I am in my 30's and have suffered from threadworms since...
Posted , 11 users are following.
I am in my 30's and have suffered from threadworms since being a small child. I discovered I had these after seeing them in my faeces at about age 9. (Although in reality they are rarely seen in your poo once it has hit the water!)
Until seeing them I had not realised that the sore itchy bottom that I suffered from on occasion was due to worms! After realising what you have the itch becomes excruciating - in your mind as much as your bottom!
I was treated but the symptomatic itch returned a few months later. The whole family was then treated but again the worms returned.
Over the next few years both myself and my family were treated on many occasions whilst my mother paid scrupulous attention to cleaning of clothes and linen and regularly damp dusted the entire house to try to eliminate them - she could not have tried harder!
Over the years I continued to be reinfected - I began to recognise the particular irritation and knew each time reinfection occurred - even when not seeing any live worms! Eventually at the age of about 18 I gave up even trying to combat the worms - the embarrassement became too much. I even gave up telling my mother!
As a result I have experienced guilt about 'carrying' worms and what I can only describe as an ongoing emotional battle/termoil. I know I have infected others - friends and family - I recognise the symptoms, but I feel there is little I can do without a public and widespread treatment. How do you tell everyone you know or anyone who has visited your home that they need treatment!?
Most of the time I have simply tried to put the whole thing out of my head - not always easy!
Recently I have had a family of my own - and of course recently they became infected. At first the symptoms were the sore irritation of the bottom/vagina. I knew what this meant but was afraid to act.
When I finally saw a live worm on my childs bottom it gave me the impetus to act. I showed my partner (I needed reinforcement that it wasnt just in my head) and went to the chemist for treatment - 2 doses, 2 weeks apart. I cleaned like I have never cleaned before - and yet again they have recurred. Again my partner saw one - so I know I'm not going mad.
Since then I have read as much as possible about them and continue the battle. I have also found one other person who has suffered in the same way for many years - I thought I was the only one!
I have come to realise a number of things about this parasite:
1. Many people have them - but are largely too embarrassed to tell you. I believe incidence is even higher than current research suggests, though studies are few and I do not have evidence to support this.
2. Many people do not have or do not recognise symptoms. I have seen from experience that if worms are present from an early age the irritation becomes 'normal' and the brain fails to attend to it.
3. Even if you eliminate infection from your household, you are likely to be re-infected by someone you know who has them. Sods law!
4. If you have kids, it is practically impossible to stop children from putting hands/toys in mouth or to ensure that they scrub before every hand to mouth contact. Worms are therefore likely to recurr again and again.
5. The eggs are very difficult to get rid of - they can be anywhere - in dust, clothes, furniture, door handles - in fact anywhere that is touched in your home... think about it! Eggs can be killed easily - but getting them all is practically impossible.
6. The only real way to combat them is through taking another dose (Pripsen tablets are easy and fairly effective) every time the symptoms occur - dont give up and dont get too embarrassed - keep going back to the chemist every time or even give your family a regular dose eg every 6 months.
7. Throw away the guilt - you are not dirty or scum - just normal. You are not alone - even if you think you are!
Because of shame and embarrassement I have not even been able to give a real name or email address but I hope that these experiences can be of some help to others in the same situation.
Best wishes
Ongoing......
[i:4ed33a07ff]This message was automatically imported from the original Patient Experience[/i:4ed33a07ff]
0 likes, 26 replies
Beetl Guest
Edited
Im only 20 and really dont want to have to live with this...
Long since too embarised to go to the pharmacy, ive started buying treatments online, and i really dont want to have to keep telling my boyfriend and family so they can be extra carefull....
Thankfully i havent passed them to my boyfriend yet, or he just doesnt get symptoms? Lucky bugger....
And part of me wonders whether hes the one infecting me, since my hygiene is generally better than his....though i wouldnt know how to broach that with him, and hes been treated too...
Its so hard to not feel gross, since the thought is often worse than the symptoms (if caught early)....and since i either get them when im coming down with something anyway or getting them makes me ill....i wonder which it actually is?
It sounds like speaking to my doctor will be a mortifying waste of time....but i really wish there was something more that could be done to help us all.
I keep reading horror stories about them getting into other places.....eyes...ears....although the vaginal irritation is the worst thing i can think of honestly, i really hope not to find out if these stories are possible with this kind of worm...
As someone with very little confedence as is this is really knocking me and im honestly losing hope of ever getting rid of them....i dont know how that will effect my relationship....
I notice that the last message here was about a year ago, i hope your all doing well and have found a way out of this condition, but if anyone has some usefull advice, it would be greatly appreciated.
P.s. sorry for all the typos, writing on a small screen :p
Anna196444 Guest
Posted
Cheekychops8335 Guest
Edited
hello. Firstly, thank you for sharing your experiences. My sister is going through the same thing. She is so upset and horrified when she finds worms over and over again. Had anyone come up with a cure for this? I feel so sad and upset for her. It's making her so depressed.
Anna196444 Cheekychops8335
Posted
12Blah Anna196444
Edited
I am going through this as well. I'm so depressed I try to keep it together. This is so unfair and inconvenient. I literally cry about it most of the time even called the suicide hotline because of it before. So basically I have to live the rest of my life like this?
Patient 12Blah
Posted
Hi 12Blah
We note from a recent post which you have made to our forum that you may be experiencing thoughts around self-harm. If we have misinterpreted your comments then we apologies for contacting you directly. But if you are having such thoughts then please note that you are not alone in this, and there are people out there that can help.
If you are having these suicidal thoughts then we strongly recommend you speak to someone who may be able to help. The Samaritans offer a safe space where you can talk openly about what you are going through. They can help you explore your options, understand your problems better, or just be there to listen.
Their contact details are on our patient information leaflet here: https://patient.info/health/dealing-with-suicidal-thoughts, which also offers lots of other advice on how you can access the help you may need.
If you are having such thoughts then please do reach out to the team at the Samaritans (or the other people detailed in our leaflet) who will understand what you're going through and will be able to help.
Kindest regards
Patient
Juiceyju Guest
Posted
I found myself before fishing one of the blighters out at least onece or twice month meds dont help
So exactly wat can
I begin to think to myself ong wat if tgeres a mass of these things in there
Its ruining my life
Juiceyju
Posted
chelsea15240 Guest
Edited
hi
donna94696 Guest
Posted
ive had these "threadworms" we call them pin worms but ive had them for 6 years i told my grandpa and grandma today again like ive told them so many times i visited my dad for about a year and he treated me now my grandmas saying he didnt treat me or else i would not have them i think my grandmas in denial pinworms just dont get up and leave over 1 treatment after seeing all of this i do not want to live with them until i am in my thirtys. or late sixtys i am 15 years old I got pinworms when i was 9 6 years is enough for me my grandmas too lazy to clean i think ill just keep buying the medicine to relief them everytime they come back even tho i dont make much money i work mowing grass and im a girl and ive had these things is my vaginal area and it does not feel good i do not like them i wish they were never made but im glad they dont carry diseases
a09246 Guest
Edited
I'm so relieved that other people have this, it makes me nervous and I feel gross even writing this but I want to share my experience too.
I found I had pinworms when I was around 7 now I'm 14 and still have them and they used to itch like crazy and drive me mad! now I'm very used to the itching so I definitely feel it but it only bothers me now if it's alot and alot of itching because then also they come out of the anus and can go in your private parts wich is extremely uncomfortable and you have to go to the bathroom to get it out, once I was out with my family when I was about 12 and one went in my private parts so after a long time i asked my mum could you take me where the toilets are because I didn't know where they are and she walked me there while calling me horrible and selfish because she wanted to see the thing we were doing while we were out and I understand why she feels that way but I couldn't bare it it was uncomfortable and it hurt and when I got to the toilet I couldn't even get it out and was pressured to hurry up and I thought I got it out but when we got back I felt it again I didn't get it out so I had to bare it for an hour it was the absolute worst experience I've had with pinworms I could feel it painfully and uncomfortabley in my private area. I'm sorry for that story I know it isn't the point but the point is its absolutely horrible and I still have them my mum takes garlic pills so I'm going to start eating them, but then I have to clean my room and everything sqeaky clean and I hope I get the motivation to do that because as much as I love a tidy room it stresses me out trying to do it.
I've never told my parents I have worms because I was always too ashamed and embarrassed I felt gross so I should just bare it and hide it but I really want to get rid of it now since I'm scared that it will hinder my growth as they survive of eating your nutrients, knowing that if I got rid of them I'd have to make everything clean really hinders me because even if I cleaned it there's dozens of eggs so it would be kind of impossible, I hate having these I wish when I were younger when I first found them I would have told my mum because then it makes sense I'm super young and it wouldn't be that bad but I was too scared and still am the closest I got was when she was talking about them one time I was like 11 I said I think I've had those and she said have you? then she went to bed and it was the most nerve-racking thing my heart was pounding to say that it's too scary to tell her I've had it for so long I feel gross and I don't want anyone else to know that I have them do when it's a next long school holiday I'm going to try and tell her but I say that all of the time so I don't even know but this is terrible and it feels so much more itchier when I'm on my period