has anybody taken azithromycin and amikacin

Posted by lili56 @lili56, Apr 6, 2023

I have MAC and bronchiectasis. started on azithromycin 500 mg yesterday and I am starting 3 days a week amikacin infusion tomorrow. Does anybody know what side effects to expect from these two meds and how toreduce at least some of them. My doctor said to let her know if I feel any ringing in my ears. I am still learning about my illness and future does frighten me.

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@formergardener

I believe that Amikacin can be delivered by nebulizing. My doctor’s office did say that Azithromycin should not be taken alone, due to resistance developing, and that this is one of the main reasons for using a cocktail of multiple drugs. There is now a large clinical trial of 2 vs 3 additional drugs used concurrently with Azithromycin. It involves adding either Ethambutol or Ethambutol and Rifampin. Rifampin has been shown to lower blood levels of Azithromycin, and many patients do just as well with only the Ethambutol added. The study trial is ongoing. My doctor said that, while they once worried about using only 2 drugs, having Amikacin to add after 6 months, if culture conversion has not been reached, is a game changer.

I was told to take the one tablet of Azithromycin together with all three tablets of Ethambutol together right before bed and just sleep. I have been doing that with no issues. I take them on an empty stomach for better absorption.

Every morning, I take a very good probiotic strain with 25 billion plus an additional one with saccharomyces boulardi and another of rhamnosus. I take these a couple of hours before eating. Although I had loose stools while on Clofazimine only, my stools and BMs are completely normal on the new regimin. Maybe try this. Each of us is different, and I have been on this for less than a month, but it may help you.

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Hello, I take Jarrowdophilus 2 times a day. Can you tell me the name of the additional probiotic with saccharomyces boulardi and one of rhammosus? Many thanks.

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@blixtentoo

Hello, I take Jarrowdophilus 2 times a day. Can you tell me the name of the additional probiotic with saccharomyces boulardi and one of rhammosus? Many thanks.

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Hello. Yes- and I order both on Amazon. The Florastor comes in bottles of 100 and has Saccharomyces boulardi. It recommends 2 capsules taken one to two times daily. I do one time with 2 caps. The other probiotic is Culturelle that comes in a box of 60 caps at one per day. It is the Lactobacillus rhamnosus and also has 200 mg inulin (a prebiotic).

When I had to take Augmentin, which is a bit hard on the gut, I got a little loose stool and started also taking Mega SporeBiotic. The sporebiotics resist antibiotics and are actually taken with food. I take the Orthomolecular probiotic blend capsules and the Culturelle and Florastor about 30 min before breakfast and then take one Sporbiotic with breakfast. When I added that Sporbiotic, it totally nipped the little bit of loose stool, and it stopped later that day. I have continued to take it. You might look it up and read about sporebiotics. You don’t need more than one. I also take a scoop of high quality bovine collagen each morning on an empty stomach with the probiotics. My gut has never been better. My appetite is great, too. We need to take care of our gut micro biome and lining, in order to maintain our immune system and to ensure that we absorb what we eat. A good digestive enzyme also helps as we get older. Everyone is different, but these things have worked well for me. The powdered colostrum is through my GP office, but you can access it online as well. Just before you get one that is well absorbed. It helps to close the junctions in leaky gut and makes the probiotics work better. After you take it daily for a while, you can ease off to every other day. Makes a world of difference. Sometimes I wonder if a messed up gut from antibiotics contributes to antibiotic resistance. I wonder if they have done any research into that. Anyway, I hope this information is helpful.

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Thank you so much for this information. I am definitely going to look into this and appreciate how specific you've been, learned so much more than i knew about these probiotics.

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Hi, yes I took the big 3 antibiotics including the Amikacin. Well it will affect your hearing and tinnitus as in my case. At times the ringing was too loud that I had to stop and take a break for the day and restart the next day. Every body is different and overall I felt like light headache every single day and developed cramps in my stomach. But after few days your body will adjust and things will improve..good luck!

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I am taking azithromyacin alone, 500 mg , MWF, and do not have MAC, according to my pulmonologist. Now I'm freaked out about that, as well as still coughing all night.

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@rebecross

I am taking azithromyacin alone, 500 mg , MWF, and do not have MAC, according to my pulmonologist. Now I'm freaked out about that, as well as still coughing all night.

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Rebecross, do they have any diagnosis?

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@rstel7272

Rebecross, do they have any diagnosis?

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I'm told I have bronchiectasis, but also that my response so far is atypical. I see Dr next week, and if nothing new is explored, I'll be getting a second opinion.

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@rstel7272

Expect tinnitus for sure. I had extreme dizziness in week 5, it put me in the ER. Dr cut dose from 500mg to 400mg and made it barely tolerable. Dizziness did stop after week 12 thank goodness. Take the AZ in evening, that might help.

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@rstel7272 did the tinnitus from the Amikacin clear up after you stopped taking it or did you have lasting ototoxicity effects? Not sure if the dizziness and tinnitus you are describing are one and the same side effect or different. Thx.

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@mayocarlost

Hi, yes I took the big 3 antibiotics including the Amikacin. Well it will affect your hearing and tinnitus as in my case. At times the ringing was too loud that I had to stop and take a break for the day and restart the next day. Every body is different and overall I felt like light headache every single day and developed cramps in my stomach. But after few days your body will adjust and things will improve..good luck!

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@mayocarlost did your hearing and tinnitus issues clear up when you stopped the Amikacin or did you have permanent side effects?

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@bayarea58

@rstel7272 did the tinnitus from the Amikacin clear up after you stopped taking it or did you have lasting ototoxicity effects? Not sure if the dizziness and tinnitus you are describing are one and the same side effect or different. Thx.

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It's always hard to be certain, but I had lasting tinnitus and dizziness starting in week 5 of amikacin, got better after completing week 12 but continued through 5 months of arikayce for
about 2 more years. My cardio added a statin in 2023 that retriggered it all. I stopped the statin last April and have been clear since. All strange and confusing to everyone.

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