Concerning pinworms and yeast infections

[Guest guest]

For Jenn and Kali.

I'm 40 now, but had pinworms a few times as a child. As mentioned by someone

earlier, these are contracted from other people and the environment, and have

absolutely nothing to do with the diet. They're especially contractible by

children who put their hands in their mouths a lot, because typically the

microscopic eggs are under the finger nails, but still need to make contact with

the mouth before being washed away. (I sucked my thumb until I was

nine-years-old, and finally realized I had to quit if I didn't want pinworms

anymore.) My experience with pinworms was so bad that I have a parasite phobia

to this day! They itch terribly at the anus when the body is at rest (typically

at bed-time) and they would keep me awake and freaking out about the fact that

little creatures moving around down there were the reason for the itch! So . .

.. from my experience, I advise: take whatever drug is prescribed. When I was

young, the whole family had to take it; otherwise, the likelihood of someone

other than the child having them, then passing them around again, is very high.

My mother is a bright lady and an RN, so I also advise what she would do, just

as someone else here mentioned. She would wash all towels, clothes and bedding

daily while we were on the medicine.

The reason the other person mentioned to have everyone wear underwear at night

is because the worms can also enter the system directly through the anus. So,

you see, washing sheets daily, adding the barrier of underwear, and keeping the

hands and body exceptionally clean guarantees the worms will be gone; medicine

kills the interior ones, barriers prevent re-entry into a host; cleanliness

washes away all those in various stages of hatching so that they can't survive

and re-enter unsuspecting people.

You don't need any special test to find out if someone has pinworms. If you (or

your child) complains of an itchy anus at bed-time, look at it. You will see

little rice-like worms outside the anus moving around. You'd probably even see

them on toilet paper if you wiped back there. However, if you want to be sure,

the doctor can take a stool sample from you and look for worms in it. (Warning:

If you've ever felt like your hair was itchy after hearing about someone having

lice, the same " power of suggestion " can happen now that you've read about

pinworms--you likely DON'T have them! :-) They're unlikely in adults because

we keep our hands clean and out of our mouths.)

Concerning yeast: My daughter gets a yeast infection every time she goes on an

antibiotic for strep. She is always on the Kirkman's (Elaine-approved)

Lactobacillus Acidophilus (L.A.) capsules. When her yeast condition acts up

(she grabs at her crotch and/or becomes whiny, or even self-injurious) we

immediately increase her L.A. dose three-fold. She always improves within

24-hours and we can reduce her dosage of L.A. to maintenance levels in about

1-week.

Hope this information helps.

Nannette SCD 3+ months, IBD

daughter, SCD 3+ months, 13 y.o., autism