[HALLIEBETH87]

Is no joke!!! It hurts like heck today

[unaluna]

Oh yeah, hows your toe? Isnt cellulitis when the skin gets all fragile? Are they having you soak it? Do you have to go back to the doctor?

[HALLIEBETH87]

She just said take keflex and soak in warm water. It's red, swollen, painful and has a little pus every now and then. It's not*as* ref but hurts more today. I wonder how long it'll take to heal. I've been on keflex since Saturday and have three days left of pills. She never said I had to come back.

[HALLIEBETH87]

Will it continue to get better cause so far it's not

[scatterbrained04]

Did they take the nail edge out?

[scatterbrained04]

It should continue to get better. If you finish the antibiotics, and it's not doing better, then the doctor should probably do a culture.

[HALLIEBETH87]

No cause it's infection not ingrown toenail so she just did antibiotics.

I did Epsom salt soak and ouch!

[unaluna]

I googled foot cellulitis. O. M. G. One can only hope some of the photos were of dead people! It said you might need ten days to two weeks of antibiotics. And to NOT expect it to get better on its own. Does keflex keep working like zithromycin does? A z-pack you take for 5 days, but its supposed to keep working for a few more days. If you think you need to go back to urgent care, just do it. keep us posted.

[HALLIEBETH87]

I think it *might* be getting better. It wasn't a bad case. I did Epsom salt soak and omg it hurt!

It's not as red now. If it's not better when I'm almost finished keflex I'll call my GP and see what to do.

Ill let you know what happens!

[Raindropvampire]

I had cellulitis on my leg. Nothing touched it until they put me on clindamycin. Then it cleared up within 14 days. You have my utmost sympathy because it hurts like hell.

I don't know if they warned you or not but taking antibiotics can unbalance the good bacteria in your body and cause tummy/bowel upsets and yeast infections. It's always a good idea to talk to your doc and find if you can take a probiotic while on the antibiotic. You usually have to juggle your timing because you can't take them within (I think) 6-8 hours of each other.

[HALLIEBETH87]

It's causing me to frequent the bathroom but luckily no diarrhea. Sorry for TMI.

Thanks for the info. I'm supposed to take the keflex every 6 hours but it's so difficult so pharmacist told me atbleast twice a day. I've gotten three a day but I'll take it til it's gone.

[Raindropvampire]

I think the reason I had such trouble was I was on antibiotics for 6 weeks. 10 days on Keflex(cephalexin). It seemed like it was getting better around day 8 then day 10(when I was supposed to be done with it) I woke up and it looked worse than before I started taking it

Then they put me on Ceftin(can't remember the generic name) for a 21 day course since the infection was so bad. On day 17 I went back to the doctor because yet again after starting to get better it went bad again. SOOOOO that's when they put me on clindamycin and it worked like a charm in 14 days.

BUT I was on the antibiotics so long my tummy/bowels were tore to pieces and I felt like I was starting to get a yeast infection. So called the doc and she told me to talk to the pharmacist to find a GOOD probiotic that I could take while on the antibiotics and within 7 days the tummy trouble and lady trouble cleared up.

Hopefully you won't have to be on the antibiotics long enough to worry about it

[HALLIEBETH87]

Thanks! Sucks you went through all that! I have hope this regimine will do the trick!

[splitimage]

Cellulitis is no fun. I got it in my butt, after a bad cut, (very long story), and was on oral antibiotics for 14 days - didn't clear it up. I had to get intravenous antibiotics for another 14 days, with a nurse coming to my apartment every day to give me a new antibiotic bag, take salt water baths, and then after the IV antibiotics, I was on oral antibiotics for another 12 days. Never want to repeat that experience.

splitimage

[HALLIEBETH87]

You giys are freaking me out. I really didn't think it was a huge deal. I looked up pictures and mines a mild case. Ive only had an IV diring oral surgery-the idea of it freaks me out! Lol

[HALLIEBETH87]

I called my dr to ask about and she wants me in today to check it and said she'll cut it out if need be. :'(

[HALLIEBETH87]

I was right!!!! It WAS ingriwn. She cut it out, ouch!!

[unaluna]

Originally Posted by HALLIEBETH87

I was right!!!! It WAS ingrown. She cut it out, ouch!!

Im glad you went to your gp sometimes urgent care gets it right, but sometimes they dont, has been my experience. And when they dont, you just have to have the confidence in yourself to say, "this isnt working for me" and get more help. Its annoying but not usually life threatening, altho it can be. I find that the more REAL i am with emergency personnel, the better things work out for me.

Ive gone in there and said, "i googled this and nobody has ever done this before, help me!!"

[HALLIEBETH87]

Lol

My gp rocks. She told me she likes removing toenails! Haha I told my friend who also knows her ( their daughters are friends) and she's gonna tell her she heard she's a freak! Bahaha (I live in a small town)

So glad it's over with. It was not fun.

[unaluna]

Originally Posted by HALLIEBETH87

Lol

My gp rocks. She told me she likes removing toenails! Haha I told my friend who also knows her ( their daughters are friends) and she's gonna tell her she heard she's a freak! Bahaha (I live in a small town)

So glad it's over with. It was not fun.

How is this doing? Do you still have to soak it? Or just wait a year for the nail to grow back or what?

[HALLIEBETH87]

She never really told me what to do so I have been cleaning with peroxide and letting it have air at night. I wear a bandaid during the day to protect it from irritation.

The stupid antibiotics I took gave me a horrible yeast infection though. I can't catch a break lol

[notz]

I'm not trying to hijack but I stumbled across this thread and I'm glad I did! I've wanted to whine but felt silly and embarrassed putting up a thread about a boil on my butt but I think you guys understand.

When I was 10 years old I broke out with boils in different locations; thigh, neck, armpit and buttocks. Ever since then a boil reoccurs in the exact same location on my butt. It is soooo painful! It hurts to sit obviously but also even to stand, lay or walk. It's right where skin touches skin and has constant pressure which gets exponentially worse as it swells. I have one now.

Sitz baths, warm compresses, even medicated poultice packs...anything to draw the infection out. That area has been lanced so many times, I couldn't count them if I tried. I've been on so many antibiotics for various lengths of time that the Dr. has concern if MRSA were to occur if anything would work. So far, I haven't had that but the boil is in a bad area, it's worrisome.

I'm taking a trip this weekend which involves me driving 90 minutes to my sisters and spending the night. The next day we will drive 2.5 hours to our destination to see family. I'm not looking forward to all the painful sitting I will be doing. I'm not cancelling, no way do I let these stupid boils keep from doing things! I'm just complaining.

One other thing, my oldest sister is a R.N. She's old school and is a good one for medical advice, she knows a lot. She's going to want to see it and maybe lance it for me (she has before). It's not ready yet, it's still deep in the tissue. She's going to drive me crazy wanting to look at my *** and I'm just not in the mood for that! Does that make any sense? She has no sense of boundaries and will pester me. Maybe for peace of mind I'll just let her look and get it over with and she'll leave me alone!

I read over this and it sounds so crazy! I'm going to post it anyway, maybe some replies will keep my humor up when I check in while I'm gone! Thanks!

[Calypso2632]

Notz, have you ever heard of a pylonidol cyst? I don't know if I've spelled it right but I have one I thought was a boil and it always comes back in the same place. I went to the ER and they opened it and drained it and it left a path so now it can drain when it builds up. My doc was talking surgery if it didn't get under control..

[Mygrandjourney]

I had it on the side of my face and across my ear, once. I looked somewhat like Elephant Man for a few days and it was swollen, hot, inflamed and uncomfortable. After a trial of antibiotics, the symptoms went away. They told me it was an infection residing between the layers of my skin.

[notz]

I will bring up the possibility of a pilonidal cyst the next time I go to the doctor. I'm not thinking that is what I have since the location is different but hey, ya never know! Doc refers to "the boils" as recurrent abscesses from bacteria that is dormant in my skin cells. This latest one has abated, thank goodness!

Originally Posted by Calypso2632

Notz, have you ever heard of a pylonidol cyst? I don't know if I've spelled it right but I have one I thought was a boil and it always comes back in the same place. I went to the ER and they opened it and drained it and it left a path so now it can drain when it builds up. My doc was talking surgery if it didn't get under control..