To anyone who knows anything about staph
please help!
Me:
female
25years old
height: 5' 3" weight: 110lbs
generally healthy lifestyle with the
exception of social smoking (not
cigarettes and coffee drinking
(have cut way back, but still having
palpitations.)
work in office that has high occurrences
of cancer, including thyroid, breast,
brain and lung (in people who don’t smoke)
as well as valley fever. Collogues are
also plagued with recurrent uti’s and
colds. Also, I got very sick
(laryngitis & bronchitis) my first and
two weeks into work. Haven’t felt quite
right ever since (started work in 10/04).
My symptoms:
1. Chest pain (palpitations) for approx
2 years - especially when excited or
stressed. Getting worse as time goes
on. More frequent and intense.
2. General fatigue- tired even when I
get enough sleep
3. Recently (last month or so)
experiencing mild incontinence/leakage
(1st time in my history) during stressful
times but also when seated and calm.
Coffee seems to make this worse.
4. Just recently (3 1/2 weeks ago) came
down with a uti (1st one in my history)
passed lots of blood and clots. Wbc
count was up and I was treated with cypro
for 3days - symptoms subsided.
5. On follow up appt, blood work
showed: titer of 1:4 for anti-tiechoic
acid antibodies. All other blood work
was normal. Dr diagnosed as a
staphylococcal infection pointing toward
rumatoid arthritis. However, he also
ran an rf (rumatoid factor) test at the
same time that came back negative (7)
(<14 is normal). He also screened me
for ana "antinuclear antibodies" which
are hallmarks of systemic rheumatic
diseases, again negative. Also I do not
have, nor have I had symptoms of
arthritis. I do have some genetic
history as my mother was affected.
Treatment is minocycline 3x a week for
2weeks then follow-up and continue
treatment for up to 6months if
successful.
Questions:
1. Does this diagnosis sound correct
given my symptoms and the negative rf
& ana tests?
2. Does anyone know or have experience
of the anti-teicohic acid titer and how it
relates to the severity of the infection?
3. An I am risk factor to those around
me? (note: I have no exterior skin
symptoms.) also, the diagnostic table used
in the techoic acid test associates titers
of 1:4 with more sever diseases such as
endocartisis, what level of concern should
I have?
The dr was very vague on the questions and
seemed hesitant to order further tests to
help pinpoint the infection, so any
information you may be able to offer is
welcomed.
Thank you in advance!
and coffee drinking
(have cut way back, but still having
palpitations.)
