WTH, now I have this MRSA superbug?

[lincoln6echo]

So early last week I developed two red bumps. One under my armpit and one in my groin area.  Within two days it had grown over three times it's size. Within two more days the one on my groin had stopped growing but stopped at large, red and painful.
 
The one under my arm however, got bigger, super painful, red and started to leak.

I started to pick at it and tried to squeeze and let's just say it was gross and I won't go into detail how that turned out.

Well it wouldn't go away so I went and saw my Doc, (HIV doc who is my primary health care provider). He treated me with some antibiotics and took a swab, after lancing it with a big ass needle, which was horrifyingly painful by the way.  So he sent the swab off to the lab.

Doc calls me back yesterday and says, ok don't be alarmed but you have a superbug bacteria called MRSA - Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methicillin-resistant_Staphylococcus_aureus

He told me about how infectious it is but lots of people have it, says it's not because I have HIV but likely picked it up at the gym since i'm there every day etc etc.

After reading about it, it's super infectious and I basically should be bathing in bleach and carrying around alcohol swabs all day.

Does anyone else have this? Do you have flare ups? Do you basically wear gloves all day and a paper bag over your head?

Since I've become positive just over a year ago, i've had canker sores, two cold sores, wounds heal slower, horrible hangnail infections and now this.

I NEVER had any of these before and it's freaking me out.

I just got my labs back a few weeks ago and after almost a year of treatment, my #'s are, CD4 - 1080 and VL 41, up from 360 and down from 9 million.

Are these types of infections going to be status quo now?

[mecch]

If I understand your labs - you just started HAART and this is your first lab on HIV meds???

[Habersham]

Hey Lincoln - as your physician explained it has nothing to do with your HIV. These MRSA things are everywhere these days and it's scary. He could be right - you may have picked it up at the gym. I've read of several cases where high school gyms have been closed while they are sanitized. I guess we don't hear about private gyms as hopeully they bleach em after hours.

I had an internal MRSA infection for which I had to be hosptialized. Again, nothing to do with my HIV. I caught it through an injection site at a leading teaching hospital due to sloppy work.

You don't say what antibiotic you were prescribed. You have a bad skin infection so take your prescription and don't pick at it. Keep it bandaged and maybe stay clear of the gym till it's cleared up.  Again, lots of people without HIV have had these and with your great numbers it's just bad luck you picked this up.

I think bleach might irritate your skin and could cause premature aging.  ")

This really is a one time thing and once it's cleared up the chances of getting another are low.  I don't know what to tell you about hangnails. BUT - I pretty sure that's not related to HIV either.

GET BETTER

[weasel]

  Hi Lincoln ,
                   It is NOT HIV that caused your MRSA  , First your numbers are GREAT !

     You do not have AIDS or a failure going on .

       My sister has had  a MRSA Super Infection twice !  The first one was in 1969 ?   She was like 22 years old , Popped a pimple on her face and ended up in the hospital with a dreadful swollen and oozing face .
 Had nothing to do with a Immune failure , But more of living in an apartment that was built over a swamp and every icky thing known to man grew under the house , And it was a nice nice house , If you did not know what was under it . Short story long .. .   she recovered , no scars or even a sign of looking like a Frankenstein off spring .
   Five years ago she had Breast Cancer , Thank GOD she is a survivor ! 
 At one point of her SIX operations she developed a horrid infection , I believe she turned septic from MRSA and nearly died !    But she recovered and is doing well .
  I do not wear paper bags unless we are having " Bag over your head Golf Cart races "   
  As for wearing gloves and face masks  , I keep my mouth shut as I work is contaminated areas and I rarely talk when I'm in dirty places , I keep open mouthed smiles to minimum , It works for me .

    I hope yours clears up very soon , As stated do not even touch the wounds with your fingers and wash wash wash .   


 " Are these types of infections going to be status quo now? "   NO !
 If you have a nail fungus going on ask your doctor for the medicine to take orally to rid your body of it !
 I suffered with fungus for 20 years before a Doctor gave me oral medicine for it 

                                       Be well , You'll be fine , not every thing we have is HIV .

                                                                     Weasel


   P.s.   Beach is my friend !

I think bleach might irritate your skin and could cause premature aging.  ")

     Au contraire       ,  A Bleach Bathe'   is one of the things I have been doing for years , It clears
   a few issues up and your skin sloths off to reveals a new a youthful you   

   

   

[lincoln6echo]

Hey guys, thanks for responding to my post.
Mecch. I actually started HAART last October   so almost a year now. Time flies right? I was the guy who posted back then all freaked out cuz my hair was falling out haha.  (it's all back now btw)

Habersham - he gave me Doxycycline and apo sulfatrim.
The wound has actually healed for the most part now after the course of antibiotics.
When I went back to see him about the results he was quite proud of himself that he had prescribed the correct antibiotics, one of few that the bacteria responds to I'm told.

At any rate, it's better now, just a bit of a bump a little red, but man was it gross.
That would be scary being hospitalized so I'm glad you turned out ok.
My Doc said if I ever end up in the hospital for anything, they will isolate me because I'm a carrier now.

That plus all what I read that it can get on your clothes, your laundrey, your DOG!
My post was dramatic and overexagerated, it's just my sense of humor.

But was legitiatly concerned since it seems so infectious.

Weasal, i'm very sorry to hear about your sister and i'm glad she's a survivor buddy

I think it's just weird that all these thing have come about in the year that I caught HIV. The hangnail thing, it just also got really infected..but maybe that was MRSA? Who knows.

At any rate, thanks for the re-assurance.

Cheers
Lincoln

[darryaz]

I've been told I have it, but I've never had any symptoms.

It's not even mentioned most of the time, unless I have to have a procedure done at one specific hospital.  They make a HUGE deal out of it and treat me like I'm a leper.

Needless to say I avoid that hospital at ALL COSTS.

We suspect that I was infected with MRSA long before I was infected with HIV.  The hospital where I had my appendix out had a very bad reputation for patients contracting MRSA.

[lincoln6echo]

Interesting article on CCN today about superbugs

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/16/health/antibiotic-resistant-infections-cdc/index.html?hpt=hp_c4