In Feb. 2010 my husband was diagnosed with lung nocardiosis at a VA hospital, the medications that were used to treat him were Sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim - Clarithromycin - and Ethambutol , in which he had to take for 3 months under the supervision of a pharmacy doctor. From what we were told, and from what i have read, is that nocardiosis can in some cases lie dormant in your system for years before it comes to the surface, and usually surfaces when the individuals immune system becomes low, and that the only way to treat this condition is with antibiotic treatments. unfortunately it seems to be a situation where your darned if you do! ( long term use of antibiotic side effects ) and darned if you don't! ( possible fatal outcome ). My husband was very fortunate that his was diagnosed quickly, and was able to stop taking the antibiotic treatments after 3 months ( verses the 6 mo. to 1 yr. treatments ) So far the treatments seem to have work, although he is now dealing with the side effects of which are Migraine headaches - Mussel spasms - and some Vision loss. In my search to understand this condition and the side effects of the treatments i came across a couple of websites that may be of use to you or others whom are searching for answers as well, medications.com is a website that offers a forum where you can type in the name of a medication that you are taking and it will show the results of others whom have also taken that medication and the side effects that they had experienced. If you are a military veteran hadit.com is where i came across the ( schedule list for rating disabilities) and on that list is ( # 6823 nocardiosis ) may be to your benifit to check into it if your still battleing this diease. Wish i could provide more information, good luck with your treatments.