Biaxin and panic attack

Same thing here. I have a sinus infection and pharyngitis that just wouldn't go away for 3 weeks. I was prescribed the generic version (Clarithromycin) 500Mg twice daily. The antibiotic does seem to work. I have had a bitter taste from it almost from the beginning. I took the fourth dose on an empty stomach in the morning with little fluid and 10 minutes later started to eat. 20 minutes after taking the antibiotic I had experienced an uncharacteristically severe panic attack. My heart just instantly started racing, confusion set in. The whole time while I am taking it I have difficulty breathing which eases off as dose wears out. Luckily for me I had some lorazepam laying around which I took to suppress this reaction. I skipped my 5th dose in the evening but my infection is still an issue. Now I am unsure whether to continue taking it or not. I am about to see my ENT today so I think I will not be taking it until I see him.

My time on Biaxin was one of the most TERRIFYING experiences of my life! (And I’m a cancer survivor, haha).
It all started when a doctor put me on Biaxin (500mg) for having Pneumonia. I was to take one pill at night and one pill in the morning for a week. The 1st day on the Biaxin was fine. Then the second night, I started to experience changes in my behavior. I began to cry and become extremely emotional to minor things.
The 3rd day I woke up and took my pill and started to feel extreme pressure pushing on my brain. I also got very agitated, grumpy, hyper, and over stimulated. That night I took my Biaxin pill and got 0 hrs of sleep. I was up all night paranoid, scared, hallucinating, crying, shaking, nervous energy, pacing back and forth, thinking in my head “what is happening to me!” The next morning, I took my Biaxin pill and then experienced the same horrific side effects. I was calling my family and telling them that something is going wrong in my head and I need help. It was as if I was having a panic attack. My stomach cramped up, my head hurt, and my heart was beating 10x its normal pace. I also felt hopelessness, couldn’t concentrate, shortness of breath, and worst of all the feeling of paranoia and the thought that my mind is being possessed.
Finally, I got on the internet and looked up “side effects of Biaxin”. Thank god I found this website and was able to see I wasn’t alone. I called my family and told them it’s the Biaxin making me crazy. That day I went and saw my doctor and he said, “Yes, Biaxin can cause emotional distress and all of those other horrible things you are going through." He says it is rare to get that many crazy side effects, but it is possible. He said to stop taking it, and go home and rest. I needed to allow my body to recover from what has happened the last 4 days.
I will never take Biaxin again for as long as I live. I literally thought I was going insane. The feelings and thoughts I was having was absolute torture and an emotional rollercoaster. I thank this website and all of you for your posts. This website truly helped me discover that Biaxin is a dangerous drug that is not intended for everybody. Especially not me!!!!!

I was prescribed Biaxin XL 4 days ago for sinus infection ( 2 -500mg tablets taken together once per day). The side effects were worse than the infection for me. I became extremely anxious and panicky, nauseated, sweaty, tired but unable to sleep and I lost my sense of smell and had a terrible metallic taste in my mouth. By the third day, I could tell the infection seemed a little better, but then I took my third dose and within 30 minutes I got the shakes, suffered diarrhea with terrible stomach cramps, vision problems, loss of appetite and a terrible anxiety/panic attack where I felt that I was losing it. I had to leave work to get home quickly. My blood pressure kept going higher and higher and I started to get teary. This was one of the worst days of my life. I have stopped taking this medication and have replaced it with amoxicillin. Today I feel much better and blood pressure has gone down. I will never take Biaxin again. Continuing on this medication for 10 days could have led me to suicide. If you feel these things when taking any medication, stop taking it right away and speak with your doctor and pharmacist. When I contacted my doctor;s office they said it should not make me feel anxious. They should obviously do more research on the drugs that they prescribe. I hope no one else experiences these terrible side effects.

I have had a chronic dry cough for the past 5 years. Now they are saying I have whooping cough. I have been taking Clarithromyn ER TB 500 mg. the generic for Biaxin XL 500 mg. Last night I had to go to the ER. I felt like I was having a heart attack. I could not catch my breath, my left arm was tingling, kind of going numb. Also felt like I might pass out. On the way to the ER I was trembling, and very jittery. I felt very STRANGE!!!!!! The ER said it was just a panic attack. I have never had panic attacks!!! The past few day I have been telling my co-workers how I felt like my throat was closing up. I am calling the doctor today to see about not finishing my last 4 days of the medicine. I am glad I found this site to see that other people have experienced the same symptoms and I am not going crazy.

I've had a HORRIBLE nasty iron taste in my mouth. Tastes like I have morning sickness again but I can't get rid of the taste. YUCK.

Also, I think I had a panic attack yesterday evening. I've never had one before but I couldn't seem to catch my breath and started freaking. It was not an asthma attack, I've had those before. This was different.

I feel jittery and light-headed too.

I don't like this and I'm thinking about stopping the prescript. My sinus infection was not worth this.

I was freaking out wondering what was causing the lightheadedness/difficulty breathing and after reading all the side effects on here I see it's normal. Doctors should warn of all these side effects. I wouldn't have started it.

This pill should honestly be banned and taken off from the market! I too took this pill for about 5/7 days and experienced major problems with first and foremost, INSOMNIA! Nervousness, slight panic attacks, and my hands were extremely shaky as a result. PLEASE DO NOT TAKE THIS ANTIBIOTIC!

What I find interesting is, how is a person supposed to get better if he/she can't sleep at night, and that is when the body does most of "healing". If anything, the body goes into a stage of fatique and the body does not recuperate the way it was meant to. When I had pneumonia, I was on hardcore antibiotics (2 actually), and NEVER experienced such side effects as with this useless pill. Maybe it does work, but the side effects overpower the benefits.

I am on my 7th day of 500mg/once a day clarithromycin, prescribed to me for a sinus infection. On the third day, I read all of the below comments and had a mild panic attack fueled by paranoia. Once I came back to reality, and in touch with my body, I realized which, in fact, of the common side effects I have been experiencing. The most notable is sleeplessnes. I have been having very intense dreams which have been waking me up every 30 to 45 minutes; upon waking my mind is charged and rearing to go. This side effect was attended to by a prescription of Ambien, made to me for this specific incidence. The Ambien has helped, I am now getting a solid 5 hours of sleep, still intense dreams, but sleep. For someone who typically requires 8 -10 hours a night, I find this 5 hour deal amusing. I don't feel particularly tired as a result, although I admit it has only been a week - it could catch up with me. This brings me to the other most obvious side effect, which I can only describe as mania - ready to go go go, constantly up, alert, ambitious (for what, I am not sure). Again, for a groggy girl like me these are actually welcome side effects! Other than that, I am experiencing a small amount of gas, and a slight spacieness (lack of sleep? or just an effect?). For these I have found lots of yougurt, fresh foods, and fluids, all in small servings and at regular intervals, ie: every 1 1/2 - 2 hours, to be allievating. My infection seems to have cleared up, I have a small amount of clear drainage in the morning, no more facial tenderness, headaches, and obviously my sense of fatigue is gone. All in all, I must say I would take this antibiotic again, which is not how I usually feel after most antibiotics I have, as an adult, taken.

I had a really bad bleeding ulcer on 06-02-04 and was in the hospital 4 days. One month later I had to see a GI doctor. He told me that I had the bacteria that causes ulcers. I was given a Prevpac that consist of Previcid 60mg 2x a day, Amoxicillin 1000mg 2x a day, and Biaxin 500mg 2x a day. By the second dose I was nervous, sweating, panicking, and a taste like metal in my mouth. I told the doctor about it and he said I was just under a lot of stress. He said to keep taking the meds. Two days later I had the first panic attack of my life. As the days past the symptoms got worse and I got blisters on my tounge. I changed doctors and was told by 2 different ones that the Biaxin was the culprit. That was 16 months ago and I still have a metalic taste once in a while, nervous tremors, blisters on my tounge about once a month, depression once in a while,and i'm scared to try any other meds to help my current symptoms.

Metallic taste, anxiety/panic attacks, nausea, diarrhea. Never taking Biaxin again. I stopped taking it yesterday, and I'm still all jittery and nervous. I'm praying it stops soon.

I was given Biaxin along with Fluzone 3 years ago for what seemed like just a nasty case of the flu. After a few days I felt 200% worse and wasn't sure if it was the Biaxin or the Fluzone, so just stopped them both and began recovering completly within 24 hrs. However, it was while I was taking the meds that I had my fist panic attack, and I continued to have them intermittently for over a year. I found out later that Biaxin is an erythromycin, which I've never tolerated well. If I had known that to begin with I would not have taken it. My husband tried Biaxin this last winter for a sinus infection. After his first dose, he vomited violently and felt like he was getting the flu. He skipped the 2nd dose and began feeling better. The next day, he took another dose and the same thing happened. He threw up within an hour and felt lousy for the rest of the day. Forget this stuff!