toxic antibiotic strikes again

[merryBe]

after some very weird sides I talked to Hepatologist who TOLD me my urologist was an idiot and NEVER to take
Macrobid, (for UTI) which goes by several names. Furadantin (U.S., UK)
Macrobid (long acting preparation for twice daily dosing available in U.S., Canada, and UK)
Macrodantin (U.S., UK)

I posted a warning in here a while back.

well unfortunately I never thought to tell this to my current mother-in-law...and she is now in ICU
having suffered a severe reaction to this drug including a cardiac event and fluid filling the lungs/heart etc.
The hospital admitted at first it was a drug reaction...but once they discovered it was their emergency doc who had prescribed it the week before, they started to back pedal on it being the cause. This drug is containdicated in the elderly and liver patients.


After a rough weekend she is starting to stabilize...but we are unsure if the fibrulations have caused stroke and are awaiting MRI results.

But I want to warn again the LIVER people that this is one of the worst drugs out there.

mb------------http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrofurantoin

http://askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=20064&name=MACROBID

[GrammaLucia]

I wish that I had seen this before I was prescribed Macrobid!!  I went to the ER on 7-18-12 because I had no insurance and had woken up with a UTI that morning.. I was perfectly healthy other than the UTI.  I told the ER DR that I had a severe reaction to a sulfa drug in the past and had a bad liver.  I was scared!  The Dr treated me like i was a complete idiot and told me that I would be fine.  Well, 8 hours after taking the 1st pill of MACRObid I became feverish..my fever jumped to 104..I was violently shivering and then I could not breathe!   My hubby rushed me back to the ER, and they had me on morphine to calm my heart which was racing at almost 200 bpm and I felt like I was dieing!  I was breathing at a rate of 45 which is supposed to be between 15-20.. They would not accept that they caused this by giving me the macrobid!  They tried to tell me that a sudden kidney infection had hit me..  We left and then went to a different hospital which kept me due to my extreme respiratory distress and cardic distress..  Luckily I was able to get my health insurance back and am now getting treated for liver problems that have become much worse since the incident!

[Marcia2202]

I'm sorry to hear about your mom-in-law. Hope she will get well soon and that it didn't cause any permanent damage.

Thanks for warning us about this drug.

Marcia

[merryBe]

thanks for the well wishing..

boy you sure got that right!!   That's my new rule too....run EVERYTHING by the Hep Guy....plus....the pharacist. Actually pharmacists have 5 years MORE training than MD's when it comes to drug interaction, your pharmacist could be your best real ally if we build those relationships.....anyway...it is The more you check out all the meds the scarier it gets!!!

come to think of it, one of my patients from years ago went to fill a cript one day..and the pharmacist said....."please don't take this drug, it has serious side effects and is under serious scrutiny right now".
the woman ignored the pharmacist thinking her doctor knew best...
went home, took 2 pills and promptly had a massive stroke...the very side effect the pharmacist had warned her about.
mb

[GrandmaBRZ]

thank you for posting this info. I hope your mother in law continues to stabilize. I have not used the above drug but I am looking up any drug now before I take it especially  if it is prescribed by any md other than my HCV hepatologist.  I am pretty shocked at what I find.