MRSA

[Lilith]

Hello, all. I have a fever right now, and I'm a little lightheaded, so if this question makes no sense, let me know and I'll rephrase it...

First, the background. For the past five months I've been getting a staph infection religiously, ever 25-35 days. High fevers, excessive amounts of mucus (sometimes foamy), chills, sinus headaches, the works. Its been driving me nuts. About two months ago, my doc sent me to see and ENT to have my sinuses checked and see if that was the source of the problem. My ENT said that there was nothing worth doing anything about, that my sinuses were just having a normal flareup (at the time I saw her I was having a postnasal drip), and that I didn't need surgery to correct them.

My doc, however, kept thinking that the problem was in my sinuses, and that I was just "having a bad year". Pheh! I've been banging my head against a wall trying to figure out what's going on. I went from going either to the hospital or on a home drug every four months to every 30 days. Doesn't make sense to me.

Finally, on Saturday, I called him up with a 103.4 fever, and he tells me that my latest culture has come back positive for MRSA. Which I figured had to be the case for a while now, considering all the frequent infections! Zyvox seems to be the only drug that works for me now, so I'm on that in oral form twice a day. I've still got a fever (though its much lower), and at least I can breathe again.

Phew! Now, with all that said, I have a question to my fellow CF MRSA patients...how often do you wind up on antibiotics? Am I in the normal range here, do you think there is something else going on to keep me on the juice every month? It just seems way too frequent to me, but perhaps that's just the disease progressing?

Any input would be MOST appreciated, because this is driving me nuts! Thanks in advance!

 

[Lilith]

Hello, all. I have a fever right now, and I'm a little lightheaded, so if this question makes no sense, let me know and I'll rephrase it...

First, the background. For the past five months I've been getting a staph infection religiously, ever 25-35 days. High fevers, excessive amounts of mucus (sometimes foamy), chills, sinus headaches, the works. Its been driving me nuts. About two months ago, my doc sent me to see and ENT to have my sinuses checked and see if that was the source of the problem. My ENT said that there was nothing worth doing anything about, that my sinuses were just having a normal flareup (at the time I saw her I was having a postnasal drip), and that I didn't need surgery to correct them.

My doc, however, kept thinking that the problem was in my sinuses, and that I was just "having a bad year". Pheh! I've been banging my head against a wall trying to figure out what's going on. I went from going either to the hospital or on a home drug every four months to every 30 days. Doesn't make sense to me.

Finally, on Saturday, I called him up with a 103.4 fever, and he tells me that my latest culture has come back positive for MRSA. Which I figured had to be the case for a while now, considering all the frequent infections! Zyvox seems to be the only drug that works for me now, so I'm on that in oral form twice a day. I've still got a fever (though its much lower), and at least I can breathe again.

Phew! Now, with all that said, I have a question to my fellow CF MRSA patients...how often do you wind up on antibiotics? Am I in the normal range here, do you think there is something else going on to keep me on the juice every month? It just seems way too frequent to me, but perhaps that's just the disease progressing?

Any input would be MOST appreciated, because this is driving me nuts! Thanks in advance!

 

[Lilith]

Hello, all. I have a fever right now, and I'm a little lightheaded, so if this question makes no sense, let me know and I'll rephrase it...

First, the background. For the past five months I've been getting a staph infection religiously, ever 25-35 days. High fevers, excessive amounts of mucus (sometimes foamy), chills, sinus headaches, the works. Its been driving me nuts. About two months ago, my doc sent me to see and ENT to have my sinuses checked and see if that was the source of the problem. My ENT said that there was nothing worth doing anything about, that my sinuses were just having a normal flareup (at the time I saw her I was having a postnasal drip), and that I didn't need surgery to correct them.

My doc, however, kept thinking that the problem was in my sinuses, and that I was just "having a bad year". Pheh! I've been banging my head against a wall trying to figure out what's going on. I went from going either to the hospital or on a home drug every four months to every 30 days. Doesn't make sense to me.

Finally, on Saturday, I called him up with a 103.4 fever, and he tells me that my latest culture has come back positive for MRSA. Which I figured had to be the case for a while now, considering all the frequent infections! Zyvox seems to be the only drug that works for me now, so I'm on that in oral form twice a day. I've still got a fever (though its much lower), and at least I can breathe again.

Phew! Now, with all that said, I have a question to my fellow CF MRSA patients...how often do you wind up on antibiotics? Am I in the normal range here, do you think there is something else going on to keep me on the juice every month? It just seems way too frequent to me, but perhaps that's just the disease progressing?

Any input would be MOST appreciated, because this is driving me nuts! Thanks in advance!

 

[JennifersHope]

Hey Lisa,

UGG I am sorry you don't feel well. For me when I had my MRSA flare up the only thing that worked for me was Zyvox....It was so freaken expensive, I am still paying it off but I was on the IV form of it every 12 hours... I started it in the hospital and continued on at home IVS...

I don't think I have to much trouble with MRSA, once in a while I believe that is where my source of body pain and fever comes from, it certainly hasn't killed my lungs or anything.. My last PFTS were good, but down about 7 percent.

I am on antibiotics for either sinus infection or bronchitis probably every 8 weeks or less.

I do inhaled Tobi to keep PA at bay... and my MRSA was sensitive to Bactrim at the time, and I am on that every three months or so.

I hope you feel better....They tell me they don't treat MRSA unless you are symptomatic ... otherwise it is usually harmless..

Jennifer

 

[JennifersHope]

Hey Lisa,

UGG I am sorry you don't feel well. For me when I had my MRSA flare up the only thing that worked for me was Zyvox....It was so freaken expensive, I am still paying it off but I was on the IV form of it every 12 hours... I started it in the hospital and continued on at home IVS...

I don't think I have to much trouble with MRSA, once in a while I believe that is where my source of body pain and fever comes from, it certainly hasn't killed my lungs or anything.. My last PFTS were good, but down about 7 percent.

I am on antibiotics for either sinus infection or bronchitis probably every 8 weeks or less.

I do inhaled Tobi to keep PA at bay... and my MRSA was sensitive to Bactrim at the time, and I am on that every three months or so.

I hope you feel better....They tell me they don't treat MRSA unless you are symptomatic ... otherwise it is usually harmless..

Jennifer

 

[JennifersHope]

Hey Lisa,

UGG I am sorry you don't feel well. For me when I had my MRSA flare up the only thing that worked for me was Zyvox....It was so freaken expensive, I am still paying it off but I was on the IV form of it every 12 hours... I started it in the hospital and continued on at home IVS...

I don't think I have to much trouble with MRSA, once in a while I believe that is where my source of body pain and fever comes from, it certainly hasn't killed my lungs or anything.. My last PFTS were good, but down about 7 percent.

I am on antibiotics for either sinus infection or bronchitis probably every 8 weeks or less.

I do inhaled Tobi to keep PA at bay... and my MRSA was sensitive to Bactrim at the time, and I am on that every three months or so.

I hope you feel better....They tell me they don't treat MRSA unless you are symptomatic ... otherwise it is usually harmless..

Jennifer

 

[tammykrumrey]

Lisa,

Both of my daughters have had MRSA for about 2-3 years now. My older one (who only cultures MRSA and sometimes staph) is the one who tends to have the most problems with it, although not as often as it seems that you have. She had done IV vancomycin last May, and it settled the MRSA down, and then in September she went on Zyvox, and it worked great! Her last cultured showed only staph, and no MRSA. That was a first in years. So far (knock on wood) she is doing ok, although she is beginning to have 'signs' of a up-coming flare up (I do hope that I am wrong). Prior to last May, she really hadn't had any problems with it at all.

My younger daughter still doesn't have problems with the MRSA, although she does culture PA as well-she has never had IV antibiotics and never needed vanco. or zyvox.

I hoped I was able to help. I do hope that you get to feeling better very soon!

 

[tammykrumrey]

Lisa,

Both of my daughters have had MRSA for about 2-3 years now. My older one (who only cultures MRSA and sometimes staph) is the one who tends to have the most problems with it, although not as often as it seems that you have. She had done IV vancomycin last May, and it settled the MRSA down, and then in September she went on Zyvox, and it worked great! Her last cultured showed only staph, and no MRSA. That was a first in years. So far (knock on wood) she is doing ok, although she is beginning to have 'signs' of a up-coming flare up (I do hope that I am wrong). Prior to last May, she really hadn't had any problems with it at all.

My younger daughter still doesn't have problems with the MRSA, although she does culture PA as well-she has never had IV antibiotics and never needed vanco. or zyvox.

I hoped I was able to help. I do hope that you get to feeling better very soon!

 

[tammykrumrey]

Lisa,

Both of my daughters have had MRSA for about 2-3 years now. My older one (who only cultures MRSA and sometimes staph) is the one who tends to have the most problems with it, although not as often as it seems that you have. She had done IV vancomycin last May, and it settled the MRSA down, and then in September she went on Zyvox, and it worked great! Her last cultured showed only staph, and no MRSA. That was a first in years. So far (knock on wood) she is doing ok, although she is beginning to have 'signs' of a up-coming flare up (I do hope that I am wrong). Prior to last May, she really hadn't had any problems with it at all.

My younger daughter still doesn't have problems with the MRSA, although she does culture PA as well-she has never had IV antibiotics and never needed vanco. or zyvox.

I hoped I was able to help. I do hope that you get to feeling better very soon!

 

[MCGrad2006]

Hey Lilith,

I also culture MRSA, probably for the past three years I believe. Before they cultured me (I was unable to produce a large enough sample of mucus) I was on antibiotics like literally every four weeks. I would come down with what I thought at the time was another cold. This all happened from January to April. They finally put me in the hospital (which I was due for anyway) in April of 2005, but they still only treated me for the PA that I had typically cultured. Well I didnt bounce back and ended up sick again like 4 weeks later. I dont remember what we did then, but I ended up back in the hospital in July of that same year. Thats when I was finally able to cough up enough junk to see what was going on. Well then I went on Vanco for two weeks, every 12 hours...blahblah. When I didnt bounce right back after that either, I believe I was put on Zyvox (by mouth). My doctor claimed that putting those abx back to back would help to get the MRSA under control. Well this finally worked. I didnt have another flareup (landing me in the hosp.) till June of 2006.

In answer to your question, I think yes that is typical of MRSA. I have never had fevers or chills or anything like that, I just get really tired, cough more and cough at night and such. Since I got my MRSA under control in June of 2005 It hasnt been a huge problem. I am in a study of a new drug for PA (one month on, one month off)...so in the off month I would usually take bactrim. In this way I was able to combat both the PA and the MRSA at different times and it was keeping them at bay for a longer time. One thing that I've learned from doing this is that sometimes if you are spending so much time to combat one of the bugs, the other one kind of sees an opening, if you will, and thus makes itself at home in the places that the other bug was being evacuated from. The only problem with this was that now I think I may be becoming resistant to bactrim, so I'm trying to stay away from that and see if I can handle the MRSA on my own. But yes, my MRSA flares up every couple of months if I dont take care of it.

 

[MCGrad2006]

Hey Lilith,

I also culture MRSA, probably for the past three years I believe. Before they cultured me (I was unable to produce a large enough sample of mucus) I was on antibiotics like literally every four weeks. I would come down with what I thought at the time was another cold. This all happened from January to April. They finally put me in the hospital (which I was due for anyway) in April of 2005, but they still only treated me for the PA that I had typically cultured. Well I didnt bounce back and ended up sick again like 4 weeks later. I dont remember what we did then, but I ended up back in the hospital in July of that same year. Thats when I was finally able to cough up enough junk to see what was going on. Well then I went on Vanco for two weeks, every 12 hours...blahblah. When I didnt bounce right back after that either, I believe I was put on Zyvox (by mouth). My doctor claimed that putting those abx back to back would help to get the MRSA under control. Well this finally worked. I didnt have another flareup (landing me in the hosp.) till June of 2006.

In answer to your question, I think yes that is typical of MRSA. I have never had fevers or chills or anything like that, I just get really tired, cough more and cough at night and such. Since I got my MRSA under control in June of 2005 It hasnt been a huge problem. I am in a study of a new drug for PA (one month on, one month off)...so in the off month I would usually take bactrim. In this way I was able to combat both the PA and the MRSA at different times and it was keeping them at bay for a longer time. One thing that I've learned from doing this is that sometimes if you are spending so much time to combat one of the bugs, the other one kind of sees an opening, if you will, and thus makes itself at home in the places that the other bug was being evacuated from. The only problem with this was that now I think I may be becoming resistant to bactrim, so I'm trying to stay away from that and see if I can handle the MRSA on my own. But yes, my MRSA flares up every couple of months if I dont take care of it.

 

[MCGrad2006]

Hey Lilith,

I also culture MRSA, probably for the past three years I believe. Before they cultured me (I was unable to produce a large enough sample of mucus) I was on antibiotics like literally every four weeks. I would come down with what I thought at the time was another cold. This all happened from January to April. They finally put me in the hospital (which I was due for anyway) in April of 2005, but they still only treated me for the PA that I had typically cultured. Well I didnt bounce back and ended up sick again like 4 weeks later. I dont remember what we did then, but I ended up back in the hospital in July of that same year. Thats when I was finally able to cough up enough junk to see what was going on. Well then I went on Vanco for two weeks, every 12 hours...blahblah. When I didnt bounce right back after that either, I believe I was put on Zyvox (by mouth). My doctor claimed that putting those abx back to back would help to get the MRSA under control. Well this finally worked. I didnt have another flareup (landing me in the hosp.) till June of 2006.

In answer to your question, I think yes that is typical of MRSA. I have never had fevers or chills or anything like that, I just get really tired, cough more and cough at night and such. Since I got my MRSA under control in June of 2005 It hasnt been a huge problem. I am in a study of a new drug for PA (one month on, one month off)...so in the off month I would usually take bactrim. In this way I was able to combat both the PA and the MRSA at different times and it was keeping them at bay for a longer time. One thing that I've learned from doing this is that sometimes if you are spending so much time to combat one of the bugs, the other one kind of sees an opening, if you will, and thus makes itself at home in the places that the other bug was being evacuated from. The only problem with this was that now I think I may be becoming resistant to bactrim, so I'm trying to stay away from that and see if I can handle the MRSA on my own. But yes, my MRSA flares up every couple of months if I dont take care of it.

 

[Jennifer1981]

Wow!

I am really surprised at how much MRSA has effected all of you. I have had MRSA for about 4 years now. I have cultured it every time I give a culture, but it doesn't effect me near as much as all of you.

When I first contacted MRSA, I too ran a high temps, increased mucus production, and had a much harder time breathing. I ended up being admitted into the hospital, and thus it was discovered. I was treated with Tobra and one other IV. Don't remember anymore.

After that admission, I went three years only needing IV's once and oral meds 2x. One out of the 2 was for strep throat. Not even CF-related. I also ran for 5 months 2-3 miles, 5 days per week. I then stopped running b/c I got lazy. It had nothing to do with MRSA. Now, I am running again.

Yes, my PFT's have slowly declined over the past 4 years but not anything like you all are experiencing. As a matter of fact, I am actively trying to conceive. My CF doctor is fine with it. He has supported my decision from the beginning. I was never told that it would not be in my best interests.

So MRSA HAS NOT effected my life much at all if at all. Maybe it's b/c my body has learned to adapt to it. I don't know. But it doesn't effect me. At least that is the logic that my CF doc used.

And when I was on IV's this past June-July, I was on Tobra and Cefepine (sp?). They were not real strong IV's.

Hope this helps. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

 

[Jennifer1981]

Wow!

I am really surprised at how much MRSA has effected all of you. I have had MRSA for about 4 years now. I have cultured it every time I give a culture, but it doesn't effect me near as much as all of you.

When I first contacted MRSA, I too ran a high temps, increased mucus production, and had a much harder time breathing. I ended up being admitted into the hospital, and thus it was discovered. I was treated with Tobra and one other IV. Don't remember anymore.

After that admission, I went three years only needing IV's once and oral meds 2x. One out of the 2 was for strep throat. Not even CF-related. I also ran for 5 months 2-3 miles, 5 days per week. I then stopped running b/c I got lazy. It had nothing to do with MRSA. Now, I am running again.

Yes, my PFT's have slowly declined over the past 4 years but not anything like you all are experiencing. As a matter of fact, I am actively trying to conceive. My CF doctor is fine with it. He has supported my decision from the beginning. I was never told that it would not be in my best interests.

So MRSA HAS NOT effected my life much at all if at all. Maybe it's b/c my body has learned to adapt to it. I don't know. But it doesn't effect me. At least that is the logic that my CF doc used.

And when I was on IV's this past June-July, I was on Tobra and Cefepine (sp?). They were not real strong IV's.

Hope this helps. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

 

[Jennifer1981]

Wow!

I am really surprised at how much MRSA has effected all of you. I have had MRSA for about 4 years now. I have cultured it every time I give a culture, but it doesn't effect me near as much as all of you.

When I first contacted MRSA, I too ran a high temps, increased mucus production, and had a much harder time breathing. I ended up being admitted into the hospital, and thus it was discovered. I was treated with Tobra and one other IV. Don't remember anymore.

After that admission, I went three years only needing IV's once and oral meds 2x. One out of the 2 was for strep throat. Not even CF-related. I also ran for 5 months 2-3 miles, 5 days per week. I then stopped running b/c I got lazy. It had nothing to do with MRSA. Now, I am running again.

Yes, my PFT's have slowly declined over the past 4 years but not anything like you all are experiencing. As a matter of fact, I am actively trying to conceive. My CF doctor is fine with it. He has supported my decision from the beginning. I was never told that it would not be in my best interests.

So MRSA HAS NOT effected my life much at all if at all. Maybe it's b/c my body has learned to adapt to it. I don't know. But it doesn't effect me. At least that is the logic that my CF doc used.

And when I was on IV's this past June-July, I was on Tobra and Cefepine (sp?). They were not real strong IV's.

Hope this helps. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

 

[Emily65Roses]

I have MRSA and I go on antibiotics about twice a year. That's a general "average" but it's about right.

The MRSA itself doesn't effect me much. However, this is my little theory (let me make sure it's known that this has not been accepted by any medical professional [I've never told them], but it's something I came up with and I think it makes sense): I never cultured anything regularly until after I got MRSA (the MRSA was the first time I was ever on IVs). MRSA was the first thing I got and it was gone after one round of IVs. Ever since then, though, I have gone on IVs about twice a year. I think the MRSA kind of opened the door for bacteria, because ever thereafter, I've chronically cultured pseudomonas. So the MRSA itself hasn't been a huge problem, but I think it opened the bacterial door, so to speak.

 

[Emily65Roses]

I have MRSA and I go on antibiotics about twice a year. That's a general "average" but it's about right.

The MRSA itself doesn't effect me much. However, this is my little theory (let me make sure it's known that this has not been accepted by any medical professional [I've never told them], but it's something I came up with and I think it makes sense): I never cultured anything regularly until after I got MRSA (the MRSA was the first time I was ever on IVs). MRSA was the first thing I got and it was gone after one round of IVs. Ever since then, though, I have gone on IVs about twice a year. I think the MRSA kind of opened the door for bacteria, because ever thereafter, I've chronically cultured pseudomonas. So the MRSA itself hasn't been a huge problem, but I think it opened the bacterial door, so to speak.

 

[Emily65Roses]

I have MRSA and I go on antibiotics about twice a year. That's a general "average" but it's about right.

The MRSA itself doesn't effect me much. However, this is my little theory (let me make sure it's known that this has not been accepted by any medical professional [I've never told them], but it's something I came up with and I think it makes sense): I never cultured anything regularly until after I got MRSA (the MRSA was the first time I was ever on IVs). MRSA was the first thing I got and it was gone after one round of IVs. Ever since then, though, I have gone on IVs about twice a year. I think the MRSA kind of opened the door for bacteria, because ever thereafter, I've chronically cultured pseudomonas. So the MRSA itself hasn't been a huge problem, but I think it opened the bacterial door, so to speak.

 

[coltsfan715]

Hey Lilith,

I have cultured MRSA for about 8-10 years now. I am not sure when exactly I first cultured the MRSA, but I know it was in that time frame. I cultured MRSA right away - there was no progression from Staph to MRSA.

For the first several years that I began culturing MRSA I was treated with Bactrim. I would go one month on TOBI one month off TOBI for Psuedo and in the off month of TOBI I would take the Bactrim. I never really felt better taking the Bactrim. I asked the doctor about that because all of my cultures indicated that the MRSA I cultured was sensitive to Bactrim. The docs response, and the response of each doc I have had since then, was that in labs it is shown that Bactrim is effective at treating MRSA but it has "lackluster" results when actually put into use by giving it to a patient.

I had to stop taking TOBI due to hemoptysis at around 20 - and when I switched to adult care at 21 my new doc took me off of the Bactrim. Before I turned 21 I was hospitalized roughly once every 10-12 months, and when I was hospitalized the dominant bug I cultured was Psuedo. Since I turned 21 the dominant bug I have cultured at EACH and EVERY hospital stay has been MRSA. I personally have come to think that the Bactrim was helping to keep the MRSA under control. Not that the Bactrim every completely took care of the problem but it kept it at a manageable level.

Since I have been hospitalized and had more issues with the MRSA - that has at times morphed into a lesser resistant form of Staph - I have taken Vancomycin and Zyvox. I prefer Zyvox for the simple reason that it makes me feel better faster and I don't get all the funky side effects I get from Vancomycin. Vancomycin in VERY harsh on my body at times. I have been told by my new pulmo that there is an aerosolized form of Vanco that he may try to give me in the future because he said it is thought to be more effective than the IV form - I do not know though because I have never taken it in an aerosol.

I typically do not run fevers like you mentioned - but that is in general I have NEVER been one to run massive fevers. I do notice a gunkier cough - that is a different consistency. I can even tell when what I have coughed up is mostly MRSA vs. just normal phlegmy psuedo filled crap. For me my sputum with MRSA is more fluidlike and just seems to be never ending when I have a flare up, there is a horrendous taste that never seems to go away (even with brushing and mouthwash), my sputum is also a dark greyish green at those times. When I have Psuedo flareups my sputum is normally a darker yellow. I also tend to be nauseous more often when I have a MRSA flare up.

Once I started getting hospitalized for MRSA flare ups I was going in the hospital about 2 times a year. Now that I am at my new doc I am going in the hospital for scheduled visits every 3-4 months. I normally feel pretty good for a few weeks after hospital stays and then by 1 month out have started coughing junk up again. I am not sure if that will change and I will be able to maintain good health for a longer time since I have had sinus surgery though. I will find out in the coming months (I am on IVs now for 10 more days and had sinus surgery 1 week ago). I normally cough up nasty stuff all the time and only get really concerned and request meds if I start to lose my appetite, notice that I am coughing up alot more than usual or if the cough sounds noticeably gunkier, waking up at night coughing, and if it get alot darker the usual or if the taste is getting worse.

It is possible that you may have already been in a compromised state with your health when the MRSA started to flare up and that is why you have gotten so sick. Then again bacteria effect each person differently so maybe this is just how it effects you. You will just have to pay attention to your body over time and come to that conclusion on our own.

Take Care and I hope you get to feeling better,
Lindsey

 

[coltsfan715]

Hey Lilith,

I have cultured MRSA for about 8-10 years now. I am not sure when exactly I first cultured the MRSA, but I know it was in that time frame. I cultured MRSA right away - there was no progression from Staph to MRSA.

For the first several years that I began culturing MRSA I was treated with Bactrim. I would go one month on TOBI one month off TOBI for Psuedo and in the off month of TOBI I would take the Bactrim. I never really felt better taking the Bactrim. I asked the doctor about that because all of my cultures indicated that the MRSA I cultured was sensitive to Bactrim. The docs response, and the response of each doc I have had since then, was that in labs it is shown that Bactrim is effective at treating MRSA but it has "lackluster" results when actually put into use by giving it to a patient.

I had to stop taking TOBI due to hemoptysis at around 20 - and when I switched to adult care at 21 my new doc took me off of the Bactrim. Before I turned 21 I was hospitalized roughly once every 10-12 months, and when I was hospitalized the dominant bug I cultured was Psuedo. Since I turned 21 the dominant bug I have cultured at EACH and EVERY hospital stay has been MRSA. I personally have come to think that the Bactrim was helping to keep the MRSA under control. Not that the Bactrim every completely took care of the problem but it kept it at a manageable level.

Since I have been hospitalized and had more issues with the MRSA - that has at times morphed into a lesser resistant form of Staph - I have taken Vancomycin and Zyvox. I prefer Zyvox for the simple reason that it makes me feel better faster and I don't get all the funky side effects I get from Vancomycin. Vancomycin in VERY harsh on my body at times. I have been told by my new pulmo that there is an aerosolized form of Vanco that he may try to give me in the future because he said it is thought to be more effective than the IV form - I do not know though because I have never taken it in an aerosol.

I typically do not run fevers like you mentioned - but that is in general I have NEVER been one to run massive fevers. I do notice a gunkier cough - that is a different consistency. I can even tell when what I have coughed up is mostly MRSA vs. just normal phlegmy psuedo filled crap. For me my sputum with MRSA is more fluidlike and just seems to be never ending when I have a flare up, there is a horrendous taste that never seems to go away (even with brushing and mouthwash), my sputum is also a dark greyish green at those times. When I have Psuedo flareups my sputum is normally a darker yellow. I also tend to be nauseous more often when I have a MRSA flare up.

Once I started getting hospitalized for MRSA flare ups I was going in the hospital about 2 times a year. Now that I am at my new doc I am going in the hospital for scheduled visits every 3-4 months. I normally feel pretty good for a few weeks after hospital stays and then by 1 month out have started coughing junk up again. I am not sure if that will change and I will be able to maintain good health for a longer time since I have had sinus surgery though. I will find out in the coming months (I am on IVs now for 10 more days and had sinus surgery 1 week ago). I normally cough up nasty stuff all the time and only get really concerned and request meds if I start to lose my appetite, notice that I am coughing up alot more than usual or if the cough sounds noticeably gunkier, waking up at night coughing, and if it get alot darker the usual or if the taste is getting worse.

It is possible that you may have already been in a compromised state with your health when the MRSA started to flare up and that is why you have gotten so sick. Then again bacteria effect each person differently so maybe this is just how it effects you. You will just have to pay attention to your body over time and come to that conclusion on our own.

Take Care and I hope you get to feeling better,
Lindsey