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IF YOU HAVE THREADWORMS - PLEASE READ!

  1. Ok, so I'm getting confused with the whole DIFFERENCE between mebendazole and Piperazine Phosphate. Reason being, PRIPSEN is both! It says the tbalet is mebend whilst you can also get a powder drink version for kids which is the phosphate. Now if they both do completely different things then well....do they? It should be made perfectly clear if so!

    I am trying to discover the actual cause of my anal irritation. I had worms as a kid and am now 35. I don't recall ever having them since my teens but in the past 2yrs I've gotten that familiar irritation again. Only there's a difference this time around. First off, I don't get an unbarebly itch "ring" (lol for want of a better word) as I did as a kid nor do I EVER seen worms after going to the loo. But anyway, since we don't have go to the docs to get worm medication these days, I decided to just get it over the counter, not fully knowing if I actually had them. Well, the tablet certainly relieved the symptoms. Then a few months later back again. Another tablet, all is fine. the last time I took pripsen was about a year ago, took the follow up tab aswell and all has been well until recently. So with irritation again but still never ever any signs of worms in the poo, I started looking into other possible reasons. First and foremost was piles. I've never had them externally but thought it's very possible it could be internal. I still haven't as yet been to the docs to verfify anything which I obviously should, but since reading all this I'm back to being convinced it's still worms. Because there's no way I see how piles can have this irritating WRIGGLY feeling you get at night. You can FEEL movement man!

    So in all this confusion that they cannot be gotten rid of completely, I read elsehwere that basically a new born worm isn't laying eggs straight away (not sure how long til they're fertile) so that obviously taking a further tablet is supposed to kill off all the newborns from the eggs the last bunch of killed worms left behind. But even if that didn't work, what would be wrong in literally just taking a tablet evvery few weeks...forever?? If it kept them at bay, why not? Are there any other possible health risks taking mebonzathingy long term can cause?

    Also, how exactly do they cause bloating? I am actually noticing bloating because I feel I'm getting fatter but notice no change on the scales. Another thing is I seem to be getting tons of gas. To be honest but rather crude, the gas is actually welcoming because ripping one out actually relieves the irritation and it feels like you're giving the worms a good battering LMAO!!

  2. I too have been dealing with this problem since I was about 4, am now 36 and thought I was a minority how wrong was I!!! I could well believe that there is no cure, I kind of knew subconsciously they never go away. I remember the last time I took the medcation I remember thinking that'll do me fo another couple of years til I get symptoms again!!!! The lucky thing for me is that I don't really get bad symptoms until after a couple of years after taking mebendazole and even then I usually take 4 or more doses every week til i can't feel them any more so I don't know why they say 2 doses on the box of Mebendazole, I wish! I have also luckily never lost a night's sleep because of them so thank God for that. I remember the symptoms as a child being a lot worse and really unbearable. I think the fact that I eat a high fibre diet and my bowels move regularly is the only thing that keeps the symptoms down.

    At least there are honest GPs out there, I went to mine recently with this problem and broke down crying because my symptoms had got bad (must be a couple of years since my last medication for this). Of course she had never had them (or at least she hasn't noticed them lol) and proceeded to give me a prescription of Mebendazole which I had to take 5 doses of to become asymptomatic again. If anyone comes up with a cure for this they will be millionaires! I am with Marlow on this subject, I think I will be taking Mebendazole every few weeks from now on before the blighters have time to reproduce.

  3. Just wanted to add also that Mebendazole certainly does help with my symptoms so I am not entirely sure that when the female dies all of the eggs get dumped in the body? Surely if that was the case my symptoms would get worse a few weeks after the treatment and this certainly doesn' t happen to me. There definitely is improvement if not a cure!

  4. I haven't heard of this before but I really do sympathise with everyone. I did see the word laxative mentioned but nothing further. Doesn't it help ?

  5. You are so lucky I wish I had never heard of them let alone be inflicted with them lol... I have never used laxatives and I guess my symptoms are probably very minimal (except for every 2-3 years when I seem to get really bad ones) probably because my diet is so good and everything moves quickly out of the bowel anyway. To be honest Jonno ther are times when I don't feel like I have anything wrong with me at all so I don't know if they go away and I am infected again or I just have them and something sets them off again. Very annoying!!!

  6. No medical knowledge at all but when I got to the end to be honest the first thing I thought of was taking, a strong in some cases (?), laxative to flush it all out. So I did a quick Google search and it seems that Medicine Chest UK who I'd never heard of, look under "Prevention", says the same thing too. So if you or anyone else hasn't tried it yet why not give it a go and see what happens ?

    I really do hope it's of some help to someone....

    Emis Moderator comment: I have had to remove the link included here as when I was checking it I got a security alert saying the site/link contained a malicious cookie.

  7. Hi, Yes what Carrie1 says is more or less the same for me. I too think they have gone and dont have any symtons for months sometimes and then i get a certain pain in the left side (as i look down) of my lower intestine and i know they have started playing up.Sometimes i feel them moving around inside sometimes after a pooh...think they are crawling back further up inside me. I try and eat pumpkin seeds everyday as i think this may help keep the numbers down or maybe that is wishful thinking. I eat a healthy diet too, no junk food and dont eat sugar anymore.

  8. I have never noticed a pain but that is something I shall look out for. I think I have just been in denial all these years. I have only gone to the doctor once for this and she is sending me to the hospital (I get the impression she doesn't believe me and thinks the itch is caused by something else). Can't help feeling it will be a waste of time to be honest. I don't care how clean you are, I am a cleaning freak and my house is spotless and yet I have them!!! So unfair. At least if it is true that once you get them you never get rd of them is true, I don't have to worry that I have passed them onto my husband because he admitted the other day he had them as a child!!

    I am going to have to go into denial again soon because all this thinking about it 24/7 is taking its toll on me and my marriage. Think they have gone into hibernation again after my 5 doses of Mebendazole anyway.

    So nice to hear from other people with the same problem means I'm not alone......

  9. No medical knowledge at all but the first thought I had was perhaps a laxative might flush everything out ? So I did a quick search on Google entering "piperazine threadworms laxative" and found a few, particularly the second one down "Medicine Chest" see under "Prevention", which you might find helpful ? Really do hope it helps someone somewhere....

    Away for a couple of weeks tomorrow.

  10. Thanks I took the Piperazine as a child, it really is the most disgusting drink I have ever encountered. My husband did take the medication with me this time but unfortunately I don't think I have ever been "cured" well at least not by the medication anyway. I think the immune system may play a part in the cure process, probably something wrong with mine and that is why I find it so difficult to eradicate. In the meantime all I can do is be as hygenic as I can and hope eventually they will leave forever. Going away myself next week hope I can enjoy it without thinking about this 24/7.

    Are there no parasitologists who frequent this site? Seriously thinking of studying the subject myself at this rate lol....

  11. Ok but what I mean is taking a laxative that is quite separate from Piperazine but still adhering to and synchronizing with the same time frames. In other words firstly when the threadworms are paralyzed, then secondly, is it a fortnight later not sure of time scales, to remove the eggs. Laxatives taken on their own can be immensely powerful as I still well remember from childhood (!) and what I mean by flushing out....

    Have you ever tried it ?

  12. No never tried it but anything is worth a try though my symptoms are really subsiding at the moment (don't want to speak too soon). Wonder which laxative would the most powerful without prescription, I will have to investigate.

  13. I'd do the same as it's my feeling too but definitely best to ask your Doctor first then you could let others on here know as well. I'm a researcher in finance attached to a UK University so it's ingrained to question everything lol ! smile

  14. Maybe you should change jobs lol...to be honest though the GP I saw the last time knew very little about my problem and what made it more embarassing was she actually went to my school. She did suggest getting some evidence and then speaking to microbiology so if this continues I am going to have to go down that route. She did seem to understand when I told her mebendazole just wasn't strong enough for me, I guess certain medications work for certain people so why should this be any different?Maybe the people who think they are "cured" of ths aren't actually cured at all and some of us are more in tune with our bodies. I mean the Mebendazole definitely takes the real itch away it just doesn't clear up the infection totally for me.

    Anyway this week I am going to try not to think about this annoying problem lol......

  15. I really hate waiting on others whether qualified or not as you're always waiting for ever which sounds like something you definitely don't need I think !

    In which case why not get on with your side of things in the meantime and ask the manager at your nearest and biggest Boots or similar what he or she would recommend then you can let others know on here for them to try as well. Then at least you've got the best advice available.

    Then after you've taken the laxative let's know what happens, good luck !

  16. Yeah will do. Do you know, I don't have any symptoms today so far, almost feel back to "normal again" lol. Hopefully some of the others on this forum will post if they find a solution too like the person who had an appointment at the tropical disease centre, wonder how they got on? .......

  17. They must have been listenin'....

  18. Who the worms lol?

  19. I do they're panickin'....

  20. Well at least I can laugh about it this week, a couple of weeks ago I was distraught I'm not joking. It really does cause a lot of anxiety when you get bad symptoms. At least in the meantime I can get on with life being as hygenic as possible. At least I am not alone, apparently half the UK population have them some of the just don't know it (arent they the lucky ones?). Henbane you and I could be twins we have the same symptoms!!

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