once and then taken for cleaning.
Noone is allowed to go around without tight fitting knickers on and they can only be changed in the bathroom. I thought this may help to keep eggs within the bathroom area rather than have them all around the house. I mop the floor in the bathroom several times a day.
I change bed linen every second day - again making sure it's tumble dried and ironed in the hope that any eggs that aren't washed out are zapped with the heat instead.
All in all, it's pretty exhausting and my electric bill is going to be sky high with all the hot water and tumble drying...but I deperately want us to be rid of this infestation asap and I'm prepared to put myself through all this to get the best possible chance of achieving that.
Hope some of this is of some use to you.
Hi! Well, I could strive for more hygenic measures (if that's possible!!). I'm daily cleaning the areas in which I use the most (bedroom, bathroom etc) but I fear a massive 'on your hands and knees' clean as I am scared that I'll ingest the eggs. Like you, I'm using disposable bleach wipes. I am changing toothbrush everyweek (perhaps I should do everyday?). I am wearing new clothes and washing them everyday and avoiding others for 6-7 weeks (mad i know) in case eggs are on them.
I agree - it's costing us a fortune!
I don't have a tumble dryer so I constantly have stuff drying in the utility room daily. Perhaps this isn't the best idea.
I still think my constant re-infections is due to the worms heading to other areas (my nose, vagina and eyes) thus avoiding the tablet. This was suggested on the internet...but who knows.
Insane I am !! But it does help knowing others out there understand. I am gonna get a t-shirt saying, 'I am clean- honest'
Yes, this infection is extremely easy to catch and it's got absolutely nothing to do with how clean your normal habits are - nothing is going to protect you 100%.
We're lucky enough to have 3 bathrooms - one I have allocated to visitors only, another one is the one in use for family and the third one is where we keep our toothbrushes and floss and is only used for that purpose for the moment until the infection is gone.
I'm finding it all a bit exhausting really. Doesn't help that I've been up with my daughter 8 nights in a row. I'm sick to death of cleaning...!
And on that note, I'm off to clean the bathrooms again....
Just checked with my GP - yes, the medication will travel to all the parts of your body. She saud not to take more than the recommended dosage as the worms can build up resistance. She also said that cleaning isn't really the answer - it's mostly down to scrubbing hands and fingernails.
Oh crikey...now I'm worried that they've built up a resistance as I took more than the recommended dosage (foolish I know but remember - I am going insane with all this!!). If I've done that then I'm in big trouble as nothing will then shift them.
I might cry...but only after I've taken out another clean load from the washing machine!
The mucus in parts has died down a bit...and I'm still passing dead ones in stools (stacks of them - makes me ill!!) BUT I now don't know whether to take the Pripsen tomorrow eve having had an Ovex tablet last Sunday night. Ahhhhh. Doc gave me Pripsen. I took Ovex until I could get an appt. with her. She said I could take both but she isn't a worm specialist :cry:
Sorry for sharing a bit too much 
UH OH - OMG! I've just passed something longer than I've ever seen. I am horrified and just don't feel right. I'm sure it moved but I want my eyes to be deceiving me.
I don't know what to do? My Docs are closed...I am desperate. I've even kept it as a sample. OMG - I think I need to ring NHS Direct...
The female worms can be about an inch long. Maybe it's one of them? It's also possible that it's a different type of worm infection that you have. You're right to keep a sample so that it can be determined exactly what it is.
I called NHS24 last5 week and all they did was read a leaflet out to me...
You're not going to have this infection forever - it will eventually go - so hang in there!
Thanks for reading! I just called NHS direct as I was ready to go to out of hours clinic. I just feel unwell. She says I need a docs appt tomorrow to get this looked at as 9 weeks is a long time. Plus she said that my 'naughty' early tablet taking might have caused a problem.
Oh when will this hell end and what the hell do I say at work for needing time off for the docs 2nd day back at school.
Ahhhhhh. I reckon I need to look into different worm types because of the discharge in other bodily areas.
How sick do I feel?!
Of course I'll die of shame if it's a long piece of undigested food! Oh, who am I kidding - it's not!
Can't tell anyone about this in 3D world. They'd freak and disown me.
There are 2 types of medication to treat threadworm - one is mebendazole which prevents the worms being able to digest food and starves them to death. The other is a drug that paralyses the worms and prevents them doing anything. Your body then just flushes them out. Maybe you could try the second approach if you think they've built up resistance to mebendazole?
Hate to say it - I've had both treatments although my second pwder sachet (Pripsen) was due tomorrow.
Who knows. I'll be bashing down the Dr.'s door tomorrow because I can't go on being exhausted like this!
Hope your blighters clear up. I'm sure they will with all your super cleaning and washing!
I see - sorry - I thought it was only Ovex and Pripsen that you'd taken I didn't realise you'd had the other one as well.
Well, I really hope you get back to normal very soon.
Bad night's sleep!! Pripsen contains a different drug to Ovex. Ovex kills the worm and gets rid; Pripsen paralyses the blighter and then gets rid.
Obviously not for me
Hi, my name is ariel. I'm not sure of the type of parasites your daughter has. I have thread worms, they are so bad they came out of my skin, Dr's refused to believe me that my sores and rashes were worms, and not some other infection. I've even been given mrsa fighting antibiotics... any way... I have read through my diligent Internet searching, and crash course on worms... that uv light kills the eggs. Thus I'm thinking I could hang your laundry out on a line, couch cushions, sheets etc could set out in the sun in the privacy of your own back yard!!! I would double check your parasite and if uv light would kill or disable the future hatching. It at least might help the constant clean up process.. I hope.. good luck.