Incessant itching | Imamother

amother

Thu, Mar 27 2014, 4:19 pm

I am at the end of my rope with my 4.5 year old son.

It is a daily or should I say HOURLY occurrence that he comes to me complaining that his butt is itching him. On the inside.

I would say it's been about 6 to 8 months since it's started and it's getting progressively worse-in frequency and I think intensity.

I know you're all thinking it's pinworms. That's what I thought too at first. But I've checked for worms. A lot. At night. First thing in the morning. I've had my sister check him (she's had several kids with worms). I've taken him to 2 pediatrician a who haven't found anything. One dr gave me a sort of stick that has one sticky side, he told me first thing in the morning to put the sticky side at the opening by my sons butt. And he did one right there in the office. Both were sent away to a lab to check for worm eggs. Nothing.

I've never even found one worm. But he itches all hours of the day. It's come to the point that sometimes I can't leave the house with him bec he won't stop itching.

I feel unimaginably bad for him, I know how painful such itching can be. He constantly has his hands down his pants. DH and I are constantly running with him to the bathroom to scratch him and 5 min later he's crying again.

Even without finding worms I've tried pin-x, I haven't noticed it helping. TMI-I've pushed a small sliver of garlic into his butt 3-4 times. The first time I think it helped for 2-3 days but I did it again yesterday and today he's crying again that it itches.

I'm at the end of my rope. His doctors don't know what it is, they keep saying prob worms. Suggested diaper rash cream, but that's not made for internal itching.

Has anyone ever experienced anything like this? I'm literally at the point of ripping my hair out.

mummiedearest

Thu, Mar 27 2014, 4:23 pm

is he constipated? does he have frequent diarrhea? could it be an allergic reaction?

amother

Thu, Mar 27 2014, 4:30 pm

I have this with ds that's 4.5 too. But I know right away what it is and I treat it as soon as I see signs of itchiness. By ds its usually a staph infection. Or rather the beginning of a staph staph infection. Does ur ds have any redness or small red dots? U can try treating it as a staph infection the way I do. Bactroban in the nostrils twice a day and on the area twice a day. For a few days.

amother

Thu, Mar 27 2014, 4:59 pm

mummiedearest wrote:

is he constipated? does he have frequent diarrhea? could it be an allergic reaction?

Op here.
He's very regular, he usually goes once a day or sometimes once in two days. No diarrhea unless he's sick.

I can't think what he could be allergic to, like I said this is ongoing for awhile now. There's no way for me to narrow down new things he's started eating that could possibly be causing this.

How could I find out if it is an allergic reaction? And if so, to what?

devy88

Thu, Mar 27 2014, 5:00 pm

amother

Thu, Mar 27 2014, 5:01 pm

amother wrote:

Op again.

There are no outward signs of anything whatsoever. No redness or dots or pimples. If he wasn't screaming in pain most of the time id think it was some weird thing he's making up.

momi

Thu, Mar 27 2014, 5:04 pm

I've had this with my ds as well. I believe that it was hemorrhoids. Have you ruled this out?

amother

Thu, Mar 27 2014, 5:40 pm

momi wrote:

I've had this with my ds as well. I believe that it was hemorrhoids. Have you ruled this out?

He's not constipated at all, and if he had hemorrhoids I believe he would say he's in pain, but he only says how much it itches

greenfire

Fri, Mar 28 2014, 12:30 pm

I would make sure he's very clean with wipes & then apply preparation-H ...

amother

Sat, Mar 29 2014, 5:49 pm

Amothers that have written that it's been from allergies, are you in the Brooklyn area? Can you recommend any allergists?
Thanks

mummiedearest

Sat, Mar 29 2014, 5:56 pm

amother wrote:

He's not constipated at all, and if he had hemorrhoids I believe he would say he's in pain, but he only says how much it itches

nope, it can just itch terribly. you or the doctor would likely see the hemorrhoids, afaik. ask the doc.

Miri1

Sat, Mar 29 2014, 7:37 pm

I'm so sorry to hear about the discomfort Sad

I've heard that you can do a blood test which measures the Eosinophil level (Eosinophils are elevated in those individuals with pinworms).

My son had pinworms, it took a long time until I actually spotted one.

Ask the doc if he might recommend an anti-fungal cream, to address a the possibility of a primary or secondary fungal infection.

amother

Sat, Mar 29 2014, 8:51 pm

go for a blood test
try to eliminate foods
only fruits in the morning - it's a good detox method
plus add raw veg - like lettuce, tomatoes, carrots......

shirachadasha

Sat, Mar 29 2014, 8:58 pm

Maybe a pediatric gastroenterologist could help.