Dr. Hive.....We have staph, need advice! (long and TMI)

[jeninok]

This might get kind of long, I want to explain the whole situation for the best advice!

 

My son has had Staph twice, once last spring, and again in the summer. The first time it was no big deal, nothing but a tiny zit on his hairline that the hairdresser caught and he just so happened to be going to the doctor that day, so we had it checked, and they put him on bactroban ointment, it was gone in a couple of days.

 

The second time in the course of 3 hours it went from what we thought was an itchy chigger bite, to being almost an inch across, dark greyish tissue with a white center, and red streaks and swelling all up his leg.

 

He also had a skinned knee that was well on its way to healing, that started oozing and broke open. He actually started bawling on the baseball field, and we pulled him off, stripped off the thick baseball sock and carried him straight from the dugout to Urgent care. That time he had a shot of cortisone and antibiotics in urgent care, then oral antibiotics for almost 3 weeks. He was supposed to have oral steroids as well, but he was so out of sorts on them we only did 1.5 days and the doctor said we could stop.

 

Fast forward a year later......

 

I got what I thought was a small owie (not even a scrape) or bite on my leg sometimes last week........... Thursday morning when I got out of the shower I accidentally knocked the scab off with my towel, but thought nothing of it. It was a TINY little owie so I dabbed some bandaid disenfecting wash on it and a little neosporin, and didn't think about it again. By that afternoon my son and I were in the pool and I realized it looked much bigger with a white nasty looking center. I got out, cleaned it well and put antibiotic ointment and a bandaid on it.

 

That night we were at my folks and I could feel my heart beating in it and my ankle and knee were starting to be sore.

But there was no swelling other than the raised bump itself, and no streaks or anything really scary looking. Friday it was the same, worse than it should be, but not so bad that I felt like it was needing to be looked at right away. I assumed it would heal up over the weekend, not so much.

 

The wound itself never really got worse, but I started running a very low grade fever, my leg was sore, and my lymphnodes were a little swollen and I just felt run down.

 

At the same time this was all going on, I also broke out with my normal ovulation cystic acne, only this time it was twice as big, and came with two others. I have actually checked with a fertility monitor and I can almost time my ovulation perfectly by this stupid zit.

 

Yesterday the worst zits on my chin basically exploded when I rubbed them with disenfectant... :001_huh: , they then oozed clear fluid for several hours.

 

I stayed in my room the whole time they were draining, using hand sanitizer and bandaid disenfecting wash to try to contain the germs, went to the doctor first thing this morning and sure enough I have staph.

 

I am on Doxycycline for 15 days, and she gave me 3 diflucan. My temp is staying at about 98.9, which is high for me, and I just feel worn out. The wound also hurts when I cover it with a bandaid now, and I can feel it when I walk in my joints. The pain is maybe a 3 though, seriously not bad.

[Ghee]

Bless your heart. Get thee to an infectious disease doctor! I know someone with MRSA and his family fooled around with a well meaning family doctor, he ended up having it spread all over his body. Even his regular Dr gave him more powerful stuff than 15 days of doxycycline, though, that sounds like the Dr isn't being very aggressive. Trust me, you do not want this going unchecked (MRSA or not.)

[ondreeuh]

That sounds really painful.

 

When my daughter had a staph infection in her knee, we caught it much sooner so it was probably easier to treat. Several times a day she used hot compresses on her knee to draw out the pus and manipulated the wound to get the pus out (sort of like popping a zit). She then washed her knee with Hibiclens and kept a bandage on it. In two days it was much better.

 

Don't be afraid to wash it and keep it open and draining. It hurts more in the short-term but is necessary for it to heal well.

[besroma]

Wow! Sorry you have gone through so much and are feeling terrible. :grouphug:

[justLisa]

Oh my! I hope you recover quickly.:grouphug:

[jeninok]

Now DS11, last night he had a slightly irritated mosquito bite, it was a little more irritated around lunch time, but he said he scratched it, now it is red, angry, with a black center and yellow scabby stuff, with a red welt around it.

 

It is for sure staph, fits the classic description. His temp is 98.9, and he says he feels fine, but he has been very low energy today and said his dinner tasted funny.

 

I am debating taking him in to urgent care tonight, based on the quickness and severity of the last time he had this. (a year ago)

 

Even though my infection is slow moving, and not too damaging, I don't know if reaction is based on strain, or the persons sensitivity to it.

 

Any advice??

 

I have more questions regarding disenfecting the house etc, but those can wait for now.

[jeninok]

The reason I didn't suspect staph was that there has been very little oozing or pus, it isn't zitty, or boil looking at all.

 

It is just a crater, with an angry red raised center, and yucky looking raw slightly oozy (the clear stuff) center. I did actually pull out some semi solid white stuff after soaking it, but it didnt look at all like infection, more like dead skin that was sloughing off.

 

His on the other hand is clearly staph, he is sitting on the couch in his boxers with gauze soaked in that hurt free disenfecting wash right now, I wanted to soften it up and clean the area to get a really good look at it.

Edited June 20, 2012 by jeninok

[Jean in Newcastle]

nm.

[Juniper]

We are in the midst of this right now. I am a little concerned that you have it in two locations. Although both seem to be skin related you do not want this going internal...ask me how I know :glare:. I am also a bit surprised that you are not on a stronger antibiotic.

 

I am on my second, back to back, course of Bactrin with the third already lined up. Dd did one course and her wound has not healed completely. I am a bit worried. :confused:

 

Cleaning routine. All bedding and clothing gets washed, dried on high and sprayed with disinfectant (especially sports items that cannot reasonably be washed). Couches, doors, chairs...okay everything gets sprayed with disinfectant. All of my cleaners were replaced with bleach and water. Clorox, brand name. I tested a generic I had and the brand name on my counter and the Clorox was vastly better. I have bottle of this in every bathroom. I cleaned all the bathrooms and disinfected. The showers get sprayed with bleach after each use. I purchased a steam cleaner for hardwoods. I spray the bleach solution and then go over it with the steamer. Antibacterial soap have been placed at every sink and hand washing has increased. Read labels when buying soaps as they have different levels of Antibacterial agents, I went with the highest I could find.

 

I did have every member of our family wash with Hibiclens once. Then we put a special disinfectant soap bar in every shower (dial makes one, but I found another I liked...Safeguard maybe) and we went over rigorous washing procedures with every child. All wounds are kept a very close eye on and washed with Hibiclens.

 

Everyone is eating carrots. A friend ;) mentioned that there is some reports that they help the mucous membranes become less hospitable to staph.

 

I cover any open wounds on my or dd's bodies as it is easier for us to accidentally touch it and then touch something else.

 

I hope to not live this way for ever, but right now this is something we have to get under control.

 

The first 3 days on antibiotics were H*ell for me. I was dizzy, nauseous, and just plain disoriented and sick. I think I was experiencing an intense die off of some sort. Since the antibiotics have wiped out my natural flora, I am developing a thrush infection in my mouth. :glare: (you won't have this problem while on the Diflucan, but after it can become an issue.

 

I have been taking 8 strains of good bacterias since this started and eating a ton of greek yogurt. For the thrush, I made some fermented lemonade and when I drink a glass I break open a capsule of the probiotics, mix it in and actually hold each sip in my mouth for quite awhile. This has been a tremendous help and has almost cleared it up. I have increased my intake of fermented food in general.

 

Anyway, that is what we are doing! Hope it helps.

[Juniper]

Can they test in the office for staph or is this diagnosed by symptoms?

 

I learn so much on this forum!

They will culture and send to a lab. In our case the first time I let it go to long on dd, so they started the antibiotics immediately. Sure enough the culture came back as Staph.

 

They can further culture for specific resistance, especially if things are not improving with the 2 tier antibiotics. (I am not 100% positive on the tier, trying to remember from by nursing classes.)

 

Now, that we have had it, they automatically start us and then wait for the culture. Every time it has been staph. :glare:

[Lacie]

Ichthammol ointment will help draw out infections, it helps get pus out of wounds and splinters out of skin, it even helps with spider bites. You might ask your doctor about it.

[jeninok]

Well, we are at ER, in the waiting room. The spot on ds was getting worse and I wasnt willing to wait till morning. We tried two urgent care.places, one was closed and the other didn't take our insurance.

 

I had a third suspicious but small spot show up where my shoulder meets my neck, and I really just feel totally worn down. If there is no improvememt by lunch time tomorrow I plan on going back in. I don't have insurance for myself or I would have.considered.checking both of us in at the ER.

 

I am also very suspicious that the.yeast infection I thought was starting might not be yeast after all.......gross

[Jean in Newcastle]

Oh no! That makes me worried that it is so close to your face. Please go to the ER if you get worse.

[jeninok]

I'm already here.. and likely have it in my chin alreadt...but still no fever, swelling or obvious signs of deeper infection.

[sbgrace]

Can you see infectious disease? They are (usually/should be) better at aggressively going after things. I'm concerned with your multiple locations and other symptoms. Did they talk about doing a culture to see what can kill your strain?

[jeninok]

I'm not sure, ill mention my issues if we ever get to see a nurse or doctor, and will be calling back the doctors office in the morning .

[AuntieM]

Ichthammol ointment will help draw out infections, it helps get pus out of wounds and splinters out of skin, it even helps with spider bites. You might ask your doctor about it.

 

Is this what my granny would have called "black salve"? If so, I have always wanted to know the *real* name of the stuff. Where is it available - OTC or RX only?

 

Can you see infectious disease? They are (usually/should be) better at aggressively going after things. I'm concerned with your multiple locations and other symptoms. Did they talk about doing a culture to see what can kill your strain?

 

:iagree:

 

I'm not sure, ill mention my issues if we ever get to see a nurse or doctor, and will be calling back the doctors office in the morning .

 

Also ask about injections instead of/in addition to the swallow pills. You want those meds to get to work fast.

[jeninok]

We are still waiting. We got here at 930, honestly if we don't see someone soon it's going to have to wait till morning.

 

I really wish there was a 24 hour urgent care place.

 

We left at 1 am never having seen a nurse or doctor. His owie had reached some sort of stall point hours ago and he was dangerously.close to a meltdown.

 

I will be up at 7 to run to my office and fax in payroll so I .will call the doctor as soon as they open.

 

What started as a quick run to urgent care ended up taking all night and I'm totally worn out!!

Edited June 20, 2012 by jeninok

[Jean in Newcastle]

We are still waiting. We got here at 930, honestly if we don't see someone soon it's going to have to wait till morning.

 

I really wish there was a 24 hour urgent care place.

 

We left at 1 am never having seen a nurse or doctor. His owie had reached some sort of stall point hours ago and he was dangerously.close to a meltdown.

 

I will be up at 7 to run to my office and fax in payroll so I .will call the doctor as soon as they open.

 

What started as a quick run to urgent care ended up taking all night and I'm totally worn out!!

 

I am so sorry that they let you wait like that.

[Juniper]

Jen, you need to go in and tell them about the yeast infection! I waited so long, went to urgent care where it was misdiagnosed as either yeast or trich. Two days later after worsening symptoms I went to the Dr. This was the day I noticed the abcess on dd. Put two an two together. The infection had reached my kidneys.

 

Note: I had what I thought were zits that would come out when I was about to cycle, they turned out to be MRSA. I had been carring this for a long time and did not know it. :glare:

 

Get the meds, clean what you can, and get ready to feel pretty crummy for a couple days. Also, if the vaginal infection is really bad ask for pain meds. These really helped me survive the first week, and actually get some sleep.

 

((((Hugs))))

Edited June 20, 2012 by Juniper

[Amy in NH]

Your whole family should see an Infectious Disease specialist. Because of the history of recurrent staph infections within your family, I would be suspicious that one of you is a carrier. It can hide in the mucous membranes of the carrier without showing symptoms, and then infect other people. You all need to be treated appropriately to get rid of it altogether, or you'll just keep passing it around.

[jeninok]

We had actually left the house before 7, went to the closest urgent care that stays open late, they didn't accept his insurance, even though they did last summer when he went there.

 

They sent us all the way across town. We get to the other place and fill out the paperwork and she can't get his insurance to show up as active, their office visit was 200, and I didn't have my credit card with me.

 

I called my mom to vent about the whole thing and she said she would give me some cash till friday, if I wanted to take him in, So we stopped by there so she could also give me a second opinion on how much it needed to be seen.

 

She agreed it looked iffy, and off we went to the first urgent care place, cash in hand. We showed up at 945, the door was locked and the lights were off, even though they didn't close till 10.

 

So off we went to the ER, the waiting room was still quiet so we decided to try it, we sat in the waiting room for an hour and half, then when the nurse took us back, she took one look and declared it to be an ingrown hair. Despite my telling her I had staph, confirmed, and he had had a bad reaction to staph in the past, she kept saying it was probably just a hair follicle or ingrown hair.:glare: I would NOT have taken my kid to the ER for an ingrown hair.

 

We then sat in the room until 1 am, without so much as a nurse looking our direction.

He had been so good and so patient for hours and hours at this point, and was headed for a full blown meltdown, so we walked out. No one even looked our direction when we walked out!!!

 

He has an appointment with our doctor at 11 this morning. The good news is that I actually have a fairly normal looking scab on the crater on my shin this morning, (it had refused to scab or form any kind of healed skin until now) and my knee doesn't twinge everytime I walk. :hurray:

 

I am really keeping my fingers crossed that it keeps responding to the Doxy, and that his is easily treatable as well.

[jeninok]

Is this what my granny would have called "black salve"? If so, I have always wanted to know the *real* name of the stuff. Where is it available - OTC or RX only?

 

 

 

:iagree:

 

 

 

Also ask about injections instead of/in addition to the swallow pills. You want those meds to get to work fast.

 

We use Prids Drawing salve, it is in the first aid section, down low, and costs about 4 bucks at walmart. It does seem to help, but it makes zits, or bites itch and burn and feel weird. It also smells awful, and as DS put it, looks like goat poop and wax.

 

I think it is what caused the ones on my chin to actually come up this time, normally the one just comes up, hurts a little for a week or so and goes back down until I ovulate again.

 

When we got home last night, I cleaned his owie with bandaid wash really well, then put that stuff on a bandaid and covered it. He was still sleeping when I ran into my office, so I don't know how it looks yet.

 

I am also going to push for getting our nasals passages treated, and possibly even the people at his dads house, and my parents too.

 

His little sister was at his dads this weekend, and I called her mom to let her know what was going on, turns out the little one has a painful diaper rash and UTI/Yeast like symptoms. His dad had not even seen fit to call her and let her know after I informed him Ty had staph......... She is going to the doctor as well today :(

Edited June 20, 2012 by jeninok

[Melissa in FL]

Neosprin will not kill mrsa. My SIL had MRSA when she was living with us and I really researched what we needed to do to prevent it from spreading. We only use Tea tree salve with cuts because that will kill MRSA. I had her use tea tree oil soap that I ordered from Vitacost.com. We were able to keep it contained but we were really strict. There are some natural things that you can take to help also. Turmeric is one that I remember helps the body fight it. You need a doctor's help and meds but there are some natural things you can do too that will help clear it all up faster. Google is your friend in this.

[jeninok]

DS went to the doctor this morning, it already looked a little better after cleaning it again and treating with black salve and bandaging last night. She is going to try topical Mupicyron 2% first, since it worked on him before, and mine is responding to the doxy seemingly well. We are also going to treat our nostrils.

 

But I am not clear on the whole carrier issue, I asked her and she said we all carry staph, and that it is all over the place. If that is the case, why do only some cuts/bites/scrapes get infected, and why are certain people prone to an infection from something that is everywhere all the time.

 

I double checked my pictures, and his scary infection was exactly a year ago this week. It must (maybe) correspond to the increase in temp, sweat, and bug bites he gets once summer is in full swing.

 

OH, and would you all toss out all your make-up brushes, powders, and eyeliners? I'm not to worried about my stuff in squeeze tubes because I always wash my hands before putting it on, and squeeze from the tube onto the back of my hand before putting it on my face. I hae to throw out all that expensive make-up, and the brushes are nice too, but I don't know how to truly sterilize them without ruining them anyway.

Edited June 20, 2012 by jeninok

[ktgrok]

DS went to the doctor this morning, it already looked a little better after cleaning it again and treating with black salve and bandaging last night. She is going to try topical Mupicyron 2% first, since it worked on him before, and mine is responding to the doxy seemingly well. We are also going to treat our nostrils.

 

But I am not clear on the whole carrier issue, I asked her and she said we all carry staph, and that it is all over the place. If that is the case, why do only some cuts/bites/scrapes get infected, and why are certain people prone to an infection from something that is everywhere all the time.

 

I double checked my pictures, and his scary infection was exactly a year ago this week. It must (maybe) correspond to the increase in temp, sweat, and bug bites he gets once summer is in full swing.

 

OH, and would you all toss out all your make-up brushes, powders, and eyeliners? I'm not to worried about my stuff in squeeze tubes because I always wash my hands before putting it on, and squeeze from the tube onto the back of my hand before putting it on my face. I hae to throw out all that expensive make-up, and the brushes are nice too, but I don't know how to truly sterilize them without ruining them anyway.

 

Staph IS everywhere. Some strains are more virulent than others. But it is everywhere all the time. It waits for broken skin/irritated skin then it sets in. I'd get some hibicleanse if you can find it. It doesn't sting, and would be good to have around.