Azasite and Why I Hate It...

[neve]

I have been on Azasite for about 15-17 days (lost count). I massage a drop on eyelid margins/lashes and on lids. For the past week or so, I have been having such intense burning in my eyes (as well as some lesser itching) that continues into the following day and night and it is non-stop. It has become officially intolerable. Has anyone else experienced this and is there something else to switch to...maybe Doxy oral? I am on Muro day and night and can take some burn/sting but burning that never goes away is not OK! Has anyone else experienced this kind of severe reaction?

Thanks! Neve

[Trac]

Neve,

I have tried azasite twice. It was the most painful thing I have ever endured. I used it for about a week the first time and probably 3 days the second time. I did not see any improvement in my eyes or eyelids with the azasite. The first time I put the drops in my eyes, the second time I spread the drops on my eye lids. Even if it did help the pain would not have been worth it. It made me want to pluck my eyeballs out.

I go on and off oral doxy. I don't like to be on antibiotic for long periods of time. The last 2 months that I have been on doxy I have been taking with my vit B supplements. This caused the two of them to bind to each other, so I got no benefit from either. Now I am on doxy alone but it has not been for very long, so I don't know if it is helping. It is hard to tell what helps and what does not when you are on a lot of different drops, ointments and pills.

[neve]

Hi Trac - I am going to not take azasite for two days and see if the burning goes away. If so, then it is def the Azasite. I, too, feel no difference after 2 or so weeks. I only put the drop *in* my eyes once...never again. It felt like fire. So, even tho it goes on the top of the lids, the burning is relentless. So, that will be my experiment. Is there another topical antibiotic that is prescribed instead of Azasite? I am perfectly willing to start Doxy but am 99% certain that Azasite and I are breaking up!

[Trac]

I use FML ointment at night. It is a steroid ointment. It is the only steroid that does not raise my eye pressure. The FML does not whiten up my eyes like other steroids, but it keeps my eyelids from sticking to my eyeballs over night. If/when you go on doxy make sure you don't take vitamins or calcium within 2 hours of taking the doxy or they will bind and you will not get any benefit from any of this. Also you have to be upright for 1 hour after taking doxy. A lot of rules for one pill.

I wonder if azasite is used during prisoner interrogations???

[jadavispcfl]

Did not like Azasite

I was on it for about 3 months. It did NOT help my condition, and it burned my eyes too. I think it does work for a limited amount of patients. In my case my MGs were so plugged up that no amount of medicine would get in.

[neve]

Trac-I have used Doxy in the past, don't remember what for, but it seemed to agree with me back then. I didn't know about the being upright part, so thank you for info. I don't really know what the next step is going to be in terms of an antibiotic, but I am more than willing to go w/ Doxy. And yes, definitely for prisoner interrogation!!

Jadavispcfl - My MG's sound like yours. I think I, like you, am one of the ones that Azasite does not work for. And it seems like it makes the Muro drops burn more which, really, I do not need. Thanks!

[Trac]

I feel the same way about doxy. I told my doctor I wanted to get off it after about 3 months. I go on for a few months every year. I told him this time I will go on for however long it takes to get better.

I find that the more my eyes hurt before I put in muro, the more the muro stings. The only thing that never stings my eyes in serum drops.