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Posted by: em ® 11/16/2006, 08:43:38 |
I just had my Botox shots on Nov. 7th - last week. I have been given a prescription for antibiotics (Zithromax) for a respiratory infection. I haven't started taking the drug yet. Does anyone have any info as to whether or not antibiotics will affect the Botox. I sure don't want to do anything to compromise the effectiveness of the Botox, but I also need the antibiotics. When I did some searching on the Internet, some articles said that some antibiotics actually strengthen the Botox. Other articles said wait 30 days after the Botox treatment to take antibiotics. Any opinions out there?? Em |
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Posted by: judith k ® 11/16/2006, 12:58:30 |
Well, if you need the antibiotics...for an infection, that sounds not very elective.
My 'opinion' (not based on any medical knowledge) is: if you need the antibiotics, take them. If there is an optional aspect to it (the condition won't get worse if you wait 30 days, and you're worried), then you could wait. But treating a respiratory infection doesn't sound very optional. My guess would be that if you phone Allergan; and phone the company that makes Zithromax; and ask the doctor who gave you the botox and the doctor who prescribed the antiobiotic (did he/she know you'd been botoxed and, if so, what did he/she say about mixing the two drugs?), and also ask your pharmacist, they might all agree or all say slightly different things. I never heard of antibiotics compromising botox (and I can't now recall whether I've taken any in the 2 years since I've started having botox). What were the REASONS behind this caution ('wait 30 days') in the articles you read? Is the idea that if it's elective to take antibiotics, best not to mix two powerful agents such as botox and antibiotics unless you have to, because if you have a reaction, you won't be sure what it's from? Or is the idea the botox might lessen the effectiveness of the antibiotic? You have to be clear about why the articles are saying this. You certainly don't want a respiratory infection to turn into pneumonia or a bad case of bronchitis... I'd try phoning my pharmacist, the doctor who gave me the botox, the company that makes Zithromax, and Allergan, the maker of botox (not necessarily in that order)-- that is, if you don't get an answer that relieves you before going through a whole list! Judith K Modified by judith k at Thu, Nov 16, 2006, 13:04:39 |
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Posted by: Lynn Yarbrough ® 11/16/2006, 13:00:11 |
In my experience the risk of NOT taking the antibiotics is far greater than otherwise -- there is no comparison between an infection and spasms, which don't really make you sick. Waiting 30 days to take antibiotics is unnecessarily inviting serious trouble, e.g. pneumonia. --- Lynn |
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Posted by: judith k ® 11/16/2006, 15:24:47 |
Hi,
I had to get a prescription filled today so I thought of my own advice to you (ask the pharmacist), so I asked her-- she was intrigued and looked up drug interactions. There are 2 drugs listed that interact with botox (neurological symptoms can be caused). One is chloroquine, which is an antimalarial. The other, my pharmacist says, is really a class of drugs--injectable antibiotics of a sort you'd only get in some place like a hospital-- Genemycin (sp?) is the name of one of them (she told me the class, but I forgot). Nothing at all about Zithromax, or about avoiding any other antibiotic ingested orally. I wouldn't risk getting pneumonia or bronchitis! Investigating your question about botox and zithromax led to a disturbing thought when I thought of my own BEB. I said to the pharmacist 'well, I've taken Lariam [mefloquine], but I'd phoned the company and they said it wasn't the same as chloroquine.' [My phoning the drug company had nothing to do with blepharospasm, it was because I'd had a bad reaction to chloroquine in the past]. Pharmacist said: 'It's true, they aren't identical--but they are very similar.' That made me wonder...After several years of dry eye and increased blinking, when that all suddenly got much worse and the blinks got very long and my eyes began spasming, I had been taking mefloquine for the previous 6 or 8 weeks. So now I'm wondering whether that could have been yet another trigger for my developing BEB! Judith K Modified by judith k at Thu, Nov 16, 2006, 15:26:43 |
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Posted by: PattiA ® 11/16/2006, 14:00:17 |
Hello Em!! Somewhere in back posts on this board (would have to look it up), I have read that antibiotics can reduce the effectiveness of botox injections. After reading this, I asked two of my doctors and they disagreed saying that antibiotics in general would not interfere. However, I was on antibiotics two of the times that I received botox injections, and both of these two times, my injections were not helping the spasms. As the two others who have responded to you have already said, I would not risk waiting to take the antibiotics if you have an infection. Since this is not clear, you could risk a serious infection. Just an opinion from me (a non medically trained beb/meige person). Best regards, and I will try to go back and find the posts I referred to if I can. Patti |
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Posted by: em ® 11/16/2006, 18:22:12 |
When I picked up my drugs, I did ask my pharmacist about any interaction between the Botox and the Zithromax (I actually ended up with the generic Azithromycin). He said he had no idea, and didn't seem to be interested in looking it up. I did take my drugs as I knew I couldn't wait any longer. Thanks Judith for checking with your pharmacist and sharing that info. I hope the fact that the Azithromycin ends like Genemycin isn't a bad sign. Yikes, that would be awful if the mefloquine triggered your BEB. Thanks Patti for checking with your doctors. I'm glad they feel that there shouldn't be a problem. If I feel that the Azithromycin has any affect on my Botox effectiveness, I will let the BB know. Thanks for your input Lynn. I knew I couldn't wait with the antibiotics, so I was definitely hoping that folks would let me know that there shouldn't be any drug interaction. I really appreciate the good advice you have all given me:) Em Modified by em at Thu, Nov 16, 2006, 18:27:49 |
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Posted by: judith k ® 11/16/2006, 21:12:35 |
Hi, Glad you started on your antibiotics.
Hope you get over your respiratory infection without any difficulty!--and that the botox works well. Judith K |
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Posted by: PattiA ® 11/20/2006, 00:51:01 |
Em, please let us hear whether your botox worked as well as always while you are on the antibiotic. The zithromax stays in your system awhile after you finish the dosage. So give it some time. I am curious because I looked up some posts from 2005 where people on this board reported that their neuros advised not taking antibiotics after botox had been given (within several weeks at least) or it could be a lot less effective. There were also comments about the flu shot interferring. I printed these posts and kept them in a file. So let us hear when you can. Get well!! Patti in Houston |
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Posted by: Cynthia ® 11/20/2006, 12:33:24 |
I hope the antibiotic works for you. It shouldn't affect the efficacy of Botox, but watch out for any side effects. I had a severe reaction last winter from 5 days of azithromycin (Zithromax) which was prescribed by a walk-in clinic when we were on vacation. That was followed by Levaquin, which was prescribed by my family doctor when we arrived home. Ended up with severe muscle pain which made walking very difficult. This did not subside for a couple of weeks. Perhaps it was because of this pain that my attention was diverted from the BEB my eyes were almost normal. |
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