Man....this sucks!!

[Erin]

I just found out that I tested positive for MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus)

I dont know what to do. The nurse only told me that I had it, and that I'd have it for the rest of my life. Didnt tell me if I need to constantly wash my hands, didnt tell me if I can transmit it to my family....nothing.

I'm more scared of this MRSA than I am of either MS or Lyme.

I'm a bit freaked out right now, and I feel....dirty...for some reason.

ok, I'm not a bit freaked, I'm totally freaked. I have no idea what to do, and I'm waiting for my doctor to call me. (I called back after the nurse hung up and told them I wanted to speak to the doctor to ask questions)

I guess this explains all the UTI's I've been having.

I have no idea how I got MRSA...either its from all the antibiotics that I've been on in the past year and a half, or I could have got it when I went to the urologist in February, or maybe my dad could even have brought it home. He's a nurse anesthetist and works in surgery.

I'm also terrified that I'll give it to my boyfriend.

and after reading a bunch of stuff on Google, I'm scared I'll get a bad infection and that it'll kill me.

argh...as if I needed this kind of stress!!! I'm going to my neuro tomorrow, so I guess I need to tell him about it. Maybe he knows something about it, and how to deal with it.

[RuthHinWV]

Hi Erin, Here is a site I found that might give you more info than you already have. I've read some stuff, seems to be old, & it does sound very scary. But this infectious disease site seems to be a better bet as to how to treat, what to expect, etc. Hope it helps--Ruth

http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/AntimicrobialResistance/basics/methicillin.htm

[Erin]

The link didnt work for me. :(

[RuthHinWV]

The link didnt work for me. :(
I'm sorry Erin; let's do it this way. Ruth

www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/AntimicrobialResistance/basics/methicillin.htm

[Erin]

It still didnt work, but I went to the main page at that site, and then went and read thru most of the articles about the MRSA infections.

I just got a call from my doctor's office. My regular doctor called the father of one of the other doctors in their office. He's an infectious disease doctor. He told my doctor to Rx me an ointment that goes in the nose, so they just called that into my pharmacy.

I'm not real excited about having to put a goo into my nose. If you read my post from a few weeks ago where my dad told me to put neosporin in my nose because of an infection, you'll see why. But, I'll do it, since that's probably where my body is keeping the bacterias that we have to kill.

I think when I'm done with this current bacteria and the big pile of abx's I'm having to take, I'll try to really quick get tested for the Lyme co-infections...before another big nasty bug hits me.

everytime I want to get tested for the co-infections, I end up going on abx's again instead and cant get tested. It's driving me nuts! I wonder if the infectious disease doctor that my doctor consulted with is Lyme literate?? I'll have to ask.

[Sonsie]

everytime I want to get tested for the co-infections, I end up going on abx's again instead and cant get tested
Not sure why you think this is a stopper. :confused: I'm tested constantly, and I'm on abx constantly. That doesn't change the results. For one thing, not all co-infections are bacterial.

[Erin]

Not sure why you think this is a stopper. :confused: I'm tested constantly, and I'm on abx constantly. That doesn't change the results. For one thing, not all co-infections are bacterial.


I was told (and read somewhere also) that you have to be abx free when you're getting tested.

[tangye5]

Most infectious disease doctors believe that Lyme Disease is not chronic and can be cured in two weeks so you better make sure you doctor knows about chronic Lyme or move on quickly. I have two types of Lyme spirochete and Babesia and it took 17 years of hell and an ALS dx. before I was found to have Lyme. I almost died and thank God IGENEX Lab gave me the results after all my years of suffering. I have a chest cath and am using IV meds. I am walking and feeling much better. Pam

[tmptmp]

I just found out that I tested positive for MRSA.


Have you found out any more about how to deal with this?

[Erin]

My doctor had given me a Rx for an antibiotic called Bactrim. That made the infection in my nose heal within 2 or 3 days (and yes, I took them all!) and he also gave me a Rx for a cream called Bactroban, which I've had to put into my nose with a q-tip.

I had my first of 3 Cultures For Cure last week, it came back negative for MRSA. I have to have 3 cultures in a row that are negative for MRSA before they'll say that I'm MRSA negative (cured)

And, there has been an MRSA epidemic in my area. It was just this week that several schools in town finally announced that they had students that had current MRSA infections....in September! Which is when I got my infection too.

I'm starting to think I must have touched something somewhere in a store or something that a MRSA infected teenager touched, or some kid at a restaurant that cooked my food coughed on it, or I walked thru the spray from some ignoramus' sneeze in a public place.

I think if the schools had announced their petri dish students were sick, or something and cleaned their schools and made the sick students stay home, there wouldnt be an epidemic in town now.

and the schools are only cleaning their locker rooms and gym equipment. I think they need to hose down the entire schools. The schools were extremely irresponsible.

[tmptmp]

I thought MRSA was antibiotic resistant.

Outbreaks of anything are usually discovered past the
point when the agent is introduced into an environment.
And MRSA which can be transfered from person-to-person
with something as ubiquitous as a slight touch, is not
something I think you can lay at the doorstop of
school mismanagement. School's are petri dishes. Children
are notorious for not washing their hands after anything.
And this infection can be picked up anywhere it is present.

[tmptmp]

The problem is not what the school did or did
not do, the problem is agents that have become
antibiotic resistant -- and science knew that
at some point that was bound to happen.

[Erin]

I thought MRSA was antibiotic resistant.

Outbreaks of anything are usually discovered past the
point when the agent is introduced into an environment.
And MRSA which can be transfered from person-to-person
with something as ubiquitous as a slight touch, is not
something I think you can lay at the doorstop of
school mismanagement. School's are petri dishes. Children
are notorious for not washing their hands after anything.
And this infection can be picked up anywhere it is present.


MRSA is antibiotic resistant, but they do have antibiotics that can work on it. Bactrim is one. It's an oral med...Bactroban is an antibiotic cream you can put on MRSA sores. Another one is Vancomycin, which, I think, is IV only.

It can be treated in most cases according to my doctor. It's just more difficult to treat than other bacterial infections.