Reoccurring Staph

blissglitch
blissglitch Posts: 10 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have struggled with "breakouts" forever. (Like. Dime-size boils. Especially durring my sport seasons.) They finally went away once a doctor recommended I use Dial or an antibacterial soap instead of my usual, popular, super-smell-good kind. Recently, the outbreaks have resurfaced. Not quite the same but definitely staph. (YES, I WENT TO THE DOCTOR LIKE A GOOD GIRL.) I would take a round of antibotics, use a topical cream, "recover" for about a week or two, hop back on my grind, then it would resurrect. This has happened at least four times now. I am SUPER cautious at the gym and CANNOT figure out where this is coming from. Under doctors orders, I havent been back in a month and it's driving me nuts. (Enough that I am posting on MFP..)

Is there ANYTHING I can do to speed this up and/or avoid it in the future?!

On top of washing my hands frequently and using doctor recommended soaps and topical creams, I've ALWAYS wiped equipment down with Lysol wipes, and changed bedding at least once every three days.

For the love of all things sane.. Please help!
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Replies

  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,213 Member
    Are hair follicles involved? I know someone whose reoccurring problems resolved after laser hair removal.
  • blissglitch
    blissglitch Posts: 10 Member
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    blissglitch wrote: »
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    Are you immunocomprimised in some way or have some reason why there would often be breaks in your skin? S.aureus itself is sort of everywhere so it is hard to avoid. Reoccuring staph can be caused by a failure to eradicate an initial staph infection so that it crops back up again and again, but I assume your doctor would have discussed that with you or investigated further by culturing and checking for resistance. Not sure why you going to the doctor is in all caps, I am guessing because you don't want commenters suggesting you go to a doctor...that said though given the severity of MRSA and the potential of developing it with constant infection means you might want to check in with a doctor again. Regardless you are probably better served by consulting with your physician rather than consulting with strangers on a fitness forum.

    The guy I was training with kept assuming I was self diagnosing because it kept coming back. I wanted it emphasized that I had actually gone to see a variety of doctors because I know some people don't always read thoroughly.

    I hate forums but finally brought myself to search for the topic and create when I couldn't find one. I'm hoping someone, somewhere has been through something similar and can offer a piece of Mine-Quit-When-I-Wore-Purple-On-Thursdays type of advice.

    This is the best Hail Mary I have.

    So you doctor just "Shrugged" and said "oh well" at a reoccurring infection? I would hope they would take it more seriously than that. If that was honestly your doctor's response perhaps seek a second opinion then. Something like repeated staph infections could well indicate that you have a continuous infection that is just resurfacing, if that was the case despite antibiotic treatment that could indicate a drug resistant variant which you definitely do not want to mess around with. I'm sure you are bothered by repeated infection but you seem like you are taking it as something inconvenient and bothersome rather than life-threatening which is exactly what MRSA can be.

    Honestly might be the last piece of advice you want to hear but keep seeing doctors until you get one that will help you. Forum post isn't going to cure a bacterial infection.



    I AM seeking other professional opinions. I’m just asking for some suggestions on something I might could improve in the mean time. For instance, someone outside of this forum suggested I try a probiotic. I don’t know if it’ll help at all but I’m willing to try.

    At this point, you’re right. I do see it as a major inconvenience. I keep seeing doctors. I keep getting the same options, the same half hearted responses. I still take it seriously. I still watch for signs that I’m told to watch for.

    I. Just. Don’t. Know. What. Else. I. Can. Do.
  • blissglitch
    blissglitch Posts: 10 Member
    goldthistime wrote: »
    Are hair follicles involved? I know someone whose reoccurring problems resolved after laser hair removal.

    I’ve had it everywhere at some point. Shins, thighs, upper arms, waist, back, chest. That’s a good theory though. Thank you.
  • blissglitch
    blissglitch Posts: 10 Member
    fitoverfortymom wrote: »
    Could it be this https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/painful-skin-joints/hidradenitis-suppurativa, but with a propensity for the wounds to contain MRSA.

    My family had a long bout with MRSA and it took a two month treatment of antibiotics combined with a new towel daily and washing with Hibiclens (an antimicrobial wash). Traditional antibiotic soaps OTC don't kill MRSA. Super rigorous personal hygiene and we were able to eradicate it. It took a LOT of work (both hubby and my son were having recurring infections), but the whole house was treated on antibiotics.

    I've been using Hibiclens every other day going on two weeks now. It has helped quite a bit!
    No one I've ever lived with (family, roommates, husband) has ever gotten this. I did notice the link advised seeing a dermatologist which is what this last doctor told me too. (The waiting lists for seeing a derm in my area without a doctor's referral is sometimes two months or longer.)

    Thank you for this!
  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
    blissglitch wrote: »
    fitoverfortymom wrote: »
    Could it be this https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/painful-skin-joints/hidradenitis-suppurativa, but with a propensity for the wounds to contain MRSA.

    My family had a long bout with MRSA and it took a two month treatment of antibiotics combined with a new towel daily and washing with Hibiclens (an antimicrobial wash). Traditional antibiotic soaps OTC don't kill MRSA. Super rigorous personal hygiene and we were able to eradicate it. It took a LOT of work (both hubby and my son were having recurring infections), but the whole house was treated on antibiotics.

    I've been using Hibiclens every other day going on two weeks now. It has helped quite a bit!
    No one I've ever lived with (family, roommates, husband) has ever gotten this. I did notice the link advised seeing a dermatologist which is what this last doctor told me too. (The waiting lists for seeing a derm in my area without a doctor's referral is sometimes two months or longer.)

    Thank you for this!

    We had the whole family go through the antibiotics treatment and the cleanliness protocol because we assumed it could be anyone in the house who was carrying it to the others. It took a LONG time, couple months, to really feel like we had nipped it in the bud.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    edited February 2018
    I assume they put you on a 10 day course of methicillin or some other beta lactam antibiotic? Do you remember what antibiotic they prescribed? Was it topical or oral? It is possible you might have a systemic infection which would require the big gun, vancomycin.

    Did they do a culture test to assess resistance factors?

    I'd really advice you against just doing what people suggest or what you think of doing, they aren't doctors diagnosing your actual condition and things you do at home can undermine an actual treatment.
  • blissglitch
    blissglitch Posts: 10 Member
    pinuplove wrote: »
    fitoverfortymom wrote: »
    blissglitch wrote: »
    fitoverfortymom wrote: »
    Could it be this https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/painful-skin-joints/hidradenitis-suppurativa, but with a propensity for the wounds to contain MRSA.

    My family had a long bout with MRSA and it took a two month treatment of antibiotics combined with a new towel daily and washing with Hibiclens (an antimicrobial wash). Traditional antibiotic soaps OTC don't kill MRSA. Super rigorous personal hygiene and we were able to eradicate it. It took a LOT of work (both hubby and my son were having recurring infections), but the whole house was treated on antibiotics.

    I've been using Hibiclens every other day going on two weeks now. It has helped quite a bit!
    No one I've ever lived with (family, roommates, husband) has ever gotten this. I did notice the link advised seeing a dermatologist which is what this last doctor told me too. (The waiting lists for seeing a derm in my area without a doctor's referral is sometimes two months or longer.)

    Thank you for this!

    We had the whole family go through the antibiotics treatment and the cleanliness protocol because we assumed it could be anyone in the house who was carrying it to the others. It took a LONG time, couple months, to really feel like we had nipped it in the bud.

    I'll second everything she's said, as we went through the same thing, plus had to stick mupirocin ointment up our noses daily with a q-tip (because some people are nasal carriers). Sounds like you are getting reinfected after every round of treatment somehow. Have they cultured it out to confirm or exclude MRSA?

    I agree. It's making me wonder if maybe my husband IS carrying it but maybe not showing any signs?
    I haven't been asked to stick anything up my nose yet though.
    I've taken blood tests but haven't been told anything about if it was MRSA or not. I really don't know if they even actually tested for it. I know she did a full blood count (and A1c because she was determined to tell me I was diabetic). Other than that she pretty much just looked at it and said that is what it was. Some of the others didn't have me test at all.
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,871 Member
    edited February 2018
    I'll echo that I wasn't suggesting you stick q-tips up your nose just because some random on the internet said so! Upon rereading it sounds like I was :tired_face: Just sharing the protocol we were given when diagnosed properly with MRSA.
  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 2,070 Member
    Are you working with an Infectious Diseases doctor or just your regular MD? If just your regular MD, time to fight for an ID visit and get some proper testing done. Infections can be extremely serious - time to be your own advocate and fight for a real diagnosis as it sounds like you're getting shrugged off. Since this isn't the first go around, and what they have been prescribing obviously hasn't solved the issue, something else needs to be done.

    If it is an infection that is causing open sores and wounds, it could far too easily end up becoming a life or limb threatening condition.

    Also how and why it's being such an issue for you should also be addressed and looked into....
  • dbanks80
    dbanks80 Posts: 3,685 Member
    Do you wash your bath towels often?
  • faithrainbow1
    faithrainbow1 Posts: 54 Member
    I had an antibiotic resistant infection about a year ago. In researching it, I discovered that a significant number of people are a symptomatic carriers of MRSA bacteria. Several months later, in preparation for an operation, they tested me to see if I was a MRSA carrier by swabbing my nose and armpits (I wasn't). All this to say that 1) yes, it's possible for your husband to be a carrier and reinfecting you, and 2) maybe both of you should, in. Fact, get your noses swabbed.
  • blissglitch
    blissglitch Posts: 10 Member
    pinuplove wrote: »
    I'll echo that I wasn't suggesting you stick q-tips up your nose just because some random on the internet said so! Upon rereading it sounds like I was :tired_face: Just sharing the protocol we were given when diagnosed properly with MRSA.

    Definitely not!
  • Lovee_Dove7
    Lovee_Dove7 Posts: 742 Member
    MikePfirrman wrote: »
    I agree with what Aaron said above. You should have been told if it was MRSA or not. A few years back (around 5 years ago), right after I lost all of my weight (around 70 lbs), I went to Belize and cut my foot while swimming with sharks (not something you want to do). Got out of the water, obviously, but also the foot cut led to a what I thought was just a boil/ingrown hair on my butt. After a week, it was the size of a softball and I went to my family doc who informed me it was MRSA. Don't want to go into the details but it involved basically him lancing it right there and I've experienced some nasty things before injury wise, but this was probably the closest I've been to torture. I would not wish this on my worst enemy (draining an infection while badly infected).

    Anyway, enough of the details - nasty stuff that MRSA. Took 3 rounds of antibiotics and it didn't go away while I got progressively sicker and sicker. I read up a LOT on MRSA infections and the only people that truly got rid of it (some people have them for years and the stuff can live on your furniture for a long time!) pretty much used a multi tier, holistic approach. After 3 rounds of antibiotics, I had it. I got Tea Tree Oil, I got some Manuka Honey and I took Allicin pills. I also stopped (and I mean completely) any sugar/sweets in my diet and ate a completely alkaline diet. Lots of greens, lots of leafy vegetables, very, very little starch (basically keto but not a ton of meat either).

    I was also extremely cautious with my family. At the time, my high school aged son/daughter lived at home (and my wife). If they developed anything suspicious, we immediately put Allicin cream/gel on it or Tea Tree Oil and it went away. I put Tea Tree oil in all of my laundry. Any bandages have to be handled with extreme care (like biological waste). I took baths with Tea Tree Oil. Over around 3 weeks, all the MRSA breakouts went away without antibiotics. There are other antifungals that are natural too - SF-722, Monolaurin, Caprylic Acid. The most important thing, though, was diet. I avoided coffee/tea too. If you use sweetener, only stevia (absolutely no others, they are acidic as anything while Stevia is alkaline). No soda (which I never drank anyway) and no fruit juice or fruit either. Basically, limited lean chicken and fish, limit animal fats, lots of coconut oil, olive oil, nuts are OK but eat much more veggies. Look up a pH diet. I know the science behind it is iffy but I swear I tried everything before I turned to this and it's the only thing that worked for me. Five years later, no signs of ever having MRSA and my family doc told me it had gone "septic" -- entered the blood stream and wanted to place me in ICU, so it was very serious at the time. Staph, is a nasty bacterial infection. Good luck with that and I'd consider consulting a Holistic doc or an infectious disease doctor. There are also new lights that kill bacteria as well. You might look at those too.

    Spot on.
  • blissglitch
    blissglitch Posts: 10 Member
    HoneyBadger155 wrote: »
    Are you working with an Infectious Diseases doctor or just your regular MD? If just your regular MD, time to fight for an ID visit and get some proper testing done. Infections can be extremely serious - time to be your own advocate and fight for a real diagnosis as it sounds like you're getting shrugged off. Since this isn't the first go around, and what they have been prescribing obviously hasn't solved the issue, something else needs to be done.

    If it is an infection that is causing open sores and wounds, it could far too easily end up becoming a life or limb threatening condition.

    Also how and why it's being such an issue for you should also be addressed and looked into....

    These are all just regular doctors or nurse practitioners.
    I agree. It’s why I’ve been persistent.. because it’s persistent!
  • blissglitch
    blissglitch Posts: 10 Member
    dbanks80 wrote: »
    Do you wash your bath towels often?

    After every use.
  • blissglitch
    blissglitch Posts: 10 Member
    faithrainbow1 wrote: »
    I had an antibiotic resistant infection about a year ago. In researching it, I discovered that a significant number of people are a symptomatic carriers of MRSA bacteria. Several months later, in preparation for an operation, they tested me to see if I was a MRSA carrier by swabbing my nose and armpits (I wasn't). All this to say that 1) yes, it's possible for your husband to be a carrier and reinfecting you, and 2) maybe both of you should, in. Fact, get your noses swabbed.

    That is some quality advice. Thank you. I will definitely talk to her (the doctor) about getting this done.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    edited February 2018
    I think about 30% or so of the general population carry staph on their skin, it is pretty much everywhere. On your skin its harmless, in your skin it causes boils and possible disfigurement, in your blood is where you get into trouble. Hospital PPE and sterile technique is largely built around avoiding introducing that omnipresent staph into an open wound or exposing someone who is immunocompromised because they are at risk of serious infection or sepsis.

    What is strange here is that staph can only really colonize and infect an open wound, so unless you have unhealing sores on your skin it'd be odd to have multiple different infection points. It seems more likely that you just never fully treated or got over an initial infection.

    You mentioned a doctor wanting to blame diabetes. The only connection I can think of there is that diabetics often have a long time healing wounds and as a result can have long term cuts or abrasions that can act as sites of infection...no idea if that is the case with you or not.

    Regardless though bottom line is if you have a persistent currently active bacterial infection you should be in a hospital, that sort of thing can go south quickly if untreated.
  • janisseshirley
    janisseshirley Posts: 50 Member
    Recently we went through this with my oldest son. The sores were so bad that they left huge craters in his body. We thought at one point that he might lose his arm, that's how bad the infection was. The first time doctors gave him the usual antibiotics and creams, ect...ect. Then not long after that cleared up he had a breakout on his chest. This time it was serious, temperatures, pus, infection, so he was hospitalized in the ICU. He did end up having MRSA, and in fact was told that everyone carries that in their body just not everyone becomes a carrier. Anyway come to find out he has a disorder in which he will have this for the rest of his life and will have to continue treating with antibiotic creams, washing with herbiclens and using the nose drops. I am sorry but I don't recall what the name of the disorder is called but it has to do with the immune system and was told he was born with it. I sure would seek other medical persons because it is life threatening and if it reaches other organs it can kill you.
  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
    pinuplove wrote: »
    fitoverfortymom wrote: »
    blissglitch wrote: »
    fitoverfortymom wrote: »
    Could it be this https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/painful-skin-joints/hidradenitis-suppurativa, but with a propensity for the wounds to contain MRSA.

    My family had a long bout with MRSA and it took a two month treatment of antibiotics combined with a new towel daily and washing with Hibiclens (an antimicrobial wash). Traditional antibiotic soaps OTC don't kill MRSA. Super rigorous personal hygiene and we were able to eradicate it. It took a LOT of work (both hubby and my son were having recurring infections), but the whole house was treated on antibiotics.

    I've been using Hibiclens every other day going on two weeks now. It has helped quite a bit!
    No one I've ever lived with (family, roommates, husband) has ever gotten this. I did notice the link advised seeing a dermatologist which is what this last doctor told me too. (The waiting lists for seeing a derm in my area without a doctor's referral is sometimes two months or longer.)

    Thank you for this!

    We had the whole family go through the antibiotics treatment and the cleanliness protocol because we assumed it could be anyone in the house who was carrying it to the others. It took a LONG time, couple months, to really feel like we had nipped it in the bud.

    I'll second everything she's said, as we went through the same thing, plus had to stick mupirocin ointment up our noses daily with a q-tip (because some people are nasal carriers). Sounds like you are getting reinfected after every round of treatment somehow. Have they cultured it out to confirm or exclude MRSA?

    Oh yes. We did the nose ointment, too.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    janisseshirley wrote: »
    Recently we went through this with my oldest son. The sores were so bad that they left huge craters in his body. We thought at one point that he might lose his arm, that's how bad the infection was. The first time doctors gave him the usual antibiotics and creams, ect...ect. Then not long after that cleared up he had a breakout on his chest. This time it was serious, temperatures, pus, infection, so he was hospitalized in the ICU. He did end up having MRSA, and in fact was told that everyone carries that in their body just not everyone becomes a carrier. Anyway come to find out he has a disorder in which he will have this for the rest of his life and will have to continue treating with antibiotic creams, washing with herbiclens and using the nose drops. I am sorry but I don't recall what the name of the disorder is called but it has to do with the immune system and was told he was born with it. I sure would seek other medical persons because it is life threatening and if it reaches other organs it can kill you.

    Yeah pretty much everyone is exposed to staph constantly...only ends up a problem if you have open wound or are immunocompromised in some way. I dont know that everyone carries staph (certainly not MRSA), but a lot of people do...for most they wont know because there arent symptoms. Sorry to hear about your sons condition, that is rough. With diagnosis and treatment though sounds like it can be controlled so that is good.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    I think about 30% or so of the general population carry staph on their skin, it is pretty much everywhere. On your skin its harmless, in your skin it causes boils and possible disfigurement, in your blood is where you get into trouble. Hospital PPE and sterile technique is largely built around avoiding introducing that omnipresent staph into an open wound or exposing someone who is immunocompromised because they are at risk of serious infection or sepsis.

    What is strange here is that staph can only really colonize and infect an open wound, so unless you have unhealing sores on your skin it'd be odd to have multiple different infection points. It seems more likely that you just never fully treated or got over an initial infection.

    You mentioned a doctor wanting to blame diabetes. The only connection I can think of there is that diabetics often have a long time healing wounds and as a result can have long term cuts or abrasions that can act as sites of infection...no idea if that is the case with you or not.

    Regardless though bottom line is if you have a persistent currently active bacterial infection you should be in a hospital, that sort of thing can go south quickly if untreated.

    people with compromised immune systems can also have slower healing times. I have RA and notice slower healing times for many things and I was tested for diabetes and nope dont have it.

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