Have you ever tried bactroban?  They were telling my dad about it this AM, to lessen the staph on your skin to decrease outbursts of MRSA and other staph infections.

Melissa.

Melissa,

  Normally the bleach baths keep the MRSA at bay it kills the germs that I pick up on my skin and cuts down on my infections from outside sources.  The Bactroban will help on the surface when I get a spot, however the MRSA is also in my bloodstream, so I have to use the antibiotics.  If I had one spot, from a small cut, or hair folicle, or broken cuticle, that would be a good way to treat it and I wouldn't need anything else in some cases.  Unfortunately my MRSA has become recurrent, it continuously comes back because it lives in me somewhere and we (my doctors and I) have not found a way to completely rid me of it, despite long treatments of Vancomyocin.  They had put me on a small dose of Bactrum daily for several months to prevent it, we did it for 6 months the first time, the infectious disease doctor believed it would not return, but it did.  We did another 6 months, but the Vistaril I have to take in order to take the Bactrim wipes me out, so I stopped again, and it's back.  But thank you for the suggestion! :0)  That is good advice.

Michele

Hi SleepTech-

I can't speak to what medications you should take since you are allergic, but I will share a little bit of my experience when I had a rash of staph infections a few years back.  I don't know why it's not more common knowledge and why more doctors don't share this with their patients who have staph...Hibiclens is a body wash that can be found at your local pharmacy.  Sometimes they have it behind the counter (even though it's not a prescription) so just ask for it if you don't see it.  It's similar to (or may be the actual scrub) pre-surgery scrubs used in hospitals.  It's in a tealish-blue bottle and comes out as a redish liquid.  My doctor hadn't mentioned it to me until I had my 7th staph infection!  I have used it about once a week since in the shower (it's pretty harsh on your skin - though it couldn't be as harsh as bleach) and haven't had any infections for about two years.  Please spread the word to anyone else you may know.  I hope it works as well for you as it did for me.  Good luck!

Sarah

Bjnes,

     I have some but it's called something different Betadine, I believe.  It is kind of hard of on the skin.  The bleach baths I take is one cup of bleach per every 100 gallons of water.  I have an old iron bathtub and I can only get about 95 gallons in the tub, and even then I lose about 5 more gallons down the overflow, the bleach baths are so diluted that it is no different than swimming in a Clorinated pool, which was another recommendation the doctor had.  I don't enjoy the bleach baths, but they aren't too bad.  Betadine Solution, or Hibiclens (I have not heard this name, but I believe they are the same thing based upon your discription) is a very good idea.  It also works on Yeast too. 

     Oh and Melissa, my daughter had MRSA in her nose, not just cultured, but an actual infection, and she was given an ointment, I just looked and her ointment was Bactroban, she was givine that the first time we took her in, it healed initially, but came back, then she used that in conjunction with an oral antibiotic, that was November of 2007, she has not had a recurrance since.

Michele 

I wouldn't think you'd need bleach after the night you had.  I would think you would be colorless already.

LOL, you are right Bobbie, totally colorless!

Hi SleepTech-

Yes, I believe Betadine is a pre-surgical cleaner, but I'm only familiar with it in the horse-world (to clean out wounds before putting dressing on).  I'm not familiar with Betadine in the way of addressing human skin infections, but you could certainly give it a try and keep Hibiclens in the back of your mind as an alternative to fend off these horrible infections.  

Happy cleansing!

Sarah

Yes, betadine is that brown stuff doctors put on infections.  Like if you step on a nail or something.  It's ugly, but it works.  I have also heard of HIBIBCLENS, but I don't know in what regard. I have faith that you will be fine because you know what to do.  Best of luck.  Bobbie

HIBICLENS, sorry.

Michele, I give patients "Hibiclens" baths before they head off to surgery. It's different than betadine and hibiclens is an alternative to people who are allergic to betadine. You can get it over the counter. You might want to give it a try.

Kjones,

     Thanks for letting us know the difference.  I will look into it and ask my infectious disease doctor the next time I see him.  I have only used the Betadine to wash small areas, can you use Betadine or Hibiclens to clean your whole body?  With the bleach bath the whole point is to soak my whole body, I'm supposed to soak for 20 minutes, I do this once a month, maybe up to once a week when I have an active infection or if I am working with patients a lot, if I had a pool, the doctor said swimming in a chlorinated pool would do the same thing, but I don't have a pool.  Obviously people with a pool sometimes swim daily, so it's not harmful.  And if it keeps me alive, then it's worth it. :0) SInce my MRSA typically appears around my head, ears, and neck, it has to be a hair friendly soak too, I don't want purple or Betadine colored hair. LOL

Michele

No, it must be bright orange or green, you would not look good as a purple head!

Michele, you can't use Hibiclens as a "soak". It's more of a "scrub". Hibiclens shouldn't come in to contact with mucous membrans for long periods of time. You can use it like a body wash or shampoo during a shower. It does kill MRSA.  

a solution of 10% tea tree oil can treat MRSA!

a solution of 10% tea tree oil can treat MRSA!

do you have pets?  they can be the ccause of re-infection!

Hi, my son has MRSA ...he is an athlete in college.  He first got MRSA from the school's fitness room 2007.  MRSA was going around on campus and he was not aware of this or familiar...neither were we as parents.  Once our son got it...a student took swab samples from the fitness room and tested it and found it was all over the room!

I heard about this and insisted things be put in place....they changed the flooring....and did a few other things.  The trainer actually was pulling out strings of MRSA with twizzers!  when I found this out...I was furious!

Now Jan. 2010 he has it again in the other leg! I am trying to find out as much information as possible. He is only on Bactrim. He has a bad cold now .  I am worried.  He is 12 hours away from home.  Yesterday the school nurse froze the area(on his thigh) and stuck a needle in supposedly to help the drainage.  He changes his dressings 2X daily.

Manuka honey is something I read about putting on the infection.  Eating yogurt is also recommended. 

Any other suggestions are welcomed