Azithromycin treatment

Has anyone been put on low dose maintenance treatment of Azithromycin antibiotics?

I've been taking 250mg 3 times a week since around February as my consultant thinks it may benefit me. I cant find much info on it out there and wondered if there were many people trying it? I am cough variant brittle asthma and have had 4 admissions in 12 months, 6 months of pred but I just came off it a couple of weeks ago. I think the dr said it had been shown to reduce viral/bacterial respiratory infections, which are my main trigger.

[Hidden]

Hi i think that is what im about to start, consultant not happy with amount of iinfections i get. The consultant said he has about 50 patients on it and they are responding well. he did say there was not much written about this treatment.

I had to have ecg and blood test to check liver function and he'll write to gp with results so they can start treatment. I will also need liver function test after 2 weeks of taking the antibiotics.

Hope this helps that you are not alone

Lisa

[Coldix in reply to Hidden]

I have been on Azithromycin for about nine weeks now. I had a liver function test after three weeks and was fine. Before starting with Azithromycin I was on a maximum daily dose of Symbicort inhaler, frequently needed Bricanyl during the day, also took a daily Montelucast tablet and had started with a Seebri Breezhaler too. Since starting with Azithromycin I have felt better than I have done in years. I am 70 years old and have stopped the Seebri inhaler, I haven't needed any Bricanyl at all and have halved the inhalations of Symbicort. My peak flow is slightly higher than it was, I cough less and there is much less phlegm.

[Hidden]

Its a common treatment if you have problems with infections, I have been on it about four years or so. Its also a recommended treatment for bronchiectasis (which causes repeated infections). According to my respiratory specialist at Papworth, it is also thought to have anti inflammatory action in the lungs.

[Hidden]

I have it too, 250mg Monday/Wednesday/Friday. This prophylactic use is also quite good with chronic sinusitis as well as asthma, bronchiectasis, COPD and cystic fibrosis. After I started it, the Royal Brompton mentioned I should have liver function bloods and a hearing test especially as I have a slight sensio-neural hearing loss. Never been told though if this was a one-off or meant to be checked regularly. I suspect this monitoring is another part of the lack of info and probably varies a lot for different people. You do need to aware of similar macrolide antibiotics such as erythromycin.

[Hidden]

I forgot to mention that, I have monthly LFT's done because of the azithromycin.

[Hidden]

oh.. I've been on it since the start of march and no-one has tested anything!!! eep. will ask about that when I see the consultant on Monday!

I have only had one virus since I started on the azithromycin, and that exacerbation was brought under control by keeping my pred at 10mg per day (I was decreasing 1mg a day at the time) which was a vast improvement on previous exacerbations.

[Hidden]

I have recently been put on Azithromycin 250mg as well but I take it every day. Not sure if that has anything to do with my immune deficiency though? I have bronch as well so it might.

I'm getting terrible bowel issues with it though. I hope it settles down soon. The Erythromycin didn't cause me any problems though. I'm a bit concerned as my consultant said that if this doesn't work, the next step is IVIG.

James.