Ivermectin to cure scabies

Figuring out a dose

I want to make this as easy as possible. In fact, I have a separate page with all the complicated math.

The official dose for ivermectin is .2 mg per kilogram (or 200 mcg/kg).

You can jump through hoops figuring out what 200mg per kilogram translates for your weight. It is good to be accurate but there is a funny thing about ivermectin. If you take it with a meal your body absorbs 2.5 times as much of it! So try to measure accurately, but don’t worry too much about being perfect.

Google has a pounds to kilograms converter that makes it easy.

Just follow the video and you can do a reasonably accurate job of measuring a dose.

What is "horse paste"?

It is called "horse paste" because it is ivermectin in a paste form that is given to animals such as horses, sheep and cattle. It should not be given to certain breeds of dogs, such as collies, because they have odd brains that don't filter ivermectin out very well. Humans, horses, cattle and sheep don't have that problem.

It is called "injectable" because it is in a plastic syringe, but it doesn't have a needle. The syringe just makes it easier to squirt it into an animal's mouth.

It tastes a bit yucky but is a little better when mixed with some strawberry jam. Your animals will thank you for that. There is also an apple flavored version (I haven't tried it, but some folks who did wrote me and said they liked it better).

Some ivermectin pastes also have other active ingredients instead of or in addition to ivermectin. I avoided them! There has been a lot of study on humans and animals and ivermectin (see In Depth On Ivermectin to the below), but I won't try anything mysterious.

By the way, in addition to the Amazon product links above, you can also find horse paste ivermectin on the shelf locally at Tractor Supply stores or anywhere they sell stuff to farmers or ranchers. They didn't ask me for a prescription and I didn't have to explain what I was using it for.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or health professional of any sort. I cannot diagnose illnesses or prescribe any treatments. I can tell you what I did, I can present what studies have shown to work (or not work), but you have to make up your own mind what to do for you. Don't just blindly copy anyone. You have to be responsible for what you swallow or put on your skin, even if a doctor prescribes me something I still want to read up and understand what I am agreeing to. Study, come to your own conclusions, make your own decisions and do what you feel is right for you. Take responsibility for your own actions (or inactions)…that way, no matter how things go, you will be living your life, not someone else's life.

How often can I take ivermectin?

Do not to take it more than once or twice a week.

Why? Because it takes about 3 days for ivermectin to work it’s way through your body. See the chart below to see what I mean. If you take it too often it will build up to too high a dose.  Please see the complete explanation here.

In Depth Information On Ivermectin

Ivermectin is FDA approved for treating river blindness, an epidemic disease in parts of Africa. Merck, the company who developed ivermectin, donates millions of doses every year to treat people for free. WHO (the World Health Organization) has done a lot of research on ivermectin. Click here to see their paper and then scroll down to section 2.3 "Observations in humans" to read their conclusions as to safety.

When doctors in the USA prescribe ivermectin for scabies that is called an "off-label" use. This is not unusual and it is generally legal.  Once a drug has been FDA approved for one disease or use, a doctor can prescribe it for any other use they choose to. Read more about "off-label use" in Wikipedia here. Wikipedia says "Off-label use is generally legal unless it violates specific ethical guidelines or safety regulations, but it does carry health risks and differences in legal liability." In other words, if the doctor thinks it is unethical to prescribe ivermectin or that he might get sued for prescribing it, he probably won't. What is "normal" use of ivermectin for doctors varies widely in different parts of the world. A doctor was recently convicted for trading drug prescriptions for sex…that's an example of illegal off-label use!

Click here to read a great article entitled "Ivermectin, 'Wonder drug' from Japan". It was written by Professor Satoshi Omura, the man who discovered ivermectin. 

The fascinating article describes how it was discovered and is used. The author writes, "There are few drugs that can seriously lay claim to the title of "Wonder drug", penicillin and aspirin being two that have perhaps had greatest beneficial impact on the health and wellbeing of Mankind. But ivermectin can also be considered alongside those worthy contenders, based on its versatility, safety and the beneficial impact that it has had, and continues to have, worldwide especially on hundreds of millions of the world's poorest people."

Imagine that! He puts ivermectin up there with penicillin and aspirin in terms of safety.

Describing use with humans he states, "Ivermectin proved to be even more of a "Wonder drug" in human health, improving the nutrition, general health and wellbeing of billions of people worldwide ever since it was first used to treat Onchocerciasis [river blindness] in humans in 1988. It proved ideal in many ways, being highly effective and broad-spectrum, safe, well tolerated and could be easily administered (a single, annual oral dose)."

"billions of people" are taking ivermectin annually and the author reports it has been found to be safe. "billions of people" is a pretty big test group!

Now, of course that is people being given ivermectin pills. With animals he writes, "Today, ivermectin is being used to treat billions of livestock and pets around the world, helping to boost production of food and leather products, as well as keep billions of companion animals, particularly dogs and horses, healthy." 

He goes on to write, "Ivermectin has continually proved to be astonishingly safe for human use. Indeed, it is such a safe drug, with minimal side effects, that it can be administered by non-medical staff and even illiterate individuals in remote rural communities, provided that they have had some very basic, appropriate training. This fact has helped contribute to the unsurpassed beneficial impact that the drug has had on human health and welfare around the globe, especially with regard to the campaign to fight Onchocerciasis [river blindness]. 

Today, ivermectin is being increasingly used worldwide to combat other diseases in humans, such as Strongyloidiasis (which infects some 35 million each year), scabies (which causes 300 million cases annually), Pediculosis, Gnathostomiasis and Myiasis — and new and promising properties and uses for ivermectin and other avermectin derivatives are continuing to be found."

Professor Satoshi Omura also writes, "Ivermectin swiftly became the drug of choice for the treatment of Onchocerciasis [river blindness] due to its unique and potent microfilaricidal [parasitic worms killing] effects, the absence of severe side effects and its excellent safety." (my bolding added)

If you are still curious and want to know more, there is a very readable article on the History of Ivermectin here. It explains the amazing and unlikely story of how how ivermectin was discovered and how Merck wound up giving away ivermectin for free. A pretty cool thing to do, especially considering how Big Pharma gets such bad press in general.

I hope all these references help you to decide if ivermectin is safe and effective and appropriate for treating humans with scabies. As I said earlier, the Healthy Skin Program suggests treating with both oral ivermectin AND a topical skin lotion (such as 5% permethrin cream, 10% sulfur lotion or Benzemul lotion).

The fascinating article describes how it was discovered and is used. The author writes, "There are few drugs that can seriously lay claim to the title of "Wonder drug", penicillin and aspirin being two that have perhaps had greatest beneficial impact on the health and wellbeing of Mankind. But ivermectin can also be considered alongside those worthy contenders, based on its versatility, safety and the beneficial impact that it has had, and continues to have, worldwide especially on hundreds of millions of the world's poorest people."

Imagine that! He puts ivermectin up there with penicillin and aspirin in terms of safety.

Describing use with humans he states, "Ivermectin proved to be even more of a "Wonder drug" in human health, improving the nutrition, general health and wellbeing of billions of people worldwide ever since it was first used to treat Onchocerciasis [river blindness] in humans in 1988. It proved ideal in many ways, being highly effective and broad-spectrum, safe, well tolerated and could be easily administered (a single, annual oral dose)."

"billions of people" are taking ivermectin annually and the author reports it has been found to be safe. "billions of people" is a pretty big test group!

Now, of course that is people being given ivermectin pills. With animals he writes, "Today, ivermectin is being used to treat billions of livestock and pets around the world, helping to boost production of food and leather products, as well as keep billions of companion animals, particularly dogs and horses, healthy." 

He goes on to write, "Ivermectin has continually proved to be astonishingly safe for human use. Indeed, it is such a safe drug, with minimal side effects, that it can be administered by non-medical staff and even illiterate individuals in remote rural communities, provided that they have had some very basic, appropriate training. This fact has helped contribute to the unsurpassed beneficial impact that the drug has had on human health and welfare around the globe, especially with regard to the campaign to fight Onchocerciasis [river blindness]. 

Today, ivermectin is being increasingly used worldwide to combat other diseases in humans, such as Strongyloidiasis (which infects some 35 million each year), scabies (which causes 300 million cases annually), Pediculosis, Gnathostomiasis and Myiasis — and new and promising properties and uses for ivermectin and other avermectin derivatives are continuing to be found."

Professor Satoshi Omura also writes, "Ivermectin swiftly became the drug of choice for the treatment of Onchocerciasis [river blindness] due to its unique and potent microfilaricidal [parasitic worms killing] effects, the absence of severe side effects and its excellent safety." (my bolding added)

If you are still curious and want to know more, there is a very readable article on the History of Ivermectin here. It explains the amazing and unlikely story of how how ivermectin was discovered and how Merck wound up giving away ivermectin for free. A pretty cool thing to do, especially considering how Big Pharma gets such bad press in general.

I hope all these references help you to decide if ivermectin is safe and effective and appropriate for treating humans with scabies. As I said earlier, the Healthy Skin Program suggests treating with both oral ivermectin AND a topical skin lotion (such as 5% permethrin cream, 10% sulfur lotion or Benzemul lotion).