MRSA "superbug" warning - Page 2

SthrnZeta · #1 10-30-2007, 05:29 PM

I had one on my eyebrow. I ignored it for a week and then started draining it myself and put myself on Augmentin for 7 days. When it started peeling (and didn't go away or get smaller) I went to the doctor who referred me to a surgeon. I told him that Augmentin hadn't touched it. He slit it open and drained it and packed it for a day. He put me on 3 days of Levaquin (which tore my stomach up) and now I keep a band-aid on it while the incision heals. It was very very painful, but I certainly didn't die from it. BUT, it sounds like if I had let it go and never gotten it treated, I could have gotten really sick. As it was, it was just an annoyance. I had one on my armpit last year that had to be packed every day for a week and I was on two different types of antibiotics. Same procedure as before only worse. Not sure what causes these but I think that I'm just more suseptible when I'm tired, etc. This latest one came on the heels of a cold sore and my surgeon said those can weaken your immune system enough to allow one of these nasty bugs to strike. A friend of mine had 2 at once near his scrotum and had to pack those himself every day - not fun! Just stay as clean and healthy as you can - and don't wait to go to the doc if you're worried you may have it! Pretty simple!

REE1993 · #2 10-31-2007, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SthrnZeta

I had one on my eyebrow. I ignored it for a week and then started draining it myself and put myself on Augmentin for 7 days. When it started peeling (and didn't go away or get smaller) I went to the doctor who referred me to a surgeon. I told him that Augmentin hadn't touched it. He slit it open and drained it and packed it for a day. He put me on 3 days of Levaquin (which tore my stomach up) and now I keep a band-aid on it while the incision heals. It was very very painful, but I certainly didn't die from it. BUT, it sounds like if I had let it go and never gotten it treated, I could have gotten really sick. As it was, it was just an annoyance. I had one on my armpit last year that had to be packed every day for a week and I was on two different types of antibiotics. Same procedure as before only worse. Not sure what causes these but I think that I'm just more suseptible when I'm tired, etc. This latest one came on the heels of a cold sore and my surgeon said those can weaken your immune system enough to allow one of these nasty bugs to strike. A friend of mine had 2 at once near his scrotum and had to pack those himself every day - not fun! Just stay as clean and healthy as you can - and don't wait to go to the doc if you're worried you may have it! Pretty simple!

How did you put yourself on Augmentin? Are you licensed to dispencse prescription medication?

SthrnZeta · #3 10-31-2007, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by REE1993

How did you put yourself on Augmentin? Are you licensed to dispencse prescription medication?

That wasn't really the point in my post - why do you ask?

Drolefille · #4 10-31-2007, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SthrnZeta

That wasn't really the point in my post - why do you ask?

It stands out to me too.

Augmentin is an antibiotic. You put yourself on it for seven days, suggesting that a) you didn't finish a course of antibiotics, b) that you took older and possibly expired drugs, and c) you took another shortened course of antibiotics.

These are things that help create superbugs. You don't kill the bacteria, you only kill some of it, leaving the rest to potentially become stronger. So then you had to be prescribed a stronger antibiotic that is worse for your body and would perhaps have been unnecessary if you'd not abused the previous one.

You are being part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Army Wife'79 · #5 10-31-2007, 09:52 AM

I hate to be "all nosy" but when you (Fran) say you got "violently ill so quickly" what exactly are you saying since you said you didn't have a skin spot? Fever, chills, headache, stomach flu type gunk or what? What should we all be looking for? Many of us get sick and say "I'll wait a couple days and see if it's a 48 hr thing" and now I read that time can cost a life with this MRSA. So, how does it get inside you if it doesn't come from a skin spot?

I'm still freaking out by the college girl last week who died of meningitis with the classic headache/stiff neck symptoms and the hospital made fun of her and called her a "drama queen" when she asked to be medivac'd elsewhere in TN.

AKA_Monet · #6 10-31-2007, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Army Wife'79

I hate to be "all nosy" but when you (Fran) say you got "violently ill so quickly" what exactly are you saying since you said you didn't have a skin spot? Fever, chills, headache, stomach flu type gunk or what? What should we all be looking for? Many of us get sick and say "I'll wait a couple days and see if it's a 48 hr thing" and now I read that time can cost a life with this MRSA. So, how does it get inside you if it doesn't come from a skin spot?

I'm still freaking out by the college girl last week who died of meningitis with the classic headache/stiff neck symptoms and the hospital made fun of her and called her a "drama queen" when she asked to be medivac'd elsewhere in TN.

Most bacterial infections cause a rapid increase in body temperature with eye soreness and redness, and horrific migraines. We are talking ~100+ within 12 hours. There is also vomiting and blood out of some orifices. Not to be gross, but it is Halloween, some mucus will be yellowish green. And the site of primary infection could appear black or scabbed...

That is the usual pathology for Staph infections gone wild. It is worse when it is MRSA.

Not to mention opportunistic infections coming along for the ride.

Basically, some folks need to use a lot of liquid soap with bleach or lye and MAYBE there won't be distorted infections. But we don't do it like that anymore...

Fawn Liebowitz · #7 10-31-2007, 02:42 PM

Let me explain my staph experience - I am a dialysis patient with a porta-cath in my chest - staph is a fairly common occurrence because of the very slight opening in the chest wall. The first symptoms are flu-like: headache, body aches, fever - especially at night - I usually have night sweats before it gets full-blown. By the next day, the fever is much higher and I can't keep ANYTHING down. It progresses quickly. When I've had it, there wasn't much doubt that I needed medical attention and that it wasn't just something that would go away by itself.