worms?

Former Member

oh god embarrassing, for the past half hour my bum had been really itchy and it just wouldn't go away. so, i know its disgusting but i just had to look to see what was irritating me, to my disbelief i found the tiniest wee worm. about a quarter of a centimeter at the most. i died.
but now its kinda making sense to me cause for the past 2 months i have been eating non-stop but never ever full up and my belly is constantly grumbling.
is there any home remedies that anyone knows that could help? but also will i have to tell everyone in my house, cause i would be so embarrassed and one more thing, would a cat have anything to do with worms?

Former Member

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/pinworms.html

Former Member

Yes, you will have to tell everyone in the house as they will need treatment.

You can get an over the counter remedy, something like Prepsin i think it's called. Dissolve in water and drink then 2 weeks later do it again, so quite easy.

Former Member

its easy to get rid of. Just go to the pharmacy or the doctor and get OVEX (mebendazole)
1 tablet will normally clear it, but sometimes you need to take another one 2 weeks later

It wont be the reason youve been eating lots, youre thinking of tapeworm. threadworms wont affect your appetite or your weight. A cat isnt likely to have anything to do with it either. Do you suck your thumb or your fingers or anything?
How much contact do you hae with the rest of your housemates?
If its a houseshare, i wouldnt tell anyone necessarily.

Wash all your bedding, towels and underwear on a hot wash regularly. Dont share towels. Wash your bum every morning when you wake up, and hoover your carpet regularly. It might even be worth getting it properly cleaned

LauraO

Hi Chichi :wave:
Have you had a look at the information on the NHS Choices website? There is some information about both Roundworm and Threadworms.

However, as the others have said the best thing to do would be to see your Doctor as soon as possible so they can prescribe you the best treatment. There is no need to be embarrassed at the Doctors, as they as used to dealing with conditions like this all the time.

As SuzyCreamcheese says (and the articles I linked to above will tell you) it sounds very unlikely that you have tapeworm as these are much longer, so it shouldn't have affected your appetite, but it might be worth mentioning this to your doctor anyway.

Let us know how you get on,

Laura

Former Member

I'm sure you will think this is gross but threadworms are pretty cool. The mummy worms come out of your bumhole at night and lay eggs on your skin. They use a glue to stick the eggs to your skin but the glue is irritating - so you scratch. This then means that you have worms eggs on your hands and if youre not careful you can accidentally eat these eggs thus reinfecting yourself.

Enterobius vermicularis (threadworms) are clever little creatures I think. If you can break the cycle of eggs - bum- hands - mouth then they might go away by themselves. The eggs are however easily tramistted onto inanimate objects hence other people in your household possibly picking then up.

They are apparently relatively common in school nurseries as little kids are constanly touching things and putting their hands in their mouths