Hello all,

Seems like I'm not the only one who's dealing with a staph infection...

Two months ago I bought a cheap belt from a local consignment store. The belt buckle was nickel and I developed a rash on my lower abdomen from contact with the metal. I made the mistake of scratching it, after about a week, two abscesses formed where the rash had been.

I treated them myself with topical antibiotic ointment, I showered frequently, and they both healed in about 11 days time. Shortly after, I developed another abscess on my lower abdomen. I went to a family practice clinic and received a prescription for Keflax (2000 mg per day for seven days). I felt better, and no new abscesses formed during that time.

About three days after finishing the prescription, another abscess developed on my left thigh, and then my right thigh (outward facing sides). I waited too long to see the doctor and within a week the abscess on my right thigh grew slightly larger than that of a golf ball. The worst of it came the night before I went back to the doctor. The abscess was large and maroon in color. The top of it was very dark. It hurt to the point that walking was difficult. During this entire ordeal, my temperature was between 99.5 and 100.5, on this night it was 101.00. I could hear the blood rushing in my ears and in the morning I experienced watery green stool. I cannot describe my feelings during this time with justice...I felt like I would die.

I went to the doctor and had the larger abscess on my right thigh drained. He left a drainage tube in for two days as it continued to drain during that time. I was placed on 4000 mg of Keflax and 1000 mg of sulfameth for one week. I finished that prescription three days ago.

I feel ill again. Before each abscess, I experienced a strange cracking on the corner of my mouth, almost like a cold-sore but not red...just dry, flaky, and crackly. This time, it's in both corners of my mouth, and I feel the typical pre-abscess lump I've so unfortunately come to know too well on a lower portion of my left thigh.

These abscesses have not yet been cultured. My hygiene is good, I shower daily, and while ill with this I've showered twice daily, changed my sheets on a regular basis, and tried not to re-use my towels. I have a dog, I've considered the possibility that he is the source of the re-infection. I've been shoving soap up my nose to try and kill staph in my nasal passages don't know if it's doing anything except making me feel rather paranoid. I so desperately want this to go away.

Does this sound like a staph infection spread to the blood system? Why are the antibiotics not knocking this out for good? Am I being re-infected or is it just the original infection haunting my body? None of these questions, I realize, can be accurately answered by just reading this...but I'd like some opinions about what may be going on, and what to do about it.

Thank you..