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Zmax Anti-Biotic - macaroo - 05-08-2006
I was introduced to a new form of anti-biotic this weekend call Zmax. I have been suffering with a sinus infection for the last week and asked my neighbor, who is a PA, if he had any physician samples of anti-biotic. He came up with this stuff made by Pfizer Labs. It is a one dose, massive infusion of anti-biotic that comes as a dry powder that you mix with a 1/4 cup of water. It is suppose to stay in your system for up to 10 days to treat the source of infection. Within 4 hours of taking this stuff, I felt a lot better, enough to return to functioning as a human being. Amazing stuff.
Has anybody else taken this AB? If so, what sort of results have your had? Any side effects?
The stuff is azithromycin dihydrate and comes as dry form in an over sized bottle.
I know this medicine sounds like a monster motorcycle of the past!
More info can be founded at: http://www.zmaxinfo.com
Re: Zmax Anti-Biotic - SteveJobs - 05-08-2006
never had a mix/drink. But it sounds like a Zpak, but one dose.
Re: Zmax Anti-Biotic - PeterB - 05-08-2006
No experience taking it in this form, but I have taken Zithromax (the same antibiotic, but in different dosage form) for sinusitis and it was fine-- no major side effects, etc. My guess is that by taking it in that single, high-dose form, you are doing "log kill" on the bacteria so that your own immune defenses cantake care of the rest...
Re: Zmax Anti-Biotic - elmo3 - 05-08-2006
do you self-medicate like this often?
Does your neighbor hand out drugs like this often?
man...
Re: Zmax Anti-Biotic - grad - 05-08-2006
elmo3 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> do you self-medicate like this often?
>
> Does your neighbor hand out drugs like this
> often?
>
> man...
>
> ---
>
> Never underestimate the power of stupid people in
> large groups.
Elmo, your post cracked me up!
Macaroo: Please consult someone next time about your sinus infection BEFORE taking antibiotics (especially systemic oral antibiotics that last for 10 days). What you did is ridiculous and totally unsafe.
Re: Zmax Anti-Biotic - Paul F. - 05-08-2006
An exaggeration... to be sure...
I get one or two sinus infections a year... and it bugs the hell out of me to pay a doctor $100 to look up my nose for 3 seconds, and say "yup.. you have a sinus infection... here's a perscription".
I probably would NOT have taken an antibiotic that I have never taken before, but I'm sick and tired of paying for a "medical opinion" that I've been diagnosing successfully for 20 years... (I've never thought I had one, and been told by a doctor I didn't).
Re: Zmax Anti-Biotic - elmo3 - 05-08-2006
I see your problem. You're going to, AND PAYING, doctors who say "here's your perscription".
Re: Zmax Anti-Biotic - Jimmypoo - 05-08-2006
You may see his problem, but I don't see yours.
Re: Zmax Anti-Biotic - cbelt3 - 05-08-2006
You also have to realize that your friend, who is a PA, could lose their insurance / license over this little 'friendly gesture'. Laws are made to :
1- Protect the industry
2- Protect the workers
3- Enrich the lawyers
4- Protect the consumer
In this case, you've run afoul of #1 and #3.
I know you're suffering, but really- if you argue with your doc, get one you don't argue with. Our family doc will write us a scrip over the phone without seeing us nowadays because he trusts our experience.
Also, repeated sinus infections are usually symptomatic of other issues- sinus polyps, allergies, etc. Mine are allergies and small sinuses. I dose with saline spray during allergy season, it helps.
Re: Zmax Anti-Biotic - volcs0 - 05-08-2006
Sinus infections are common.
Bacterial sinus infections (helped with antibiotics) are more unusual.
The fact that sinus infections may clear while using antibiotic use may just be a coincidence (it may have gotten better anyway).
Sinus pressure is best relieved by (1) drying up with an antihistamine (pseudofed), (2) ibuprofen for pain, and (3) something topical for swelling in the nose (where the sinuses drain) - eg. Flonase.
Treating sinus headaches/pressue with these three methods will usually work - the body's own immune system will get rid of the infection in a few days to a week.
In cases where there is bacterial overgrowth, and the immune system is not cutting it, an antibiotic should help. The catch-22 of treated bacterial sinusitis is that it requires a very long course of antibiotics - usually 21 days amoxacillin or 10-15 days of azithromicin / clarithromicin.
Biaxin (clarithromycin) and Zithromax (azithromycin) are macrolide antibiotics and have beomome a big hit because of (1) their broad spectrum - treating far more types of bacteria, and (2) their long half-life of elimination, allowing once daily or twice-daily dosing.
Infections treated with a short course of antibitics can return - often much worse than originally. Basically, you've killed off a large percentage of bacteria and have selected for the smaller population of bacteria resistant to your few doses of antibiotic. What returns can often be very difficult to treat. The worse cases of sinusitis I've seen are ones where the person took one or just a few days of antibiotic and then stopped when they felt better.
In short, I hesitate to treat sinusitis with antibiotics unless several criteria are met: (1) pain/pressure for a week, (2) tooth / upper jaw pain, (3) sinus pain with fevers. If the patient has any or all of these, I will usually treat - but with a much longer course of antibitoics. Sometimes, getting x-rays will help. A CT is diagnostic, but they are still relatively expensive and give a high dose of radiation.
Parents (I'm a pediatrician) often get angry when I won't give their child antibiotics.. "He is in pain." or "She can't sleep!", and being a parent myself, I sympathize. But the infection is often gone in a few days with just supportive measures, and in these cases, you've saved the kid (and the parents), many doses of probably unncessary antibiotics. Of course, there are a few kids who really do need antibiotics, and they come back in a few days with persistent pain.
You neighbor was being very nice, but he is exposing himself to an enormous liability. If you should have recurrent sinusitis with bad complications, he could get in very serious trouble - not to mention putting your own health at risk.
Here is some more information:
http://www.aafp.org/afp/981115ap/fagnan.html
The article contradicts what I've said a bit about length of treatment, but my experience has been that longer courses are often needed.
Good luck.
Sam V.