I was on azythromycin, rifampin, and ethambutol, Mon-Wed-Fri for 2 weeks in September 2025 when my cough completely went away. Mind you, I'd had this cough since ~2015 and it got much worse over the past 2 years. In December 2025, the doc stopped Ethambutol (didn't think it was worth the side effects, since I made such progress). I've been on just the other two, same schedule, since then--so far, for 7 months. He wants me to stick with this until September 2026 (but I haven't spoken with him about the new symptoms--next appt. is about 6 weeks away).
The past few weeks, my GI system has been giving me a lot of trouble (gas, nauseam, etc.), I have lots of body aches, I'm hot and cold... Now I know correlation doesn't mean causation--could be because I'm eating gluten (gave it up during Lent), or it could be hormones, or it could be lack of sleep, or it could be sloppy timing of when I take the antibiotics, due to my schedule of late. Also, my other meds don't seem to be working as well, which could point to poor absorption. I'm feeling too tired and to overloaded with work (full time) and school (accelerated doctorate) to go to the doctor (and my PCP justs retired). I take probiotics, when I remember to do so, but I read an article by a GI doc yesterday (in the WaPo) that said probiotics may not be a good thing (the article was about IBS, not antibiotics) and to focus on soluble fiber.
I think I just came here to whine - thanks for listening, but if this resonates with anyone... you're not the only one!