Hello charidea,
?The FDA recommends only a single treatment with Lindane. This is
because of the risk of serious side effects and even death when
Lindane is applied too early the second time. It is not known how soon
after applying Lindane that it is safe to apply a second dose. People
who have used Lindane Lotion for treating scabies should not use any
form of Lindane too early, if it indeed needs to be used again.
Sometimes, two treatments are necessary to completely treat lice. If
you suspect that the first treatment was not completely successful
because you see live lice, you should call you doctor.?
It is important to know that you may still itch after using Lindane.
This does not mean the medication is not working. Even after all the
bugs are dead, they can still make your skin itch for a few weeks.
Lindane sometimes makes this itch even worse. Talk to your health care
provider about things you can do to soothe the itch. DO NOT USE MORE
LINDANE. Using Lindane a second time may lead to serious side effects
including seizures and death.
If treating lice, you should know that Lindane kills the eggs (also
known as "nits"), but it does not remove them. A special comb, called
a "nit comb," can be used to remove the dead eggs from the hair.?
http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/lindane/lindaneQA.htm#8
?There are other medications approved by the FDA to treat scabies and
lice. In fact, Lindane should be used only after treatment with a
safer medication does not make your scabies or lice go away, or when
you cannot use safer medications. Some examples of these safer
medicines used to treat scabies and lice include the following:
Scabies:
?Crotamiton cream and lotion 10% (Eurax) ? Rx (Rx = prescription only)
?Permethrin cream 5%, (Acticin, Elimite) - Rx
?Permethrin cream rinse 1% (Nix) ? OTC (OTC = Over the counter, no
prescription needed)
Head and pubic lice:
?Malathion lotion 0.5% (Ovide) - Rx
?Pyrethrum extract 0.33% with piperonyl butoxide shampoo (Rid) - OTC
?Permethrin cream rinse 1% (Nix) - OTC
http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/lindane/lindaneQA.htm#8
The FDA Lindane FAQ page
http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/lindane/lindaneQA.htm
Did a doctor diagnose the lice? I don't doubt you, only posing
possibilities here.It *may* be possible you don?t even have lice!
?Doctors can diagnose lice infestations from looking closely at the
parts of the body where the patient has been scratching. Lice are
large enough to be easily seen with the naked eye or a magnifying
glass. The eggs of pubic lice as well as head lice can often be found
by looking at the base of the patient's hairs. Pediatricians are most
likely to diagnose lice in school-age children.
It is important for doctors to rule out other diseases that can cause
scratching and skin inflammation because the medications used to kill
lice are very strong and can have bothersome side effects. The doctor
will need to distinguish between head lice and dandruff; between body
lice and scabies (a disease caused by skin mites); and between pubic
lice and eczema. Blood tests or other laboratory tests are not useful
in diagnosing lice infestations.?
http://www.chclibrary.org/micromed/00054760.html
It's possible you have scabies and not lice. Scabies are treated
differently, although sometimes Lindane is prescribed.
"Scabies have been labeled with the nickname
"The itch". The scabies mite is an obligate parasite that burrows
into, resides and reproduces in human skin. The adult female mite is
0.4 mm long while the male mite is 0.2 mm long. Grayish in color,
human scabies are nearly transparent."
Treatment for Scabies:
"Ointments containing 5% permethrin cream (Elimite®), benzyl benzoate,
crotamiton (Eurox®) sulfur, tetraethylthiuram monosulfide (Tetmosol®),
thiabendazole, or 1% lindane (Kwell®) are the most widely recommended
medications for itch mite control. These products are available only
through a physician by prescription and should be applied strictly
according to labeled and/or prescribed directions."
http://home.earthlink.net/~webmedic4u/scabies.html
Was your partner also treated? If not, you may re-infect each other.
?Even after treatment, most nits or eggs will remain attached to the
hair. Nits can be removed with fingernails or a fine-tooth comb.?
?If after about a week you still see lice, do the treatment again.?
?Contact your health care provider if treatment still does not work.?
?If you have additional questions about crabs, call the National STD
and AIDS Hotlines at 1-800-342-2437 or 1-800-227-8922. The hotlines
are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For information in Spanish
call 1-800-344-7432, 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. Eastern Time, seven days a
week. For the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing call 1-800-243-7889, 10:00 a.m.
to 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday. The hotlines
provide referrals and more answers to your questions.?
http://www.ashastd.org/stdfaqs/crabs.html#treat
?Female lice produce eggs, which are cemented to the hair shaft close
to the skin. It takes about seven to 10 days for an egg to hatch. Most
people who are infested with crab lice will have about a dozen active
lice on them at any one time.
There also may be tiny red or blue marks where the insect has been
biting, and the eggs, or nits, may be seen attached to the pubic hair
close to the skin. Sometimes, more severe reactions occur, such as the
development of pustules or intense skin reactions where the insects
have been feeding.
Since most crab lice infestations are transmitted through sexual
activity, anyone who has crab lice also should be screened for other
sexually transmitted diseases. Several studies have found that many
people infested with crab lice also will have another sexually
transmitted disease. In addition, the sexual partners of someone
diagnosed with crab lice infestation should be notified.
Crab lice infestations can persist indefinitely if they're not
treated. With treatment, the infestation is usually eliminated
immediately.
Treatment
Crab lice infestations usually are treated by applying a créme rinse
containing 1 percent permethrin to the pubic hair and leaving it in
place for 10 minutes. Also effective are rinses containing 1 percent
lindane or pyrethrins with piperonyl butoxide. Women who are pregnant
or lactating should not use lindane. Nits can be removed using a
fine-toothed comb after treatment. Clothing and bedding that the
infested person used in the two to three days before treatment should
be washed in hot water and dried in a clothes dryer on a high heat
setting.
You also should consult someone if your symptoms are especially
severe, and should follow up with your health care professional to be
sure the infestation has been treated successfully.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
1600 Clifton Rd., NE
Atlanta, GA 30333
Phone: (404) 639-3534
Toll-Free: (800) 311-3435
http://www.cdc.gov/
http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/9339/25979.html#treat
?Be sure the affected skin is clean and does not have any other
lotion, cream, or oil on it, including oil based hair products or
conditioners when treating head lice. Wait at least 1 hour after
bathing or showering before application of lindane topical. Shake the
bottle of lindane lotion or shampoo well before application.
Apply the shampoo to dry pubic hair. Work the medication in
thoroughly. Allow it to sit for 4 minutes. Add a small amount of water
to form a good lather then rinse and towel dry. Comb with a
fine-toothed comb (nit comb) and remove any remaining nits or nit
shells (tweezers can also be used). One treatment should be
sufficient. If live mites are visible after 7 days, a repeat treatment
may be necessary. Talk to your doctor before using a second dose of
lindane topical. lindane topical too soon after the first dose may
cause seizures and/or death. Sexual partners should also be treated.?
http://www.drugs.com/MTM/lindane_topical.html
If you applied the Lindane to DRY hair, and let it sit for 4 minutes,
then added a small amount of water to make a lather, rinsed and dried
with a CLEAN towel, and then combed or tweezed nits or dead
nits(eggs), one treatment should have killed the lice, and been
effective. According to my research, you should wait 7 days before a
second treatment. You may consider using a different product for the
next treatment, perhaps one of the over the counter products. Please
consult your doctor, as the risks of Lindane are great. In fact, the
FDA considers Lindane potentially toxic to the nervous system. Be sure
and have your partner treated as well to avoid re-infection.
?The US FDA issued a March 28, 2003 health advisory about Lindane, a
pesticide commonly used to treat lice and scabies. New warnings on the
box warn consumers and doctors that this nerve poison is potentially
toxic to the nervous system, and therefore should not be used as the
first treatment option. Also, Lindane should be used in caution in
anyone weighing less than 110 pounds. It is known to have caused
seizures in some children (it is even used for intentionally causing
seizures in some animal research). Lindane is even known to have
quickly killed a few who have used it?
http://www.drgreene.com/21_1449.html
An illustration:
http://home.earthlink.net/~webmedic4u/lice.html
Hope this helps alleviate your condition! If an part of my answer is
unclear, please ask for an Answer Clarification, before rating. I will
be happy to respond.
Regards,
crabcakes
Search Terms
Pthirus pubis
scabies
Lindane + pubic lice
Pubic lice treatment |
Clarification of Answer by
crabcakes-ga
on
20 Jan 2005 14:52 PST
Hi charidea,
I appreciate your clarification, and apologize for not finding the
exact information you want. I have found that if a product works, the
lice will be dead in 20 minutes. The pharmacist who told you Lindane
was not Raid is correct however... Lice may persist after treatment,
and is not uncommon.
I too am surprised that the answer is not easily found. Do you see
the lice moving? It's possible they are dead,or dying, but still
clinging to hair. Also, the itch can remain for days. As you will read
in my calrification that follows, the chemical in de-licers is
absorbed by the louse itself. Some lice may die immediately, and
others ,ay linger and suffer a slow death! It depends on each
individual louse.
Has a doctor diagnosed this as definitely being lice?
Was your partner treated?
I think the idea of trying a permethrin based roduct is prudent, and
you may too after reading the folowing.
The following pertains to head lice, but is equally pertinent to your case:
===========================================================================
"Pediculicides are absorbed by the louse. When enough has been absorbed to
paralyze or over-stimulate the nervous system the louse will die. In the
meantime, the louse may survive, but be a bit slower than before treatment.
The recommendation is to remove all live lice, check the head every two or
three days, removing all live lice and nits, and retreat in seven to ten days.
Retreating sooner than seven to ten days is not recommended. Retreating
sooner than recommended will not get rid of the lice any faster or better."
"OTC pediculicides have been shown to act more quickly than
Lindane to kill lice, so consider the risks and benefits of Lindane and other
pediculicides or alternative treatments."
http://health.co.genesee.mi.us/A-Z/Commonly%20Asked%20Q%20&%20A.pdf
"f a head lice product works, lice will be dead within 20 minutes. You
can test if the lice are killed by doing the following:
1. After 20 minutes, use a fine tooth comb to comb the hair, and
after each sweep from roots to tip, wipe the combings onto a tissue.
2. Repeat this many times until the whole head has been combed at
least twice and little treatment formulation is visible on the hair.
3. Examine the tissues and see if lice are alive or dead. A
magnifying lens is not needed to do this, but will help in the
visually impaired. Grade each lice as dead (no movement at all),
inactive but alive (louse is stationary, but is moving legs or
antennae), or active (louse is crawling on the tissue).
4. Assess success of treatment and possible insecticide resistance.
1. If all lice are dead, infestation is sensitive to product used.
2. If some lice are inactive but alive, infestation may be
partly resistant to treatment, but regard the louse population as
"sensitive" if no lice are active.
3. If some lice are active, infestation is resistant.
5. For a sensitive population of head lice, the current treatment
has been successful, but embryos in eggs will most likely survive.
Retreat in 7 days using the same product.
6. For resistant lice, the current treatment has been unsuccessful.
See section "If lice aren't killed, what should I do?".
"Insecticide resistance in head lice is common, but it can be detected
by assessing the effect of treatments. If live lice are found in the
combings after treatment that has been correctly applied, the head
lice are resistant to the product used, and possibly to any other
product using the same active compound.
Wash off the first product. Retreat as soon as possible using a
product from a different active group than the one used. Although
there are over 20 head lice products they fall into four groups based
on the active compound:
1. pyrethrins
2. synthetic pyrethroids (permethrin and bioallethrin)
3. organophosphates (malathion or maldison), and
4. herbal.
If the product doesn't kill lice, look to see what the active compound
is and then choose a product from another group. Apply the product and
reassess using steps 1-5 above in the treatment schedule."
"Some cases of pediculosis seem horribly persistent. To solve these
you have to use a very systematic approach. Reasons for failure come
down to one or several of the following:
1. Inadequate application of the product
2. Lice are resistant to insecticide
3. Failure to retreat to kill nymphs emerged from eggs
4. Reinfection."
http://www.jcu.edu.au/school/phtm/PHTM/hlice/hlinfo1.htm
Read page 5
http://www.spokaneschools.org/StudentSupport/HealthServices/pdf/LiceManual.pdf
Good luck finding an effective treatment for you!
Regards, crabcakes
Please disregard the rude and crass comment below. I have asked the
editors to remove it.
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