Re: Pinworms

Hi,

I just wanted to respond to this pinworm thread as I have had this problem for 3 years now and hope that i am finally getting rid of it!

What I have realized very recently, after about 6 months of anti- parasite programs, is that with pinworms you need to be REALLY CAREFUL about not "re-infecting" yourself with the eggs, which are laid in the anal area. From what I understand, basically, the piworms live in the digestive tract for 1-2months, during which the females travel to the anus to lay eggs (particularly during the full moon!). After that time they die, then the new pinworms travel back to your digestive tract when you accidentally get them on your bed sheets, your hands, and they end up in your mouth. So the logic is that if you absolutely never ingest any new pinworm eggs, you can kill the old ones off and be rid of them. this has shed more light for me, as I did not realize how extremely careful I would need to be (the eggs are microscopic--they could be anywhere!). Here is a post I wrote on methods of preventing re-infestation. Also, most recently a trusted source actually advised me to use Pin-X, the over-the-counter stuff, for this problem, and to do intense house-cleaning. This is what I'm embarking on right now, so let's hope it works!!!

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Apparently, it seems like as long as you no longer inhale or ingest ANY pinworm eggs, the pinworms will automatically die off (hopefully). Although on one website, I read that the larvae can hatch in the anal area and crawl back up to the intestines!! Eek.. In this same site I read that the females can get "lost" after laying eggs and crawl into the vaginal area, the reason for yeast infections possibly.

But with the hope that if I absolutely avoid pinworm eggs, I can cure myself, these are some of the things I'm planning to do (maybe you do these already, but I have not been as strict): Wear tight-fitting underwear at all times, and pants to bed, wash bed sheets 2x / week and blankets once a week, and do a "super-cleaning" of my living space--I'm luck as I don't have a carpet, but this woman even recommended steam-cleaning the rugs and car interiors and changing your heater air filter. Another thing which has seemed to help me has been to put tea tree oil in the anal area 2-3 times daily, especially at night--this is supposed to deter the worms from laying eggs. Another person recommended that I iron my underwear and pants, as this added heat, after washing, can help kill any remaining eggs.

So much to do!!

Anyway, I hope that some of this may help your situation, and of course the other thing is to treat other family members and keep pets out of the way for a while. I will try to post the website where I got this info from--it was very interesting, even had the life-cycle of the worm, I think the females live 1-2 months and it takes 1 month for eggs to hatch after ingestion!

Good luck,
Jess