2 month nightmare itch=scabies

[scabiemaster]

I had a terrible misdiagnosed case of scabies. As I am living in Florida the doctor who saw me said she thought my rash and itchiness was due to a case of HEAT RASH. NOT! I could not sleep at night, specially at 5 am, I would wake up scratching like crazy. My wife did not have it, so I discarded bed bugs and scabies. The thing kept going for weeks, and the doctor gave me some Zyrtek. But the itchiness kept going. It started in my waistline, but later it went to my groin area, then my legs, my armpits, and soon it was all over my body. As it was getting worse, the doctor gave me some Atarax (to help me sleep as well as to treat the itchiness) and some steroids (decreasing dosis for 6 days). It cleared a bit, but then, when I was out of medicines, it went really bad. Because I was very worried, I kept looking at symptoms in the Internet. One symptom worried me: my ***** had this red pimple-like protuberances, as well as my scrotum. I checked that symptom out on the internet, I saw a few pictures, and bam! I had it, it was scabies. The problem is that scabies have a incubating period of 6 weeks, and that was why my wife did not have it. I had been working in the rural areas of Central America, and I must have gotten in there.
I used the cream they give for it, and I feel much better now. However, the convalecence period is long, and the itchiness does not go away until 3 weeks or more.

[AndyB]

If you have scabies, your wife certainly also does (although she may not yet have symptoms because of the long incubation period). It's extremely contagious through skin-to-skin contact. All family members need to be treated at the same time to break the cycle of reinfection.