Ceullulitis Question

Hope, It would be nice if the doctor would check you. It sure sounds like cellulits and the usual recommendation is no compression until the infection is clearing up.

   I think the antibiotic is a good idea, and the compression hypothetically would have been omitted the first few days, but you can cautiously try it now.

   I used to take Levaquin a lot for sinus infections and I was miserable when I took it: insomnia was horrible. But, it's a very powerful drug for infections. 

    Sounds like you need it, and I used to find the side effects got better, but you really should be checked by a doctor and your therapist.

    Sure sounds like cellulitis and you want to treat it aggressively as it can become very bad very quickly and the infection can damage lymphatics.

    Drink a lot of fluids, elevate the arm, and do the deep breathing, and let us know how you're doing.

Kira

Hope,

Levaquin is indeed a very powerful antibiotic with some uncomfortable side effects.  I don't believe it would be considered the drug of choice for cellulitis though.  During my one hospitaliztion for cellulitis I was given IV Ancef for 2 days and then sent home on 10 days of oral Keflex, very similar to katiejane.  I now always carry a filled prescription for 10 days of oral Keflex 500 mg QID (4x daily) just in the event that a cellulitis might start developing while out of town or not close to medical services.  My primary MD renews the prescription every year when I see him for my physical.

I will tell you in retrospect I realized that for almost a week before I developed a red, hot spot on my LE arm I had been feeling "tired" and headachy and just "off" which was very unusual for me. I did not associate it with the cellulitis at all until after the fact. Sometimes it takes several days or weeks for a low grade infection to "brew" before it turns into more acute symptoms of redness, heat, pain, fever and chills etc.  Once it reaches that state however, it is a true medical emergency.  Having antibiotics on hand when you first start to recognize the symptoms can often shorten the length and severity of the infection.

I was not allowed to wear my sleeve and glove while my arm was still red and hot to touch, but by 48 hours after being on antibiotics that had improved enough I could start wearing compression again.  Hope, I would continue your course of antibiotics until completed and then be sure to have a discussion with your regular onc or whichever doctor you would like to order your prophylactic antibiotics to keep on hand.  Keflex seems to be the most common choice.

If your redness and warmth are still present on Monday,  then Levaquin may not be totally effective against whatever bacteria is causing your infection.  Definitely check in with your doctor if not improved.

Wishing you a speedy recovery!

Linda

Jinky, unfortunately, a cellulitis can cause some damage to the lymphatics, which is another reason why you want to treat it early and aggressively.

Drugs for cellulitis vary, Levaquin is a quinolone (like Cipro)--but unllike cipro it  covers" gram positives" (bacteria, usually staph or strep)  that tend to cause cellulitis. It's kind of "big guns". Some people need to use it due to allergies. It just went generic. The thing about quinolones is that they have very high blood levels--oral is as good as IV, but they have a lot of side effects as well. 

Personally, as I'm allergic to keflex, I keep augmentin on hand.

Bottom line for hope1 is that IMO you don't treat cellulitis over the phone--except maybe to get started, and it needs careful monitoring.

Jinky, I think I heard about the link between infection and lymphatic damage at the NLN conference, I'll try and find references.

Kira

My PS also put me on Levaquin over the phone when I had cellulitis on the breast, but when I went in to see her the next day, she wanted me to go to the hospital.  We settled on seeing the infectious disease doctor who got me set up with an IV at home for ten days. But, I also had a bit of a fever.

Hope, it does seem to be taking a long time. One of the women on these boards, Cookiegal, was treated for almost a year, and there was huge debate if it was or wasn't cellulitis.

Hopefully the higher dose of keflex will kick in soon. Give it a couple of days.

What a royal pain for you.

Kira