Zithromax linked to deadly heart issues

I am not surprised by this. I was prescribed this horrible medicine recently when I had pneumonia and had to switch to the milder amoxicillin. The zithromax was causing me to have severe rashes and loose stool and I immediately asked my doc to switch.

Vanderbilt University researchers analyzed health records and data on millions of prescriptions for several antibiotics given to about 540,000 Tennessee Medicaid patients from 1992 to 2006. There were 29 heart-related deaths among those who took Zithromax during five days of treatment. Their risk of death while taking the drug was more than double that of patients on another antibiotic, amoxicillin, or those who took none.

Zithromax linked with deadly heart issues

So does an accute build up of Radioactive Nucleids.
deadly heart issues,,that is.
Me.

Read the title and immediately felt the need to tell my story. I live in Italy and about 10 years ago I was prescribed the Zithromax. I do not know if the Zithromax sold here is the same formula used in the States but I remember that after I took the drug, I went to bed. It was afternoon. After about an hour, during sleep, I had a nightmare and clearly felt as my veins were made of stone. Like petrified. Suddently I woke up in big pain: my left arm was burning, my heart felt like it were to explode, I was sweating in an abnormal manner. I was obviously scared but I was at home with my mom that immediately took water and glucose. She made me to sat down and drink the water with sugar. Then took me immediately to the Hospital. It was a matter of minutes. I'm a 36 years old fit man, always made sports, never had drug allergies whatsoever. I do not know if the Zithromax was responsible of what happened to me 10 years ago but that one was the first and last time I took it. This is just my story.

I sooo did not want to hear this!
Tomorrow is my last dose of the dosepak I've been on.
Hand me my toe tag.

reply to post by Emanuele_C
I am also an active and fit male and when I felt the side effects I felt like I was dying. Thank goodness I was able talk to my doc about switching medicine.

I've had more Z packs than I can count. They always worked like a charm for me. I also have heart problems, but I never noticed anything when I was taking the medicine. Hopefully taking this medicine won't be a problem years from now for people like me.

Whenever my doctor suggests "this wonderful new medication" I always say no thanks. When I worked in the pharmacy, it was constant lawsuits over the newer drugs. In my opinion, the drug companies knew the problems existed, but ignored it for the money. Keep the drug on the market long enough, you can easily settle any lawsuits and have a tidy profit left over.

A good way to avoid "newer" drugs is to ask for a medication with a generic. Generics can only be manufactured after the patent on a drug has run out ( I think the patent is 14 years but that could be wrong). Once the patent expires, anyone can manufacture the drug. This is why drug companies will wait until the patent is up, then release an "extended release" version. For the er version, patent is in full effect.

Anyway, if a drug has been around long enough to have a generic, there's a good chance it's relatively safe in the standard population.

Originally posted by Jaellma
I am not surprised by this. I was prescribed this horrible medicine recently when I had pneumonia and had to switch to the milder amoxicillin. The zithromax was causing me to have severe rashes and loose stool and I immediately asked my doc to switch.

Vanderbilt University researchers analyzed health records and data on millions of prescriptions for several antibiotics given to about 540,000 Tennessee Medicaid patients from 1992 to 2006. There were 29 heart-related deaths among those who took Zithromax during five days of treatment. Their risk of death while taking the drug was more than double that of patients on another antibiotic, amoxicillin, or those who took none.

Zithromax linked with deadly heart issues

Correlation does not imply causality.

The article states there's a possible link between the Zithromax and folks with heart issues. I think for the general population it's still safe.

Still, S&F for bringing this to our attention!

reply to post by smyleegrl
For the general population, they claim it is still safe.

Still I would like to see the medical establishment procure some sort of screening test prior to administering the drug. Just a simple questionnaire asking about your allergic reactions and medical history are just not enough in my book to avoid a potential catastrophic incident.

Good post though.

Yep and augmentin causes autism and the qinolones brain damage. Antibiotics are not safe but they do save lives. At the very least you can dose up on probiotics to mitigate somewhat the extensive damage they do to your gut.

I'm pretty sure I would not be alive today without antibiotics. By the same token I probably would not have as many auto-immune problems and metabolic disorders.