Unknown skin/ possibly systemic infection- no diagnosis- medical professionals could give me ideas?

My husband, son (8), and I all have skin problems- abcesses cellulitis and severe acne. Son has just had one abcess, but hubby and I have had many recurrent abcesses and cellulitis. I think it is related to some kind of dental infection. All of us keep getting cavities. I have had to have many teeth extracted. It gets better with antibiotics like clindamycin, and after extractions, but always comes back. It starts near the neck and jawline for me, spreads from there, and I feel pockets of fluid under the tissues in my neck that seem to shift to another location where I have sores when I apply any pressure to the pockets, and my skin starts to feel mushy like a rotten tomato. When it gets bad I also have fast heart palps- and twice they heard a murmur during a 'bad' time that was not present later. Is it possible for this to all be connected to a pathogen?


This has been going on for a couple years first husb. and I, and now my son too. Low income clinic- never see same doc twice.
Unknown skin/ possibly systemic infection- no diagnosis- medical professionals could give me ideas?
Hi there. I have a pretty rudimentary knowledge of these things, but there's what I think:





- It sounds like you've seen the Wiki article on tooth abcesses already. I'd ignore the paragraph about cashews that's there now since that seems to be thrown in as some unproven advertising.


- I would connect the abcesses and cellulitis together....that would usually be caused by a bacterial agent. If clindamycin/another broad sprectrum antibiotic has helped you and your family members at least temporarily, I'd suggest trying to take it over a course of months/a year or so if you can get a prescription. Sometimes these drugs need to be taken over that long of a time span to improve the situation/clear it up for good (I was on tetracycline/doxycycline for about a year for severe acne before it cleared up, along w/ other skin treatments).


- The heart palps might be caused by a bacterial/viral agent if it's gotten into your blood, which would be indicative of a systemic infection. It may or may not be the same bacterial agent that's causing your famiy's dental problems. You might see about getting samples taken from you and your family members to see if a common agent can be isolated from both the dental tissue and bloodwork.


- Just in general, since your family has been having the same dental problems (how long has this been going on?), it might be related to your family's diet. Obviously some diets promote the buildup of biofilms on your teeth more than others, and doing stuff like not brushing your teeth/not flossing regularly/not getting your teeth cleaned will aid in calculus formation and all that gross stuff. The bacteria that's causing your abcesses might be a normal oral bacteria like a Streptococcus or a Staphylococcus that's become an opportunistic pathogen, though it could also be a pathogen that you've all acquired through preparing certain foods in a certain setting, possibly through water...it could be a lot of things.





So I would say you should write down your and your family's history of these problems to show it's been recurring over a certain timespan, and present this to a doctor who'll listen and try to develop a long-term treatment plan for your family until the problems clear up. You should all probably continue to take broad-spectrum antibiotics, as long as your doctor agrees, to see if that will clear the infection (and possibly the acne too). I would see if you can get bloodwork done to see if there's anything unusual there that might be behind the heart palpitations, if you haven't already done so. I hope this has helped.
Unknown skin/ possibly systemic infection- no diagnosis- medical professionals could give me ideas?
Because you are all suffering from what seems to be the same ailment or ailments, it's likely (but not guaranteed) to be a pathogen related to your surroundings.





You all need full-spectrum blood tests to rule this in or out.





It could be that you are all unlucky enough to need root-canal work at the same time, but this is not likely.





If the blood tests don't find the cause for your chronic-conditions, ask your doctor to refer you to a diagnostician, who will be more likely to identify what you're suffering from than an over-worked clinic-doctor.


A test on your hair could also reveal an underlying cause.





You could also ask your local provider to test your water supply;


It could be caused by something you are all regularly exposed to, in your enviroment; your home or workplace, or something you all consume; water, food etc.





Good luck.





--------------------------------------...





based on your update:





It might be worthwhile asking your doctor to test you for high uric-acid levels (hyperuricemia).
Reply:You have seen a MD on several different occasions at the same clinic. And even though they are different doctors each time they should still all consult your chart, and so would know what the other doctors have done concerning your treatment and whatever conclusions they may have come to. I am assuming that blood tests have been taken but no pathogens were found.





The fact that you are all experiencing this "long term" makes me wonder if the cause might be environmental. My first steps would be to have a sample of your tap water tested for contamination. If you are hooked to a city water system they will do it for free. If you have a well or spring you can contact a local university or college and they may also test it for free. Also Look for any discolorations in your walls and ceiling tiles that might signify a mold infestation inside the walls or in the attic. Other things to look at are allergic reactions to household cleaners, detergents and other products.





If that fails, just to rule out an environmental cause you should move out of your home for a few weeks to see if the condition gets better.
Reply:My daughter had a skin infection not as severe as yours and not with anywhere near the number of symtoms. We took her to the Doctor who did not prescribe anything as it was to vague for him to do much at all. Very frustrating. What I did was take her home, run a nice hot bath ,filled it with a kg of salt and we soaked her in it every night for an hour. Nothing much will live with salt,not even bugs on/under the skin. After a month it all cleared up and the Doctor was very surprised. Simple but very effective. Just needs to be done over a long period.