Sepsis

[Chippy_Tea]

I am posting this as a heads up as i have just read the article below on BBC news -

I recently suffered pain in my foot and put it down to gout as i have had this before but the pain got worse over the next few days and it was not confined to my toe as my usual gout attacks are, a few days later my foot was very red, swollen and hot to the touch and i started to shiver and feel really miserably, as i could not use the brake pedal in the car due to the pain we called the doctor out and when he eventually arrived he diagnosed cellulitis which can trigger sepsis and immediately put me on antibiotics and strong pain killers, he told me if it got worse i would probably have to go into hospital and be put on an antibiotic drip fortunately over the next few days the swelling and pain died down but it was a worrying couple of weeks.


Sepsis deaths recorded in England's hospitals have risen by more than a third in two years, according to data collected by a leading safety expert.

This is a small part of todays BBC Article (link below)

It starts with an infection that can come from anywhere - even a contaminated cut or insect bite.

Normally, your immune system kicks in to fight the infection and stop it spreading.

But if the infection manages to spread quickly round the body, then the immune system will launch a massive immune response to fight it.

This can also be a problem as the immune response can have catastrophic effects on the body, leading to septic shock, organ failure and even death.

Symptoms include:

• slurred speech
• extreme shivering or muscle pain
• passing no urine in a day
• severe breathlessness
• "I feel like I might die"
• skin mottled or discoloured

Symptoms in young children include:

• looks mottled, bluish or pale
• very lethargic or difficult to wake
• abnormally cold to touch
• breathing very fast
• a rash that does not fade when you press it
• a seizure or convulsion

Read in full - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45045438

 

[BeerCat]

Interesting Chippy. Thanks for posting and glad you recovered.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Interesting Chippy. Thanks for posting and glad you recovered.

I hope it may save someone having to go to hospital or worse, i imagine i am not the only one here who hates going to the doctors and hospital and always says to their other half "it will be fine tomorrow" or "i will go to the doctors tomorrow if its no better" the problem is the longer you refuse to go the worse the outcome may be.

 

[Cwrw666]

My Mrs had this last year, a small sore on a finger from handling sheep got infected. Next day you could see the infection had spread up her hand along the veins. Straight to hospital. Don't bother with the doctors, this is a genuine A&E thing.

 

[Oneiroi]

Thanks for sharing Chippy. I had a very similar thing happen a few years back, my foot was very swollen, agonising pain from within the joint and bright red with clearly delineated line between the red area and normal skin. I ended up spending two days in the hospital on a drip as they were worried it was septic arthritis (i.e. sepsis within the joint), they ended up stumped but best guess diagnosis was cellulitis (they tested and ruled out gout at the time).

About a year later I had some more pain and swelling in my ankle which was diagnosed as gout and though I've had a few flare ups since, none have got anywhere near as bad as the episode that landed me in hospital. My doctors working theory is that the swelling from the cellulitis triggered my first gout 'attack' by pushing the tissue against the sharp crystals causing an attack despite my uric levels being below the normal level.

Don't know if it's true but I feel your pain, both things were/are seriously painful.

 

[GerritT]

I worked 3 summers in a pig slaughterhouse through my study, and saw and received a fair bit of infections. We were very sharp on the look and smell of those infections: one day it could be just a bit of a nuisance, next day ambulance with all the fancy lights!
Thank heavens only got some scarring, never a puss-filled wound on my knuckles or the like.

 

[Dutto]

If you know that you are going into hospital for an operation I suggest that you use this product ...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001AV4C20/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

... for showering a couple of times before you go into hospital.

The product doesn't guard against everything (a mate of mine recently developed pneumonia after surgery on an aortic embolism) but it does give a person going into hospital for a planned operation a bit of extra protection for infections that can be contracted through the skin.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

my foot was very swollen, agonising pain from within the joint and bright red with clearly delineated line between the red area and normal skin.

Thanks for sharing and i missed this crucial point in my OP the doctor told me to keep an eye on the line and if it travelled any further towards my ankle i had to pone my GP immediately.

.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Thanks Dutto glad to see it works on giraffes.

• Antimicrobial skin cleanser containing the active ingredient chlorhexidine gluconate
• Helps to prevent infections by killing germs on the skin
• Effective against a wide range of bacteria, yeasts, fungi and viruses
• For external use only on humans
• For external use only on equines, cats, dogs, guinea pigs, giraffes etc

 

[Dutto]

Yeah!

It's useful to have a bottle on hand in the bathroom cupboard though, just in case a passing giraffe needs an operation. :thumb:

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Yeah!

It's useful to have a bottle on hand in the bathroom cupboard though, just in case a passing giraffe needs an operation. :thumb:

 

[Clint]

Chlorahexidine...used gallons of the stuff when I had a fixator bolted to my left femur for a few months...

 

[darkbright]

This also very nearly happened to me. Scraped my elbow on my brew shed wall and it started an infection. Luckily I work in a hospital and was sorted out very quickly with IV antbiotics for a week.

On a side note, if you are having repeated infections, or if wounds take ages to heal, get checked for diabtetes as this can often be down to undiganosed diabetes and raised blood sugar levels.

 

[CeeGee]

My mum had a does of pneumonia earlier this year which went on to cause sepsis. Almost lost her. Not nice at all.