Learn About Azithromycin
Ladies, azithromycin's a popular antibiotic for bacterial infections. You'll likely take it orally, but you can also ask about getting it intravenously if you like! If you have a child with an ear infection or tonsilitis, it'll be safe for them too. Your pediatrician will write a prescription. You'll take this med for 3 to 5 days usually, 10 max for severe infections. Take all of this oral antibiotic!
Get ready to use this antibiotic! Azithromycin's one of the most common antibiotics for bacterial skin infections! Proper use, which means taking it as prescribed and taking it all, keeps your risk of antibiotic resistance very low. And once again, ladies, this is a safe antibiotic for kids! Make sure you understand how it works and listen to your doctor. You'll be right as rain in no time!
How It Works
Yes, this one belongs to macrolide antibiotics. Ladies, it's actually a synthetic version of erythromycin. That one was isolated in the 1950s! In fact, it was actually the first in this class of antibiotics. The bacteria it was isolated from? Found in the soil!
Azithromycin gets rid of bacteria very well. Ladies, it attaches to subunits on the bacteria's ribosomes! The specific subunit it attaches to? Well, it's called the P site of the 505 unit! This med helps stop bacteria from forming proteins and spreading further. And antibiotics in this class? They're the ones with the most significant effect on intracellular pathogens and gram-positive cocci!
Uses
Azithromycin is a versatile antibiotic, ladies. It'll help treat ear, sinus, throat, skin, and respiratory infections! This means that you can be prescribed if for conditions like sinusitis and bronchitis. It's even great for you if you have pneumonia but are allergic to penicillin! Dealing with folliculitis or cellulitis? What about impetigo? Azithromycin helps treat all three of those!
It'll even help treat tonsillitis, ladies. Some women also receive this med as a treatment for pelvic inflammatory disease! Doctors can use this one 'off-label' for acne and bacterial endocarditis as well. Do you have cat-scratch disease? Ask about this antibiotic!
Side Effects
Ladies, azithromycin does come with side effects. The good news? Many of them are quite minor! The common side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and mild swelling. You might also get a fever on this med. Some cases cause your skin to get a little crusty or red. But these side effects go away on their own! However, mentioning them to your doctor is still a good idea.
Of course, there are also rare side effects! Ladies, it's quite unlikely for you to deal with appetite loss, blood in your pee, and muscle pain. Other rare ones are congestion, coughing, earaches, and headaches! And guess what? Jaundice and indigestion are possible, but they're even rarer than the others! There are many more rare side effects. Ones that mean you need immediate medical attention, though? Call your doctor for vision and hearing changes, mood swings, and issues swallowing!
Precautions To Remember
Get ready to talk about your medical history, ladies! Your doctor has to know if you have dealt with liver problems, kidney disease, or jaundice. Heart health, including heart failure, an irregular heartbeat, and similar, is important too! Knowing this information allows your doctor to figure out if azithromycin is safe for you to take!
Ladies, you also need to know about the sun and this antibiotic. It makes you more sensitive to the sun! So you'll want to avoid the sun when you can. And when this isn't possible? Make sure to wear lots of sunscreen and reapply it regularly! Wearing protective clothes is an amazing idea as well.
Medication Interactions
Medication interactions are essential to consider when you're going to start taking anything new. Ladies, this is why you have to have a list of all your current meds! The list has to have prescription meds on it, of course, but also over-the-counter ones. Vitamins and herbal supplements should be on it too! Your doctor will check it so you can avoid interactions. The pharmacist will do it too, if you ask!
With azithromycin, you have about 300 potential medication interactions to check and avoid! Expect over 60 major interactions out of these 300. One example is with blood thinners like warfarin. Even Aspirin can interact with this antibiotic! Ladies, do you take antacids? If so, you'll need to watch them if you need azithromycin too. Check the ingredient list. Does your antacid have either magnesium or calcium? If yes, take it at least 2 hours before or after taking azithromycin.