Effective Treatment for Demodex Infection, Skin Parasites, Opinion Only
Opinion on Possible Effective Treatment for Demodex Infections
(This is ONLY an opinion, and NOT a diagnosis or recommendation of treatment - such should ONLY be made and administered by a licensed physician)
1. Bactrim DS (800 mg) 1-2x per day
2. 10% Sodium Sulfacetamide/5% Sulfur wash twice a day
3. Oral Ivermectin (based on weight, but not to exceed 18mg. per day) for three days (4days off, then take Ivermectin again for three consecutive days, repeating this 3 days on/4 days off cycle for 60 total days).
All three of the above medicines (SS wash, Bactrim DS and Ivermectin oral) require an RX .
A physician taking a skin scraping can be effective diagnostically and is easy to do by a dermatologist, ID, or IM doctor with a microscope in the office.
Not all physicians do scrapings or diagnostic work in-house - a plus if they do, and do so in a proactive non-dismissive way where they are actually "looking" for a biological problem (and not leaning towards or pre-disposed to apply a "delusional" diagnosis which is "easy" to do with many articles published on the subject).
Most doctors believe that two doses of Ivermectin approx. two weeks apart is sufficient treatment to kill a patient's Demodex infestation and the newly hatced eggs that are not hit by the first round of medicine (for the most part, demodex eggs are well-protected and impervious to such treatments, with only the hatched larvae and adult demodex being affected).
This WOULD certainly be an accurate/effective treatment IF the patient JUST contracted Demodex.
This is rarely the situation though - most demodex patients usually see a doctor much later after the infection has progressed, and/or are often misdiagnosed as having dermatitis (or another catch-all diagnosis is made such as the aforementioned delusional one).
Much later, a correct call/diagnosis is typically eventually made (sometimes by another physician if a previous doctor wasn't fully engaged in figuring out what is really going on).
By that time, the demodex reproduction/egg hatching life-cycle has gone through generation after generation, and patients end up having multiple life-cycles occurring at different intervals, with the bottom-line result of having DAILY new hatchlings.
TALK with your doctor about all of this or anything else you believe has helped or not helped... be calm matter-of-fact and listen to your doctor. But discuss treatment options and what-if scenarios. If a different approach is prescribed, go with it, but ask "what do we do if that doesn't work?" and "would you be open to trying treatments that are more aggressive if this doesn't work?" etc.
Bactrim is not the only
Antibiotic that can be used, and if Lyme is indicated as a possibility (read below), a much more aggressive and complex multi-
Antibiotic regime, along with topical treatments, and immune boosting processes might be involved.
The above treatment would be my starting point though for anyone but the rare "caught-it-right-away patients - it is imperative to treat demodex asap BEFORE long term infestation occurs, if at all possible.
Regardless of infection time, you CAN beat this
parasite infection, but get a doc who will be more aggressive in treatment than the usual, and who stays with the diagnosis process in case first treatments don't work - you should start to see improvement within two weeks (improvement meaning at worse, less growth, and ideally, an obvious reversal of infection symptoms) - the longer you have had this infection, the longer and more complex the treatment required to cure it.
Steroids of any kind should be avoided if possible - they work to reduce your immune system response (usually resulting in short-term improvement/healing of skin), but because of that, provide a freeway for parasitic growth (even if redness and open lesions improve, it's only temporary - it usually comes back worse once you stop taking them).
Also, if you can afford it, get an advanced Lyme test (usually multiple different tests are required to correctly identify what js going on - IGeneX is widely considered the best at it - Requires a physician referral - Regardless, forget the two base-level Lyme tests - they miss late stage Lyme more often than they catch it. Ask your doctor if they are open to getting more advanced Lyme testing involved from the outset.
Reason for Lyme test is to eliminate or confirm more complex co-infections from Lyme, which is becoming more frequently indicated in parasitic infections. 95% of Morgellons sufferers test positive for Lyme or Lyme-related bacteria.
If test(s) positive, seek out and use only a advanced/late stage Lyme specialist for treatment lest you get more frustrated with poor responses/treatments.
Lyme is a very complex infection. I'm being blunt here, but there are 2 schools of thinking on Lyme - classically, Lyme is treated as is the regime for a "recent lyme infection", but if the patient is not responsive, the issue is often cast-off as an immune system problem with the patient. Research studies (including by the CDC) estimate that there are many times more people who have Lyme infections that are not diagnosed as having it, than are diagnosed.
Lyme is an often debated disease... The Lyme disease specialty doctors represent a small percentage of ID docs out there, but they typically lean on the latest research studies, have first-hand experience in diagnosing and successfully treating patients, many of which did not know they contracted the disease until years after the initial infection. It's not an inexpensive disease to treat correctly, but worth every penny if the doctor knows what they are doing, and have done it successfully.
Also, with no disrepect intended to those trying to use homeopathic treatments, but home remedies will NOT beat Demodex or other skin
parasites (or "Morgellons"), although some may help alleviate symptoms and hinder growth.
For example, Borax skin washes have (unofficially) produced positive results but aren't a cure (despite YouTube videos touting such). Containing boran, Borax can be helpful. Borax skin washes (dilute in warm water obviously) won't solve the problem, but it often helps keep populations down, help clean one's skin (and promote healing), and can help reduce the biofilms often created by skin
parasites at large...Sulfacetimide/Sulfur washes are typically better (RX required). But Borax skin cleansing (carefully and sensibly) likely helpful.
Borax is ESSENTIAL in washing linens and clothes when one os infected with Demodex (wash clothes in hot water if possible, and run through an extra rinse - buy/use white sheets and add bleach as well as Borax).
It's a grind/hassle, but change-out sheets/pillow cases every night - seal pillows in bed bug resistant cover ($9-15 per case) and then slip on a clean pillow case outside that every night. Seal your mattress in a bed bug resistant cover as all. Vacuum floors (hepa filter) and wipe down computer keyboards and mouses, car steering wheel, phone, etc with bleach wipes. Throw away brushes if infested in hair (usually the case). Buy cheap brushes and keep immaculately clean - still, toss those periodically (if infested in scalp, buy dollar store brushes and toss daily til symptoms go away - totally worth it).
One more thing - this one is simple to do, but seldom followed - try NOT to touch your face - studies vary on the amount of times people touch their face every day, but people touch their faces regularly without thinking about it, and it is a lot more than one probably thinks...it only adds to potential spread of demodex - so try to minimize it, and wash hands as much as needed to reduce potential spread of demodex. This makes a difference, and taking every advantage you can get to prevent worsening the infection a step in the correct direction.
Good luck and have faith.
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