This site is to give HOPE to those who are suffering from Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Syndrome as a result of being poisoned by fluoroquinolone antibiotics – Cipro, Levaquin, Avelox, Floxin, etc. It contains stories of healing.
Cipro, Levaquin, Avelox and all other fluoroquinolones are dangerous drugs that can have devastating effects that cumulatively I’ll refer to as Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Syndrome or Floxing. Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Syndrome/Floxing includes damage to connective tissue (tendons, ligaments, cartilage, fascia, etc.) throughout the body, damage to the nervous systems (central, peripheral and autonomic), and more. The damage done by fluoroquinolone antibiotics can destroy a person’s quality of life or even kill them. Certainly, there is a time and a place for drugs with dangerous side effects. If you find yourself in a septic shock induced coma, fluoroquinolones may save your life. Unfortunately, these drugs are not being reserved for life or death situations. People are being prescribed them for urinary tract infections, suspected prostate infections, upper respiratory infections, as a prophylactic for travelers’ diarrhea, ear infections, pink eye, etc. Thousands of people have suffered needlessly from the devastating effects of fluoroquinolone antibiotics, when another, safer antibiotic could have, and should have, been used.
The damage done by fluoroquinolones is largely unacknowledged by the medical establishment and an accurate diagnosis, compensation and relief are difficult to come by. There is no known cure for Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Syndrome/Floxing. However, many people continue to LIVE after being poisoned by fluroquinolones. They find healing, recovery, perseverance, compassion and hope. These are their stories.
This site is meant to give hope for healing to those who are adversely effected by fluoroquinolones. It is no way meant to disregard the pain of those who are chronically suffering from the horrifying effects of Cipro, Levaquin, Avelox or the other fluoroquinolones. There are people who don’t recover. Their stories are real and they matter. There are also people who are able to recover and I share their stories with the hope that they inspire others, or at least give hope that recovery is possible.
Here is a New York Times article about the dangers of fluoroquinolone antibiotics – http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/popular-antibiotics-may-carry-serious-side-effects/?_r=0 – more news stories, research papers and other resources can be found on the “Links and Resources” page.
Here is a Facebook group that is a great resource for those going through Fluoroquinolone Toxicity – https://www.facebook.com/groups/floxies/
Featured post – I’m floxed. Now what?
The Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Solution Ebook has helped many Floxies to recover, including Daniel, Cindy and Ruth. As a bonus, you will also receive The Floxie Food Guide – a book of diet guidelines to help you through fluoroquinolone toxicity:
Tuula,
My abnormal peristalsis or lack of I intestinal flow was caused by a lack of Magnesium chloride. I have been low on magnesium since I was floxed. Even through I read Caroline Dean’s book on magnesium cover to cover and MgCl oil and lotion it was low. After I got out of the hospital my back muscles were so sore I had to lie flat for most of the day. I would put a towel soaked in Mg Cl solution on my back and get relief. So I read the book again and realized MgCl is very important. For muscle relaxation. I added MG CL in my foot soak and did soaked twice a day. It took 5 months before my muscles stopped aching. I also had to restrict Vitamin D (so as not to use up the free Mg and make my back and stomach sore again.
In the hospital, the blood doctor gave me bag after bag of magnesium sulphate to raise my Mg level. I wasn’t smart enough to ask for MgCl at that time. It took 4-5 days for my bowels,to,function at all and the they were fairly normal,after a month. Back soreness and charley horse occurred until,the five month time.
So my stomach problems were caused by the Cipro.
I had been taking Borax at low levels for 7 months and my blood glucose was dropping before the stomach shut down. I was running 2.3 degrees cold and taking thyroid supplements to,help but thye raised my blood glucose so I would stop and wait for the glucose level to return to 160. So for 5 months my blood glucose cycled between 160 and 190.
A month after leaving the hospital I lost the Floxie feeling. I believe the Borax had removed enough of the antibiotics that they were not destroying me faster than the supplements could effect repairs. I think the Borax was amd co tiniest to,be helpful.But the problem is repairing one thing can steal nutrients from other area and cause problems there. As my magnesium levels returned closer to,normal, the back soreness wa satisfied amd the magnesium decency signal settled on arthritis in my left thumb only. Now that is gone 28 days a month. I have been able to raise my Vitamin D levels without stealing Mg from my muscles now.
Caroline Dean recommends 13 magnesium salts for various conditions. I take 5. I keep reading her book to see what else I should be doing.
I am slow;y getting better. I am only 1.2 degrees cold now. I think the Borax is still helping. I started taking a Boron salt to see if that would remove antibiotics. If it does, it is a minor effect. However today for the fourth time of taking one Boron pill amd hours later I get a significant discharge food intolerance mucus. They I wait a few days for the mucus to stop and do it again. I think the food intolerance mucus in dry form is stored in my organs. Getting rid of it is helpful.
It is an ongoing saga but I feel more and more I am moving away from the clutches of being a Floxie.
LOL
John Taylor
John – quick question. When you say that you lost the Floxie feeling, what were the symptoms you had? Did your energy and joints improve?
Thanks
Fred S,
I had been feeling various improvements for 3 years. Arthritis in my left hand would come and go and I felt it was a sign of Mg level.(At first I had constant pain in both hands.) But I always felt a general malais and would be tired. sluggish during the day. Then I last that feeling and had more energy. I also noticed that repairs of all kinds of things werre going at a faster pace. It was a sharp transition.
LOL
John Taylor
John…… I asked this question earlier but you were off line and I never got your opinion. With the Borax I want to use the ounce daily routine but I want to take it at bedtime and let it work over night when there is very little else going on. That way I could take some supplements during the day. Your opinion?
Hi Don,
You can take Borax a lot of different ways. Your plan is a good option. When you start your morning drink 2-3 ounces of olive oil to remove the Borax and wait two hours so two give the oil time to remove the Borax. The start the supplements. One of the toxic effects of Borax is it will remove the oils anywhere including the brain cell surface so double up on Omega 3 fish oil to recover from t his.
I do prefer a day or two being on Borax but if I really needed the supplements, I would do your 8 hours. The key is to remove the Borax when you switch back.
Is the. borax helping?
I would like to find a less toxic removal agent. I tried a Boron Supplements and it removed food intolerance waste very. Efficiently but raised my blood glucose and lowered my temperature. This is the same result when I take an organ supplement.
I get 1/3rd of my calories from oil to help the diabetes. Stopping oil just by itself should raise my blood glucose anyway. I kept up the oil while taking Boron. The Boron experiment took 6 weeks as blood glucose doesn’t respond quickly. It takes that long to get an answer.
It took me 10 months to lose the Floxie feeling using the 8 hour on and 16 hours of supplements. I used 1/6 teaspoon of Borax a day. Using 1/4 should speed things up. And using oil to clear out the borax should help the supplements. So this discussion has been forward putting. We have a better protocol and maybe we are getting close to optimal.
I am still trying different time periods of being on borax. I am having a very difficult time removing Clindamycin l took to prevent a skin infection from hand surgery. The contraindication say avoid multitvalentions. Mg seemed to help initial ally, then the borax but my blood glucose is still 30 points higher than my lowest prior numbers.
LOL
John Taylor
Don M,
I have been thinking further about your question and have concluded the 8 hours of Borax followed by supplements for 16 hours is a the best yet Protocol for Borax.
1- I removed enough of the toxins that way to stop the Floxie feeling and my body experienced a rapid increase in repairs. That took 10 months with the 1/16 teaspoon daily. ¼ teaspoon daily should be faster or perhaps 2 ½ months. That should be fast enough. What would be the point of spending time on finding a faster rate?
2- The drinking of 3 ounces of Olive oil to clear out the Borax before taking the supplements should make then more effective than what I was doing.
3- Now you can watch how effective the supplements are and adjust the amount of Borax so things are improving. In my case I monitor blood glucose, temperature, and how many fully alert hours I get per day once I get up in the morning. The Borax drives these in the wrong direction in the short term but it does remove the toxins which drives them in the right direction in the long term. So it is a question of balance. This would be easy to adjust the daily dose of Borax to keep things improving. It is probably better for your body to have less toxic effect from the Borax before the supplements start repairs again.
4- Once you find the steady state Borax dosage, you can look at new effects while maintaining both the Borax removal and supplement improvement without waiting for the swings from a periodic Borax multiple days usage to settle out. This is a big advantage.
In my case I don’t think the Clindamycin I took in November is out of my system yet. None of my trend charts have returned to the pre-Clindamycin levels. The drug literature says avoid multivalent Ions so I am going to add all of them to my protocol and see what happens. It takes about 3 weeks to see an effect. With everything else stable, this speeds up my search to repair my body.
Thanks for your help.
John Taylor
John – one question. I have seen some thoughts from doctors (and others) that the fluoride is out of your body fairly quickly and the issues we have are the aftermath of the fluoride FQ bomb (nerve damage, brittle tendons, etc). If this is the case, how does the borax make you better? Not being critical of borax – just trying to reconcile in my own mind. Also, if the fluoride is still in your body, how do measure how much you have ? Thanks
Fred,
They are spinning the facts. The floroquinolones are at super low concentrations in your blood fairly quickly but the are chemically bonded to the surface of your cells.After a while one molecule will leave the surface where it is attached and then attach elsewhere doing more damage. This is why you have the ongoing Floxie feeling. The Magnesium ion at high concentrations will react with the fluorine negative ion when it is,in solution and turn it into a solid or powder that passes out in your urine. When I did the magnesium ion removal, I measured the amount of increased powder. Over four days, I removed 3.5 grams, 4 months after taking 5.5 grams.
Borox works differently. It breaks double bonds anywhere it finds them in solution or on the surface. It removes the other toxins that have buildup from our food supply over years. You became a Floxie because the total amount of the toxins exceeded an amount where the destruction exceeds the body’s ability to repair, so it is I,port at to remove all the various types of toxins. Borax basically cuts up the antibiotics into little pieces. Borax removes the pesticides, fungicides, scheme chemicals, antibiotics, et
I don’t know how to measure the florine remaining in your system directly. When you tip the balance so the destruction is less than the rebuilding the feeling of being better is dramatic. Your fasting glucose is another indicator^. In my book I describe how to make and interpret trend charts. Antibiotics tend to raise glucose levels. When you remove them the glucose levels tend to go down but glucose is a. Very complex subject. The book has 90+ kindle pages describing how to remove the toxins and repair the damage in a sequence that our body follow. Doing things out of sequence is often ineffective. Your body will tell you how well you feel in many ways that direct you Yo,what supplementS are needed next.
LOL
John Taylor
A. Coleman
I wonder how many floxies experience a flare following covid??? It would be interesting to know.
I hope you recover quicky!
Hi guys,
Happy New Year to everybody. I have a question re N-Acetylcysteine, have you tried it? What was your experience with it? Any side effects?
Thanks,
Aga
Hi guys.
Yesterday, after a month, I’ve checked my vitamin D and calcium blood levels again. Remember, there’re mounting studies that shows how having optimal vitamin D levels it’s protective against the virus, but of course the governments, the Italian government here in particular, keep saying there’s no proof about that. Besides, I’ve always noticed, since being floxed, how vitamin D it’s super important as far as pain menagment for me.
So, in just a month, my levels raised from 53.3 to 70.2 ng/dl, which is good, but also the calcium increased from 10 to 10.4, wich is not good, since the upper limit is 10.6. I’m almost sure that this tremendous increase is due to the boron supplementation, which II’ve been taking for about 2/2.5 months. Boron is known to increase vitamin D serum levels and also support/regulates the mineralization of bones and cartilages. Anyway, I’ve decided to give boron a break and in another month, see what my blood results look like. I’ll keep you updated.
To Aga, Sorry, but I’ve never took N-Acetylcysteine, so I can’t help you, but why are interested in it?
Hi Andrea,
I’ve recently read about NAC, it is an amino acid that apparently increases glutathione levels and therefore supports detoxification of the liver and wanted to try that.
I know that some people take glutathione supplements, but I’ve read different opinions about that and I’m reluctant to take it. If NAC can boost the glutathione levels it could be healthier option to help the detox process. But not sure about side effects and if that actually helps.
UHm…I don’t know what to suggest, Aga. What are your symptoms right now and how long have you been in this situation (floxed)?
To me, it’s always better to stick to the essential supplements we all nedd (a good multimineral maybe once a week, it depends of course from case to case, some magnesium and, in if you don’t expose your skin to sun for at least 30 minutes a day, vitamin d+k2 for better absorbtion. Also maybe a good multivitamin, if you lack some vitamin, like for example b12 etc.).
Taking something, just because you’ve read “it helps detoxify the liver”, to me doesn’t really mean anyhting. Of course, that’s just my opinion, but why risking to take something that can be potentially harmful. Take my case : this boron supplement did what it was supposed to do, so drammatically increasing my vitamin d levels, but at the same time, I’m now experiencing high levels of calcium, which it’s not good…
Hi Andrea,
I’ve been floxed for 1 year and 3 months now. My symptoms comes and go, but the most frequent are tendons and bones pain. I take magnesium bisglycinate 100 mg 3 times a day and also use magnesium oil. I’ve recently started taking cod fish oil and vit. K2. To detox my liver I use milk thistle currently and wanted to try something else to speed that process up.
Recently I have been diagnose with dysglycemia, likely due to Cipro as well.
I don’t have the prediabetic profile, I’m 39 years old, my current weight is 61 kg and I’m 171 tall. I never had issues with glucose levels before taking Cipro. I’ve read some studies/hypotesis that fluoroquinolones can lead to dysglycemia due to magnesium depletion. I’ve recently had my blood tests done and despite the fact that I take 300mg of Mg daily + Mg from food sources (cacao, almonds, etc.) my magnesium levels are at the minimum levels (1.9). So not sure what else I can do to boost it up. To control glucose levels, I had to switch to low carb and no sugar diet and in three months I will have my tests repeated.
My vit. D levels are in norm, but low as well (38.7), that’s why I’ve started with cod fish old and vit. K2. I also expose myself to sun almost every day for at least 20 min.
Levels of calcium, iron and vit. from group B are O.K.
I have taken NAC (600mg a day ) for awhile now. It is supposed to support the immune system and I haven’t had any cold or flu all the time I have been taking it. I can’t say I’ve noticed any side effects except a somewhat sulphurous odour in my urine. This comes and goes.
Hi Madge,
Thank you for responding. I’ve read that recommended dose is 600 mg a day. For how long have you been taking it?
I have taken it daily for about 4 years till recently. I stopped for a bit as I thought it might be making my winter hives worse. I am now going to experiment with taking it 3 times a week.
I’m excited to hear from anyone who has any research on whether Floxies will be able to take the COVID vaccine. We have mitochondrial damage. Will this vaccine worsen our condition?
David, I suspect that most floxies will be just fine with the COVID vaccine. I had COVID (see my post on the previous page) and recovered much like I suspect I would have without being a floxie. That recovery taxed my body’s reserves and I am in a relapse now; but I don’t think COVID directly caused that.
While I tend to avoid the seasonal flu vaccine since I don’t feel the benefits outweigh the risk the COVID vaccine is a different situation. I am sure I have some natural immunity left for a few months, but I will be taking the COVID vaccine when it is offered. I fall in the final group in the US, so don’t anticipate getting the vaccine until June or July; so we’ll have plenty of evidentiary data before it is my turn.
While we’re at it, why do you guys think certain people are more inclined to get covid and certain don’t? Is it just a matter of immune stystem or is there something else?
What’s your opinion?
Fred S,
I had been feeling various improvements for 3 years. Arthritis in my left hand would come and go and I felt it was a sign of Mg level.(At first I had constant pain in both hands.) But I always felt a general malais and would be tired. sluggish during the day. Then I last that feeling and had more energy. I also noticed that repairs of all kinds of things werre going at a faster pace. It was a sharp transition.
LOL
John Taylor
I am recently floxed. I stopped taking Cipro yesterday morning after 6 days being on it. Last night my feet started tingling and my muscles became weak. Today, my knee feels like it will explode and the tingling in my legs is bothersome. I am in full panic. I read the tips, but am wondering if there is anything else I can be doing.
Jacob Link … Are you taking ALA (alpha lipoic acid)? It is supposed to be beneficial for nerve problems. The RALA (R-alpha lipoic acid) is better than plain ALA. Also more expensive. Are you taking magnesium? Magnesium is a muscle relaxant. Magnesium really helps with muscle problems. Topical magnesium which is magnesium chloride dissolved in distilled water rubbed on the sore muscle (muscle cramps) will help to relieve it almost immediately. Learn about magnesium by reading the book by Dr. Carolyn Dean “The Magnesium Miracle? Available at Amazon. Do you know your body’s magnesium level? The simple magnesium test only is a snapshot of the mag level in the blood at that time. Less than 2% of the body’s mag is in the blood so it is a cheap but poor method of gaging the body’s mag level, The better test is the RBC Mag test. It checks the mag level in the red blood cells. Most insurances won’t pay for it but you can order it directly from Request a test https://requestatest.com/ Cost is about $50 to $60.
Dr. Carolyn Dean says that with the RBC blood test your mag level should be at about 6.
Fluoroquinolones ( Cipro and others) deplete the magnesium in the body so it is important to supplement to keep the level up. Dr. Dean also says that magnesium pills are only from 4% 20% effective and getting enough by pills can cause diarrhea. She recommends liquid magnesium which she claims bypasses the digestive system so the diarrhea problem is eliminated. Some liquids are Remag, Angstrom, Good State Ionic Magnesium.
For more information go back and read the posts by John Taylor.
Being floxed is “NO” fun but there are things you can do to mitigate the discomfort. Just takes some reading and researching.
Jacob Link …. Along with what I have already written look into light therapy for pain like the joints of knees. Research “Cold Laser”, and bulbs and panels that have light emitting diodes that are in the 660nm red and 850nm infrared range. Light therapy does work!!! Heating pads that are “infrared” work. Heating pads that are infrared pads are more expensive than regular ones but they work much better. Bulbs can be bought for less than $40. Panels can be bought for around $75. Hand held battery operated Cold Lasers that are effective are expensive. They run from about $900 up. The cheaper ones do not have enough power to be really effective. Avoid investing in them. Let me repeat …. Light therapy works for relieving pain!!! Light therapy does not last to long but since it is non invasive it can be repeated as often as one wishes.
Also go to the internet and look into PEMF. Read about the Bob Beck protocol.
I know these facts to be true because I use them daily. I have available a Cold Laser, a 660nm and 850nm bulb, a 225 LED 660nm and 850nm light panel, and an infrared heating pad. I also have a PEMF unit. I TAKE NO PAIN MEDS! When I hurt (which is most of the time) I use one or more of the gadgets to mitigate pain. Bottom line … Light therapy and PEMF work and it can be used as often as wanted because it is non invasive. Try it.
Sorry … Sorry about how the Bob Beck Protocol posted. I really only meant for it to be the web site URL.
Don – what type of cold laser therapy device do you own? Also, do you use on tendons or muscles or both? Thanks
Fred S … My cold laser hand held unit is made in Israel. It is called Laser TRX. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=lasertrx+pain+relief+cold+laser&t=crhs&ia=web
Price. Check around because it can be bought for around $900. It is what they call pulsed laser. To keep the light from getting hot it pulses. I use it everywhere on my body anywhere there is pain but not on my head. Light therapy is also good for healing so I may use it on wounds too. It does improve circulation so don’t use it immediately on a wound or it will draw the blood to the wound to quick. It has an auto shutoff at 5 minutes but I may restart a couple more times. Pain relief is not long lasting but since it is non invasive it can be used again and again. It will do better than a dozen 5 minute sessions on a charge.
Thanks, Don
Jacob, I’m so sorry to read you’ve been recently “floxed”.
Is there anything else you can be doing? YES, DON’T PANIC! I know it sounds stupid to you right now, but that’s the only real thing that it’s going to help you at this particular moment. Mark my words. Supplements, vitamins, minerals etc…you’ll will take them, and they will proably help you, but the first thing you have to overcome, it’s the shock of finding out what just happened to you.
You’re dealing with a serious, difficult situation, that causes a lot of oxydative stress to your body, so adding mental stress to it, it’s just going to make things worse. So, try to be calm and rational as much as you can (I know, easier said than done).
With this being said, and I hope I didn’t brought you down with my brutal introduction, why don’t you tell us something about you : your age, previous health situation before taking cipro, eating habits, are you a smoker or drinker etc.
One thing I can do to you, is sharing what helped me :
Cleaned up diet : I don’t know what you normally eat, but eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, preferably organic, good fats (olive oil, nuts, seeds, wild cought fish), whole grains, legumes, defenelty helped immensely in the past. Also, try to stay away from caffeinated drinks, this include coffee, tea, sodas etc. Many of us, me included, develop a sensitivity to caffeine, I don’t know the reason, but many of us find that it triggers the symptoms. So I suggest you to pass on the coffee for now. Also try to avoid sugar and junk food in general. I’ve noticed, but this is just me, that milk and dairy are no good for my symptoms too.
Supplements : during my 4 years of being a floxie, I’ve tried at least 2 dozens of different supplements, but I’ll suggest you to stick to the basics : magnesium and trace minerals, best if ionic and in liquid form, vitamin D (to me extremely important, expecially from the sun rather than from capsules, but if there’s no sun, a vitamin d (5000 iu) + k2 supplement it’s a good compromise. B complex, some of us find great benefits from it, some don’t, expecially with B6. My suggestion is to do a blood work, checking all the vitamins and minerals, find if you’re lacking some nutrients, and then, start supplementing. Keep in mind that,normally, to see if a supplement it’s doing it’s job, you need to take it for at least 6 weeks everyday, at the right dosage : dont’ expect to see some results after 3 days or maybe a week, or if taking a too small of a dose.
Rest/ Recovery : You’re dealing with lots of stress now, you need to rest. Try to sleep well, and many hours per night, if you can of course. This is defently going to help. Also put some ice and/or magnesium oil on the parts of your body that hurt the most.
Physical activity : This is crucial. If resting is very important, so is being active. Try to move, as mcuh as you can, without overdoing it. Walk, do push ups, squats, yoga, stretching, whatever you’re able to do, but it’s important to keep the body moving. Cipro damges the nerves, and not using them, it’s just going to add fuel to the fire. Just try to don’t push it too far. Rememebr that your body it’s in a delicate situation now.
There’re many many other things that a floxie can do to try to improves his/her situation : cryotherapy, light therapy, nutrients IV’s, powerful antioxidants, magnetic therapy and the list goes on and on, but as I worte earlier, I suggest you to keep it essential. remember that some supplements or therapies, can defenlty help you, but sometimes, they can even hurt you, so don’t go too crazy, trying to find the magical thing that’ll heal you right away, and keep in mind what I wrote at the beginning : DON’T PANIC, and feel free to ask for anything else you need to know.
I hope it helped.
Andrea …. Good information for Jacob. He has it. (FLOXED or known as Fluoroquinolone Toxicity) No amount of worry or panic will help. Everyone reacts a little different when floxed. To Jacob. Do your own research and find what works for you.
Andrea,
Thank you for the response. I am 3-4 days into this and deteriorating every day. The symptoms are putting my anxiety out of control. I am losing all sense of hope and can’t even look at my wife and kids. I feel like I am losing my hearing and all sense of normalcy. I am scared and have no idea how I am going to continue. I am a 32 year old male. I wouldn’t say I was healthy prior to this, as I had crippling anxiety/ health anxiety and lived under severe stress. I’m already ready to throw in the towel and fear this is only the beginning.
Jacob, I’m so sorry for what you’re going through. As a fellow floxie, I know about the fear and anxiety you’re feeling. It’s scary to see our body disintegrating. But please hang in there: you can get through this. Almost all of us eventually get better; we just don’t quite know how long it will take. Since you are young, you have a good chance of improving. Time is your friend: most people improve over time. I know this condition aggravates the anxiety you already had. Good things for anxiety include: Magnesium (which also helps FQ toxicity). Take as much as you can without diarrhea, in divided doses throughout the day (max. 200 mg at one time): Mg. Threonate crosses the blood brain barrier and especially helps anxiety. Taking it at night can help sleep. Mg Citrate and Oxide are best avoided since the first can cause diarrhea and the 2nd isn’t well absorbed. CBD/Cannabis,meditation, L-Theanine and GABA can help with anxiety. Epsom salt warm baths (with at least 2 cups of salts) are a form of magnesium and can also help with sleep and pain. Andrea’s and Don M’s advice is very good. You were very smart to stop after 6 days. I stopped after 5, and have almost completely healed from my 3 partial tendon ruptures from Cipro. One was 10 out of 10 pain at first, but is now completely better, with time and physical therapy. If you feel like you’re losing hearing (which I briefly did recently from an ear infection), try to go on steroids soon. A number of naturopathic and regular doctors told me that there’s a brief window (about 2 weeks after onset of hearing loss) for steroids to restore hearing. If you wait too long, it can be too late. I was afraid of the steroids, but with gradual ramping up, had no side effects at all and even got rid of some of my depression on them. Youth and short time of being on Cipro are on your side. Remind yourself as often as needed that you have a very good chance of recovery. Recovery can take a while, so it may not be quick, but with patience and good rest and supplements, it likely will happen. Try to find a naturopathic doctor too: they are often aware of FQ toxicity and can guide you. They can also help with anxiety in a natural way so that you don’t need benzodiazepines, hopefully. Please keep us updated. We all understand and we’re all rooting for you and want to help.
Jacob … I’ll second everything that Virginia is saying. Do your best to stay off the prescription stuff and try to stay with the natural supplements etc. Magnesium, magnesium, magnesium. It is depleted by Fluroquinolones and it is VERY important to get the body level back up and keep it there. Look into the liquid magnesiums. I listed the three best in previous posts. May I suggest something? Look into Aculief. https://aculief.com/ It may sound a bit silly but since it comes from the old Chinese acupressure idea it does help. It is based on the idea of pressure in the web of the hand between the thumb and finger. The LI4 of Chinese acupressure. Try it. I use it regularly. And it does help. I am past 86 now and reaching for 87. At your age things WILL get better.
It is hell I know but stay in the game. Yes …. Contrary to what many in conventional established medicine try to BS us into thinking. Fluoroqinolone Toxicity is for real!!!
Jacob,
please stay calm. Explain to your wife what just happened to you, many people can’t belive that just 6 pills (or even less) can give you all this, but luckly today, there’s plenty of information on the internet.
Don’t expect to find support from the medical community, they’re the ones who put you in this situation, and, usually, they tend to not giving a damn about this problem. Because they’re ignorant or negligent, or both.
Do what I suggested you, do a complete blood work, see if you’re missing some nutrients, and as Virginia and Don suggested, start supplementing with magnesium, I suggest you also vitamin D, because you’re probably lacking this important hormone, if you’re not exposing your bare skin to the midday sun for at least 15-30 minutes. Take K2 with it, for better absorbtion. Take care of yourself, eat well, I already suggested you what to eat: lots of organic fruits and vegetables are super important, good fats etc. Stay away from refined crap and sugar, fast foods and so on…
Don’t give up man! And keep us updated
Andrea.
PS best form of magnesium :
L Threonate – as Virigina pointed out, this form crosses the blood brain barrier,
Magnesium malate : thought to be the best for muscle cramps (I’m currently using this one)
Magnesium oil and magnesium sulfate (also know as Epsom Salt) : these two are used topically, they say a nice worm bath with epsom salt it’s the best and most efficent way to absorb all the magnesium you need. Obviously you need to do it many times per week.
Jacob,
The very first thing to do is Epsom salt foots soaks. Make sure there is solid salt in the bottom of your bucket – that makes it a saturated solution. Soak a foot for 15 minutes. If you feel any discomfort, stop. Discomfort is actually a good sign that, you are doing the right thing. If it is uncomfortable it means your magnesium is low. Then wait for the discomfort to go away and soak again. This will remove the antibiotic in aboit 4 days, soaking twice a day.
After that you start the repair work. You are lucky that you found this blog so soon – your destruction will be less than most of us have experienced.
LOL
John Taylor
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Hi all,
Can somebody give me an idea of what to expect with brain fog?
So I’m 18 months out after 4 weeks cipro aged 42 when floxed.
My main symptom until now has been neuropathy mainly in my feet and up to my knees at times. This is very very gradually getting better.
I’m almost at a crossover now where brain fog is becoming my main symptom and no longer neuropathy.
I don’t feel like I’ve lost intelligence but I do feel tired a lot, and cloudy in the head almost like a veil has come down over me. A bit like being mildly drunk only not pleasant at all. I am worst after exerting myself physically or mentally, in the afternoons or if I haven’t slept well.
I don’t drink or smoke and functionally I am mostly where I was before floxing in terms of work and life activities. Although I do only work part time but I am lucky that I am able to. I think full time would be hard.
What can I expect? And what is this really? Is it brain damage? Is it chemo brain? Is it Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?
Best,
Michael
Micheal,
Brain fog is low fuel (glucose) in your brain cells. It is fully repairable. The quick fixes are eat a lot of oil – the brain can also run on oil. Buy a kilo of D-Ribose at Amazon. You need to find the amount you need for a day. Start with 2 teaspoons per day. And increase it by 2 teaspoons a day until the problem clears. Too much and you will be too alert to go to sleep, so take it easy. You will feel better very quickly but you don’t want to stay on D-Ribose forever. Diabetes is a catch all term for many conditions including those you list. You want to,start a fasting glucose trend chart.
Well, this whole subject is extensive, so I wrote my findings in a kindle book available at Amazon. You can blog here and figure it out over time or you can jump start the whole process by buying the book and refer to,it as you go along. The blog has brought up many questions and suggestions so the knowledge available is growing. I think Andrea is the most cured of any of us. She has good advice so pay attention to,her thoughts especially.
I expect you will have this under control in about a week. (It takes three days get the D-Ribose unless you find an expensive supply in a health store).
LOL
John Taylor
The Healthy Truth
Michael……. “I don’t feel like I’ve lost intelligence but I do feel tired a lot, and cloudy in the head almost like a veil has come down over me. A bit like being mildly drunk only not pleasant at all. I am worst after exerting myself physically or mentally, in the afternoons or if I haven’t slept well”. You have described exactly the way I feel. “And what is this really? Is it brain damage? Is it chemo brain? Is it Chronic Fatigue Syndrome”? I think to some degree it is all of the things you list. Will it/does it get better/ Takes time and lots of it. I am still working at it. Discussing your problems with those that DO understand you helps. So much of the established medicine is totally ignorant and try to BS us into thinking that we are nuts .
Hang in there. You come first. Do the things that make you feel better.
I took 7 x 500 mg pills of Cipro 4 months ago, unfortunatelly with corticosteroids (astma came up during treatment). I have serious walking issues, in one leg below the knee i feel some pain and weakness with every step. I can now walk about 30 minutes per day (it was 10). I wonder if I could do some stretches on the floor because I’m lacking flexibility. Some of you wrote it’s helpful but other say it may cause a rupture. What do you think? When it’s safe to start stretching?
John,
it’s difficult to answer to your question. Have you done a ultrasound or something else to see if there’s something going on with your tendonds? I remember when walking was very painful, I did an ultrasound on both of my acchilles tendons and nothing showed up.
My suggestion would be to try some easy stretches, without pushing too far and see what happens. Also look into deep tissue massage. I own a foam roller and a couple of lacrosse balls, they always helped me tremenedously, and you use these kind of devices on your muscles, not on your tendons, so you should be safe, and they really work, if used correctly.
Ice is also helpful. Look into saunas and cold showers too. Hope this helped.
Thank you Andrea for your answer. I did a ultrasound on my knees and only a torn meniscus, bad kneecap position and something about an angle (dont remember details) showed up. I think it’s not FQ related though.
Today I started light stretches. I did not feel good afterwards but I’ll repeat it a few times before judging because the same was with walking – it still hurts after a walk but I gain strength.
Ice was helpful in early stages, hot showers and high temperature seem to worse things up. I have some improvement in walking but it all goes very slow.
When were you floxed?
I found in one of your above comments you’re 4 years out. Can you tell me when you physically felt acceptable?
I do have a lacrosse ball, but haven’t used it for this purpose, no idea why – I only used it for back pain in the past. Will try it on my leg muscles.
John, as you mentioned I was “floxed” in Dec. 2016, at 30 years old. It all started with a subtle tingling sensation in one of my achilles tendon. Then it moved to the other one, and soon it was in both my lower legs, shins expecially were on fire. It remeined a burning sensation and/or an electirc shock feeling, deep in the muscles and inside the bones. Some days it was harder, some days it was lighter. I went on and off like that for about 5 or 6 months. Then, the situation precipitated and I started to feel week, dizzy, groggy and extremely fatigued basically 24/7. I was frequently out of breath, even when I was sitting on a chair. Plus of course the pain that was unbearable, not only in my legs now, but in my shoulders, wrist, elbows, basically every joint of my body. It went on like that for about 2.5/ 3 months. It was the summer of 2017, one of the hottest ever recorded here in Italy, and I’m sure this just made things way worse. At around the beginning of september, I started to “fight back”. The temperature dropped a little, so I started to eat well again, lots of fruits and vegetables, no sugar, no dairy, no refined crap or fast food, but expecially, I gave up coffee or anything with caffeine for good. This helped a lot.
I forced myslef to move a little. I started with a brief walk almost everyday, and even if it was painful, I felt better afterwards. I even went to the gym again, of course just very light weights, some stetching etc.
Now that I think about it, have you considered to go swimming? I don’t know the restriction laws in your country for the covid 19 pandemic, but if you can have access to a pool, it could be a good compromise if walking is still too hard for you.
I still suggest you to look at deep tissue massage. Get yourself a good foam roller, it helped quite a bit in my case. The thing with these damn fluoroquinolones side effects, is that you really can’t control them. One day you feel almost healed and the next day you feel like a bus ran over you again.
Try to be consistent with your “healing regimen”, but don’t push it too far, if one day you feel like you don’t want to do anything because you’re too weak, go ahead and take another rest day. Just don’t give up completely. Over time I’m almost sure you would be able to recover to a certain degree.
Take me as an example : In 2017 I was considering killing myslef, because I was in such a terrible, desperate situation. I’m now walking 10 km uphill everyday and I’m taking cold baths in the sea almost everyday. Yeah, I’m not what I used to be, just 4 years ago, but I can still do something without too many problems.
Oh, just another thing, I’ve recently discovered medical cannabis and my verdict is that It’s very helpful for keeping the pain at bay.
John … I have a PEMF minimat that I use on my legs and other places when they hurt. It is 24X16. It is called the Omni MiniMat. Pads are a bit on the expensive side but they are available on eBay
PEMF … Pulsed Electromagnetic Field therapy,
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=pemf+definition&t=crhs&ia=web
30 to 45 minutes of laying my legs on the pad and they feel better. Read the Bob Beck protocol that is posted here.
Only one web reference is allowed per post or the post goes to the checkers and may not be posted. I’ll post again about the minimat.
John … The minimat that I use and where I got it. https://www.ebay.com/itm/PEMF-Pet-Therapy-Pad-OMI-PEMF-Minimat-Humans-and-Pets-Quality-Affordable/233362140714?hash=item365577ae2a:g:LgoAAOSw7D5dl7XU
It is priced at $295 with an offer available. Make a lesser offer because the seller is interested in selling. It was an expensive purchase but I have found the relief worth it.
John, you can try very cautious stretches and stop immediately if there is pain. Too vigorous exercise can cause tension ruptures for those with FQ toxicity.
John,
Stiff muscles or short muscles are likely low magnesium. I recommend magnesium foot soaks. Older,posts,describe this in detail. Start with Epsom salts and order a bag of magnesium chloride flakes from Amazon.
Week,tendons is another matter but you need to “top up” om magnesium first.
LOL
John Taylor
31/M here. Floxed on October 14, 2020. I am just under 3.5 months in, and I am not doing well.
I was floxed for no reason, as a “precaution” by a urologist without evidence of any infection. Took 6 pills in 3 days. I got ROCKED right away, by day 3 couldn’t walk and had pain in both Achilles, shock sensations, pins and needles up and down my body, eye floaters, joint pain in my fingers, joints popping, brain fog, anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation.
Some of that started to fade by 3-4 weeks, and I was walking around again in flip flops. Big mistake as I was doing major damage at that time.
About 6-7 weeks ago, I started having extreme weakness in my left leg and mild weakness in my right. MRI has now confirmed tendonosis of the left peroneal tendon with a partial tear. My understanding is this is a partial rupture. I am in physical therapy (which helps when the PT does it, but hurts when I do it) and waiting to ask the orthopedic if surgery will be necessary.
I can only walk a few hundred steps a day, maybe 1,000, before I flare for the next two days.
I also still deal with: eye floaters, neuropathy in my hands, fatigue throughout the day, and major skin changes in my feet. Redness, peeling, and major pruning and wrinkles. I can’t even enjoy epsom salt baths, they prune within a minute so bad it looks like trench foot. I have to blowdry and moisturize them right away. I think this is from a collagen breakdown so I am taking collagen peptides and starting to eat bone broth.
I’m having a hard time guys. I am on disability from work until March 30 over this, but if I don’t start to see major improvement in 2 months I could lose my job.
I’ve only got 2 relatives, one is nearby but the other is 1,000 miles away.
I have fears that this is the end of my youth and can’t help but believe I’ve been robbed of about 20 years. I sleep about 10-11 hours a day. All I will say is I can’t live like this long term. And I won’t.
I really, really hope it’s true, the most get better…
Supplemets: magnesium liquid, calcium with Vitamin D + ALA + Fish oil + lutein + COQ10 + collagen peptides + probiotic
P.S. – I am fighting back against the urologist. I have complained to the Florida department of health and am working with a lawyer to see if I have a case. I’ve had two doctors, including an MD and a DPT put their names on paper to see this is Cipro toxicity
Christopher, I’m so sorry. I too had a partial left ankle peroneal tear which has completely healed after 4 years. Yes, most of us do recover, but it can take awhile. Physical therapy helped me too, but don’t overdo any exercises. Since you’re young and were only on it for 3 days, you have a good chance of recovery. I was older so took longer to heal. A partial tear may not need surgery: mine didn’t. Keep up the magnesium, and rub mg oil on the tear. Collagen peptides and bone broth are an excellent idea. Wear an ankle brace when walking and minimize steps for now. I still wear a wrap around brace to bed at night to keep the ankle supported. I know it’s scary right now but you will very likely improve with time.
Christopher,
Everything that Virginia said is good. I to had a tear, in a wheelchair for 3 months. I was floxed at 71 years of age, 6 years ago. I have travelled to a lot of far flung places, since. You have every chance to heal as you are young. Sleeping 10 hours a day is good, that gives your body time to heal. I had acute insomnia and it took me a long time to get back to around 7 hours a night.
Bone broth is excellent and will help a lot.
You need k2 with VitD for absorbtion.
Eat clean, no processed food.
You can buy topical magnesium oil to rub in if you can’t take the baths.
You need high dose magnesium up to the point of lose stools then back off a bit. Magnesium Threonate is good, because it passes the blood brain barrier.
The FDA has issued 4 BLACK BOX warnings about fluroquinolones, and they should only be used in a life or death situation. You may have a case against the idiot that gave you cipro. I truly hope so.
You are in a marathon not a sprint, you may as you progress get flares, they pass. Stay as stress free as you can , meditate, breathe. I am 95% better and I’m now 77 years.
Have a positive mental attitude and DON’T give up no matter how bad it MAY get. You can get there. Stay strong and when or if you need help, come back here. Plenty of good advice on this site.