The Pinworm Thread - Page 13

[Serafina33]

Anyone currently battling these little nasties?
I'm on day 9 since we found out my kiddos had them and I'm trying not to totally succumb to an all out anxiety attack but it's all I can do to keep up with the laundry (we're re-using NOTHING; every textile in the home gets washed daily except carpets on the floor and upholstery on the sofas) and morning bum washes, let alone wipe down  and vacuum the whole house daily.  

I just need a little comiseration with another mama currently stressing and freaking out imagining her entire home infiltrated with hundreds of thousands of microscopic eggs everywhere, waiting to be inhaled if there's any air movement to lift them towards your face.

I'm pregnant and it's not great to be stressing out to the point of near-panic, but here we are.  The kids have found the medicine to work to remove symptoms immediately (we're due for the second round in 5 days) but as for me.... I haven't ever found any worms, every time I check there's nothing I can see, but I feel a twinge maybe 2-3 times a day in my anus and vulva that I feel certain is not psychosematic.  These are twinges during the day but I guess they don't come out to lay eggs exclusively at night?  It's making me insane.  I have been putting an entire head of garlic up there, garlic paste and zinc oxide on my rectum, and even though it's several hours between twinges, I can't seem to get them to stop altogether.  I take an entire head of crushed garlic orally in the morning, and I did the meds (as did everyone except their stepmom at their dads, because she's also pregnant, although my doctor told me the OTC stuff we are all using is fine).  

30-80% of all kids have this at any one time, so surely I'm not the only mama right now going insane?

Hopefully there are some of you awesome MDC mamas out there who can help me calm down.  I've been reading horrific nightmare worthy stuff on here but even more elsewhere online about them getting into your eyeballs, under your skin, everywhere, and I'm nearly in tears worrying about worst case scenarios.  Should we take the pills every two weeks for a year to be sure?   I'm not in the US so I have no idea where to get the DE, clove oil, gse, etc.... as the names for products are not in english here and no one would know what I was talking about.

[icountbeans]

LOL Im sorry...  I am laughing because I know how you feel.  I can't get the image of these little things on my baby girl out of my head. You are NOT the only one.  I found them on my DD not quite three weeks ago.  She had complained about her bum-bum for a little while, so they were probably there before and I just didn't see them.  You know, in preschool they aren't great wipers, so a little itchyness and rash is no big deal.

I can tell you what I learned:  don't google it.  Dont look at the pictures, dont read about it, dont do any of that.  There's some really awful stories out there that you don't need to read or see.  As awful as it sounds, nothing good can come from google over this once you know what you are dealing with  :)  Its so easy to be obsessed by it, I know!

I was completely freaked out, creeped out, and grossed out.  I treated everyone in the family twice even if they had no symptoms.  We just took our second round this week.  It is possible I may do a third.  I posted handwashing instructions in the bathrooms, and made up a song with my LO "flush, wipe, wash your hands!  in between and on the back! (fingers)"  I also switched her to AM showers instead of evening baths.  

If you would like more info on what we did you are welcome to message me, but don't google any more!!  :)  Remember that those stories are weird and odd; the most likely thing is that if you treat them, and cut off the skin-to-hand path for them to reprodue, you will be just fine. 

[Serafina33]

I have been eating raw garlic every day these last 12 days since the first round of meds (actually I have been doing it a bit longer) and I finally got the courage up to check my stool this morning for any sign of worms.  NOTHING.  Whew, that was a relief, I was scared paralyzed that I'd find something.  Not that I dug around or anything, but I examined from all apparent angles (sorry so gross).

Does this mean that I don't have them now (or maybe never did?).  I haven't had any nighttime itching, only 1 or 2 twinges during the day that feel distinctive, but when I run to a mirror and investigate I've never found anything.

Am I a psychosematic nutjob imagining these twinges?  Luckily today I haven't felt even one, yesterday was only 1, and the successful stool peek this morning makes me feel more relaxed that daily vacuuming and laundering everything and twice daily showers might have gotten our house relatively pinworm-free.

I still think I'll take the meds at least two more times, maybe more.  They are so darned expensive AND I'm pregnant (it's the prynium stuff, not the mezo-whatever).  My dr. said it was ok though.

Sigh.  I hope I can stop imagining or having itchy twinges down there now!  I've actually started panicking about what if they are completing their life cycle retro-internally, never coming out to show any symptoms to me, and also have managed to infect my vagina and could get into the cervix and up to the baby?????  Talk about hysterical thoughts.

This is just such a distressing issue.  :(