Gulf War Illness Tied to Cipro

The connection between Gulf War Illness and Fluoroquinolone Toxicity is well accepted among “Floxies,” but the connection hasn’t been made for most of the general population, or even most of the Gulf War Veteran population. I wrote this post with the hope that the issue would be pushed in both the general and the Veteran populations.

There are definitely multiple factors at work in leading to the sickening of Gulf War Veterans. Many of the factors probably compound each other. I hope that the complexity of GWI isn’t used as an excuse to not get to the bottom of it. The Vets deserve answers. I wish that those who have officially been investigating GWI ($340 million invested into determining a cause and no resolution for the Vets) would look at Cipro. I don’t know why it hasn’t even made the list of compounding factors yet. I trust that it will soon.

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Lane

10 years ago

Hi Lisa,
Today I visited Camp Arifjan here in Kuwait and met a contractor who served in the US Army during the Gulf War. How we got on the subject of Gulf War Syndrome is anyone’s guess, but after I asked him about his experience he said that he was forced (by the military) to take CIPRO twice a day for 10 days before entering Iraq. The Soldiers in his unit lined up twice a day and were watched while they swallowed each pill. This was a “preventative measure” for suspected future chemical/biological attacks. Several months later, when he was only 20 years old he remembers the peripheral neuropathy (paresthesias in fingers, hands and nerve pain in legs) and extreme fatique…his wife asking him what was wrong when he had to go to bed at 4:00 PM for the evening. He’s reported his symptoms to the VA and firmly believes that Gulf War syndrome is a consequence of the fluoroquinolone CIPRO, not an environmental toxin. When he redeployed a neurologist examined him and noted nerve damage after a nerve conduction study, but no cause was ever found.

If Gulf War Syndrome was due to environmental factors (chemcial, biological weapons, etc.,…then why was the 3 million population of Kuwait City not affected? Why is isn’t the Kuwait Ministry of Health not reporting Gulf War Syndrome in the population of Kuwait years after the war? This country is really small, any contamination or attacks from Iraq would have affected the entire state and everyone living here.

Gulf War Syndrome IS Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Syndrome; there is no doubt in my mind.