Threadworms question (Apologies in advance)

doodoot

Luckily my two have missed out on these wriggly nasties, but I remember having them as a child...oh dear God it was awful!

A good tip that a friend gave me was to eat pumpkin seeds when you use medicine - the seeds paralyse the worms so they get expelled easier.

About a couple of handfuls a day should be ok.

aliasojo

doodoot wrote: »

A good tip that a friend gave me was to eat pumpkin seeds when you use medicine - the seeds paralyse the worms so they get expelled easier.

I hadn't heard that before but it's such an easy thing to try so I think we will.

The Ovex stuff is supposed to stop the worms from being able to absorb sugar and so they die.

Today's worms were wriggling frantically compared to a couple of days ago. Cruel as it may sound, I like to think that's because they are being affected by the medicine now.

fannyadams

I got fed up with keep on treating DS#1 & DS#2 for worms and wrote to the school because someone in DS#2's class was clearly not doing anything about their child :mad: and it was costing me a fortune to treat everyone in our family. Of course nothing happend until the child of the class teacher caught them and surprise surprise a letter went out!

I would recommend rotating between using Ovex and Prispen (do the Ovex treatment i.e. BOTH doses, Then use the prispen treatment the next time)it's true as other posters have said the worms get resistant to the medication (who knew the parasitology course I took at uni would be that handy).

Wash bedding and PJs/nightie at 60°C and don't forget to wash their 'bed people' (the cuddly toys that go to bed with your child - if they can't be washed put them in the freezer for 24 hours). Try really hard not to flick the bedding about when you change it as you can breathe in the eggs and they will get into you that way.
I used something called grapefruit seed extract it tastes really foul but you can mix it with orange juice and it tastes less yukky. it seems to keep the level of worms down to a manageable level (i.e. DS#2 isn't up all night itching). I also increased the amount of garlic I used in my cooking, and So far so good.
glad to hear you're not infested.

Amanda65

Saw this thread title (no pun intended ) and had to comment.

I can remember all of mine having worms when they were little and a teacher friend saying that although letters were reguarly sent out of school about nits, threadworms were even more prevelant due to all those little hands on taps in the school loos :eek::eek:.

Handwashing is vital - I used to make mine wash theirs before they did anything else in the morning - and the knickers at bedtime is also a good tip. I went through a phase when I used to just give everyone an Ovex tablet about every 3 months as a precaution - I told the kids it was a 'special super vitamin' :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:.

I can also remember having them as a child (caught from my mucky little brother !!!) and in those days you had to mix a vile powder called Pripsen with either milk or water and drink it. It was hideous, both made me vomit and to this day I still gag little at the thought of rasberry milkshake

Artytarty

My son had them twice.
I thought the dog had a bad case of worms but then remembered I had given her left over spaghetti bolognese.

sexylulubelle

Artytarty wrote: »

My son had them twice.
I thought the dog had a bad case of worms but then remembered I had given her left over spaghetti bolognese.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: yummy

shandyclover

I grew up in India - where they can be quite common, though I only had them once. The general advice we were given there was that dust is your enemy. The worms lay microscopic eggs, which live in house dust, you inhale it and whammy! You have to physically remove the worm eggs or kill them with heat - even disinfectant is not totally reliable. If your children do get worms its very important to vacuum their bedrooms everyday to 'break the cycle', otherwise you could continue to infect yourself. Change and wash bedding, towels, pj's and underwear everyday. If your bathroom seat can handlle it - pour boiling water over it, if not disinfect after every use - particularly by the infected person.Think of your childs playmates too. There was one family it soon became apparent everytime my daughter would visit - a week later - itchy bottom! It shocked me I had managed to have 4 healthy children in Asia yet within 6 months of being back in UK one of them had contracted lice from Guides, and another worms from visiting a friend. The Dr I talked told me at any one time up to 60% of under 12's have threadwoms!Avoiding parasites is built into Asian customs, its why as children we were never allowed to run around the garden barefoot, sit on the floor etc. and all the floors in the house were washed down daily with disinfectant, and we were also taught to shower first thing in the morning. I've been told taking garlic capsules, and limiting the amount of sugar in the diet lessens your chance of picking them up - apparently they chose their victims.