MRSA: Survival in Adaptation

I have just been diagnosed with MRSA! M i going 2 die? I am really scared. I m iching and there is a red nodule! WHat 2 do?

Sebastian-
You sound so much like how I did when I first contracted it. The only difference was I felt like a horrible mother for giving it to my daughter. Although it was unintentional, I felt it was my fault she aquired it because I continuously drug her to the gym. I am only 22 and can relate to the feeling of “why me!” This is not how I want to look back at my youth-being surrounded by staph infected boils! I am now staph free, knock on wood, but my husband just got one yesterday. It truly is a vicious cycle. People tell me, oh well that might not be a staph, but I have gotten to the point I can tell them apart from a regual pimple before they even kn0w thier a staph infection! I now firmly believe that, for me, these things lower your self esteem. Even when you dont have one you are constantly worring that you will get one. That makes for a lot of stress and that lowers your immune system and almost makes MRSA that much harder to get rid of. Alas, I hope to see that light at the end of the tunnel! I havent had one in two months now but since my son had one and my husband I mights as well have because it is still inflicting the ones I love. I wish everyone good luck!

Meredith

I think everyone on this site should look into the health benefits of coconut oil. It’s working for me so far. There is alot of research out there that states people that have MRSA (and other health problems) can benifit from it. Good Luck!

I hope that you all get better soon and i will have you in my prayers

i hope you all get well soon

thank you for your prayers. Yesterday i went to an Infectious Disease Doctor. He prescribed CLINDAMYCIN-300mg – 2 capsules three times a day, 1000 mg Vitamin C 2 in the morning, lots of yogurt, bathe with hibiclens, bactroban ointment 2x’s a day. My wound looks MUCH better and i’m feeling better. My Advice to everyone that thinks they have staff is to immediately go to an infectious disease doctor. Going to the ER was not the right decision.

Lory,

The first ER doctor that saw me last week tried to tell me the same thing! He made it worse by lancing only a portion of it and it spread..two days later i was in EXCRUTIATING pain so i went to another er dr. who cut about another 6 inches of my back and put a drain in it. the only good thing he did was drain it and prescribed bactroban..I’m so glad i went to see an Infectious Disease Dr. this week. I feel SO much better today for the first time in over a week! Thank God! and thank everyone for their prayers!!! It is a shame and really does piss me off that these doctors have NO CLUE!! you would think going to the hospital ER would be the best thing! DO NOT GO TO AN ER DOCTOR IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE THIS!! GO TO A SPECIALIST..INFECTIOUS DISEASE DR. Had I done this first, I would have saved myself a lot of pain and missed work days! Hope this advice helps someone else!

It has been nearly 2 yrs. since our family was viciously attacked by flesh eating MRSA. We almost lost our oldest son to it and our youngest son had a bad attack also. Our family Dr. gave our oldest 3 different kinds of antibiotics that failed. The drugs did buy us time to pray and research until we found something that would help us. We did find a potent ‘natural antibiotic’ that pulled our family out of this crisis. Our youngest son never used antibiotics or needed any medical care. We dealt with MRSA ourselves. We did run everything we did by our MD and IDD. We were very aggressive in fighting MRSA and this is part of why we did so well. I am posting this to reach out to those who are ready to survive this epidemic. Unfortunately we cannot help everyone. Some people just cannot hear or receive what we have to say regarding our recovery. We will not answer any derogatory emails. God bless Cathy http://www.opitmalhealthusa.com

I’ve had a staph infection on my leg in the past and now I think I might be getting one. Boils or pus-filled things keep showing up on my body. On my elbow, on my knees, things that look like blisters but have great amounts of puss at times. I just read an article about this in none other then Teen Vogue so I came and looked it up online. I think I will tell my mom about it tomorrow but judging by the symptoms do you think it’s good to get it checked out immediately? P.s I’m only 16, I’d rather not get something as bad as MRSA.

You talk about a stroke of bad luck! Two years ago I went into Chilton Memorial Hospital in Pompton Plains NJ for a bad laceration to the muscle on the top of my knee. I sat in the E.R. for six hours before a doctor was called in to see me. There was a number of staff that kept coming in and out the room just looking at my wound. Finally when the doctor came in he was furious because he was not told earlier and was unable to save alot of the nerves that were cut. I never been sick in my life and I’am 43 yrs old until that dreadful day. Not long after, I started getting strange lumps on my body but I discarded them thinking they would go away, but it only got worse. Finally 8 months ago July 07 I couldn’t bear the pain anymore and returned to the same hospital and they cut the boils I had under my arms and did a culture on them. The next day I had gotten a phone call from the hospital and they told me I had MRSA and switched the antibiotic that I was on to bactrim to treat MRSA. The antibiotic helped but it returned 5 months later Nov 07 where I had to return to the hospital to have the boils cut and drained. They packed them and told me to return in 3 days to have the packing changed. They also put me on the same antibiotic (bactrim) I returned 3 days later only to have the E.R. doctor look at them and say ok return in another 3 days. I was furious. I returned 3 days later to have another E.R. doctor take the packing out and repack them telling me to pull the packing out a little each day, which I did. I was down and out for about a week because I had open wounds on me. They did heal but left me with dark marks around the wounds. I still get little pimples here and there to this day. They say this is an incurable blood infection but I believe in my heart that there is a cure for every disease, but if the government allowed us to get well, all pharmaceutical company’s would be out of business. I pray that my future wife has not caught this from helping me and taking care of me during this time. But she has had two boils appear on her since I been diagnosed with MRSA. She is going to get tested for this as well. But it seems my prays have not been answered. But I haven’t lost faith and will continue to pray for all of us with this incurable disease.

P.S. The reason I returned to the same hospital is because I do NOT have health insurance and have put in numerous applications for Charity Care at this hospital. But must be getting denied because I keep getting bills for theses visits and phone calls from collection agencies. I will be sending a registered letter to the hospital tomorrow

Peace and Love to all.

I HAVE A CURE!!

I used to have horrible boils too. My 2 day old baby got MRSA from the hospital, and I got it from him. I had boils every few months for a little over a year. I knew there had to be a homeopathic cure…and there is. It worked miracles for me, and I hope it does for you.

Purchase the spice TURMERIC from your local grocery story. It costs about 5 bucks or so. You can also get tablets from health food stores, but that is a a little pricier.

take some water and make a paste of it. Dab it on the spots, cover it. Works the best when the spots are just appearing (look like spider bite, with hard base around it). The longest I had to do this treatment was a couple of days, replacing the paste 2-3 times a day. I also put some on a qtip and swabbed the inside of my nose periodically.

All the best to you!! Check out http://www.earthclinic.com for more amazing homeopathic cures.

Hey Fergie, I had the same thing. I thought I had a spider bite one morning and it turned into a staph infection the size of a baseball. I’m also allergic to sulfa and I have to say it totally sucks. Be careful with Doxycycline. Last time I took it my optic nerve swelled up and it can mess with the nerves. Keep an eye on you’re eyes!
You’ll be okay though I’m sure.

Well, I won’t give all the gruesome details from where it all started, but NOW I have that nasty staph infection in my LIP. My entire head and neck, jaw, etc. hurt so bad. I can’t believe my lip can stretch this much… gross and excrutiatingly painful. I have been taking OLIVE LEAF capsules which minimizez symptoms and boosts immunity better than vitamin C, zinc and echinacea. It’s even helped stave off two bouts of shingles which I struggled with after the first MRSA outbreak. I’m willing to try the turmeric paste that someone mentioned, as well. You all know how desparate a situation this is. I ordered the olive leaf online via Puritan’s Pride and I take a capsule in the a.m. and one in the p.m. I hope the olive leaf helps some of you.

Hi Shanda,
Please email me. I know of something that might be able to save your little brother’s leg.
Our family survived a vicious attack of flesh eating MRSA. This was about 2 yrs ago and now we are doing great. This is NOT a sales pitch it is a real life recovery.
Here is my email:
Cathy@optimalhealthusa.com
I will do everything possible to help,
God bless, Cathy
He is our strong tower and He delivered us from this crisis

A number of years ago, injectable manganese buterate- Not Magnesium!- was commonly given for boils caused by staph infections. Later, antibiotics dominated treatment, and manganese buterate went out of use. The rational for manganese was based on the fact that people who worked in factories where manganese was used, never got boils. I’d like to know if manganese buterate would work against MRSA . Or, alternatively would manganese supplements work ?

Hi Wendy,
We understand how difficult this is for you. Our family also went through a crisis with MRSA. I thought that I would have to move out of my house.
Though MRSA is everywhere now it is our immune system that will keep us alive.
Working with the body’s ability to combat MRSA.
Our family dealt with MRSA with potent natural antibiotics and now we have been free of any signs of MRSA for 2 yrs.
We are now helping many combat MRSA
you are welcome to email us and we will help in anyway possible.
Cathy
Cathy@optimalhealthusa.com

my daughter and I have faught mrsa for 3 years, I have had it once she gets it in a form of a rash on her bottom we have seen 6 different dr’s they all like to tell me it will go away….. Ive been clear for over two years now but my daughter gets it the second she is off antibiotics we have tried everything in the world even a week long stay at the local hospital for vanc…. You cant freak out and start scrubbing your ceilings think about your mother at walmart do you think they scrub their ceilings???? you can get mrsa anywhere so dont be so paranoid. Our dr’s told us that if he ramdomly picked out 100 nurses more likley 98% of them will harbor this mrsa in their noses, he went on to say if he picked 100 people out of the city 90 % of them will harbor it in their noses chance is if you love you mom and are close to her you are already harboring this in your nose…. Bot to mention if you work with the public you most deff are so there is no reason for you to freak out the dr’s need to freak out and find a cure so people can actually get rid of it!

My mother passed away 25 Mar 08 from pneumonia/MRSA. She complained of a runny nose Tuesday. By Friday, she had a fever of 101. She took Nyquil and went to bed. By Sunday morning, she could not breathe. She was taken to the ER and immediately put on a respirator. They put her into a medical induced coma to help her body fight what was going on inside. They didn’t know until the tests came back the next morning that she had influenza A and MRSA. Her lungs had filled with puss and were infected to the point that on her x-rays, they could no longer see her lungs. Her body became septic. Although the respirator kept her breathing, the lungs were destroyed. Her heart would have gone forever if they kept her on meds, but her lungs were not allowing air to get to her brain. She died Tuesday…7 days after the first onset of a cold! This is such a tradegy. She was only 57 years old with no major medical problems. I had my kids tested the day she died. The test results came back today. Two of my kids tested positive for strep pneumonia and my 2 year old tested positive for MRSA. They gave me antibiotics for them. I hope they find a cure because this did not have to happen. I still cannot believe my mom was taken by something like this. Such a tradegy!

My brother-in-law was just in the hospital on a respirator in the cardiac care unit last week with CAP MRSA, due to Influenza A. He got off of the ventilator after 4 days of IV meds: clindamyacin, vancomycin, and 96 hours of xygris. So after a 10 day stay at the hospital, they let him go HOME!? He’s so weak he can’t walk, he’s coughing up a ton of stuff (necrotizing pneumonia) and his blood pressure is low. They did give him 3 visits from a nurse at home, which is how we know his blood pressure dropped. But it seems like they sent him home WAY too soon. Can anyone tell us if it’s normal to send someone home so soon? Also, his girlfriend is a teacher and is around him without a mask. Please give us any info you have.

I took care of my aunt for a short time and she had a persistent case of MRSA associated with an ankle replacement done in the 70′s that went bad.

What finally worked to clear the boil (it originally had a hole nearly 1/2 inch across that drained constantly) was when the visiting nurse started using powdered silver. (not the silver impregnated dressings available, they didn’t have enough silver in them to work for her) After cleaning the wound the silver is applied to a small amount of special dressing and stuffed into the wound. It took several weeks but the wound closed and has so far not returned. (2 years) The dressing was changed every other day. The silver is a medical item and might require a prescription. This may be something that others who have open wounds might want to look into.

Hope this info helps someone.

MRSA

1. how you get infected
• physical contact with someone infected
• carrier
o not infected but are colonized with bacteria on the body: nose, throat, perineum, groin and axillae.
o If you have staph on your skin or in your nose but aren’t sick, you are said to be “colonized” but not infected with MRSA.
o Healthy people can be colonized with MRSA and have no ill effects.
o They can pass the germ to others.
• physical contact of MRSA from door handles, floors, sinks, towels that are infected by MRSA infected person or a MRSA carrier. MRSA lives on counters, clothes, tissue from blowing nose for 90 days.

2. Normal skin tissue does not allow MRSA to enter.
• If there are cuts, abrasions, psoriasis, redness, dry patches, scaly skin, MRSA may infect the person.

3. High risk
• Surgical
• IV lines
• Burns
• Ulcers
• Depressed immune system (infants, HIV, elderly, diabetes, cancer
• Pneumonia (lung infection) d/t MRSA can transmit MRSA by airbone

4. Health care workers should use precautions and wear the following when they enter MRSA infected room
• Masks
• Gowns
• Gloves
• Do not make direct contact with skin, clothing, items
• Treat and cover: antiseptic cream and a band aid with any breaks in skin
• Use strict hygiene: hand washing with soap after personal contact, toilet use, washing clothes with infected person or a carrier, antiseptic wipes to clean hands and surfaces, use disposable stethoscope. Health care workers should wash their hands before applying gloves. Especially, after leaving a patient’s room and entering another patient’s room. Putting gloves without washing first contaminates the gloves and may give the bacteria to the next patient.
• Not transmitted by breast feeding

5. Diagnosis
• skin sample
• pus on skin
• blood
• urine
• biopsy material
• lab cultures for S. aureus
o the bacteria is grown and exposed to different antibiotics including methicillin
o if S aureus grows well when methicillin is in the culture the patient is diagnosed as MRSA infected
• if someone is a carrier
o mucous membranes are swabbed

6. Treatment
• vancomycin (Vancocin)
• linezolid (Zyvox)
• Carriers
o Mpirocin antibiotic cream can eliminate from mucous membrane and colonization. Blockes activity of enzyme (isducyl-tRNA synthetase) within bacteria. Enzyme necessary for bacteria to make proteins. Without the ability to make proteins, the bacteria die.
o Topical to eradicate skin and nasopharyngeal colonization.
 Staphylococcus aureus is a common organism and persistent coloniser of healthy people, it is often difficult to eradicate.
 Some patients will be persistent carriers of MRSA for long periods of months or years. These patients are often older, have chronic underlying conditions such as diabetes, are immunosuppressed or have large, open wounds such as leg ulcers.
o The national guidelines recommend eradication of colonized patients as these patients provide a reservoir for subsequent spread of MRSA.
o Not all patients will be suitable for eradication therapy and each patient should be assessed individually.
o Here is an eradication program:
• Bath or shower daily with an antiseptic body wash such as chlorhexidine gluconate scrub or triclosan. Apply directly to the skin with a moistened face cloth.
• Use a disinfectant dusting powder (hexachlorophene 0.33 per cent) after bathing and drying.
• Apply to axilla, groin and any skin folds
• Wash hair twice weekly with an antiseptic shampoo
• Ordinary shampoo can be used afterwards.
• It is important to ensure that the patient’s skin is wet before applying chlorhexidine or triclosan.
• The patient may experience skin irritation. If this occurs an alternative antibacterial product can be used. Some products containing tea tree oil may eradicate MRSA colonization
• Treatment for nose and throat
o The usual treatment for nasal carriage is mupirocin, which is an effective topical agent to eradicate Staphylococcus aureus.
o Some strains of MRSA are resistant to this agent and resistance increases with increasing use of mupirocin.
o Apply mupirocin nasal ointment three times per day for a period of five days.
o A ‘match head’ size of ointment should be applied to the inner side of the nostril.
o After the five-day treatment course, cease eradication therapy for two days and take swabs from all the appropriate body sites.
o Use an antibacterial (chlorhexidine gluconate 0.2 per cent) mouth wash two times per day.
o If after two courses of mupirocin treatment the nasal carriage is not eradicated, it is important that mupirocin is stopped because of the risk of a resistance is developing.
• Wound treatment Colonisation or infection caused by MRSA may delay wound healing. These general principles can be applied:
o Clean wound with normal saline or sterile water.
o Use povidone-iodine or silver sulphadiazine preparations where possible.
o Cover wound with an appropriate dressing.
o If the wound remains infected and does not heal, seek assistance from a tissue viability specialist.
o Since this organism is often difficult to eradicate, three clear sets of screening swabs are necessary.
• Systemic treatment
o If the patient becomes clinically unwell and develops signs of infection or sepsis, antibiotic treatment will be necessary and assistance is required from a medical practitioner or a microbiologist. Part of the strategy for reducing the incidence of antibiotic resistant organisms such as MRSA is the careful use of antibiotics.
• If wounds become infected, see your doctor. Ask to have any skin infection tested for MRSA before starting antibiotic therapy. Drugs that treat ordinary staph aren’t effective against MRSA, and their use could lead to serious illness and more resistant bacteria.
• Doctors diagnose MRSA by checking a tissue sample or nasal secretions for signs of drug-resistant bacteria. The sample is sent to a lab where it’s placed in a dish of nutrients that encourage bacterial growth (culture). But because it takes about 48 hours for the bacteria to grow, newer tests that can detect staph DNA in a matter of hours are now becoming more widely available.
• In the hospital, you may be tested for MRSA if you show signs of infection or if you are transferred into a hospital from another healthcare setting where MRSA is known to be present. You may also be tested if you have had a previous history of MRSA.
7. Prevention
• Hospitals are fighting back against MRSA infection by using surveillance systems that track bacterial outbreaks and by investing in products such as antibiotic-coated catheters and gloves that release disinfectants. \
• The best way to prevent the spread of germs is for health care workers to wash their hands frequently, to properly disinfect hospital surfaces and to take other precautions such as wearing a mask when working with people with weakened immune systems.
• In the hospital, people who are infected or colonized with MRSA are placed in isolation to prevent the spread of MRSA to other patients and healthcare workers.
• Visitors and healthcare workers caring for isolated patients may be required to wear protective garments and must follow strict handwashing procedures
• Ask all hospital staff to wash their hands or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer before touching you.
• Wash your own hands frequently
• Make sure that intravenous tubes and catheters are inserted under sterile conditions, for example, the person inserting them wears a mask and sterilizes your skin first.

11. If you have been told you are a carrier or you are infected with MRSA:
• Wash your hands. Careful hand washing remains your best defense against germs. Scrub hands briskly for at least 15 seconds, then dry them with a disposable towel and use another towel to turn off the faucet. Carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer containing at least 62 percent alcohol for times when you don’t have access to soap and water.
• Keep personal items personal. Avoid sharing personal items such as towels, sheets, razors, clothing and athletic equipment. MRSA spreads on contaminated objects as well as through direct contact.
• Keep wounds covered. Keep cuts and abrasions clean and covered with sterile, dry bandages until they heal. The pus from infected sores may contain MRSA, and keeping wounds covered will help keep the bacteria from spreading.
• Shower after athletic games or practices. Shower immediately after each game or practice. Use soap and water. Don’t share towels.
• Sit out athletic games or practices if you have a concerning infection. If you have a wound that’s draining or appears infected — for example is red, swollen, warm to the touch or tender — consider sitting out athletic games or practices until the wound has healed.
• Sanitize linens. If you have a cut or sore, wash towels and bed linens in a washing machine set to the “hot” water setting (with added bleach, if possible) and dry them in a hot dryer. Wash gym and athletic clothes after each wearing.
• Get tested. If you have a skin infection that requires treatment, ask your doctor if you should be tested for MRSA. Doctors may prescribe drugs that aren’t effective against antibiotic-resistant staph, which delays treatment and creates more resistant germs. Testing specifically for MRSA may get you the specific antibiotic you need to effectively treat your infection.
• Use antibiotics appropriately. When you’re prescribed an antibiotic, take all of the doses, even if the infection is getting better. Don’t stop until your doctor tells you to stop. Don’t share antibiotics with others or save unfinished antibiotics for another time. Inappropriate use of antibiotics, including not taking all of your prescription and overuse, contributes to resistance. If your infection isn’t improving after a few days of taking an antibiotic, contact your doctor.

I am 24 I developed MRSA in my breast after having mastitis. I have a newborn baby and now fear she has caught this from me. Im terrified.

Heather,

I also developed MRSA after having mastitis. Because I didn’t know about the MRSA, I followed my doctor’s directions and kept breastfeeding for a period of time until the MRSA was diagnosed. My son, who is almost 14 months, was not affected at all. I still worry about it almost one year later but as long as you take precautions as to cleaning and STOP breastfeeding, your baby should be fine. Be cautious but please don’t make yourself sick with worry. You need to keep your strenght in order to keep up with the demands of a newborn. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.

Resp. MRSA ( a type of pnumonia) is a common problem in the nursing home community. MRSA of all forms ( resp, and skin) is overwhelming everywhere, and little has been found to combat the spread other than alchol hand wash, used b4 and after contact with EVERY patient. Good luck
and God Bless
Wendy

I wanted to heed a serios warning to ALL MRSA patients. My mother seemed to be soing very well in her recovery from her absess, untill aproxx 1 week b4 her last visit to the surgen. She started to become extreemly exhausted! It was an effort just for her to get up in the morning. when we saw the surg that friday he did bloodwork and found my mother was in RENAL Failure!!! apparently the HIGH dose of antibiotics caused damage to her kidneys. when I looked up her antibiotics online it states that regular bloodwork should be done to monitor that this does,nt happen. So please becarful of your kidneys when on these antibiotics and if your Dr doesnt offer regular bloodwork ~ ask for it .
Good luck and God Bless
Wendy