Ah Biaxin, how do I love thee

[cjsmith]

Food yay

I'm getting a few more successful meals under my belt. Last night's huge "taco salad" (everything I'd otherwise put in a taco, but with no shell) was MMMMMYUM. Need to obtain some salsa without sugar. Also need to hardboil more eggs; 2 eggs and some sausage makes a wonderful breakfast that holds me until lunch even if I eat it at 6am.

Sleep yay

Also looked up how much diphenhydramine I can safely have in 24 hours. It's six times higher than the dose in my over-the-counter sleep meds. So I cranked those up a little last night and got ALMOST GOOD SLEEP! That was fabulous.

Taste boo

The taste in my mouth is awful. This is one of the more common side effects, apparently; some people say it's bitter, others metallic, and I think I'm a cross between the two. Fortunately the tastes of foods haven't changed dramatically, as some people report, but I'm sick of feeling like I really need to brush my teeth because my mouth has a thin coating of soapy tinfoil.

Comments

[hopeforyou.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I ever had the taste side effect. I know that even though the pills are lightly coated, taking them is disgusting. I do take mine with almond milk or regular cow milk because otherwise I can't stand them. I also have found that I have to take my antibiotics with food in general, and that sometimes I get acid reflux from them so I have to take Prevacid afterwards (it seems to work better then than if I take it before the meal, and sometimes even better if I wait an hour or two after eating).

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I haven't minded taking the pills so far, although like you I do have to take them with food. The double whammy of the Biaxin and Diflucan at once, which happens once a week on Wednesday evenings, is certain to give me tummy unhappiness.

[rfrench.livejournal.com]

Gee, you missed mentioning the other side effects.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Which ones? The only things I am sure are side effects are the taste, the nonsleep, and some mild queasiness if I don't eat enough food with the pill. Am I forgetting something off the top of my head?

[rfrench.livejournal.com]

Ummm, I thought you had a little more than just mild queasiness last night.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but I can't say at all where that's from. I haven't had it the other mornings or evenings I've taken Biaxin, and I don't think I had it the first time I took Diflucan.

[dangerpudding.livejournal.com]

re: salsa -- if you have a food processor, salsa's easy. Toss a big can of tomatoes (with as much of the liquid as you want), an onion, some garlic, a handful of cilantro (if you eat it), and a seeded chili or two in the processor. I add salt, pepper, basil and whatever else sounds good from there. Tasty, quick, no additions that you don't want.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Pico de gallo also works as a good no-sugar salsa. I don't have a food processor, but pico de gallo is not hard to obtain. :-)

[bigjohnsf.livejournal.com]

Trader Joe's has a really nice fresh Pico de gallo in the refrigerated case.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'll check it out.

[eichin.livejournal.com]

re food tastes changing - I wonder if something like this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/dining/28flavor.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

would have useful compensating-for-treatment benefits (it's a berry that screws up the response to "sour" as far as I can tell from the description...)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oddly, that's the second time this morning I've seen that link. A LJfriend of mine (whom I've never met in person) in the close vicinity of Boston wants to have a try-it-out party.

[aelfie.livejournal.com]

thin coating of soapy tinfoil.

My, how vivid.

At least you got a good night's sleep!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I like vivid. :-)

It wasn't really a good night's sleep, but compared to the past week it was wonderful. Tonight I'll crank the dose one more notch and I expect GOOD. I can't wait.

[aelfie.livejournal.com]

Yea!

[lesliepear.livejournal.com]

How are the feet feeling? Any better?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Nah. And unless a one-morning bout of fatigue counts, considering I haven't been sleeping well at all, also no sign of a Herx reaction.

[jupiter29.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear about the bad taste in your mouth. That sounds like no fun at all. I've never taken a medicine that left a bad taste in my mouth permanently, but taste is weird stuff. Once a year or so I will cough and have the sudden impression (it's so fast that I can't swear it's a taste, though I think it is) that I have swallowed olive oil. I almost always have a cold or flu within the next few days.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

It's a mild but persistent irritant. The only time it goes away (or is masked) is when I'm eating or brushing my teeth. Soon afterward it's back.

Olive oil, eh? I've never had that as an illusory taste. Taste is indeed weird stuff.

[plymouth.livejournal.com]

Hmm, would chewing gum help? Or sucking on some kind of losenges? Hard candy? I know that's terrible for your teeth but as a sometimes thing to get over evil medicine...

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Maybe. Anything without sugar in it (or most artificial sweeteners either, as those are often bitter to me) would be something I could try. Thanks for the idea!

mostly just hello

[moriamerri.livejournal.com]

checking in after a couple of weeks -- wow -- a lot has happened here in CJ-ville. So much that I had a hard time following the dots. This entry (the one I'm commenting on -- or perhaps it is the comments on it) seems to imply that the sleep problem is new and is drug-induced. I was wondering as the references to sleep problems seemed new? Regarding lyme disease, well, congratulations, I guess. I have heard many random bits about treatments for it, and would be happy to share them should you want at some point. I expect at THIS point there's WAAAAY more info available than you can take in (even at CJ-speed, and that is a compliment.) (connections are to misdiagnosis of lyme [both directions], association with mercury poisoning, use of HBOT and ozone for, and books/newsletters/lists about lyme.) When reading about some of this, I also thought back to the beans/probiotics thread and thought "oh yeah, that really was a huge clue" (of something majorly out-of-whack).

I think that Klaire is the company that I know/knew someone involved with (but it was a while back and so much of that information is kinda glommed-together in my mind). I met the principle/owner of the company, and the woman I know did a bunch of research on probiotics. Haven't talked to her in a long while though.

If you want the recipe for a probiotic drink that is cheap and easy to make lemme know. Called "rejuvalac" -- you can probably find it on the web. I think it is spozed to be superior in terms of having a mix of culures/strains. Some people object to the taste, I find it okay (although I have only had it a few dozen times -- don't generally make it.) Probably I have books with more about it -- again, on request.