MRSA

[ErinB]

Has anyone else had a problem with MRSA? I ask because I'm sitting here tonight and my foot is killing me. The pain is so intense I can barely stand it. I've already been to the doctor for it and it's being treated, but in the mean time I hurt. I have a lesion on it about the size of an orange.

I've had problems with MRSA off and on for the last three years. Traditional medicine doesn't seem to be working. The doctor puts me on strong antibiotic that make me feel very sick and the lesions go away, but they always come back. I don't have a problem with it for a few months and then I get another lesion somewhere else. I want to get rid of it for good, but I don't know how. I know I'm going to end up back in the emergency room this weekend, maybe even tonight. I can't stand the pain and throbbing.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Have you been able to get rid of it? So far the MRSA is just localized to the skin, it hasn't entered my blood stream or anything yet (That I know of) but I'm worried that it will. I've read online of cases where people get lung infections or pneumonia and die withing a few days. I don't want this to happen to me and I'm scarred.

Unfortunately I also don't have insurance so I end up going to the emergency room when I have problems. I've read a bit about alternative medicine and the fact that it may work on MRSA. Tea tree oil is one of them. I don't remember what else. I don't know if this will work. I'm skeptical. That's why I'm asking if someone else has gotten rid of MRSA and how they did it. I'm really frustrated and I need help.

Erin

By the way, I'm sorry for the length. Thanks for reading.

 

[threewingedfury]

My husband went through a year of complete H*ll with MRSA. He was hospitalized for over half of the year and on Vancomycin to try to clear it up. We hoped that his insurance would pay for him to get the vanc at home, but they wouldn't. He would go home on Bactrim whenever the swelling would decrease and then it would flare up again. Each time labs were done, different antibiotics showed sensitivity, so we didn't understand what was going on and the vanc was the only antibiotic that worked. Have you been on it before?

 

[Lmbswimmer]

I would run any alternative treatment like Tea Tree oil by a regular doctor. I tried to treat ringworm with it at home when the chins got it and gave me a nice ring. They got nice meds from the vet, but I didn't really want to go see the human doctor That caused a huge allergic reaction on top of the ringworm - double itchy and doubled the inflammed skin area. Could really end up spreading it more than helping. I never had a problem with tea tree oil prior to that. Hence why I thought it would work. My parents always bought melaleuca brand cleaning products etc... even tea tree oil toothpaste. The actual oil used to treat something like that is so concentrated it can lead to some pretty nasty reactions in some people. Definitely do a lot of homework on both the good and the bad of tea tree oil prior to using it.

 

[CJR]

I know that tea tree oil works INSANELY well on this gross disease my friend had, but I don't know about MRSA... that really sucks though.

 

[ErinB]

I haven't been on Vancomycin yet. Bactrim has seemed to work, up until now. I have a lesion on my hip that hasn't started draining yet. My foot is swollen, red and very painful. It's draining pus. (not to be gross, sorry) I went to the hospital a month ago for it and was put on Bactrim again. It worked a little bit, but wasn't strong enough to totally clear it up. Now it's come back with a vengance. The pain is absolutely unbearable. I think I'm probably going to be hospitalized and put on vancomycin when i go back to the ER. I don't know what they will do though, since I don't have insurance. They may give me bactrim and boot me out the door again, but I know that's probably not going to work.

I don't know. I'm just really scarred of this stuff. I don't know how or why I got it. I really don't want it to spread. And the pain is amazing. I've had broken bones and different injuries in my life, but nothing has come close to the amount of pain the the MRSA causes.

I'm so sad and scarred. I've had one of those days where I just feel like crying all the time. I don't know what to do.

 

[Sasha]

If it keeps coming back the Dr either didn't prescribe the treatment long enough or the bacteria have gained resistence in which case prescribing Bactrim again will eventually not work at all. I would request vancomycin especially if you haven't been treated with it yet and make sure your length of treatment is long enough to kill all the bacteria because even if just a few bacteria are left it will continue to flare up and be an issue. I know we studied MRSA and VRSA extensively in microbiology classes and it's amazing how well these bacteria become resistant. All they need is a bacteria close by with VanResistance and they can pick it up. That's why hospitals are notoriously bad for resistant infections. And also why treatment is so difficult because we are running out of antibiotics the bacteria haven't developed resistence to.
I hope youare able to find a treatment that works for you. Best of luck.

 

[alpayton]

I don't know how much merit this document has, but thought I'd pass it along to you. May be something to look into? http://www.homeopathicservices.com/HTML/MRSAjournal.pdf

 

[CJR]

Erin - if they just give you Bactrim and boot you out the door, you need to put your foot down (the good one, lol) and tell them that you have a right to adequate medical care. There are laws in place in the US that hospitals and doctors have to follow, and there go along these lines - just because you do not have insurance does NOT mean they can give you substandard care. Demand for your MRSA to be treated (in a nice but firm way). Don't give up, don't let them give you the run-around.

 

[Spoof]

VERY interesting read Amanda, thanks. I liked how they showed pictures of the progress too. Erin, I wish you the best of luck in dealing with this!

 

[lauralynne]

I'm so sorry you have to deal with this. Regardless of insurance issues, you have GOT to treat it. About two years ago, my stepdad had a cancerous tumor removed from his neck/shoulder area. They did a skin graft from the back and put that skin where they had removed the tumor.
He ended up getting MRSA in the insision in his back. He had a HUGE lesion, probably about like yours, an orange. You could see muscle tissue, etc. He had to have a vacuum type thing on it and home health nurses to come in, pull out the old dressing, stuff new dressing in the lesion, then place a seal over it. A tube ran from the dressing to a little box and that continually drained it.
It took FOREVER to heal, but it finally did.
Again, I'm so sorry you're going through the pain. I can't imagine.

 

[mercynursie]

I'm soo sorry you have to deal with MRSA. My Mom got it when she had reconstructive breast surgery.I hate to say it(because I know you said you do not have insurance) but you need to be under the care of an infectious disease doctor.He was the only person who was able to get her MRSA cleared up.She will be on doxycycline for the rest of her life and could always come back.As far as not having insurance,that should not prevent you from getting appropriate treatment. Check with local health department and see if they can suggest Drs that will see uninsure patients,or your area should have a low cost infectious disease clinic at the public hospital.

 

[ErinB]

The doctor at the ER referred me to an infection disease doctor. I reminded him that I had no insurance and asked if he had any ideas of where i could go. He came up with nothing. Basically walked out and said have a nice day.

The county health department has a communicable disease clinic but they just treat HIV, AIDS and TB.

I've looked into every possibility that I can think of, and came up with nothing. It's very frustrating. I made an appointment at a medical clinic that see's people without insurance and bills them on a sliding scale type thing, but the waiting list is so long I couldn't get in for two months. That really helps me now.

I hear Obama talk about health insurance for all and everything, but it's been a year, where is it?? At the moment I think the president and congress are a joke, they can't get anything done.

To top it all off, while I was writing this I just got a call from the hospital billing department. Perfect part to my day-just make my mood worse...lol.

 

[Parkerspetchins]

I am really sorry you are having health problems on top of everything else. Most hospitals allow you to pay your bill as you can. You just need to set up a realistic payment plan with them and stick with it whether it is 10.00 a month or 100.00 a month. Usually as long as they are getting something, they will work with you. Seriously there is little recourse for them to collect other than the court system which would order you to set up a payment plan. You could ease a lot of your pain by going to a professional and getting it taken care of and if it takes you years to pay it off, yes it would suck, but at least you won't be suffering. I wish you all the best!