In another thread I spoke about having lice in my hair. It got so bad I finally went to see a dermatologist, who told me I had mites called Sarcoptus Scabei.
Okay, so I took the cremes, the shampoos and lotions she prescribed (about 70 bucks) and nothing. I went to the ER and they pretty much threw me out. I think they were afraid of me.
So… I have mites. I have mites coming out of my facial skin, my eyes, my urine, my nose and yes: there as well. Everywhere there’s an opening, they come out of it. And they’re FAST, Every time I do a comb-through I have to do another in the same place. I haven’t touched my wife in all this time for fear of one landing on her. She has enough problems handling her tachycardia and dealing with the stroke she had two years ago.
I’ve made an appointment with an immunologist online, but don’t know when he will be able to see me. I’m reading a book called Year Of The Mite by Jane Ishka that everyone says is THE book to read for folks like me. Only half way through, but I hope she has better answers than the ones I found online. So far I am using Tree Leaf Oil topped of with Diatomaceious Earth. I also drink the DE every morning.
This has been going on for about 6 months. Have any of you had mites?
Please talk to me.
Thanks
Q
PS: I’ve combed the net (so to speak) already. I need something that works.
Medical advice is best suited to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
You’re Goddamn right they threw you out of the ER.
Just kidding. Mostly. Scabies, which is the common name for your particular mite infestation, strikes fear into healthcare workers. It is something that we can not only acquire from you, but potentially spread to our families.
Getting rid of it requires meticulous treatment. Scabies are not a comb thing, that is lice.
Here is the CDC page on household treatment, it has a link to the prescription information also.
I commonly see Permethrin cream prescribed for it. You have to follow the directions, including how long you leave it on, closely. You have to wash all your bedding and clothes in HOT water and dry in a HOT dryer. Do it two or three times. You basically have to clean your house and bedding as if you had bed bugs.
Your wife also needs to be treated. Anyone living in the house.
I understand that you are getting on in years and have been having some problems. You may need some help with this.
No they shouldn’t kill you. But they will make you miserable and can adversely effect your health if not effectively treated.
Re reading your OP I want to add a few things…
You say you have tried to avoid touching your wife, but is she sleeping in the same bed as you? Scabies spread from skin to skin contact and contact with infected bedding. It is possible that they have not spread to her but…
Scabies are a skin mite and should not be present in your urine or “everywhere there’s an opening”. They are microscopic and no comb will help.
I would recommend you see your dermatologist again and see what they say.
You may be having an immunological response to the scabies but you need to successfully treat the infestation first.
Man, this is sad. Do you have a social worker or a family member who can help you? I read the CDC stuff, and it seems like this is gonna take some work and adherence to a protocol, that may be tough. Get some help, and do go back to the doctor as soon as possible. Good luck!!
Ivermectin injections seem to be the miracle drug for veterinary use. I googled some and found oral ivermectin for humans, but not injections.
DRINKING Diatomaceious earth??!!?!!?
This was my thinking as well; you can’t see scabies, only the rash they cause. Additionally the average host only has a small handful of mites at a time- one to two dozen, tops. If the OP is physically seeing bugs “everywhere there’s an opening,” that’s not scabies.
Conversely, if the OP was using hyperbole and hadn’t actually seen bugs at all, there are a variety of ailments that can produce similar symptoms. When I was in college I had a fairly characteristic scabies rash, but after multiple treatments it turned out I was having a severe reaction to the combination of a change in weather (cold, dry air outside, warm dry air inside) and liberal use of (very drying) Ivory soap. It’s not always creepy-crawlies.
Well, my VA doc says I’ve been at this so long I have a psych disorder called delusional parasitosis, but I comb out samples daily and keep them in a baggy. My wife and I sleep separately due to my c-pap.
Yes, I drink a teaspoon full of diatamaceous earth in water every morning.
Thanks
PS: It’s now about 8:30 and I’m washing bed clothes. I do it every day - every damn day - then I wipe down the mattress with disinfectant. Then I vacuum my bedroom. Then I comb out the mites and save the samples. That ER visit that they goddamn well should have thrown me out of thought my samples were snot. No one looked at my scalp - even though I told them to use universal precautions. The best he could do was use an otoscope and look in my ear. By then I’d had enough. My wife prays for me and then cries herself to sleep at night
PS: If they’re not visiible, explain my wife pulling them out of my cheek (larval stage, I guess)gloved and with with hemostats.
I’m sorry Quasi, it was meant as a joke.
Good luck , I hope you start feeling better soon.
Yeah, that’s what was going through my mind when reading the first post.
The way diatomaceous earth works is that arthropods walk across it, have their exoskeletons scratched by the diatoms, and have their juices sucked out. Putting diatomaceous earth in your digestive tract is going to do nothing more than give you a bit more calcium in your diet.
*Sarcoptus scabei: *“Females are 0.3–0.45 mm (0.012–0.018 in) long and 0.25–0.35 mm (0.0098–0.0138 in) wide, and males are just over half that size.”
A US penny is 19.5 mm across. Going by the largest dimension of the largest female, that is the size of the red dot in front of Honest Abe’s nose.
We’re saying if they’re visible, they’re not scabies. ESPECIALLY if you can get a pair of hemostats on them.
Back when I worked in a clinic I caught scabies twice. They are miserable but I can confirm that treatment works… IF you follow it to the letter.
But… my spouse never caught them, despite sharing a bed and frequent contact. The doc said that some people are more susceptible to them (guess we taste better?) and some people don’t react to them or, in other words, might harbor them but not show symptoms, or minimal symptoms.
Everybody in the house still got treated, though.
And… those are not scabies. That would be something else. You need a microscope to see scabies.
as many of you know, I have dementia, but this is REAL, NOT a psychosis. Maybe they’re bedbugs and the derm doc was wrong in her diagnosis, I don’t know since IANAD. Going tp see a dermo-pathologist as soon as I can get an appointment. I just thank God, my wife doesn’t have them.
About the other, (DE) I don’t know , but I am told they tear the little bastards apart. I also keep a bottle of 91% Isopropyl with me all the time along with paper towels so I can kill them on contact when the itching begins.
I honestly don’t know what else to do and am willing to follow any instructions.
Q
If there were that many, would not his wife get them too? (Easily)
See my above post - I caught mites twice and in neither case did it appear my spouse caught any, despite close contact. Apparently, some people are less appealing to them than others.
Yes, usually they spread easily from one person to another, but not always, and such is more likely with separate sleeping arrangements such as the OP has stated he and his wife have.
I don’t doubt something is going on, but from what’s described it’s not scabies.
I have removed new-hatched winter moth larvae from apple buds when they were less than a millimeter long. I have a photograph to prove it. I sent the photo to the local agriculture folks to alert them that the critters had hatched.
I’m very nearsighted, and did not need a magnifying glass, let alone a microscope, to see them. (I did need to concentrate carefully.)
So I think it’s possible they see something that size. But I agree that it doesn’t sound like you have scabies. Bring what you’ve relived from your skin to your dermatologist.
Best wishes.
I have been trying to upload these to Photobucket, but I can’t do it for some reason. If someone wants to see these things (and can stomach it), I can send it to you in an e-mail and maybe you can load it for me?
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This may not work