Here is my side of the story.

How to find me click here

I am so happy to share my Cipro toxicty recovery story with you and all that I have been through. Some of this story is a response to some Facebook groups diminishing my mission of spreading hope. Please know my family and I are happy now that the “darkest days” are behind us. I hope to help you all put this behind you.

My name is Jason Sousa and my Fluoroquinolone story – or should I say the day I became a floxie – started way back on December 2013. Before that I was an active athlete riding BMX bikes for radio Disney, going to the gym, working full time on my company and living life to the fullest. In December 2013, Dr. David Bae of South Coast Medical Group in Fall River gave me a 30 day prescription of Cipro for suspected prostatitis, and changed my life as I knew it.

Some time before seeing Dr. Bae, I came down with Lyme disease. I had so many symptoms which were mostly cleared up after a course of Doxycycline, but months later I had pelvic and joint pain which then led me to see Dr. Bae. I actually made it to pill 27 on that Cipro script, then gave up on the prescription. I felt great, I didn’t have any of the achilles pain he said I might get. But, a few months later at the gym my piriformis muscle in by butt popped and I had so much pain and shortness of breath. After a night in the ER, I had multiple tendon pains, insomnia, shortness of breath and many other symptoms shared in the floxie community.

Going into 2014, I realized I had FQ toxicity after reading stories on Floxie Hope. I am so grateful for that website and for Lisa who started it. This one website alone helped me put things together. After self diagnosing FQ toxicity, I was then able to convince a Lyme doctor in Milford, MA named Arthur Gertler, who was able to treat my lyme and FQ issues with IV therapy. That kept me going for awhile, but I still had massive muscle and weight loss among many other things. He, as with many other doctors in our medical system, just did not understand the FQ problem.

I maintained for a few years until late in 2017 when I suffered a huge relapse. I started to look at alternative treatments. My life was turned upside down as I chased possible cures and treatments down a rabbit hole and back up again. I then started to invest in these treatments, only steered by my own research and willingness to try anything as again, no doctor really understood what I was going through. In January of 2018, I went to GIOSTAR in Mexico for stems cells. That treatment did not work for me at all. Then In spring of 2018, I traveled to Bend, OR to see an amazing doctor named Payson Flattery who performed stem cells and exosomes which helped my hips tremendously. 

I was again okay for awhile, then experienced another relapse doing yard work in the early fall of 2018. I threw out my lower back and had a hard time standing up. So I reached out to Dr. Mark Ghalili for a phone consultation. He sounded amazing and super caring, however, I couldn’t figure out a way way to afford the whole treatment at that time. So what did I do? I went back to Mexico in October of 2018 to Stemaid.

I met a few floxies who had okay results with their 4 week program and I knew I could afford it. My wife and I went there together in hopes I would get better. You would think I would have learned my lesson the first time going to Mexico for medical treatment, right? Nope. I got so much worse from this treatment. I had all new tendon pain day to day and eventually lost about 20 pounds. Already borderline gaunt, I couldn’t afford to loose this amount of weight. In November of 2018, my reaction to everything or just this treatment alone surmounted to losing control of bodily function.

Let’s just say that Christmas 2018 came early for me and I bought myself a wheelchair from amazon. This was one of the hardest things for me to do emotionally. Keep in mind, I am an athlete at heart and before all of this happened, and even during some of the good times during my FQ toxicity, I was a very active individual. For the next six months I was in and out of a wheel chair, three of those months I depended on it almost everyday. My wife, fiancé at the time, had to help me to the bathroom at night because I could not get in my chair. This should not and could not be my life right? I almost gave up, and thank God I didn’t. With my last two credit cards I called Dr. Ghalili back and booked my treatment for the end of June 2019. I really want to thank Vanessa, Wendy, and Joy for telling me their story of healing and how Dr. G helped them. Their stories inspired me to trust the process and his expertise so much more. This is such a hard thing to do as a floxie, right? Countless doctors have empty promises and come with a heavy expense – not just financial.

If I could go back in time, I wish I had went to go see him despite my budget. Because, in hindsight I know I would have been better sooner. And, maybe some of these other treatments actually did more harm than good. Have you ever felt like that? Like, “maybe I’m taking too many supplements” or “avoiding too many foods”? His customized treatment helped me so much so quickly. I was able to walk again without fear of tearing something by the end of the first treatment – and there is no price you can put on that. So many people ask me my experience and I’ve always said it was great but if they ask me who they should see for treatment I’ve always said trust your gut and feel who fits your needs. No one’s FQ reaction is the same, and no treatment approach should be.

I have been in the Floxie community for almost a decade, and one of the many things I have developed is the skepticism of medical doctors. They are not all bad, trust me. I am so happy I was able to regain my life to the point that I was healthy enough to have our first baby in 2021. Don’t get me wrong, I am not all cured. Treatment is an ongoing pursuit, and I am getting the pieces of my life back day by day, but am healthy enough to build new pieces – And that my fellow floxies is an incredible feeling. I actually have hope again.

My current life is full. I am able to run my company Solas, which is a red light device manufacturer. This has become a hallmark moment in my life to get back to work and manufacturing devices that help people. You may have seen me post about my work on my Facebook group or pages… What can I say? …I love what I do. I just want to help and support others as I’ve been helped and supported. I want everyone to have the hope I have.

During that year, I also became a health coach to help anyone who needed a health check up. I have always loved nutrition and health, and I noticed my journey was missing someone who believed me and understood me. In no way is this a promotion for my services… I actually hope you do not need my services and that you are healthy and happy. But, I felt the need to legitimize my expertise and collaborate with other doctors and clients. I want to thank an amazing physician, Cathy Moore who gave me the courage to do this.

In 2020, I went full force into helping other floxies. First, I was an initial founder of FAAHA (Fluoroquinolone Antibiotic Awareness and Healing Alliance) The idea was simple, bring patients to doctors who want to treat this issue and all work together and share information to help those affected. Some initial members were Dr. Hanson, Dr. Ghalili, Heather Slusher and myself, to name a few.

For the last FAAHA event, I invited Dr Marc Harris, a friend of mine and mitochondrial doctor who helped the team learn techniques to aid treatment. I also presented on some of what I know about peptides. Months following the event, I was disappointed that the presentation deck and other information was not shared to certain members. The initial purpose of the group was to share as much information as possible, to collaborate and to ultimately help Floxies – not to be in competition of who is treating how ever many with whatever success rate. Unfortunately, I decided to leave FAAHA because I felt the mission shifted and it was not inline with my integrity to share information with as many people as possible to help as many people as we can collectively.
I started an amazing Facebook group called Healing Floxing to document my journey and I am happy to report it has seemed to help so many. In doing so I left some of the larger Facebook groups because of a few reasons I will get into next. This Facebook group (shown here) kicked me out because I shared my recovery journey going to see Dr. G. After messaging the admin Cora Archer I complied and stopped posting my story then was kicked out. The admins had no problem posting my Stemaid disaster but kept my healing story from the site. That same group now blocks all posts from Floxie Hope, can you believe that? I left a few other groups because I could not handle the negativity or fear of being bullied. I feel some of these Facebook groups provide false information, prevent those looking for treatment from getting it, and actually have shared false information about me which is truly sad as there is already enough pain in this community.

One important element in my story of helping floxies was one day in 2020 when Lisa Bloomquist reached out to me. I have known Lisa since 2013 and I cannot say enough good things about her. She reached out and asked me one thing. She said, “Jason I want you to be the steward of Floxie Hope because I want to retire”. I said to her “out of everyone you could have picked, why me?”. She stated that Floxie Hope needed someone who is positive, honest and can share hope. She said she saw all those qualities in me through the Facebook group I created. Flattered and nervous to fill her shoes, I signed up for the stewardship and am trying my best to help send the message of hope to others.

In closing, I’d like to clear up some of the news you may have read about me. I have been transparent and honest about all my treatments, progress and heck even my personal life and business but I’ve learned that what they say is true… “when you put yourself out there you also become a target”.

I was vocal on Facebook about all my treatments, but for some reason when I went to see Dr. G and spoke about my recovery, I was kicked out of a Facebook group and then heard they were spreading false statements whereby I was paid to share my story, which is far from the truth. I know, terrible, right? But it happened, and here is a receipt from one of my treatments. I have no financial gain from any doctor period.

I am a health coach and some have stated that I manipulate floxies for my services. In no way is this true. If someone hires me to be their coach, that is their decision. I have experience with altered health, nutrition and fitness. If you type my name in the search bar on Facebook you’ll see many comments surface helping people for free for years across many different ailments. I became a health coach to COACH people, floxie or not. It is my career, and like any career I need to get paid for it just like anyone who works a job. I help single moms with hormone problems, men with low libido and some floxies. The point is I am helping people paid and unpaid. My purpose is to serve

Now that I am the caretaker of Floxie Hope many have stated false rumors about this page. Let me be clear Floxie Hope does not sell anything. Nor does Floxie hope get paid or “work” with certain doctors. Heck my postpartum wife is offering free therapy for floxies because she is a therapist and gets us floxies. Floxie Hope has the same affiliate links that Lisa had on the site which does not make enough every month to pay for the site or podcast, I pay for that. I just hope the countless hours spent producing content and podcast helps other floxies that is my mission and now my life. I hope you can help me help others find hope and healing here on Floxie Hope.

Bless you all and I am sending you a big hug, because after this week, I know I need one.

What Helped,
Not stressing out
Getting off horrible Facebook groups
Laughing with and loving family and friends
Magnesium
Meditation
Playing with my dogs
And HOPE!

Supplements and Treatments were just a piece of my puzzle.

Where you can find me

My Youtube Channel

About Coaching Floxies

The story above is truthful, accurate and told to the best of the ability of the writer. It is not intended as medical advice. No person who submits his or her story, nor the people associated with Floxie Hope, diagnoses or treats any illness. The story above should not be substituted for professionally provided medical advice. Please consult your doctor before trying anything that has been mentioned in this story, or in any other story on this site. Please also note that people have varying responses to the treatments mentioned in each story. What helps one person may not help, and may even hurt, another person. It is important that you understand that supplements, IVs, essential oils, and all other treatments, effect people differently depending on the millions of variables that make each of us unique. Please use appropriate caution and prudence, and get professional medical advice.