What does Azythromycin do?

[Tankie]

Hi there,

I've recently been prescribed Azythromycin compounded in some vehicle (not Durasite, I can't get a hold of Azasite for some reason).

Can someone explain to me what exactly azythromycin does? How does it help fix meibomian gland dysfunction?

Thank you!

[Hopeful2]

Hi Tankie,


I'm not sure what azythromycin does and would like to know too It is an antibiotic, so I assume it is being used to treat bacteria in the lids.

Azasite is not available in Canada . . . sad but true, many more treatment options seem to be available in the States. Having said that, it is possible for your doctor to write a prescription for Azasite and have the prescription approved by Health Canada, and then have the 'drug' filled in the US and mailed to you in Canada. . . sounds tedious, but possible.

[patrick]

hi tankie,

good question! i would really like to know myself. i guess azytromycine like low dose doxycycline aren't used as an anti bacterial,but they are used more for their anti inflammatory properties.
from what i've heard using anti biotics long term for killing bacterias is rather dangerous because these specific bacterias will at some point become resistant. and then what?
maybe i'm totally wrong. if so,can someone here with a little more knowledge correct me?

patrick...

[indrep]

Yes they are both used for the "side effect" of anti-inflammation on the ducts of the meibomian glands. Theory being if the inflammatiion is reduced or eliminated then the secretions can be secreted. My understanding is the meibomian gland inflammation has two sources and it can be one or the other or both. The bacteria can cause the inflammation and the the inflamed ocular surface can be the cause. The second cause is most prevalent in those who wake up in the morning with eyelids stuck and pain.

[littlemermaid]

We/I are also thinking some people develop hypersensitivity to the products of bacteria or dermatophytes, which is why eradication helps for some MGD. This is why it is useful to think of this hypersensitivity like allergy and eliminate other possible causes in diet, environment, contact, as well as finding ways to control damaging inflammation and help the immune system.

Re bacteria becoming resistant, if you're worried about yourself - you can rotate from amongst common drugs in consultation with an informed doc. If you're worried about humans v mutant bacteria, I feel our use is justified, and hopefully, there are very smart microbiologists on the job

[LaDiva]

Azasite (azithromycin ophthalmic solution) kills the bacteria, calms inflammation and helps keep the glands open. It is also supposed to help ocular rosacea, but I am not sure how. I just quit using it, and think the inflammation is getting better, so was probably allergic to something in the Azasite. (...but maybe that is just today...) My eye doctor said Azasite can be used indefinitely in lieu of oral antibiotics.

[patrick]

thanks for the input!

in the very near future (like next week) i'm finally gonna start with a 3 months course of low dose doxycycline. after a long search i found a doctor who agrees that my mgd has reached the stage that all the conservative treatment options just are not effective enough to reduce my symptoms. (prescribing anti biotics for mgd is not common at all in the netherlands).
fingers crossed. i really hope this is going to be more successful than all the other things i tried in the past.
however,i'm realistic enough to not set my hopes up too high. i'm aware that it can reduce symptoms significantly for some and doesn't do anything for others.
like i said. fingers crossed!

patrick...

[abbygirl]

Patrick,
Did the doxy help you?? If so, what was your dosage??

[patrick]

hi abbygirl,

well i never started with the doxycycline

the reason for that is that the day i went to my optometrist to go pick up my prescription she,as she always does when i'm there,wanted to examen my eyes one more time. she looked at my eyes with the slitlamp and took some pictures. she looked at the pictures together with me and asked me if i ever had any issues with allergies now or in the past.

yes,very much so. i've been on anti histamines for over a decade because i'm allergic to pets and we used to have 3 cats and a dog. i loved these animals too much to just get rid of them so i decided to take the anti histamines (zyrtec) until they had all passed away.

to make a long story short my optometrist suspects that a large portion of my dry eye problems (mainly mgd) is probably caused by some form of allergy.
i've been tested for allergies in the past and those tests always came out negative,but that doesn't mean a thing. i know from experience that you can react to certain allergens without it is being established in a blood test.

my optometrist proposed to do a trial with an anti-allergy eyedrop (allergo-comod) to see if this brings any improvement to the situation.
i've been doing this for 6 weeks now and i take the drops 4x per day.

next week i'm going to visit my optometrist again,she will examen my eyes of course and hopefully the signs of allergy have decreased significantly.
the plan is that if this trial doesn't bring the succes we hoped for i'll start with the course of doxycycline.

so there is happening a thing or two at this time. the story will be continued....

patrick