From my limited knowledge the only definitive test for endocarditis is a blood culture, which takes a few days to show a result. The heart can be seriously damaged while the blood culture is growing.
Endocarditis from a drop of blood?
- Thread starter Wendel
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Gail in Ca
Well-known member
Here was my timeline:
10/30 walked dog 3 miles, felt fine
10/31 during drive to SoCal, felt very achy around 11am. Got to LA, shoulder painful, aches. Couldn’t use knife at dinner or zip pants. I felt terrible. Thought flu.
11/1 stayed in room while husband and daughter went to game. Took a pain killer.
11/2 ER visit in LA. Doc said flu and rotator cuff pain. No blood tests ordered.
11/3 drove home
11/4 urgent care, mri of shoulder, blood in urine at 8pm. INR 6.7. On call doc said hold warfarin next day and test the day after.
11/5. Worst headache ever that night
11/6 couldn’t get reading of INR. Back to urgent care. Xray showed brain bleed, INR 8.3. Taken to ER. Given vit k shots for INR now at 9.
11/7 Doc in ER thought arteritis, sending me to Stanford. Blood cultures results came back showing staph lugdunensis, still sent to Stanford hospital for treatment.
What a whirlwind!
10/30 walked dog 3 miles, felt fine
10/31 during drive to SoCal, felt very achy around 11am. Got to LA, shoulder painful, aches. Couldn’t use knife at dinner or zip pants. I felt terrible. Thought flu.
11/1 stayed in room while husband and daughter went to game. Took a pain killer.
11/2 ER visit in LA. Doc said flu and rotator cuff pain. No blood tests ordered.
11/3 drove home
11/4 urgent care, mri of shoulder, blood in urine at 8pm. INR 6.7. On call doc said hold warfarin next day and test the day after.
11/5. Worst headache ever that night
11/6 couldn’t get reading of INR. Back to urgent care. Xray showed brain bleed, INR 8.3. Taken to ER. Given vit k shots for INR now at 9.
11/7 Doc in ER thought arteritis, sending me to Stanford. Blood cultures results came back showing staph lugdunensis, still sent to Stanford hospital for treatment.
What a whirlwind!
@Gail in Ca First of all, congratulations on having gone through that and having come out victorious. Now with endocarditis, the bacteria you mention (Staphylococcus lugdunensis) is rare but very serious. It would be good if in your timelapse you remembered before the symptoms to see how that bacteria entered your body (on the internet it says that it enters through skin infections such as pimples).
@3mm Your bacteria, according to what is stated on the website, is transmitted in almost all cases through nosocomial events. Surely that injection was the cause of the endocarditis.
It is important that we learn from each case to try to prevent endocarditis.
If symptoms are present, we must request a blood culture and see if we are infected by any bacteria and thus begin antibiotic treatment as soon as possible.
@3mm Your bacteria, according to what is stated on the website, is transmitted in almost all cases through nosocomial events. Surely that injection was the cause of the endocarditis.
It is important that we learn from each case to try to prevent endocarditis.
If symptoms are present, we must request a blood culture and see if we are infected by any bacteria and thus begin antibiotic treatment as soon as possible.
Gail in Ca
Well-known member
That’s just the problem. I didn’t have any skin issues before having symptoms. The infectious disease doc inspected my body at Stanford and found nothing, no cuts, punctures, pimples, etc. I was 54.
