Painful to breathe/MRSA

[perrster]

I have been having a hard time breathing for the past week, Ealier in the week i had coughed up some thick green mucus and since, i have not been able to cough, although i am weezing. The pain is on my left side. When i first got the pain it would hurt to exhale, and now theres just a steady pain, even when i try to rest and not breathe in at all.. I went to web md, and only found that i may have collapsed lung, or pnemonia (pneumonia). The pain is there whether i walk or sit, and i havent coughed anything in about 5 days. I still have a tickle to cough i just cant breathe in deep enough to expel. Any help?
Also this started about the same time i was getting a MRSA outbreak on my thigh... dont think theres MRSA in my lung .. but was wondering if the immune system was shot... I dont know...

[Rowena Santos, MD]

Hi perrster,

How are you? What medications did you take for your MRSA in your thigh?
Most Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections occur in hospitals or other health care settings.  It's known as health care-associated MRSA, or HA-MRSA. Older adults and people with weakened immune systems are at most risk of HA-MRSA. More recently, another type of MRSA has occurred among otherwise healthy people in the wider community. This form, community-associated MRSA, or CA-MRSA, is responsible for serious skin and soft tissue infections and for a serious form of pneumonia. Risk factors for community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA) include:  age, participating in contact sports, sharing towels or athletic equipment, having a weakened immune system, living in crowded or unsanitary conditions and even association with health care workers.

It is best to visit your doctor for proper evaluation and management. He may need to do chest x-ray and check your thigh tissue for signs of drug-resistant bacteria.
You can learn more about this through hthis link: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mrsa/DS00735/DSECTION=1

I hope this helps. Take care and keep us posted.