Returning threadworms for years....

Posted , 76 users are following.

HI, I've had treadworms for almost 5 years now! Ive been eating loads of Opex and Mebendazole. I tried the pumpkin seeds and eaten garlic every day for months...I've also gone up to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases In London to see a specialist for the last 8 months....All their treatment has not worked either. It always comes back! My husband or my two children have never had it and we dont have any pets....I keep a very clean house and im so careful with my hygiene...What can i do to get rid of these? Help Please.....Its driving me insane! 

4 likes, 290 replies

290 Replies

Prev Next
  • Posted

    I too have been battling this misery for going on a year now. Me and my 3 children ages 5,3 and 1.. apparently my husband is immune to this nasty beast because he doesn’t seem to have any symptoms, lucky him! I honestly wonder if I’ve been dealing with this longer and didn’t put two and two together and only found out because my son had stuff by his butt during diaper changes! We will never know, just like we will never know where they are coming from or if someone in our family has them etc etc  although I’ve driven myself crazy at times thinking about it. I’ve also almost gone NUTS cleaning, washing, and insisting my kids wash there hands constantly which is basically impossible. It’s crazy to me how common these are and how little knowledge I had on it. My whole life I was never taught about parasites of any kind so I never thought I had any LOL! Can you imagine the horror I felt realizing my family was infested 😩  I’m from the U.S. and every dr I’ve dealt with has made me feel like I’m nuts, dirty, or crazy! Along with my mom and mother in law who constantly try to tell me we don’t have them🙄 so I basically have no one to talk to about this “pinworm hell” other than my husband, and I think he’s sick of hearing about it.. which is why I’m writing a 5 page essay,  when I first realized my family had this problem I contacted the dr which told me we could do stool samples to be sure or just get meds well I had already read tons on this and decided it would be best not to poop in bags for 3 days considering the innacuracy.  So we got the meds albendozal but she recommended I try Reese’s first (pyrantol pamoate) since it’s doesn’t have as many side effects, well I took the albendozal and I gave my kids the Reese’s.. bad idea because that didn’t cure my 3 year old son I decided to order some diatomaceous earth food grade and started taking that with water and giving it to my kids in juice along with trying to eat tons of garlic that helped me and my daughter but there again my son still constantly had stuff by his butt. I finally gave in a few months back and gave him the albendozal and what do you know the stuff disappeared by his butt!! But I know they are back on him again because he has dark circles under his eyes all the time and my kids are freakin hellions most of the time so I know both my oldest still have them. I don’t really see stuff by my 1 year olds butt very often but I’m sure he has them too. I still continue to drink diatemacious earth and apple cider vinegar morning and night because I think it really helps to keep the numbers down. BUT, I know they aren’t just by the butt, I honestly believe they can spread to your throat, nose, ears, because my daughters nose is always itching her and my throat is as well. And let’s not get going on the vaginal pinworms.. honestly what kills me is that I can’t beat this for my kids it kills my soul a little each and every day thinking they are going to have to live with this forever. Anyway I’m sorry for the long reply and I’m of little help but I needed to vent.  The only things that have helped and this was after I took the two rounds of albendozal is diatomaceous earth and organic apple cider vinegar it’s disgusting but it helps well it does for me anyway. This can make you feel completely hopeless which in turn makes me have a horrible diet making them even worse. For everyone that has been battling this for years you’re in my thoughts, this is complete misery. And for those that are just now dealing with it all I can say is don’t let it consume you or IT WILL!

  • Posted

    Hello! Back for a question for anyone that’s dealt with vaginal pinworms. I honestly have never seen a living worm but what I do see is stringy discharge since I’ve been battling this.. im sorry TMI I know.. drs say it isn’t possible they don’t live there but the same for the mucus in my nose. It makes me wonder if this is pinworms or if I’m just losing my mind dealing with this.. is this what the worms come out looking like? Stringy mucus/discharge... the only thing I’ve ever seen by the bum is small white specks and lines never a LIVING worm! I have practically had ocd my entire life always washed and bathed + always kept my kids super clean it is depressing to know that that doesn’t matter in a situation like this it almost makes me wanna give up on it entirely.  
    • Posted

      Hi Ashley,

      I caught threadworms off my kids and had difficulty getting rid of them with the standard dose of ovex, which I took several times over a couple of months with little effect. During the time I was trying to get rid of them and failing, I basically drove myself mad with OCD, continually reading chat forums and mounting paranoia that, by the time I did get rid of them following heavier treatment prescribed by a specialist, I was still utterly convinced I had them for several months.

      Much of what you’re saying reminds me of myself during that time, most notably stringy discharge, tiny white flecks and no actual sighting of a worm. It turned out I had a Candida infection which was mimicking some of the symptoms of threadworm and causing discharge, skin debris, but I am usually a very rational person and I was completely and utterly convinced there was no other explanation for my symptoms. I was convinced I saw them in my children’s poo, I felt them wriggling at night, I obsessed over the discharge which appeared when I first got the infection and seemed to get worse when the itching was worse. 

      It finally took the patience and experience of the team at the Tropical Diseasrs Hospital in London to make me understand and accept what was happening to me....not threadworm. 

      The stress I went through caused my periods to stop for 5 months and then my hair started falling out in handfuls and, 10 months later, it still is. 

      I’m not saying that this is what is happening to you. But what alerted the professionals who finally helped me to the fact that it might be something other than threadworm was that I hadn’t actually seen a worm for several months...at one stage, at the start of the infection, I’d seen them without much effort, on loo paper etc. It’s very unusual to have an infection for a sustained period of time without seeing one. 

      Anyway, email me if you have any questions. I’m happy to help. 

    • Posted

      Hi! Thank you for your response smile I am somewhat relieved to know I could have possibly just gone mad from reading so much into it yet a little worried too lol! I have NEVER seen a live worm, just the white stuff by my kids butts which went away after the albendozal doses. I never gave my daughter or 1 year old the albendozal just Reeses pinworm I wonder if that’s even getting rid of them? The stringy discharge isn’t so bad as of right now. Also since dealing with this it seems both me and my daughter have much thinner hair and I too lose a lot of hair daily.. I’m sure I sound crazy to some on here but I don’t think they’re gone I just had 3 small white little TINY specks in my butt tonight so I believe they are back in action... I am wondering if we are going around a family member that has them or if they’re not going away for good ever. I wish I could find more pictures of them online.. Can they look like extremely small specks or am I absolutely nuts at this point? I seriously feel like I could benefit from some counseling after dealing with this.  

       

  • Posted

    Not quite the same time period but quite similar situation. I have a daughter who is constantly getting them either a month apart or a week apart and there is never an in between. She has had this going on maybe 3 years. She is always unsure when telling me of this problem and feels oddly uncomfortable. She has tried many medicines yet they keep coming back. My family has been treated and been very clean yet she is the only one to be reassuringly getting them. Any help?
  • Posted

    Hi, I had threadworm for around 2 years on and off and took ovex and DE which didnt work. I found a forum which spoke about taking the herb epazote (mexican herb) for 9 days straight. Apparently it's common in Mexico to do this yearly as a de-wormer. Ordered the dried version on amazon for £2.50 and have been drinking it for around 2 weeks now. Don't want to jinx it and say I'm cured but have had basically no symptoms since. What I do is use 1/2 a teaspoon and mix with boiling hot water, drink every night before bed and first thing in the morning. Also this is a bit disgusting but I shower x2 a day and wash my anus with a clean toothbrush (you can put some liquid eg anti bacterial on the toothbrush too) which I scrub clean after use, if you can try and get the toothbrush head up the anus and carefully pull it out. It's my own theory but I think this helps get rid of the eggs. Also eat pumpkin seeds, garlic and carrots - I'm gonna do a course of ovex to fully clear them. This has helped me and hopefully I'm on the way to being free of them

    • Posted

      Ok! Let me know how you get on..... hoping it works, good luck 
  • Posted

    .....im a 14 year old kid in the uk......and i was reading the discussion that u we’re  having and I dont feel any better then I did20 minutes ago. I believe I have had this for an about 6 months but I have never actually noticed until yesterday when I noticed a Bunch of white thing swimming in the toilet.... I have often had times when I was itchy but now that I look back I think it was the worms.

    yesteday when I found out I told them (my parents) straight away and they told me to eat some garlic....so I went downstairs to the kitchen and I took a onion and started eating that 😂..of course not until the morning did I know that garlic and flipping onion where different things.....THEY LOOK THE SAME!!! I have put a bit of research into this thing and I believe I have ‘pinworms’ 

    I’m not sure what medications I should take but I don’t think my parents are taking this as seriously as they should. My question isn’t when did it start for you and how is it going now.....you know...if your actually still active in this site.

    thank you.

    • Posted

      HI, Just make sure it is actually threadworms you are having. Make sure you wash yourself everyday and the bedding. Get Ovex from the pharmacy and take one tablet today and one in two weeks and see if they go away. Garlic wont get rid of them, sorry! Good Luck, Anna
  • Edited

    Hello all, I've read threw most of the tread and I like most of you have pinworms but my husband and kids do not show any signs. I wanted to share with you all that I have been symptom free for two years... until last week!

    I've had lots of success getting rid of them by breaking the cycle.... I am confident that I will get rid of them again. I first take Pyrantel Pamoate suspension (from amazon) this does not kill them.. just paralyzes them so thry stop moving. Then I take Quest Plus gel (moxidectin/praziquantel) horse demormer I get from the local feed store. It kills the adult worms and the larval stages. I also take to little tolet paper with Vaseline and plug up my anus and then I take a clump of tolet paper with JR Watkins menthol camphor cough suppressant (from amazon) and stick that in my vagina opening. This completely breaks their cycle and doesn't allow them out to lay any eggs. This process takes time... a few weeks... but they need oxygen to lay the eggs and continue the cycling. I am confident that I will kill them like before.

    • Posted

      Hi Natalie 7713,

      Had you suffered the pinworms long term before you found these methods?

    • Posted

      I first got them two years ago and they nearly made me go mad! I would stay up alll night long since I wasn't sleeping. I can feel them moving down towards my anus to lay her eggs and my vagina was infected also. They would leave streaks of blood behind on my anus. I became very unformed about treatments and studies there cycle and after months of trying new things and protocols finally "plugging up" opening because they look for oxengy to lay the eggs in... worked. I have been completely symptom free for over 2 years until last week and every one of my symptoms from them are back.

    • Posted

      Hi Natalie 7713

      How frequently do you take the medications during treatment?

      Also do you keep your areas plugged up constantly for the treatment or only at night?

      Thanks

    • Edited

      Hi thank you for sharing your method I am definitely going to try. I was 8 years old when I first got them, but was too embarrassed and I didn’t have the night symptoms. However, when I got these symptoms in middle school it was HORRIBLE. Every time I research, they are often seen as just “annoying” and “cureable”. This is infuriating to me and I definitely think more research and testing needs to go into pinworms. The time span between when I get them varies. I can go years without getting them or months. I had been free of them for almost a year when they returned a couple of months ago. Now they have returned again! I am also suspicious that they’re the reason I get UTI’s. It’s very discouraging to think I’ll have to live with them forever. For anyone reading this stay away from tea and cane sugar that made mine severe. I wish they weren’t as stigmatized, so we could get an ultimate solution.
    • Posted

      Hi Olivia82513

      Your story is very similar to mine. It's so odd how the time between seeing them can be so varied. I'm absolutely baffled by it.

      What methods have you tried to eliminate them?

      I'm launching a full on attack, I've changed my diet, still using ovex , clearing my bowels with a laxative used for colonoscopy prep, blocking them in day and night with cotton wool covered in Vicks vapour rub, I just feel I can't give up.

      It's so frustrating x

    • Posted

      ** LONG POST WARNING**  LOL

      I have had to change the meds and do things completely different this time... I have them under control now and am able to sleep at night but I am battling to get rid of them completely. I am using Valbazen (aka albendazole) It is a broad-spectrum dewormer for cattle, sheep and goats and it was expensive! ($55 bottle) I am using 3.5 ml twice a day for a week (then week off) you have to take it with 40 grams of fat in order for proper absorption... this step is important or you are just waiting your money & flushing dewormer out. I take it in hot chocolate mix with 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream & 1/2 cup of milk. I also take Ivermectin paste (this was cheap 2.99) I have studied AGAIN the life cycle and can save you the time/energy. 1) Females travel to the rectum to lay eggs then she DIES (I take great comfort in this...lol) 2) Layed eggs take 6 hours to hatch. 3) Swallowed eggs hatch in the digestive track & hatched eggs on the skin surface will make their way to the nearest opening (anus or vagina) 4) Hatched eggs in the digestive track live in the small intestine THEN when adults migrate to the large intestine and attach to your intestinal walls. 5) Adults live in the large intestine (also known as colon) and maybe consume fecal matter as food. 6) They reproduce threw sexual contact laying 10,000 - 15,000 eggs. 7) Complete time from larvae to adult is about a month. 

      The meds have been quick and easy to get at my local feed store BUT they are hard on our kidneys the absolute best way I have found to kill them "naturally" with no side effects is with a enema... yes, I know... but when you study the life cycle inside our body you can see they are in the intestinal track and a sea salt enema flush and making sure the nearest openings (anus & vagina) are closed up....will in fact....kill them! Outside the body, the eggs can remain alive and able to cause infection for two to three weeks so I will keep this regiment going for the next month.    

    • Posted

      ** LONG POST WARNING**  LOL

      I have had to change the meds and do things completely different this time... I have them under control now and am able to sleep at night but I am battling to get rid of them completely. I am using Valbazen (aka albendazole) It is a broad-spectrum dewormer for cattle, sheep and goats and it was expensive! ($55 bottle) I am using 3.5 ml twice a day for a week (then week off) you have to take it with 40 grams of fat in order for proper absorption... this step is important or you are just waiting your money & flushing dewormer out. I take it in hot chocolate mix with 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream & 1/2 cup of milk. I also take Ivermectin paste (this was cheap 2.99) I have studied AGAIN the life cycle and can save you the time/energy. 1) Females travel to the rectum to lay eggs then she DIES (I take great comfort in this...lol) 2) Layed eggs take 6 hours to hatch. 3) Swallowed eggs hatch in the digestive track & hatched eggs on the skin surface will make their way to the nearest opening (anus or vagina) 4) Hatched eggs in the digestive track live in the small intestine THEN when adults migrate to the large intestine and attach to your intestinal walls. 5) Adults live in the large intestine (also known as colon) and maybe consume fecal matter as food. 6) They reproduce threw sexual contact laying 10,000 - 15,000 eggs. 7) Complete time from larvae to adult is about a month. 

      The meds have been quick and easy to get at my local feed store BUT they are hard on our kidneys the absolute best way I have found to kill them "naturally" with no side effects is with a enema... yes, I know... but when you study the life cycle inside our body you can see they are in the intestinal track and a sea salt enema flush and making sure the nearest openings (anus & vagina) are closed up....will in fact....kill them! Outside the body, the eggs can remain alive and able to cause infection for two to three weeks so I will keep this regiment going for the next month.    

    • Posted

      Hi Natalie - did your approach work? Are you worm free?
    • Posted

      Hello c35177, yes! I am happy to report that I am worm free but not because of any regiment mentioned aboove. I take a tablespoon on baking soda twice a day (changes the pH balance in the body to alkaline thus killing all parasites and disease) and I rub Derman antifungal cream on my anus. I use this brand in particular because it has certain ingredients not found in other antifungal creams. I got mine at Walmart for a few bucks. If I had to redo the whole process I would of only taken one round once a week of the Valbazen then stopped because it was very hard on my kidneys. I haven't felt/seen any worm sensations in over two weeks. I would recommend baking soda, drink lemon water, do enima flushes and rub Derman cream on & around anus.... please take any heavy medication regimen with caution as they seemed to do more harm than good with me.

    • Posted

      Hi Natalie7713, thank you for the update. That is great you are worm free - well done! I have had them for about 6 months. Initially a dose of mebandazole would clear the symptoms but then they would come back. But I have had them continuously for the past 6 weeks, despite taking mebandozole at a double dose for 7 days straight, then the same thing on albendazole - which was what my doctor prescribed. 800 mg per day, and still they never went. I am now terrified I have a drug resistant strain of worms which will migrate everywhere and infest my whole body. I think they may have migrated to the vagina. I am now trying the epazote tea, I have been drinking lemon water as you suggested and will try the other things. I live in the uk so don't know what derman cream is - does that kill the eggs or just catch them so it is easier to remove? I have been using vaseline. Anyway, I am absolutely terrified. Nothing seems to kill them. Thank you again for your advice, and I really hope that you stay worm free for good.

    • Posted

      woah natalie go you!! I just took a worm pill that says KILLS WORMS at the end of last week  so im hopping they stay gone for good as I haven't felt any for a week! but im going to start drinking lemon water and doing the baking soda thing! so happy that they are gone !!

    • Posted

      Hi Natalie

      this is the same battle I have had. Did you find any cure?

      thank you

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.