13 July 2008

Let the Buyer Beware!


WARNING! CONTAINS HORROR...


Remember when I purchased this lovely three piece lounge off Ebay a few weeks ago? A little before that I'd started myself on glucosamine and fish oil for my sore back and creaky joints. I'd never taken them before and I remember Ken being unable to take these particular products because they induced an itchy rash.

Anyway, a little after I'd started this regimen of joint oiling, I too developed an itchy rash. So I cut out the glucosamine first of all...it made no difference. So then the fish oil went...still no difference. I took antihistamines...nope, no difference. After about four weeks of this and being driven mad by this itchy rash, yesterday I went to the doctor. Vijay asked me the usual things...had I changed soap, laundry powder, etc. I said no but told him my suspicions about the glucosamine and fish oil. He looked a little puzzled but made no comment and asked if he could check the rash.

He had a look at my arms and back and then looked at me and said; "This is not an allergic rash...it is scabies!" I was appalled, to put it mildly. I couldn't think where on earth I'd picked it up from and was almost in tears at the thought of having anything like that. To me, it was tantamount to having an STD, my flesh crawled with disgust. Vijay gave me the name of an ointment which was a one-off treatment and I have to return to see him on Tuesday.

I puzzled about all the way home about where I could have picked up this disgusting infestation. As soon as I walked in the door and saw the lounge, I knew.

The seller on Ebay had said that it needed spot cleaning. I could cope with that and didn't really worry about it and when the lounge arrived, it didn't look too bad. Then a couple of weeks ago, I decided to have my carpets cleaned and thought I'd get the lounge done at the same time. When the cleaner had finished, he commented that the lounge had had fruit juice and other liquids spilt on it, but he'd managed to get most of it out. I was thrilled at the difference...it was six shades lighter! Garry also made the comment that he'd sanitised it so that any bacteria or insects were dealt with. I wondered briefly about the insects but gave it no more thought until yesterday.

My outbreak coincided exactly to just after I got the lounge...it obviously needed more than spot cleaning and I was so glad I'd had it thoroughly cleaned and sanitised professionally. Needless to say, today, my bed linen was washed with water soluble eucalyptus oil in each load, the cushions on the lounge were washed...I went through all my clothes like a dose of salts...putting eucalyptus in each wash. It made for a hell of a lot of work, but I could not leave it for one more day...eeeewww!

So there you go, I got more for my money than what I had bargained on...it gives me the crawlies just to think about it. I've put the cream treatment all over me, into every fold of skin (and believe me, there are a few at this age!), between my fingers and toes and everywhere! I also bought some Dettol antiseptic cream to soothe the itch and prevent reinfection. Every time I wash my hands, I reapply more cream, because it has to be left on the skin for at least eight hours, preferably longer.

I can't understand someone putting something up for sale that wasn't clean...don't they have any self respect? Would you sell something that was so dirty? Obviously the seller must have had someone in the household with scabies...it comes from contact from sharing towels, face washers, linen, etc or direct intimate contact with someone else who has the scourge.

However, the best part is, I can start taking the glucosamine and fish oil again. As Vijay said, the rash was too localised for it to be an allergy and also, an allergy would come up in 24 hours or less.

So that's been my weekend. Don't come near me yet...unclean!!

18 comments:

Gattina said...

Oh my goodness how horrible ! I had to look up the word in my dictionary !! I thought it didn't even exist anymore and was something from the 19th century !! You know dirty people don't even know they are dirty for them it's normal to have flees and other stuff ! Who the heck would have thought of such a thing while buying on Ebay ! Today I have something to tell to my friends ! Hope you killed ALL germs !

Jellyhead said...

Oh no, what a horror and a drama!

Don't feel too bad - I spent half an hour today combing head lice out of my daughter's hair. Head lice, scabies.... they can happen to the best and cleanest of people!

Ramblins of a middle-aged goddess said...

My I so feel for you!! That is horrible!! When you first started talking about fish oil I was thinking that was it because it seems to make me sick to my stomach for some reason. I am trying it again and my stomach is not happy about it either. My I can only think how you felt..EWHEW!! It makes me want to start scratching too. So eucalyptus oil helps kill the germ in clothes? I did not know that!! Great to find out..
Thanks for stopping by. Did you go see the movie that i was talking about in 3-D? It is really a fun way to watch a movie..Different so that makes it fun for me.
Take care today (tonight) whatever it is there!! Hopefully you will be feeling better quickly..
Sandy

Anonymous said...

I'd like to invite you to Mailbox Monday. Post any mailbox picture, sign in to Mr. Linky and you're done.

Merle said...

Dear Robyn ~~ How awful for you and I hope it doesn't last too long. Any itch can drive us crazy, but hopefully it won't be with you for very long. Sort of spoilt your e bay bargain, but they should be safe now.
Thank you so much for your comments and I am glad you enjoy the jokes. I usually give credit to who sends me some, otherwise I have bought lots of joke books. No secrets Robyn. You take great care and get well soon. Love, Merle. Had a lovely visit with Connie and her family. Will say Hi to her from you

Walker said...

That was a surprise i am sure you could have done without.
Its stories like that which warn us to be careful what we buy.
I am glad you got it all figured out and now you could continue oiling the joints again

Bimbimbie said...

Hello, thanks for your visit and comment on the Jitta Jitta ;)

My skin is itching now after reading your tale of woe lol *!*

Karen said...

You poor thing Robyn. I can only imagine how awful that must have made you feel. I'm glad you got an answer or you would have gone on for months like that. I would have rung the person who sold it to you and let them have it.

TorAa said...

Hi,
let me just tell you,
I'm still around and alive
Have not forget you.

Here we also use "Fish oil" - from Cod.
We call it "Tran" - tastes awful - but as kids we had no choice - one tea-spoon from Sept to March. Vitamin D.

Have a great week.

By the way - we have something like kind of Summmer. ( 19-23 C - but it has been up to 32C and down to 10 C in 12 hours.)

Hugs from Viking Land
Tor y Anna

Liz Hinds said...

Urgh, urgh, urgh! I can understand your horror but I'm glad everything's clean again now. Poor you.

I take cod liver oil and glucosamine too. As well as evening primrose and gingko. And when I read the health magazines I see loads more supplements and I think, 'Oh, I need that too!'

Merle said...

Hi again Robyn ~~ Thanks for your comments about the photo of Connie and me. She said it would have been OK to put her daughter on, so I might. The Ultra scan said ganglion
and OK. I hope you are itching a little less by now, Take care, Love, Merle.

Irishcoda said...

Ewwwww that is a horror! I don't like to buy used furniture exactly for that reason--I'm not sure if it's really clean and I don't want to take the chance! I also take glucosamine for my joints. Have a great week!

catsynth said...

That's quite disturbing. I hope everything is clean now and that you're not having any more skin trouble.

I think I'll stick to buying music gear on ebay - but will certainly make sure it's clean (one item once came with a "rich smokey flavor").

Mountain Mama said...

Oh My Gosh, how awful!!! You poor dear.

Now you have me wondering. I bought a used couch a few years ago and my puppies started having flea problems around that same time..... I wonder?

I guess the only safe way to buy used furniture is to have it cleaned before we put it in our house, but even at that, it make me feel sort of yucky!
I hope all the treatments you are doing will get rid of it and you will NEVER have this problem again.

Carole Burant said...

Omigosh, Robyn, how terrible!! I guess it just goes to show that when you buy something second hand, you never know what's on it! Yuck! As you say, what's even more terrible is that this person who sold it, didn't make sure it was disinfected before selling it! I've never had Scabies but I hear it is very itchy...poor you:-( I would be washing and smearing cream all over myself too! lol xoxo

Pear tree cottage! said...

OMGOSH! Robyn that is horrid! I work in a second hand shop and you would not believe the things I see come out of those bags.....they simply do not care about their items or you. I hope as I write this the drama is all over and you are back to being well again.

keep smiling!
Lee-ann

Jans Funny Farm said...

Oh, how horrible for you. I wouldn't have even thought of such a thing happening. I would have vacuumed and maybe given it a once-over cleaning, but who would have imagined?

DellaB said...

Hi Robyn,
I had to come back and read this after I saw your current post about the itches, and glucosamine and fish oil etc.

What a nasty experience.. do you still have the couch?

Don't you just hate negative stories? well, sorry about this, but - I took one particular type of glucosamine for a while, and then discovered that one of the ingredients in it was the cause of a bad episode of tinnitus I was having.

I asked the ear 'specialist' when I went for tests if they were getting more and more people with tinnitus, and he said yes, almost epidemic - I'm not surprised - they market that stuff so vigorously and don't tell you these things, you have to find out for yourself. So I am passing on my experience, somebody else might benefit from it..

Sorry about that, I'll go back to reading now.

:-)
Della