Lisa, you're suffering the first cold syndrome.  Poor Jack went through the same thing not long ago.  And speaking of Jack - how about an update???

A cold is viral and an antibiotic won't help it, but those of us who suffered with this know that a cold always ends up with secondary bacterial infections.  I guess the virus causes everything to flare up.  My first cold (and only illness in the past 18 months !!!!!!!!!!) was completely uneventful, despite my fear that it was going to end up in my chest.  It was the most pleasant illness I've ever had, and I couldn't understand what healthy folks whine about.  Then again, they're healthy and have nothing to compare it to, so if that's the worse thing they face, I guess I can understand their intollerance.  But sheesh!  

You can either call your doctor and see what he/she thinks you should do.  Or you can wait it out and see how your body handles this cold, and call him/her if and when you feel it's moving into the lungs.  You may decide you need to use your rescue inhaler for a few days, and if you need it - use it.  

The 1000 mg of Zithromax is a little higher than Dr. Hahn is using now, but based on emails he's sent to someone else whose doctor prescribed that dose, he feels it's not going to increase any risk and is fine.  

Remember - your lungs take a while to heal.  Dr. Hahn says people have told him they didn't feel really great for several months - and as long as up to a year.   You're going to have good and bad days - and even people without any health issues are short of breath when they have a cold, so don't panic and think the antibiotics didn't do anything!!!

 Thank you for the replies! It did make me feel better. Some more
 information. I did take Zythromax, 1000 mg once a week for 14 weeks.
 I guess the thing that is bothering me is I seem to be getting a cold
 and am experiencing a bit of shortness of breath.  So I wonder if that
 is the bacteria still hanging around.  It sounds like I should not
 need any more antibiotics than I took though, correct?  And maybe it
 just will take a bit more time. I will let this go a few days and see
 how I feel. I guess I am not sure if I should call my doctor and try
 for another 6 weeks or something?  Anyway, again, thank you for the
 replies. I will hang in there and try to be positive. Maureen, you are
 so right. I am scared to death having a toddler with the flu season
 coming up. Though I did get the flu shot.  :)

 Lisa

I read it at Jim's forum. That *might* have been this time last year when I
was deciding if I had been on antibiotics long enough.
Joy, that may have been an early discussion?  In my later email exchanges
with Dr. Hahn, he said he would stop the treatment at 12 weeks and either
the person would continue to show improvement in the following months, or
would not.

Lisa,

It isn't clear to me that you did take it long enough. There was a
discussion I recall about how long should you take the antibiotics if they
seem to be working and the consensus was you should take them until you feel
normal again. So the fact that you were not completely free of the steroids
to me would indicate you needed to be on them longer. But who knows? We are
still in the "testing" phase of this treatment.

Is your doctor willing to continue?