Ludwig's Angina - ever heard of it?

[my3sonsagn]

I went to the Dr today because the area between my chin and neck is swollen and tender; I figured maybe an infection of some sort - a few days of antibiotics and no problem. Instead he tells me I have Ludwig's Angina; I got the Rx for antibiotics (not the "best" kind for it - those are the "cillins" and I can't have them) that I expected, but I also got a warning that the swelling is pretty aggressive, so I'm supposed to be alert for difficulty swallowing or breathing, drooling, stiffening of the jaw, and fever - if any of these occur it's straight to the hospital for me. Dr Google (yes, I *should* know better) indicates the mortality rate is 8 in 100 even with antibiotics.

Has anyone ever had this or even heard of it? If so, did oral antibiotics do the trick or was hospitalization and/or drainage surgery necessary?

To be honest, I'm more than a little freaked out (and afraid to sleep - I offered my teen son who keeps insane hours anyway money to watch me sleep and make sure I don't stop breathing... I was only half kidding), so hearing that people have had this and NOT had major problems would be nice!

 

[Ning Ning]

I went to the Dr today because the area between my chin and neck is swollen and tender; I figured maybe an infection of some sort - a few days of antibiotics and no problem. Instead he tells me I have Ludwig's Angina; I got the Rx for antibiotics (not the "best" kind for it - those are the "cillins" and I can't have them) that I expected, but I also got a warning that the swelling is pretty aggressive, so I'm supposed to be alert for difficulty swallowing or breathing, drooling, stiffening of the jaw, and fever - if any of these occur it's straight to the hospital for me. Dr Google (yes, I *should* know better) indicates the mortality rate is 8 in 100 even with antibiotics.

Has anyone ever had this or even heard of it? If so, did oral antibiotics do the trick or was hospitalization and/or drainage surgery necessary?

To be honest, I'm more than a little freaked out (and afraid to sleep - I offered my teen son who keeps insane hours anyway money to watch me sleep and make sure I don't stop breathing... I was only half kidding), so hearing that people have had this and NOT had major problems would be nice!

Don't play with this - it is very serious!

Sorry - my story is kind of long. It was a Tuesday, December 27, 2005. I went to work as normal then developed a really bad pain in my jaw after biting on something really soft. I suffered through the day. On Wednesday, I saw my dentist who diagnosed an abcess under a root canal and a crown. He gave me antibiotics. In the wee hours of Thursday morning, I was in so much pain, I drove myself to the ER (I live alone). The left side of my face was also swollen. The doctor was concerned that I might be having angina because of the jaw pain, so they did an EKG even though I told him I had an abcess. They gave me scripts for a stronger antibiotic and a pain med and I went home.

When I woke up later that day, the swelling was much worse, traveling to near the center of my face and throat area. During the day, the pain got so bad I called my internist. They couldn't or wouldn't see me that day, so I called my sister who took me to a walk-in clinic (of course, they didn't open until 3:00 p.m.). That doctor was very nice but he said he wasn't going to touch me, that I needed to get to ER and have a CT scan done.

When I was finally admitted around 1:00 a.m. Friday morning, they started me on IV penicillin alternated every other hour with some kind of antibiotic. Later that day, an oral surgeon came in to see me and he kept me in the hospital for a couple of days with this alternating treatment. The swelling finally subsided enough for me to go home on New Year's day 2006. I had the tooth pulled in the oral surgeon's office the following Wednesday.

While I was recovering from the anesthesia, he told my sister that I could have easily died if I hadn't been so persistent in getting treatment. If the swelling travels across your windpipe, it could cut off your air supply.

So, this was a long story to tell you to please be pro-active with your health. I'd get to an ER tonight. Please let me know how you're doing.

Ingrid