has anybody taken azithromycin and amikacin

You don’t mention whether you have had a baseline hearing test, which is important as both drugs can cause changes in hearing.
Also azithromycin and I v amikacin is unusual without other drugs to reduce the risk of antibiotic resistance, among other reasons .
How was this combination chosen?
In terms of side effects from azithromycin, diarrhea has been the most obvious for me.

thank you for your response and sharing concerns. I am starting rifabutin 300 mg after a week of taking azithromycin and then after another week ethambutol 400 mg. I tried the three antibiotics together in November and got very high fever- my doctor thought it could be the reaction to the meds. The treatment was stopped and I am starting it again but this time she decided it would be one of the three at a time so that we could watch for any adverse reaction. As far as the hearing test, she did not mention hearing test- i was only advised to watch for ringing in my ears and if i notice it I should let them know right away. Well, is it the right course of the treatment? I do not know, I can only hope because it seems to be a rocky road for me- I already changed a pulmonologist. How did you deal with diarrhea? I take a probiotic and eat yogurt and hope it prevents the worst. Are you still taking meds or are you already well? I am still learning how to deal with the thought of being ill and I am only at the beginning of this road. So thank you for your response- i am going to ask for the hearing test and ask about the risk of antibiotic resistance.

I take the big 3 and have since Aug 2022 (azithromycin, rifampin and ethambutol). Last month my eye specialist took me off ethambutol because I failed my second field eye test which my infectious disease Dr concurred. I do have ringing in my ears but my ear specialist says there is nothing they can do for it, but I have no hearing loss. I did find that the nausea is better if you take the pills 3 hrs apart during the day and not near any regular daily meds you may be taking. Good luck and you have found a wonderful sight for support.

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.

I'm on the Azithromycin three times weekly. My infectious disease specialist at Cedars recently took me off the
rifampin and ethambutol but I must say that it's been a month and my condition has gotten worse. Hopefully I will get use to this change in medications. It's been a rough rode in my third year with MAC but I remain hopeful that something will come out as a better breakthrough to fight this. Where is that research?!

Very interested in Amikacin. Is it delivered by injection and for a short period of time?!

By IV in the infusion lab at the hospital 3 times per week. Takes an hour, I scheduled mine just before lunch time and got a free lunch to go with the cable TV. Like 5 star hotel but more expensive.

What's the length of this process - weeks? Does it seem to help with the condition?!

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.

Thanks. Been on the Big 3 but my Doc stopped two of them due to worries about eyes etc.