possible MRSA follow-up... - Infectious Diseases Message Board

MysteryWhiteBoy · 12-03-2008, 09:36 PM

i wanted to post a follow-up to my earlier post regarding my concern whether or not i am dealing with a MRSA outbreak.

my culture came back negative for MRSA (thank god!), however i still have the original sores on my legs (though reduced in size/inflammation). after seeing my GP and getting these results, i stopped bactrim because i started feeling *very* lousy and lethargic on it. very achy and sore joints, flu-like, etc. after day one of being on keflex, i had a nasty breakout of hives. what i don't know, however, is if i'm allergic to the bactrim or the keflex. considering i've been on keflex before (several years ago) and didn't have a reaction to it, i assume i reacted to coming off the bactrim...but still don't know for sure yet.

i stopped keflex immediately and was given a cocktail of zyrtec, zicam, and benadryl to clear up the allergic reaction. went away within a couple days.

just saw my GP today since i have a couple of newer sores on my legs and wanted to find out why the old ones are being stubborn and not going away. he reassures me this is something 'normal' since the infections enter through my hair follicles on my legs and will be something i will have to deal with regularly (which i find very odd considering i've never dealt with this before, and have had hair on my legs most of my life...i'm 35 years old). since my allergic reaction, i've been washing with an antibacterial body wash, but the sores seems to not being responding much to it. so, now i'm on an antibiotic ointment (bactroban 2x/day) and will wash with hibiclens locally (legs) for a couple weeks. problem is, my skin on my legs is rather dry and my eczema seems to be flaring up a bit more (which is where i suspect the staph is entering). my guess is the body wash is drying me out more(?)

thankfully, i will be switching over insurance in the new year (from HMO to PPO). hopefully, this will be cleared up by then. but, if not, i intend to see a specialist (either a dermatologist and/or infectious disease doc) to get a second opinion and make sure i'm doing all i can to treat this as effectively as possible.

i do have a couple of questions, if someone could be so kind to answer to the best of their ability:

-my doc didn't prescribe another antibiotic. my sores are relatively small on my legs and i guess he felt the cream along with the hibiclens washing would be enough. a part of me still wonders if being on an oral antibiotic would be more helpful. on one hand, i can appreciate him not wanting to unnecessarily put me on something, essentially making me more resistant to infections in the future. i know it's hard to address this specifically. i'm just more interested in opinions based on personal experience in a similar situation.

-my doc insists i don't have to do anything different in my lifestyle with regards to staying clean (outside of washing with the hibiclens during my showers). i feel that washing my hands more often and cleaning clothes, towels, and bedding with hot water will only help the situation more. am i being overreactive with trying to keep myself and my environment as clean as possible? i want to be realistic and do what i can to prevent further infections. i understand that staph is everywhere and on most people, but i still don't understand why i'm more susceptible to outbreaks vs. anyone else in my household or workplace, etc. is it the dry skin on my legs? when i brought up the eczema/dry skin to my doc, he didn't feel strongly that this was the source of my problem and that simply having hair on my legs was enough to invite staph. this still boggles my mind

ultimately, while i am very grateful i am not dealing with MRSA, i don't want to take what i have lightly either. if i'm not proactive with my treatment, what i have could get worse and take longer to treat. i have already been dealing with this for over a month now and feel i have a ways to go before i can knock this out completely. i am also very aware that it could return, so this is all a learning process, and i truly appreciate the insight i get on this website.

harka · 12-03-2008, 11:01 PM

Well, it's a good thing that you don't have MRSA.

Staph aureus can live on the skin and enter through any breaks, so yes, if you have a little bit of eczema the Staph can enter there.

Be careful with the antibiotic creams. They are great for mild superficial infections, but if you have open sores, they can actually impede healing because they not only kill the bacteria but impair your own neutrophils and thus healing

Perhaps your leg lesions aren't infectious. At this point, your family doctor feels that they are healing and s/he is the one you need to trust with your medical matters. If the infection is recurring and not responsive to antibiotics in the future (assuming it happens again) it may not be an infection. Do you have any other health problems like Crohn's disease, Ankylosing Spondylitis or other weird inflammatory diseases like that?

The hibiclens will help to "decolonize" you from all the Staph on your skin, but rather than putting the antibiotic cream on your leg sores, it may be more beneficial to put it in your nostrils....that's where Staph likes to live.

MysteryWhiteBoy · 12-04-2008, 01:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cgranulomatis

Be careful with the antibiotic creams. They are great for mild superficial infections, but if you have open sores, they can actually impede healing because they not only kill the bacteria but impair your own neutrophils and thus healing

good to know...thanks for the info. only one of my sores is technically "open" (about the size of the tip of a pinkie finger). another fresh sore is more like a mosquito bite (raised up and feels bruised with pressure), but not open. the rest are the older sores that aren't pinkish/brown...doc said those are healing and will stick around as such for several weeks before disappearing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cgranulomatis

Perhaps your leg lesions aren't infectious. At this point, your family doctor feels that they are healing and s/he is the one you need to trust with your medical matters. If the infection is recurring and not responsive to antibiotics in the future (assuming it happens again) it may not be an infection. Do you have any other health problems like Crohn's disease, Ankylosing Spondylitis or other weird inflammatory diseases like that?

interesting you bring up Ankylosing Spondylitis. a few years ago, i had considerable back/leg pain after training for a 5K run. my doc at the time saw how incredibly stiff my hamstrings were (and are), and thought i might be dealing with AS (a bit of a stretch, i know...pardon the pun). i saw a rheumatologist soon after who ran some blood work and ruled it out. to this day, i never truly felt convinced that i got a conclusive diagnosis as to whether or not i may be dealing with AS. i've been dealing with chronic sciatica in my left leg for close to 20 years, and have been dealing with problems at C4-C6 in my neck for the past several years. all may be completely unrelated and isolated incidents unto themselves, but put together it makes one think. it's still on my radar as a possibility, but it's not keeping up at night like it used to (you can read all about it in some of my earlier posts on here)...

Quote:

Originally Posted by cgranulomatis

The hibiclens will help to "decolonize" you from all the Staph on your skin, but rather than putting the antibiotic cream on your leg sores, it may be more beneficial to put it in your nostrils....that's where Staph likes to live.

yeah, i started reading numerous posts on here about people doing that. i will ask my doc about it. thanks for bringing it up...

MysteryWhiteBoy · 12-04-2008, 11:48 PM

quick question:

it seems a good number of people deal with staph in combination with eczema (or other similar skin inflammation). how is the eczema typically treated during a staph outbreak? my first thought was that i need to keep the dry areas moisturized by using lotion or other topical treatment (in my case, on my inner thighs), but the idea of spreading lotion all over my legs with sores present doesn't seem like the greatest idea.

just wondering how eczema is typically treated concurrent with a staph infection...