MRSA

Is this the staph infection that can start from an area that resembles a spider bite or similar looking spot?

It can be, although most any type of staph infection can start from such a small location.

i am a 26 year old female whom has been suffering from
msra for almost 1 year and 9 months.
doxycycline seems to be the only antibiotic that works. My kidneys hurt all the time and it is begining to take a told on my body physically.
should i try the intravenous drug.
will it kill it or just subdo it like doxy?

My daughter had a place on her elbow that originally looked like a spider bite-- shen then began to break out in patches of small bumps over her body and her arm swelled up all over and was painful. She felt sick and finally went to the doctor which he too thought it was a spider bite- opened it drained it and gave her antibiotics - later found out from culture it was MRSA staph! She is taking 10 days of antibiotics what else should she be aware of and what other followup to make sure this is totally cleared up ? How contagious is she to others including pet dog ?

Thank you

Is MSRA and Epstein Barr related in any way? I was diagnosed with MSRA. Had it lanced. Now I had a blood test for Lupus(which came back neg.)and it came back with positive for Mono. Is that related to MSRA? I am being referred to Hematologist too.

How and when do you decide whether or not the antibiotics is working? I am a dance instructor and my MSRA problem is on my leg. I also work in a local high school. How should I handle that? Stay away or just keep it bandaged?

i have had swollen lymph nodes along one armpit down to my elbow...i did not associate it with mrsa until now...a close friend developed the infection a few months ago... i only recently developed a skin irritation...the swollen nodules or glands came first...is this common?...i have also dealt with extreme fatigue...can this come from the infection?????

STAFF ANSWER:
I would not jump to the conclusion that it is MSRA. It could be, but it could be many things. I would have a physician look at it to determine as the glands from the arms feed into the heart. They duct could be blocked, or it could be an infection of many different causitive factors.

A COUSIN MAY HAVE MSRA & MY HUSBAND LET OUR 8 MONTH OLD DAUGHTER GO W/ HIM TO VISIT HER IN THE HOSPITAL. I DON'T KNOW FOR SURE YET THAT HIS COUSIN HAS MSRA BUT IS THERE ANYTHING I NEED TO BE CONCERNED W/ WHERE MY BABY IS CONCERNED?

My 21 year old son has just been told (finally) that the huge system of boils on the inside of his legs that he has had for YEARS may be MRSA. Now that we look back, it did seem to start not long after a minor day surgery in his genital region, but we never associated it. He has been from dr. to dr. with no success, but has only been told to keep them drained and keep Bactroban cream on them. He has always been very concientious about this, as the worse they get the more discoloration they tend to leave, so if this is MRSA hopefully he's managed to keep it knocked back. We don't have a result of the cultures yet, but if this is MRSA, is there any way to actually CURE it? According to your article, even vancomycin isn't always a sure fire thing, and I hate that he would have to live with this the rest of his life. And what about those of us who live with him? What sort of precautions need to be taken to keep it from spreading?

I happen to be the 21 year old son just mentioned, and if this is MRSA I commiserate with all of you, especially the school dance instructor. I have had my these cysts for years and have even had them mistaken for herpes by an uniformed lover. I've been to several doctors, one told me and I quote "it was because you're fat and probably have poor hygeine methods." That was horribly embarrasing and belittiling. I have lost close to 100 pound and have always been hygenic so it obviously was never that. I have been told many wild things about this infection for at least two years until a PA just out of med school recognized the symptoms. Now I find out that MRSA has been known of since the 60's. I'm angry and upset. To find out that it is soo resistant to anti-biotics is very discouraging although I have noticed some change since a rocephin shot. What are the best meds to take care of this and is there a fact sheet I can take to my doctor about the efficiancy of those meds if I am diagnosed with MRSA (which it definitely fits the pattern, so I'm actually hopeful to finally get a diagnosis, even if its a bad one. Considering I have gone years with this it would actually be comforting to have such a diagnosis because then we could actually form a treatment plan.) Anyway, I've chattered on and on, but any of you who have experienced doctors like I have I hope that you know that you aren't alone.

Alex

I am a personal attendant, I have just been given a client who has tested positive for MRSA,
I have grandchildren, and two children of my own. I hope I won't be bringing something home to my family.

I have been a type 1 diabetic for 14 years. All of a sudden i started getting sores on my ankles and my arms. I am constantly being accused of being a meth user. It is very upsetting. Even the hospital treated me like a drug user when i went in a year ago for an awful sore on my ankle that caused me to get cellulitus and a serious infection. They lanced it open, gave me an antibiotic and never said another word about it, even after seeing all the scars on my legs. I finally found a good doctor that referred me to a dermatologist and they just diagnosed me with MRSA. What i am unclear of is if it will always be in my system now? And what about my husband and children. Do i need to be concerned for them? They dont have any sores yet..and i have apparently had it for at least a year now. I was also told it is one step away from being a flesh eating disorder? Is this true? What type of serious symptoms should i be watching for aside from the sores, such as spreading to my lungs or other organs?--Thank you, Sheila

A LITTLE OVER ONE YEAR AGO I WAS HOSPITLIZED WITH MRSA. THEY SAID A BROWN RECLUSE SPIDER BIT ME CAUSED THE INFECTION. THE AREA WAS UNDER MY LEFT BREAST. I WAS IN THE HOSPITAL FOR 18 DAYS. I HAD SEVEN SURGERIES WHILE IN THE HOSPITAL AND TWO AFTER I WAS RELEASED. THE AREA OF INFECTION LEFT MY LEFT SIDE LOOKING LIKE A SHARK BIT ME.
I WAS ON VANCOMYICIN AND OTHER ANTIBIOTICS FOR 18 DAYS. I DID NOT HAVE VEINS LEFT.

EVER SINCE THIS TIME I HAVE GAINED A LOT OF WEIGHT, I HAVE HIGH BLLOD PRESSURE THAT STARTED BEFORE THE WEIGHT GAIN ALONG WITH HIGH CHOLESTEROL. I HAVE NEVER HAD THESE PROBLEMS BEFORE. NOW MY DOCTOR TELLS ME THAT I HAVE TO BE TESTED FOR DIABETES. NONE OF THE ABOVE RUNS IN MY FAMILY.
I AM ON AN ANTI DEPRESSANT, CYMBALTA, I STARTED GOING THROUGH MENOPAUSE AND WAS PLACED ON HORMONES WHICH AND CYMBALTA THE SYMPTOMS WERE SO SEVER. I AM 50 YEARS OLD.

COULD THE MEDICATION OR THE INFECTION HAVE CASUED MY BODY TO COMPLETELY CHANGE LIKE THIS.
PLEASE HELP

PAT

----
STAFF
In short, Yes. Antibiotics themselves through off the natural balance of yeast and bacteria in the intestines. This directly effects metabolism. You may want to see either a Naturopath(ND) or a Licensed Acupuncturist (LAc) in your area. Their areas of expertise help complement where the western approach runs thin. No doubt it saved your life, but we would suggest exploring alternative medicine for at least six months to see if you can elicit any positive changes.

My son has had three outbreaks of MSRA. He had is first one on his knee, which finally led to surgery. It was spreading to his joints. Three weeks later he had another outbreak on his face. It was treated with medication and cleared up. Now, four months later his wife has a place come up on her inner thigh, which is MSRA. My son has had a sore come back on his face and it too is MSRA. My question is, "Can this be lurking somewhere in their house?" It seems strange that after years of injuries he now comes down with this. I know it lives on our skin and in our noses, but can it come from somewhere in the house? They have only lived in this house for nine months, and I was just wondering if it (the house)could have anything to do with the illness. Please, we are desperate to find out any information.

I believe I also have had MRSA for the last four months. It had finally spread from my lip into my mouth and trachea and epiglottis area. I went into severe respiratory distress, was treated for an anxiety attack at one emergency room, and was finally treated appropriately at my VA hospital. I was a nurse for most of my life, and had been researching all possible causes and cures for my lip sore and sudden cystic facial outbreak. I am penicillin allergic, so had a MD put me on cephalexin. Later that day I began having the respiratory problems. The ER that said it was an anxiety attack changed the antibiotic to Bactrim and sent me home. I was able to sleep, but when I woke the next day, went back into resp.distress and went to the VA. Now on prednisone, diphenhydramine, and doxicycline. My face is back to normal, my mouth and airways clear, but my torso is covered with scarletina-type spots and I am peeling like a snake sheds its skin. What now? Am I now basically allergic to most of the antibiotics available? What if this happens again (I've had horrible cases of cellulitis before this)? I nearly died due lack of knowledge;should I have a medic-alert bracelet explaining these allergies? Am I contagious for a certain amount of time, such as until all my spots are gone? Where is the info needed, because most of the docs I saw will just tell me to look in my Merck manual. HELP!!!!!

My sister recently died on Christmas Eve. She had a spider bite like area on her eye that she couldn't get to heal.She went to an eye specialist. In December she got a strep infection and then pneumonia. They at first said it was BOOP Pneumonia and then she went into ARDS. She died and we had an autopsy and it came back with Chymadia pneumonia and nothing else showing. We had our father who was hospitalized several years ago and he had MSRA while being on a ventilator. Our sister was on a vent when she died. Could she of had MSRA too?

My daughter had what looked to be like 2 spider bites on her back. We went to th ER and they sent her home with Bactrim and pain meds. The very next day we went back to the ER and they admitted her for a week she had MSRA. Wow, I had never even hears of that and had know idea what it was or how to treat it. Kimberly Smith

my daughter had gynicology treatment january 06.she,s been ill ever since.she,s now experiencing fatige and extreemlly swollen lymph glands.she has to have a scan and possible biopsy.could this possibly be mrsa ? she,s had to be put on the sick and lost her job.the lymph thats swollen is in her neck.
k grenfell

i had a brown recluse bite,(i thought) was mistreated at hospital, and had to return next day with severe blood poisoning...was lanced, took antibiotics, healed over..but a month later, 3 identicle eruptions, 2nd hospital treated me like a junkie, but took sample to test...more pills, 2 days later had blood poisining again...they said i had resistant staff, and treated me very poorly, no IV, different pills, healed over, seemed to be OK...now, 1 1/2 months later, the same, horrible painful infected pustule...they are just knocking it back w/ pills, i have been infected for 3 months...i will have Blood Poisoning(again) by tonite, all this has costs me thousands of dollars, and i lost my job..now i have to go like a beggar to the ER, and try to get them to diagnose and treat it properly so i can try to go back to work...if i can even gain my weight back!
what is wrong here? even though i paid cash, i had no insurance...ive been in prison, and treated better...i can not believe it is so hard for them to diagnose and treat this infection, it is in my blood, and i am a carrier even when no eruptions..
they did not even warn me of how contagious i was, there is no telling how many people i could have infected..i am lethargic, cant eat properly, have joint pains, LOST 12 PoUNDS, ALL MY SAVINGS, MY JOB, MY GIRLFRIEND, and my sanity trying to deal with this, and I have spent 4 to 9 hours on the bottom of the triage list 7 different times at 3 different ER's, AND AM STILL SICK! i do not trust the medical facilities anymore, i am very pissed off, and think back to the first hospital, if they had tested me, and given me an IV w/ proper medication(PILLS DO NOT WORK!)MY ENTIRE SUMMER WOULD BE DIFFERENT, these people are trained, they charge huge fees, and then treat me like a leper.
and mis-diagnose more than once, ive taken whole bottles of unnecesary pills, that have caused me SEVERE light sensitivity, and digestive problems
and cost $ i feel was wasted....why? because they dont care anything about people that do not have insurance...!

I got the same promble with MRSA. i have had it for over 2 years my 3 year old got it and was put in the hosptial and given antbotics the Dr. told me that there is now one antibotic that will treat it. I thought it was over because, we had to put this stuff in are nose. Well, this happend in May and i have it again. I hate it because i have two small kids. I gotten to the point i don't know what to do any more. My Dr. just keeps telling me to go to the ER but it hasn't gotten big enough.

2 years ago my Daughter complained of having a spider bite. She kept getting them repeatidly it seemed. She appears to be okay now.
We bombed (bug) the house over and over. My wife got one last year. Thought it was a spider bite aswell. Was placed in the hospital for a couple weeks with MRSA. Did the inline iv stuff for a couple weeks.
2 weeks after that I got it. Had to have a minor operation to remove tissue. spent 2 weeks at home with an inline iv too. Got the all clear for the CDC and returned to work. I've had them repeatedly now since then.
What I do when I notice it now is to put Honey on it. Sounds silly but seems to work. I've still had a couple huge ones pop up. I debred the things myself. When my wife got another, the skin started to inflame and the redness was spreading. She tried the honey bit and it was visably clearer the following day.

I just want to get rid of the thing. ANy updates on how to really get rid of it?

I had a horse step on my foot about 10 months ago. 2 weeks after the horse stepped on my foot, my doctor admitted me to the hospital with what he thought was mrsa. The diagnosis was a staph infection and not mrsa. About 6 months ago I started breaking out with painful large bumps. I now know that these bumps are boils. Could these boils be mrsa? I have not been to the doctor but when one clears up another one appears. I just found out through exploring the internet that these bumps are boils. What do I need to do about this? These boils are very painful.

interesting to find this website! a friend told me that my symptoms sound like mrsa. i've been sick for two months. i too was diagnosed with a spider bite. given antibiotics and sent home. i progressively got worse. joint pain started and more spots appeared. painful red hot spots. both legs. the spots are confinded to my lower legs below the knee. they appear, are sore and very red, finally they fade to purple and then finally fade. kinda resemble a bruise. new spots appear and the cycle continues. the joint pain is unbearable! ibuprophen and now vicadin help alittle. i can't walk most days. my elbows and wrists make it difficult to pull myself out of bed. nights are the worst. i've been on the couch or in bed for two months. the doctor gave me prednizone for about 10 days! all my symptoms disappeared. within 24 hours of taking my last prednizone, all symptoms returned with a vengance. my physisican has told me that i have an auto immune response to a virus. my body is producing too many antibodies. he's convinced me that this will pass and will eventually run it's course and fall back into place. i have the option of returning to the prednizone if i wish to help relieve the symptoms once again. i have a new understanding of pain and ones good health! you truly don't know how lucky you are when you are healthy. something i will never take for granted again. after reading all the posts and the information here about mrsa i do not believe that is what i have. no blisters. no limph gland issues. my blood tests are all normal. what a learning lesson this has been. what a great place this world wide web is. thanks for the so much needed information and such great places to seek help and comfort from others! you can tell your story and share your experiences. knowledge is power. good health and best wishes to all that come here for answers.

My 7 week old daughter developed a diaper rash at 2 week old. After several fungal ointments and diaper creams nothing has changed, only has worsen. It has been an open wound now for the past 3 weeks and had some bleeding and swelling around the wound. Other area on her bottom are also starting to break down. We started an antibotic ointment Mupirocin 6 days ago and no change. We've change diapers to chlorine free and rinse her with water after every change. She had a culture done a few days ago, waiting for results. Could this be MRSA???? Very upset over this. She is my fourth child and I never experienced such a problem.

My son has had several MRSA episodes over the last year and a half. The first one started on his leg, then the bottom of his foot, then his arm pits and then his forehead. They have been most frustrating and all of our family has been treated with the swabbing of the medicine in our noses. He is allergic to sulphur medications so it makes it much more difficult to treat. Has anyone else had these same types of reoccurences? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have just recently been diagnosed with mrsa. But I keep getting the run around. I have been on several different antibiotics and nothing has cleared it up yet. I keep getting boils. I have had like 4 under my arms. I had one on my leg that was so bad I couldn't hardly walk. Now I have one on my stomach and I went to the emergency room tonight and they told me to take these new antibiotics. They wont put me on the IV for anything. Or Vancomycin for anything. I have a friend that had it over a year ago and she only had one boil and they admitted her right off. Should I insist that they put me on that Iv because I am tired of taking those big horse pills that are not helping.

My husband had a brain turmor sugery in September 1999. He was very sick with swelling in the head area where the turmor was removed from. This was very persitent until finally in August 2003 he had yet another craniotomy which found that he had MRSA. He stayed on IV Vancomycin for 3 months and then Zyvox for 3 months. The Neuro doctor opted not to replace the plate in his head from fear of the MRSA. In the last few months he again has started running low grade temp, Nausea, Tried weak and shortness of breath. He has a spot on the side of his head and one on the side of his face that look like pimples thaat wont't heal. He ahs been to the doctor several times and doctor is nott sure so they have discussed sending us back to a Infectious Disease Doctor. Does this sound like MRSA again? Once you have it do you always have it? No one can answer these questions for us.Thanks, Kim Nance

My husband has been diagnosed with MSRA. He has been on 2 rounds of Zyvox almost consecutively and they have no idea where he got it. He has had to date 3 boils 2 of which were lanced and drained and now he has 2 more that have come up. The doctor had him schedule an appointment with an infectious disease doctor but after being cleared by the doctor because the culture came back clear on the last one he was treated for, he cancelled the appointment and now there are 2 more boils. He is very frustrated because this has been going on for about 3 months now and we are back to square one. Is there something that we can do? Are there ways that we should know about to clean things at home? Could he be reinfecting himself? The doctor said that they only way myself or my children could get it would be to have an open wound come in contact with his open wound, is this true?

i get these boils on my inner thighs and underneath my armpit and the one under my arm has a whole bunch of little dry like pimply things by it. any advice to what it may be? by the way im 5' 5 and 195 lbs.

My boyfriend is currently in the county jail, and there has been an outbreak of mrsa. 1 whole floor has been corentined, but the 2 men with mrsa were taken from that floor and placed on the floor with my boyfriend. the 2 men have only been on antibiotics for 4 days and were never hospitalized. 1 has mrsa in a deep sore on his arm and the other a sore on his chin. they are draining. no precautions have been taken to protect the other inmates, but the gaurds are wearing gloves and masks, and sanitizing anything they touch that belongs to the men. they don't wash the blankets, and they sleep on mattresses where someone else may lay in a few days without being cleaned. my boyfriend will be released in 2 weeks and we have a 6 month old son together. how dangerous is this for him to be eating, sleeping showering, etc. in the same room as these men?

I'M A HOSPITAL WORKER AND CONTRACTED MRSA. IT STARTED I A WOUND,NEVER ADMITTED...BUT I WAS VERY SICK.THEN IT CLEARED UP..THEN I WAS ON MY WAY TO WORK I HAD A VERY BAD HEADACHE,I PASSED OUT IN MY CAR.STILL KEEP GETTING THIS HEADACHE THEN I WAS HAVING LEG PAIN LIKE MY KNEES WERE JUST LOCKING AND IT WOULD TAKE TIME TO GET IT UNLOCKED.THEN IT SEEM TO HAVE GOTTEN BETTER AFTER TAKEN MOTRIN.WELL NOW I WAS TOLD I HAVE ENLARGED THYROID GLAND I HAVE LOST ALOT OF WT.THEN I DEVEOLPED SEVERVE ANDOMINAL PAIN ONLY TO FIND OUT THAT MY INSIDE OF MY ABDOMEN(ALL ORGANS ARE SWOLLEN)NOW I'M TAKING 3 KINDS OF MEDS BECAUSE THE DOCTORS SEEM TO BELIEVE THAT MRSA IS CAUSING ALL OF THESE PROBLEMS.......WHEN A PERSON DEVELOPES MRSA IT NEVER GOES AWAY..........ANN

Lori -
If your husband was on Zyvox already for the infection, it may still be MRSA, but the antibiotic skewed the result. This is quite common. I am colonized with MRSA and get it almost anytime there is an opening in my skin. I have been on IV therapy at least 4 times. I have taken so many antibiotics in the past several years that they are now almost useless as I have built up a resistance to them. I have yet to figure out why in certain cases they go the IV therapy route and others the oral, when the oral doesn't work and I have to hope it clears itself up. Also, as far as passing it to other people, yes they would have to have direct contact with the infected wound and have some open sore or touch their mouths or eyes before washing their hands.
Stacie

High I am a 37 year old male with some heath problems.I found out 3 years ago I had hepatitis C went thru 7 months of interferon combination thearapy.After that 7 months is when I first noticed the boils a lot of boils and very large scared the crap out of me.My family doctor said it was spider bites which I didn't believe. I couldn't see how a spider could bite me 15 times in my growing area especialy with out me knowing. I went back on several ocasions and took several antibiotics with no luck it just kept coming back. I was tired of being told when the infected area was 5 times the size it was supposed to be that it was to small to lance.Now over a year later I still haven't gotten rid of this.I have been seeing an infectious disease doctor for at least 10 months and have taken almost every antibiotic on the market even a $2000.00 for 14 days medacine twice and still it comes back. What can I do can you get rid of this. I work construction I get dirty I get cuts but I am very careful about cleaning and covering all my cuts. Please help if you have any answeres I am going to require surgery on both of my rotator cuffs soon and need to be staff free.
Thanks Micah

my brother was hospitalized with perforated bowel in Sept06; Oct 3 he was back to work & was shocked/electrocuted with about 180 jules; next day neck lymph nodes sore and swollen; by 10/20 severe neck pain, lymphs so swollen that it was one large hardened mass; he started to develop what looked like boils- large, red, swollen painful lump in and above the skin. Drs were more concerned about cancer and ignored this. In hospital while getting chemo for anaplastic lymphoma, he had another perforated bowel w/emergency surgery; has colostomy; open incision with packing. He has been home now for 2 weeks and started to get another large painful type boil on his neck; ER Dr lanced and there wasn't anything in it; they were baffled; put on cephalexin; can MRSA NOT have infected drainage? He has pain, lethary and low grade temp 99.6 and a headache. or does this sound like lymphoma?
thanks so much

My father was just diagnosed with a 'colonized MSRA' in his right eye. He has had several surgeries in that eye and is blind in the eye (and he is 85 and has other medical issues). The eye doctor cultured him two months ago and happened to mention it during a check up yesterday. My dad is taking (and has been for two months) vyomiocin (sp?) in eye drop form. The doctor said that the IV therapy would kill him but reading these entries I would think that not treating this could leave him losing the eye (with surgery that would kill him). The doctor does not seem that concerned and I have left messages for my Dad's primary Dr. Should I be more concerned????? Flesh eating in the eye sounds pretty serious....Cecily

my wife has msra in her nasal cavity and she has headaches and get sick to her stomach. she is an attorney and this makes it very hard for her hold down employment. what steps can she take to just function on a day to day basis?

I was recently exposed to a MRSA patient's room without my knowledge. I work for a local hospital as a discharge housekeeper and nobody told me that the room that I was cleaning was contaminated until after the fact. I went into the room with no protection whatsoever....No isolation gown, no mask, nor gloves........What can I expect in the near future health-wise???? I usually am suseptible to most ailments....being that my immune system is mostly on the down side.

My daughter was recently diagnosed with mrsa, approximately 2 months ago. She warked as a nursed aide in 2 facilities. Since she has been diagnosed, she has had 7 outbreaks, one each week. She had been on bactrim, and is now on bactrim, as she just had an abcess cut out from her armpit. She is only 21, and it seems to me, from what you all are saying, that it is incurable?
I am sorry for all of you that it affects, and I wish I could do something to help, because I see what it is doing to her! I will continue to pray-miracles can happen!