I was listening to NPR last night and there was a segment about how the FDA had issued a warning about taking azithromycin, known as Zithromax, Z-Pac, or Zmax. The warning says the it can cause a potentially fatal irregular heart rhythm in some patients.

What I found interesting in the warning is that we, as athletes, are included in the at-risk group. Mainly because of low heart rates, but maybe also because of low levels of potassium or magnesium. The at-risk group includes people with low levels of potassium or magnesium, a slower-than-normal heart rate, or people who take certain drugs used to treat abnormal heart rhythms, or arrhythmias.

This doesn’t surprise me in the least. I’ve taken Zithromax a few times in my life and I refuse to take it now. It is commonly prescribed for strep throat. When I take Zithromax, it is something like a miracle pill. I go from not being able to swallow one minute and then a couple hours later I have no symptoms of the sickness. The problem is that I can’t pedal my bike at all for close to 3 weeks or longer. I’ve experienced this 2 or 3 times, enough that I avoid the drug at all costs.

I’ve spoken to a few doctors about the issue and they told me that I was riding poorly because of the strep and not because of the antibiotics, but that isn’t true. I can be riding great, with a super sore, swollen throat, but as soon as I swallow the first Zithromax, I’m toast.

I’m thinking now that the Zithromax causes some type of reaction to hearts, especially of athletes, who naturally have super slow heart rates. And it takes the better part of a month for it to “clear up”.

Zithromax is the only antibiotic that is on my never to take list, but many antibiotics make me ride slow. I used to think that maybe it was a mental thing, but I’ve witnessed the same effects on Bromont.

Sometimes out running in the country, he’ll rip up his soft underside and get an infection that covers a large portion of his body. I’ll be taking him around the block on his normal loop and then the day he is given the antibiotics, his running speed goes from 25 + mph to around 15 mph. He looks like he is taking the same strides, just like he is in molasses. And he has no idea that he is on antibiotics, so it can’t be psychosomatic.

My counter observation of this is of Todd Wells. When I rode on the Specialized team with him, he always had a sinus, upper respiratory thing going, virtually the whole season. And nearly half the time he would be racing while taking antibiotics and was flying. I never understood how he could be riding so fast while on antibiotics because I was horrible while on them.

Americans are always looking for the quick fix. And, of course, none of us like being sick, especially during the season. But, we need to try to start backing away from antibiotics as the first line of offense to illness. And, as athletes, we seriously need to avoid Zirthromax. It isn’t worth dying over.

It’s been 4 weeks now since I had shoulder surgery. I knew it was going to be a slow and frustrating process, but never imagined how slow and frustrating. I’ve been hurt a ton in my lifetime. But I haven’t had much experience with soft tissue injuries. It has mainly been broken bones, separated shoulders and such. I’ve broken one or the other of my collarbones lots of times. But the sleeping aspect of this rotator cuff repair is terrible compared to a mere collarbone break.

I can’t really say that I’m not sleeping because of pain. Don’t get me wrong, it is painful sometimes. But the majority of the waking is mainly because I’m not comfortable. It’s sort of like a dull toothache. During the day, if there is stuff going on, it’s easy to ignore, but at night, when you’re just laying there, it is intense enough to be more than bothersome.

Adding misery is that I’ve been sick too most of the time. I think the reasons for that is twofold. One, since I’m sleeping so little, I’m run down. Plus, I’m out in public, at places that there are a lot of sick people, way more than I normally would be. I normally am not interacting with “regular” people that much in my daily life. But spending so much time doing physical therapy and other stuff exposes me to more bugs than I’d normally encounter on a daily basis. It seems like there are a lot of weird bugs going around Topeka this year and they all seem to like me.

I’m going to Louisville next week to have my friend Stacie look at my shoulder and give me some advise about a time frame of when I can start riding. I swore that I was not going to jump the gun on this whole deal, but I don’t even know who has the gun right now, let alone when they are thinking about pulling the trigger.

The guy I’m seeing at Rebound Physical Therapy, Burt, is great. He is super knowledgeable and encouraging. He got his degree in PT from the Mayo Clinic, so has a good base. He knows a ton about shoulders, which is good for me. I go three times a week. I haven’t walked over there since I got a stomach bug, but plan on starting up again.

I’m also going to start riding inside more. I’ve only ridden on the ergometer a few times the last 4 weeks. I did ride for an hour last night and didn’t feel too bad. I was pretty fit before this whole thing happened, so I seem to have okay steady state power. I’m sure my top end is gone. It is pretty difficult going hard riding when I can’t use my right arm at all. I’m not supposed to engage my shoulder muscles at all, which is more difficult than you might think. So, I’m not pushing it at this time.

It is supposed to be 70 degrees here in Topeka today and 80 degrees tomorrow. I’m going to hate it. Someone broke into our building a couple days ago and I had to get Bill to install a new door there yesterday. I observed that there were a bunch of new cats hanging there. Inside and out. So, I’m going to try to plug up the holes, so they stay out and start a new catch, spay, and release program. I didn’t realize that they multiply like rabbits until I got caught up in this. An average female cat can have more than 3 litters a year, averaging 4 to 6 kittens. You do the numbers, it is out of control.

I’m sure I’m going to get bitten, so then I’ll have to reference back to yesterdays post on antibiotics. I don’t have a spleen, so cat bites are a no-no. I’d better go locate the welders gloves.