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Hi,

Last month in April I went to the ER with a very bad sinus infection where the doctor gave me a antibiotic called z-pak (ZITHROMAX). It was a generic.  Right away after taking the first dose I experienced extreme anxiety, heart palpitations, chest pain, the list goes on and on - in other words I was having a severe allergic reaction.  I went back to the ER 3 times before my doctor appointment that was in a week and a half.  Each time I went they would tell me it was all in my head.  I finally found the site askapatient.com and surprise, surprise - others had the same symptoms as I.  More scary was many had symptoms from this reaction for months on end.  And as most of the others on that forum the doctors will not admit it was caused from the z-pack as I experienced.

 

When I went to my doctor I came prepared with printed pages from others having the same bad reaction - especially the high anxiety (anxiety on steroids is more like it) and the fast heart beating - and so many other symptoms.  My doctor - even with the notes - said it could not be from the z-pack.  I had taken NOTHING prior before my symptoms until I took the z-pack.

 

So he gave me clonazepam and zoloft.  I will not take the zoloft as I was a happy person before this happened but started the clonazepam to reduce the anxiety and fast haert rate and chest pain as I am worried about the damage to my heart if I dont.

 

I was given the cloazepam on 4/24,17 and it is a 90 pill bottle.  They are 0.5 each and told to take up to 3 a day.

I tried to not take many because I dont want to become addicted but the anxiety, heart racing, chest pain and multiple other symptoms is just unbearable.  I could not function at all and thought I was going to die from this z-pack.

 

Reading the others that had the same symptoms from the z-pack - some got better in a couple months - some 6 months.  An allergist told one person it would take 3 months to get out of their system.

 

I just counted my pills (the clonazepam) and out of the 90 pills I have 45 left which means that from 4/24 you can see that in the beginning I was really trying to not take them at 3 times a day.  But I could not function from the z-pack.  I started to take the clonazepam at 3 times a day as I am so worried about my heart racing all the time with the severe panick attacks that go with it non stop all day long.  The zpack also shut down my digestive system which added to the stress (I am slowly recovering there and can finally eat as I had lost 10 pound in a week and a half from the zpack.

 

So I guess my question is I am scared and not sure what to do.  I can not go with panick attacks 24/7 with a heart beat racing and decided to bite the bullet and start taking the pills as recommended - 3 times a day. 

 

Now since the z-pack causes symptoms of what looks like clonazepam withdrawls - I'm so scared I will now be an addict.

 

Before, even with the clonazepam, my symptoms were barely relieved but each day this z-pack poison leaves my system I feel a little better with the clonazepam.

 

As some who had the reaction I did to this antibiotic that took anywhere from 2-6 months to finally feel normal again (I'm hoping I will be a shorter duration as taking lots of different probiotics and milk thistle to cleanse the liver and eating a good diet with no sugar, I need to know what kind of withdraws I will have if I did have to use them 3 months.  I have been doing the 3 times a day for the last 2 days - before that 1-2 and sometimes 3 a day.  This has not been quite a month yet but will be in 4 more days.

 

Any advice is appreciated.  And YES - will be looking for a new doctor soon but right now just so out of it can not gather up the energy to even attempt to look for another doctor.  And after all of them (ER and regular dr telling me it was not the z-pack - which it was - just go see all the others that had the same symptoms as I have after z-pack) I have pretty much lost all hope with doctors at this point.

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Welcome to BenzoBuddies, sweatpea61.

 

I'm sorry this is happening to you.  No one can predict how they'll react to any given medication and it's frustrating to feel like your doctor's not hearing what you're saying.

 

Benzodiazepines are considered safe for a couple of weeks before dependence becomes much of an issue, after that it can be more difficult to taper off.  I think if it were me I'd ask for a medication that helped with heart rate and get off the Clonazepam to avoid the risks, but I'm not a doctor, your doctor needs to talk with you about this possibility.

 

Other forum members may have different ideas.  Here's a link to our taper board so you can ask the wider membership:

General Taper Plans 

 

When you have a chance, I highly recommend that you take a look at The Ashton Manual, which is an authoritative source on what to expect during withdrawal and recovery, authored by Dr. C. Heather Ashton, who is an expert in the field. It provides a great deal of information that can be very reassuring during any stage of this process, including a list of common symptoms with helpful explanations on the reasons for their existence.

 

Please take some time to Create a Signature. This will help other members understand your history so they will be better able to support you.

Go to the top of the page and select Profile, then choose Forum Profile, insert drug history/timelines into the text box and click Change Profile.

 

Challis  :smitten:

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Thank you!

 

I will get to a signature soon - after figuring how to shorten my problem in a couple sentences...lol

Real fast - what was funny too was at the ER(s) my blood pressure was through the roof - and my liver results came back so bad the doctor asked me if I was "nipping at the bottle too much"

 

I don't drink! Last drink I had was last year and that was a beer.  The z pack was poisoning me.  When I saw my regular doctor he ran more blood tests and my liver was back to normal in 2 weeks (milk thistle).  but the symptoms of panic, heart racing, digestive shut down, pains all over and even hives still are strong though letting up some.

 

I just need a new doctor.  I can tell he knows it is the ZITHROMAX (z-pack) by certain things he said.  But he (all of them) won't admit it as lots of lawsuits with this drug.

 

And I HATE pills.  I can't believe this has happened to me.  I'm going to my mothers in a couple weeks and going to see her doctor.  Better doctors in her area and hoping she can help me decide what to do.  I will look at the manual you recommend.

 

I give everyone on this board a big hug as I never would have realized how crippling anxiety is.  What a nightmare!

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