Starting Zithromax

[lfran]

Hi all.

 

I am picking up a prescription for zithromax today -- 250 mg per day for 30 days for my DS8, 70 pounds.

 

Is this about what most of you have tried, especially by weight? Also, how many of your kids have seen an initial exacerbation when starting zithromax? My son starts his state testing next week -- is it likely he's going to get worse before he gets better?

 

Any info would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[justinekno]

I second these questions! I am picking up zithromax today too for my son. Have you tried other antibiotics before this one?

 

Hi all.

 

I am picking up a prescription for zithromax today -- 250 mg per day for 30 days for my DS8, 70 pounds.

 

Is this about what most of you have tried, especially by weight? Also, how many of your kids have seen an initial exacerbation when starting zithromax? My son starts his state testing next week -- is it likely he's going to get worse before he gets better?

 

Any info would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[matis_mom]

Hi all.

 

I am picking up a prescription for zithromax today -- 250 mg per day for 30 days for my DS8, 70 pounds.

 

Is this about what most of you have tried, especially by weight? Also, how many of your kids have seen an initial exacerbation when starting zithromax? My son starts his state testing next week -- is it likely he's going to get worse before he gets better?

 

Any info would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

We were on Augmentin before going to Zithromax (for a break), and I noticed him sliding back. My son is 80 lbs. I felt 250mg was not strong enough (compared to 2000 mg of Augmentin XR). On top of that my other kids caught strep the following week, so I ended up going back to Augmentin, as it was what worked best for him. Now, everyone is different/has a different strep problem, so I would say try and see. If you are concerned about the testing, maybe you could keep things as they are and just wait until afterwards to switch.

[lfran]

Thanks --

 

I hate to wait longer -- we've waited so long to get to this point.

 

Is your son on 250 zithromax daily or some other schedule? How long does he/will he stay on it? 30 days or longer or shorter?

 

 

 

 

Hi all.

 

I am picking up a prescription for zithromax today -- 250 mg per day for 30 days for my DS8, 70 pounds.

 

Is this about what most of you have tried, especially by weight? Also, how many of your kids have seen an initial exacerbation when starting zithromax? My son starts his state testing next week -- is it likely he's going to get worse before he gets better?

 

Any info would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

We were on Augmentin before going to Zithromax (for a break), and I noticed him sliding back. My son is 80 lbs. I felt 250mg was not strong enough (compared to 2000 mg of Augmentin XR). On top of that my other kids caught strep the following week, so I ended up going back to Augmentin, as it was what worked best for him. Now, everyone is different/has a different strep problem, so I would say try and see. If you are concerned about the testing, maybe you could keep things as they are and just wait until afterwards to switch.

[jayjay]

Hi all.

 

I am picking up a prescription for zithromax today -- 250 mg per day for 30 days for my DS8, 70 pounds.

 

Is this about what most of you have tried, especially by weight? Also, how many of your kids have seen an initial exacerbation when starting zithromax? My son starts his state testing next week -- is it likely he's going to get worse before he gets better?

 

Any info would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

 

My son 90 lbs. takes 375mgs of zithromax per day. It really helped him. He definitely did not get worse before he got better.

[faith]

lfran,

if you could, my advice is to wait til the tests are over, and only because some of us have observed an increase in tics (don't know if your child has that) on zith. I tried about a month of it, and felt he was better off them, but I definitely noticed an increase of his vocal tics, and opted not to continue. so just in case there is something, I'd say let him get thru the tests without any chance of problems, you never know. my son has a 504 and takes the state tests in another room due to his tics and ocd that can slow him down. again, dont recall offhand what your child's issues are, but better to wait so you can observe better, otherwise you might think he has anxiety because of the tests, etc.......believe me, the week will go fast......

 

Faith

[matis_mom]

Thanks --

 

I hate to wait longer -- we've waited so long to get to this point.

 

Is your son on 250 zithromax daily or some other schedule? How long does he/will he stay on it? 30 days or longer or shorter?

Right now he is on both Augmentin XR (twice daily) and Zithromax (once daily). Strep keeps going around our circle of friends and I'm not taking any chances!

Even though I don't like the idea of taking such high dose abxs, it is what works for him. How long? I have no clue. I guess if we have a good 3 or 4 months without a relapse, we could try going down.

Why are you switching to Zithromax? What was your child on before?

 

Isabel

[lfran]

That's a good point -- although we are actually doing two weeks of testing, so it's quite a long wait. Still, we've waited 2 years to get to this point, so I guess 2 more weeks won't be so bad. Fortunately, his current tics don't seem to be getting in the way of writing or concentrating, and he's well prepared for the tests, so I'd hate to throw that off.

 

Thanks!

 

 

lfran,

if you could, my advice is to wait til the tests are over, and only because some of us have observed an increase in tics (don't know if your child has that) on zith. I tried about a month of it, and felt he was better off them, but I definitely noticed an increase of his vocal tics, and opted not to continue. so just in case there is something, I'd say let him get thru the tests without any chance of problems, you never know. my son has a 504 and takes the state tests in another room due to his tics and ocd that can slow him down. again, dont recall offhand what your child's issues are, but better to wait so you can observe better, otherwise you might think he has anxiety because of the tests, etc.......believe me, the week will go fast......

 

Faith

[lfran]

We're actually not switching. This is our first attempt at antibiotics. I am sooo keeping my fingers crossed that this will be helpful. It seems to me that it's pretty split as to whether zith or Augmentin helps better, so we decided to try zith first.

 

Thanks --

 

I hate to wait longer -- we've waited so long to get to this point.

 

Is your son on 250 zithromax daily or some other schedule? How long does he/will he stay on it? 30 days or longer or shorter?

Right now he is on both Augmentin XR (twice daily) and Zithromax (once daily). Strep keeps going around our circle of friends and I'm not taking any chances!

Even though I don't like the idea of taking such high dose abxs, it is what works for him. How long? I have no clue. I guess if we have a good 3 or 4 months without a relapse, we could try going down.

Why are you switching to Zithromax? What was your child on before?

 

Isabel

[matis_mom]

We're actually not switching. This is our first attempt at antibiotics. I am sooo keeping my fingers crossed that this will be helpful. It seems to me that it's pretty split as to whether zith or Augmentin helps better, so we decided to try zith first.

Oh my goodness! If it's your first try, go ahead and start now. I don't think it can make things worse if he has been untreated so far, things can only get better. Especially since it's not a particularly high dose, it's not like your are going to have a big die-off (well, at least I don't think so, others might have had different experiences?)

The doctor who started treating my son started everything VERY slowly. She probably has good reasons, but it did not seem to make a dent in behaviors until we saw Dr. L and started full strenght abxs plus steroids.

How much of a big deal are those tests anyway?

You could look at it two different ways:

1) You've waited two years, a couple more weeks are not going to make a difference

2) You've waited two years, it's about time you make some progress!

I guess it depends on the severity of the symptoms. When we discovered what it was, we couldn't wait to start treatment!

[Megs_Mom]

Hi - we have an 8 year old, about 52 lbs. She uses 250 every other day at start of month & is great. Right now, her zith goes down to 100 every other day after that, as immune-modulating, and it is "ok", but I think she may need more. That is another post...

 

Anyway, are you confident that this is strep related (strong causal relationship)? If so, then I'd suggest getting started right away. If you think it is lyme or myco related, then you might have a slightly different decision due to the herx timing. We did not have a strong causal relationship to strep, but we see no herx - azith works miracles very quickly for her, thus far - although it was still a slow process at her dose. Prednisone was the fastest result, but we only had a week and the results were temporary.

 

I'd agree with mati's mom however - how severe is your child? If they are suffering, and you have a fairly confident diagnosis of PANDAS, then starting treatment would seem to be a top priority. If he is only mildly effected, then waiting a few weeks may be a fine decision. For our daughter's situation, avoiding an exacerbation at all costs is the parameter that we are working from.

 

Good luck with the decision - nothing is ever simple is it?! Happy Mother's Day, all!

[KaraM]

My daughter started Azithromycin about a month ago. She is 60 lbs and started on a 5 day dose at 300 mg and is now takes 175 mg once a day. She showed improvements relatively quickly. In fact the I gave her her first dose around 10 am. She came home from school aroudn 3:30, played by herself for a little while(which she hadn't done in several months - she always came home wound up and hyper), then fell asleep with her head in my lap for close to an hour. It seemed liked an edge was removed relatively quickly. After a few days, her OCD/germ phobia started to decrease. A month later, I'd say she's improved by about 80%. She definitely has some issues to overcome and has her ups and downs, but her episodes and rages are fewer and further between. They are also shorter and less intense. Life is much less scary for her and easier for us.

 

She did not get worse before getting better.

 

Good luck!

 

Hi all.

 

I am picking up a prescription for zithromax today -- 250 mg per day for 30 days for my DS8, 70 pounds.

 

Is this about what most of you have tried, especially by weight? Also, how many of your kids have seen an initial exacerbation when starting zithromax? My son starts his state testing next week -- is it likely he's going to get worse before he gets better?

 

Any info would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!