Threadworms

Lex Luthor

I recently found myself scratching my rear end a lot and someone suggested to me that I could possibly have worms.... :eek:

After another week of tearing the arse out of it (literally) I decided to google a bit and thought, maybe I do...

So I nipped off to the chemist on Friday and got an over the counter pack of 6 Vermox worm tablets. Have been taking them now for 2 days...

Slight improvement although the abdominal pains are bad sometimes...took the 'kids to the pool' last night and one today and saw little thread like worms about 15mm long in the pool. :eek: :eek:

These supposedly are the females as the males are only 3mm long and females can grow up to 15mm.

I'm hoping these tabs can see off the buggers...I've also been feeling a little fatigued lately which I'm thinking is a side effect of having these hitch hikers along for the ride. :mad:

sickle

in the poool! eeewwwww.
keep outta the water. the chlorine should really kill them off....

angeldelight

Just curious really, who told you how often to take the tablets etc.? I thought for threadworms the dose was 100mg once off, and there's 100 mg in each Vermox tablet... For other types of worms, Vermox is still used but with different dosing. And no I haven't had them, I'm studying pharmacy. On the other hand i could be totally wrong

DrIndy

angeldelight wrote:

Just curious really, who told you how often to take the tablets etc.? I thought for threadworms the dose was 100mg once off, and there's 100 mg in each Vermox tablet... For other types of worms, Vermox is still used but with different dosing. And no I haven't had them, I'm studying pharmacy. On the other hand i could be totally wrong

Hmmm.......its mebendazole

Just checked the BNF - the dose varies between 100mg OD Stat to 100mg BD/3 days. Depends on the species......

I'm surprised they are available over the counter!

Worms are suprisingly common, even in ireland - but sometimes they just live quietly inside you not causing much trouble.......

lomb

the moral of the story is dont use a public swimming pool.

Lex Luthor

sickle wrote:

in the poool! eeewwwww.
keep outta the water. the chlorine should really kill them off....

taking the 'kids to the pool' = taking a crap

angeldelight wrote:

Just curious really, who told you how often to take the tablets etc.? I thought for threadworms the dose was 100mg once off, and there's 100 mg in each Vermox tablet... For other types of worms, Vermox is still used but with different dosing. And no I haven't had them, I'm studying pharmacy. On the other hand i could be totally wrong

You're right...the packaging says one tablet at 100mg for thread worm and full pack of 6 (2 a day) for others.
I took the one tab but I didn't feel any improvement. Went back to pharmacist and they said take all 6 over 3 days. Half way thro now and starting to itch less....thinking it might take the full 6 to kill 'em off.
However, I spotted another a while ago and it was longer than the max. specified length of a threadworm at 15mm, so maybe it's another form...either way, they're nasty and I'm determined to get rid

Amz

lomb wrote:

the moral of the story is dont use a public swimming pool.

Don't be so complacant as to think that they wouldn't exist in a private pool, or a pool in a more "up market" area/centre.

simu

Go to a doctor - this isn't the place to get medical advice! However, if people want to continue discussing these guys, go right ahead!

DrIndy

simu wrote:

Go to a doctor - this isn't the place to get medical advice! However, if people want to continue discussing these guys, go right ahead!

Even if you were to kill them off completely, it would take a few days for all the dead worms to pass through, so taking more than the length of the prescription time to clear would not be surprising.

A definitive diagnosis of the actual species you have (had) inside requires a stool sample to be sent to a lab, so persistence of the problem would warrant a trip to the GP for definite.......

Interesting! Kudos to you for not being embarrased to discuss it.

The BNF state that mebendazole is a precription only medicine, so I am surprised it is available over the counter......

lomb

Amz wrote:

Don't be so complacant as to think that they wouldn't exist in a private pool, or a pool in a more "up market" area/centre.

i would be hesitant to get into any public or private pool, too risky when u think about it. if i had my own personal pool that would be ok of course. still using a pool shared by alot of people especially kids is always going to be risky. the hotel pools particularly in the states ive seen are used mayb by 1 or 2 people a day before they are drained and refilled. those would be ok also.

Lex Luthor

DrIndy wrote:

Even if you were to kill them off completely, it would take a few days for all the dead worms to pass through, so taking more than the length of the prescription time to clear would not be surprising.

A definitive diagnosis of the actual species you have (had) inside requires a stool sample to be sent to a lab, so persistence of the problem would warrant a trip to the GP for definite.......

Interesting! Kudos to you for not being embarrased to discuss it.

The BNF state that mebendazole is a precription only medicine, so I am surprised it is available over the counter......

I just chanced my arm and walked into the pharmacy and asked was there anything available for threadworms and they were handed over.
Whether they were thread worms or another form, taking the one tab or all 6 over 3 days at least ensures I covered all the buggers....

Last one to be taken today so I'm estimating it could take another couple of days before all the live adult ones are crapped out of me.

As for the cling-ons on the outside that have yet to hatch out of their warm little eggs, I'm hoping I'll be able to blast them off with the shower hose over the next few days, but even still, I might re-visit the pharmacy in about 2 weeks and drop another few tabs to ensure that the ones that I missed get their come-up ins too. :cool:
As for being embarressed....not at all. Apparently they're very common and more people have them than they know it...

lomb

Lex Luthor wrote:

I just chanced my arm and walked into the pharmacy and asked was there anything available for threadworms and they were handed over.
Whether they were thread worms or another form, taking the one tab or all 6 over 3 days at least ensures I covered all the buggers....

Last one to be taken today so I'm estimating it could take another couple of days before all the live adult ones are crapped out of me.

As for the cling-ons on the outside that have yet to hatch out of their warm little eggs, I'm hoping I'll be able to blast them off with the shower hose over the next few days, but even still, I might re-visit the pharmacy in about 2 weeks and drop another few tabs to ensure that the ones that I missed get their come-up ins too. :cool:
As for being embarressed....not at all. Apparently they're very common and more people have them than they know it...

i think u should see a doctor. that is one of the few times u need to see a doctor and not some pharnacist handing u pills over the counter tbh

angeldelight

DrIndy wrote:

Hmmm.......its mebendazole
I'm surprised they are available over the counter!

They're prescription only in the UK, thats why it says it in the BNF. There are a few differences between drugs in Irealnd and the UK, but for the most part they're the same, so thats why we use the BNF. Presumably, this is one of those differences as the pharmacist wouldn't have been able to sell it as an OTC otherwise!

DrIndy

BNF is my book of choice too, it has all the details such as mode of action and class effect that MIMS lacks......

lomb

DrIndy is this Lex Luthors gut? http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/images/roundworm.jpg
would u not advise him to seek professional medical care?

DrIndy

now now Lomb! Stop scaremongering!

From the description, I would suspect its pinworms.......

http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~parasite/enterobius.html

Go to your GP if it doesn't clear...........

lomb

http://www.exile.ru/2003-May-20/schoepenhauer_awards.html
more likely to be that id say - 1/4 people have it!
the fact that lex mentions that someone saw one in the water means theres no way its a pin worm , has to be a round worm/ascarius?

anyway id be rushing to see the GP, 9/10 i wouldnt waste my time going to doctors but in fairness that is one time u should be beating a path to his door and insisting on every medication known to man.

Lex Luthor

Guys, you're getting a bit confused when I mentioned the word "pool".

When I said I took the kids to the pool, it meant I went for a #2. It is just a saying...I was no where near a swimming pool. I took a crap and there was 1 or 2 in the toilet bowl. They're almost sure pinworms as DrIndy says....I saw a few more come out yesterday and expecting a few more dead ones come out in the next few days as I clear out my bowels. The itching has definitely gone down.

Pet

As for being embarressed....not at all. Apparently they're very common and more people have them than they know it...

Yup, some people say that they're almost endemic in playschools and such..Afaik, they lay millions of eggs, which can become airborne, so you have to hoover and wash your bedlinen and clothes and such.

Lex Luthor

Pet wrote:

Yup, some people say that they're almost endemic in playschools and such..Afaik, they lay millions of eggs, which can become airborne, so you have to hoover and wash your bedlinen and clothes and such.

I have 2 boys in a creche which is probably how they got back to me....my smaller one had ringworm a few months back he picked up there....

Lookin good so far....have not had to scratch yet today so they could be on the way out

DrIndy

If your sons had it, then its almost definite thats where they came from. They spread very easily - so the rest of your family may be affected too.

Lex Luthor

DrIndy wrote:

If your sons had it, then its almost definite thats where they came from. They spread very easily - so the rest of your family may be affected too.

it was only one of them had it and it was ringworm and was treated with an anti fungal cream

freckles1234

What is BNF