Biaxin and sleep

I was given biaxin on Wednesday for the worst sinus infection I have ever had. I only took 3 doses 12 hours apart. First night I was fine it seemed to instantly clear up my infection. Second night I started itching uncontrollably from my feet like fire ants swarming all over my body. Then I couldn't sleep at all.
Definitely never ever taking this stuff again. Especially considering the comments I've read on this page.

I am pissed that this drug is given out, my son is in a hospital because of this Biaxin, he has temmors, sweats on hands and feet , blood pressure elevated , cannot talk, nightmares, intense stomach pain, headace, rubbing hands , rubbing face , rubbing head , itching, chest hurts, feet sweats, cannot focus, fear of death, cannot sleep, we do not know if he is going to come out of this, we discontinued the Biaxin 9-22-09 he in lock down and being watched 24hrs. He was on this Biaxin for 6 days. Please do not take this product. The Doctors will defend this product since they get money from the drug companies to push there product. I will be looking for a lawyer!

This stuff sucks I never knew a antibiotic could effect ones sleep and sanity. The bitter taste is terrible. They gave me this for the flu but i'd rather take the chance of it coming back than to keep taking this crap. NEVER AGAIN

I have been taking this for 5 days for Bronchial infection, and i started losing where i was going.. I mean am at the age to forget, I forget where i put stuff, can't sleep, just getting more and more depressed.. and the taste is driving me nuts, am eating just to be rid of taste as long as has food in mouth and chewing i can't taste.not going to take it till see my Dr.. and the headakes, i don't have many till now

4 weeks ago my aunt was prescribed Biaxin for a sinus infection. After finishing the meds she developed musical ear syndrome. She now hears music, wind and ringing in her ears. It never stops. She can't sleep because the music never stops. Has anyone heard of this?

I've been taking Biaxin XL 500 mg. 2 pills together once a day for a sinus infection. Today would be day 4. The infection is improving but since I've started this drug I've been feeling totally crappy. I've had a headache and haven't been able to sleep at all for 3 nights. I lie there with pressure on my chest. The pharmacist said that is a very potent antibiotic, hard on the body but they said it's best antibiotic - but at what cost? I certainly don't want to feel like this for another 7 days. After reading all these postings I'm definitely calling my doctor to chance medications. Thanks for all the postings.

I have been on Biaxin XL 500 mg - 2 pills taken at the same time once a day. Today would be the 4th dose. I was sure to take the pills on a full stomach. My sinus infection seems a little better but I'm feeling totally lousy. I've had a headache and I haven't been able to sleep at all for the last 3 nights. I lie there with a pressure in my chest. Even after missing only 1 night of sleep I felt horrible and I'm sure it wasn't only from missing the sleep. Biaxin is definitely affecting my whole body. I've been on antibiotics before and never had any kind of reaction like this. I had called the pharmacist and they said that this is a very potent antibiotic, hard on the body but best on the market. True it may clear up an infection but at what cost. After reading all these side effects I'm definitely calling my doctor today and asking for a different medication. Thanks for this website.

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 started Biaxin for a strep throat infection. I took it for a total of 20 days as I had back to back infections. The first time I took it I just had the metallic taste reaction. The second round which was just a couple of weeks later things were much worse. By day three I could not sleep and was having traveling pains all through my body. One day my neck hurt, the next day my back, my arm etc. The worst is the anxiety and inability to sleep. I called my doctor and she said to taken ambien for the sleep problems. I finished all ten days taking ambien the whole time because if I tried not to I would wake up feeling totally alert and activated and unable to get back to sleep. Those initial two hours I would get were filled with nightmares. It has been a week since I finished this medication and I still have severe anxiety and sleeplessness. I tried to wean myself from a half a 12 mg ambien to a 1/4 but with this I am still waking up with the same issues and having trouble getting back to sleep. I would like to know if anyone else has experienced this problem and how long it took to get this drug out of your system and back to a normal sleep pattern. I feel anxious during the day as well, but am managing. This drug is really terrible.

I went to the doctor's office recently because I was pretty sure I had a sinus infection...and it turns out I did. My doctor prescribed me biaxin and told me that I should stay on this for at least 3 weeks until the infection clears up.. When I first started taking this medication, everything was fine....but now things seem to be worse.. I am on week two of this medicine, and my sinus infection has developed into a terrible cold.. I have a funny smell in my nose(I don't know if it's because of the cold or the medicine) I have an AWFUL metallic taste in my mouth, sometimes I have severe abdominal cramping, and for the last two weeks I've had difficulty sleeping.. I will fall asleep around 12:00 p.m but find myself awake by 4 am and then I have trouble falling asleep(when I do sleep I have terrible nightmares).. Almost every time I wake up in the middle of the night, I have this nasty taste in my mouth... I do find that when I eat certain foods it helps to stop the metallic taste.. I have adhd/ocd and I have noticed that this has gotten much WORSE since I started taking the medicine...I feel space out all the time and dizzy and my vision is blurry.. I have a funny smell in my nose right now and difficulty breathing sometimes.. I am about to call the doctor and find out if I should stop taking this, or just keep taking it for the next 5 days.. I just can't handle it anymore because I feel like I'm going insane.. I don't even know as of now if I still have a sinus infection.. Please do me a favor-if you are considering taking this medication please avoid it at all costs because it will make you feel like complete crap.. There are other medicines that you can take I am sure.. I don't even know why this is on the market....it's worse than the birth control pill!

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 was prescribed this medicine after having a cold/flu like symptom.Just to show you how powerful this medicine is all I took was my first dose (2 a day) and for the next 7days I have never been the same.I had to go to the ER 3 times, I vomited several times and passed out on one occasion, my blood pressure dropped, was given IV, could not sleep for several days thought I was going insane, did not feel safe by myself, sudden weakness, constant cold feet, diarrhea.Blood work showed nothing but I was given anti-anxiety medication to calm me down and make me sleep.Please take my advise NEVER EVER TAKE THIS MEDICATION IT SHOULD BE BANNED a good doctor should not prescribe this medicine

I was so glad to find this. Since insomnia is not listed as a usual side-effect, I had no idea why I could not sleep. When I saw the entries and called the pharmacist, she verified it for me. I have been on 500 mg twice a day for a week and I have another week to go. I originally had a bad cold for 2 weeks which developed into a seriuos sinus infection. Amoxicillan did not work and I cannot take sulfa antibiotics or Cipro so I think I am stuck with it for another week, but have called to ask the Doctor for something to help me sleep until then. I have been so tired and worn out probably due to lack of sleep. And I agree that taste in my mouth, especially in the morning, is awful. I am also still congested but it is better than before.

So I just finished a 10 day supply (20 pills) of this stuff. I was prescribed Biaxin twice a day for 10 days to clear up a minor sinus infection. I had no idea that this stuff caused so many issues, but now I know first hand. This medicine gave me pretty bad insomnia. I could fall asleep but would wake up at 2am/3am in the morning and couldn't fall back asleep. Of course lack of sleep, then gave me anxiety and minor depression like I've never had before. I will never take this stuff again. Not to mention, the bad taste that's in your mouth constantly. In retrospect, I'll take a sinus infection anyday over the side effects of this medicine. Maybe it's okay for some people, but I'll never put Biaxin in my body every again. I took my last dose yesterday evening and I've been drinking tons of water ever since to try and get rid of this stuff as soon as possible.

I'm on my seventh day out of 10 with BiaxinXL 500mg for pneumonia. I take 2 pills at supper time and so far so good: only 1 diarrhea 12 hours after the first dose. No metallic taste at all. I do drink a lot of water as is recommended when you have any infection to help your body eliminate it. I sleep well and after only 2 days of treatment my secretions were clearer. I took Advil for the first four days to help me with the side effects of the disease. I take medication exceptionally because,fortunately, I am rarely sick but I will take all of the pills prescribed by my doctor because I don't want to deal with some super resistant bacteria later on.

I'm on Biaxin for a respiratory infection as well, the worst side effect by far is the severe insomnia, and crazy dreams I get when I finally DO fall asleep - and the sleep I get isn't restful at all. I also have turned into a "bed tosser" - I toss and turn all night because I can't sleep comfortably in one position all night (I usually fall asleep and wake up in the same position, and maybe turn once a night.) Its like all of a sudden I get sore being in any one position for more than an hour. Drives me nuts.

my son took biaxin for five days starting about 10 days ago we thought he was schizophrenic till we read about this stuff he seems to be getting better but we will have to see he was hearing voices by his head and scared him he babbles about very weird thoughts all night cant sleep 17 years old his face looks different during episodes he was typing very weird stuff on messenger said he cant stop they make him type very scary drug if your doctor prescribes it run sceaming to another doctor

I was glad to read this, I thought I was crazy. Been taking Biaxin for 3 days for a bad sinus/throat infection, BP today went up to 130/100, took my blood pressure meds (which I had been able to stop taking several months ago) but it just went up on the top to 150/98. My heart is racing and I'm so tired but can't sleep. Severe metallic taste in my mouth. Skin is burning, temperature is 100 and profuse sweating as mentioned above...I'm calling the Dr. now to get something else. Does anyone know how long it takes to get this out of your system?

This is my second day on Biaxin for pneumonia. It is horrible. I hate taking it. The taste in my mouth is horrible. The worst thing is not being able to sleep. I feel like I have taken an upper or something. My eyes won't shut and I watch the hours pass by. I don't feel tired at all and I know my body needs to rest to get better. The other thing that was really bad was the for about two hours after taking it I will sweat and feel hot and then I get the chills. It has happened with all four pills I have taken.

I was prescribed Biaxin for a sinus infection and I was only able to take it for 3 days (out of a 10 day prescription) because of the ungodly taste it left in my mouth. I couldn't sleep at night because the taste of hot garbage in my mouth would wake me up. I tried chugging water, gargling with Listerine - NOTHING helped. It was so disgusting! I will NEVER take this nasty med again!

It is funny to see so many side effects to Biaxin. I am normally very lightweight on any drug, but Biaxin has been awesome. I have been on it one year or Lyme Disease and co-infection treatment and I love this drug, I sleep like a baby, never had bad aftertaste, ever. Chew gum the say if "metal" taste happens. I would recommend this drug in a second. Just wanted to post something positive, because we are all so different.

I started taking Biaxin on Dec 21 2007. Started feeling better. But for the last 2 nights I've had trouble being able to sleep. I can't seem to swallow at night. It's made me sick at the stomach prior times I've taken it, but the back of my throat hurts and I have the worst dry mouth ever. I'll be calling my doctor & pharmacist to add to my list of medications I'm allergic too. I thought at first it was just me getting sicker, but not after reading of others having the same problems.

I've been on Biaxin for bronchitis for four days now, following a trip to the ER for breathing problems. I thought it was allergies. The first two days weren't too bad except for the extreme thirst and not being able to sleep (and the gas). If I happened to go to sleep I would have weird dreams and wake up again. I don't know if was the Biaxin or the hydrocodone cough syrup. With the third day, I couldn't think straight and I couldn't remember words. Could be lack of sleep, I guess. Conversations were difficult. I felt spacey. At the same time, I felt like I was on fast-forward: hurry up, hurry up, gotta go, gotta go, gotta get it done, faster, faster! This is the fourth day. I'm still on fast-forward and still dizzy and spacey. My blood pressure is up and my heart rate is down. My pulse is 55. It's time for another dose, but I'm not taking it. In fact, I'm going off all my meds except the blood pressure pills in case it's a drug interaction that's not mentioned. I'll call my own doctor in the morning and talk to him. I trust him more than the anonymous ER doc.