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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Sinusitis / May 2007Any experience with cephalexin?
This is not for a sinus infection. I just had an abcess drained (infected sebaceous cyst) and doc prescribed this for 10 days. I usually post here with sinus problems but I've been okay on that score so far in 2007. Still, I figure you guys would know about this abx. Mel > This is not for a sinus infection. > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Still, I figure you guys would know about this abx. It's a cephalosporin antibiotic. Use with caution if you know you're allergic to penicillins, because there's about a 5-10% chance of a cross-reaction. (That's how I got stuck myself.) Otherwise it should be safe enough.  SignatureSteven D. Litvintchouk Email: sdlitvin@earthlinkNOSPAM.net Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me. Thanks for the info. i HATE being on abx. again Mel >> This is not for a sinus infection. >> [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Otherwise it should be safe enough. Mel, Often the incision and drainage are sufficient to treat the inflammed sebaceous cyst. It's very difficult to differentiate infected from inflammed sebaceous cysts because the sebum is so inflammatory that when it gets into the tissues they become red, hot and often the cyst "comes to a head". My daughter had had a ruptured cyst on her arm become a nasty infection: it spread up her arm in the course of a day, likely strep, but when her dermatolgist incised and drained it, he felt as though minimal or no further antibiotics were needed. Additionally, she had another one ruputure, ironically, when she was on antibiotics (Augmentin) for a sinus infection, and the antibiotics made no difference. I did some research on sebaceous cysts and there was debate about if antibiotics were required after incision and drainage. And, despite the fact that most "boils" in the ER are caused by MRSA, even if you're given keflex/cephalexin--which is useless against MRSA--the boil goes away, so the drainage is key. From a Canadian Article: Tip 1. Avoid excision when the cyst is inflamed. A minimum of 4 weeks should be allowed after a drainage procedure. Most inflamed sebaceous cysts (inflamed due to sebum) are not infected and will settle spontaneously over 4 weeks. Antibiotics, such as cephalexin or cloxacillin, are commonly used but in fact probably provide little benefit. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1479706 While searching I found some "tips" that might be helpful or nonsense: the use of heat reportedly "melts" the sebum and allows quicker resolution, using a rigorous toweling after a shower/bath may remove keratin plugs--who knows it either is of any value. Good luck. Feel better soon: my daughter's experience did show me that an inflammed cyst can cause a nasty infection, but it resolved very quickly after drainage and antibiotics--it got worse while on antibiotics without drainage, and the second ruptured cyst likely was more inflammation than infection--it ultimately resolved and her dermatologist can't even find it to excise it currently. (She was in a play and didn't tell me, because she thought I'd make her go to have it incised, so she took Augmentin, and wore non irritating clothing and put ice packs on it.) Judy > Thanks for the info. i HATE being on abx. again > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > Email: sdlit...@earthlinkNOSPAM.net > > Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me. Well, Judy, I guess I'd better follow doctor's advise and keep taking it, just in case. Here is a bit more detail: OK-- I've had this sebacious cyst (back of neck/upper back) for maybe 10 years. It has gotten quite large. Over the last week (especially last 2-4 days) it got really bad. Very painful, red, and almost doubled in size (over 2 inches now). It got so painful I went to urgent care Saturday morning (wonderful timing for these things as my regular physician is out of town for a week). Anyway, the doctor at Urgent Care said it was infected. He lanced it and spent a lot of time squeezing contents. He did state he even got part of the shell wall. He packed the wound and I will have to keep going back for awhile to get the packing/wick changed (every 2-3 days or so). He also put me on antibiotics (cephalexin for 10 days) My question/concern: I have to be out-of-town starting 6/11 on business for 10 days. Is it likely that the wound will basically be healed by then and I will be done getting packing changed? Also, it is now about 36 hours after the lancing and it is still painful, swollen (the lancing brought this huge cyst down from a small lemmon size to a large walnut size) and it seeps a lot of blood and other gook. I suspect there is still plenty of cyst material there. Tomorrow I go to get the packing changed (not sure if he will try and get more gook out) and I guess I'll be doing this for a week or a bit longer. I'm worried that it is still so large. Does it just take time to recede a lot? Any suggestions? Mel Mel > Mel, > Often the incision and drainage are sufficient to treat the [quoted text clipped - 61 lines] >> > Email: sdlit...@earthlinkNOSPAM.net >> > Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me. Mel: If I were you I would call around to the local health food stores until I found someone who sold Zagarese licorice then spend 4 or 5 bucks to get a box. If you don't have a granny that boils down licorice root to black ointment, this stuff is the next best thing.. Soak a teaspoon of the little cylinderical peices for a few hours until they are soft and make a paste to use as a ointment on your bandages. The main problem with it is that the ointment will be black, so use something impermable on the top to keep it from seeping through the bandage and staining you shirt. Or wear a black shirt. I heal really quickly, but so has everyone else that I have tried this it on, from tomcats to sons. It is seems to penetrate well, is antibacterial, antinflammatory, and seems to promote healing. Elizabeth, You always have interesting solutions (literally). I have a horse, and in equine medicine poultices are used frequently. (My husband is always joking that equine medicine is sort of like using leeches--but we use them in medicine now to help drain wounds....) Anyway, mustard poultices are frequently used on horses. This weekend, my horse was receiving excellent care for his early metabolic syndrome: the vet was doing digital xrays of his feet, while we discussed magnesium/chromium and cinnamon for him. He's an older appaloosa, who looks great under her care, when we got a call that my daughter's fiance, an intern, had fainted (with palpitations first) and fell down a flight of stairs. He was taken to the hospital where I used to work. Despite me throwing what weight I have around--he was left unsupervised, with a neck brace on for over an hour--too sick for the urgent care and no beds in the back, and the triage didn't have a medical provider to start the work up or monitor him, and ultimately his care was horrible. They didn't evaluate him any more than I would have done in my office--an EKG and a couple of basic labs. So, the horse got the better care, at a way lower cost, and we're having to arrange for a cardiologist to do the correct evaluation. I realize this is off track, but to quote a nurse practitioner I admire "whenever I need the healthcare system, it never fails to dissapoint me." Licorice is medicinal, and I'd love to collect your posts to have alternative references. My horse's vet was discussing the use of supplements for horses and humans, when we got the call to go to the ER.... Judy > Mel: > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > It is seems to penetrate well, is antibacterial, antinflammatory, and > seems to promote healing. It is scary. I keep hearing more and more about substandard care in hospital ER. No wonder why nobody wants to go there (well, another reason anyway!!). I sent you an email updating my situation. Mel > Elizabeth, > You always have interesting solutions (literally). I have a horse, [quoted text clipped - 45 lines] >> It is seems to penetrate well, is antibacterial, antinflammatory, and >> seems to promote healing. > > Elizabeth, > > You always have interesting solutions (literally). I have a horse, [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > > > Judy judy; I am so sorry about the treatment of your daughter's fiancie. Just a thought, but have them check him out for epilepsy. It has occured to me before that the schedule for interns and residents Sheep deprivation, then waking after a couple of hours is very simular to the program that they use to bring on epileptic attacks when trying to pinpoint the source. On another subject, Why don't you submit a proposal to the NIH to characterize the metagenome in the mucus of healthy controls and compare it to that of chronic sinusitis sufferers? About Candidia, well pretty much it is not Candidia, but it is fungus. And NYstatin was a great drug in it's day, but most of the little fungi have the pumps to get rid of it these days. Now the azoles, with the the statins can kill it, but not much work is being done, basically because it used to be almost impossibly frustrating, however now with genomic and protenome characterization you don't have to wait for it to spore to figure out how to kill it. Failing to diagnose fungus is the biggest contributer to "wrong diagnosis" causes of death in hospitals, but they don't seem to be loading up on the technology to diagnose it more reliably. >From what I have seen, Medicine is in large part a cargo cult. Outside of maybe 10 institutions and their allied spheres of influence, there is a lot of form and seems very little understanding of limitations, sensitivity, selectivity, etc etc, etc. , Thanks for the info: I'd submit a proposal to the NIH if I had a clue how to do research--I'm just a primary care doc, and the only grant I've ever received is a title 7 teaching grant--for the family medicine clerkship. My daughter's fiance tracked down a good cardiologist, while he was on call yesterday, and will get some evaluation. It didn't seem like a seizure: no post-ictal phase, but I completely agree that the sleep deprivation of interns (and attendings) is inhumane. When I was an intern, I was pregnant, and failed my inital diabetes screen--because I'd been up all night and was stressed. My three hour glucose tolerance was fine. Currently, I'm avoiding call--it's making the medical director nuts, but after 20+ years of sleep deprivation, I feel like I've paid my dues. Judy > > > Elizabeth, > > > You always have interesting solutions (literally). I have a horse, [quoted text clipped - 61 lines] > > , > Thanks for the info: I'd submit a proposal to the NIH if I had a clue > how to do research--I'm just a primary care doc, and the only grant [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Judy Judy; If I have piqued you curosity, this old engineer would start here. http://www.niaid.nih.gov/dmid/genomes/ They have some pretty trick stuff to ask for. As to the sleep depravation, I don't see how the hosptials get away with setting up a schedule that has been shown to compromise the health and judgement of those people on it. People that we rely to be alert and able to to think, to diagnose to save our limbs and lives. BTW Good new artical about hospital error at night and on the WE in Reader's Digest of all places. Elizabeth > This is not for a sinus infection. > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Mel I am on a 10 day cephalexin 500 mg.x 3 per day into day seven now with zero side effects also zero clearing of thick sinus discharge. I'm not allergic to penicillin. Drug does not work on fungus, only some bacteria. Jamffer
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