Dr Cartoon

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.

http://www.hormonesmatter.com/fluoroquinolones-101-antibiotics-to-avoid/

Definitions –

Fluoroquinolone antibiotic (noun):  A dangerous class of antibiotics with severe adverse side effects.  Fluoroquinolone antibiotics include Cipro (Ciprofloxacin), Levaquin (Levofloxacin), Avelox (Moxifloxacin) and others.

Flox (verb):  The act of suffering from an adverse reaction to a fluoroquinolone antibiotic. 

Floxie (noun):  A person who has been floxed.  Floxies suffer in a myriad of ways and display a large variety of symptoms. 

Being floxed can include the following, and more:

Peripheral Nervous System: Tingling, numbness, prickling, burning pain, pins/needles sensation,

electrical or shooting pain, skin crawling, sensation, hyperesthesia, hypoesthesia, allodynia

(sensitivity to touch), numbness, weakness, twitching, tremors, spasms.

Central Nervous System: Dizziness, malaise, weakness, impaired coordination, nightmares,

insomnia, headaches, agitation, anxiety, panic attacks, disorientation, impaired concentration or

memory, confusion, depersonalization, hallucinations, psychoses.

Musculoskeletal: Muscle pain, weakness, soreness; joint swelling, pain; tendon pain, ruptures.

Special Senses: Diminished or altered visual, olfactory, auditory functioning, tinnitus (ringing in the ears).

Cardiovascular: Tachycardia, shortness of breath, hypertension, palpitations, chest pain.

Skin: Rash, swelling, hair loss, sweating, intolerance to heat and\or cold.

Gastrointestinal: Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain.

Typically, if a person suffers from one of the side effects listed above, they suffer from several.  Floxing symptoms can appear immediately, or they can be delayed, sometime for weeks or months after a person is FINISHED taking the fluoroquinolone.  Delayed reactions often lead to people not attributing their sudden decline in health to the fluoroquinolone antibiotics.  People are commonly misdiagnosed as having a known autoimmune disease like Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus or MS, or they are told that they have fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, anxiety, etc.  Or they are disregarded and told that they are crazy, that they are imagining that their health declined markedly in just a matter of days and that there is no way that an antibiotic could lead to systemic damage.  Those who disregard the victims of fluoroquinolones are wrong.  Fluoroquinolone antibiotics can cause all the damage listed above and more.

Despite the horrifying side effects associated with fluoroquinolones, they are prescribed indiscriminately and thousands of people have been adversely affected by them, often without the person knowing the cause of their pain, disability, anxiety, etc.  The medical establishment, doctors, pharmacists, the FDA, etc. generally don’t acknowledge the damage done by fluoroquinolone antibiotics despite the fact that the devastating damage that they cause is reported throughout the internet, and in some medical journals.

That is the background of floxing.  I will try not to dwell on it.  This site is not about the pain that fluoroquinolones cause.  It is about the recovery process.  It is about hope.  It is about people who have gotten better.  It is about healing.  It is about life going on.  It is about time healing wounds.

When I was first floxed, I was hungry for stories of healing and hope.  I needed some helpful and hopeful words of wisdom in order to calm my nerves and cure my anxiety.  I hope that this site provides that for you.

My life has gone on.  I’m 95-99% better and I have every reason to believe that eventually I will be 100% healed.  In many ways, my life is actually better than it was before I got floxed.  I had to learn how to cope with being sick and some of those coping skills have made my life better in other areas.

I want to share with other people what helped me, in case what helped me can help them.  I’d also like to share tips and advice from other Floxies who have recovered.  Please don’t hesitate to send me your story and I’ll put it up on the site.

My heart goes out to all victims of fluoroquinolones.  They are evil, awful drugs and I know what it’s like to be adversely affected by them.  You are not alone.  Please have hope that you will be one of the people who recovers, who gets better, who heals.

This site is a compilation of stories from people who have been floxed and who have recovered.  Their stories are their own and what helped them may or may not help you.  Unfortunately, everyone’s recovery is different and there isn’t one thing that helps everybody (except, possibly, time, which seems to help most people).  You will not find a magic bullet cure in this site.  I wish that I could offer you a cure, but I can’t.  What I can offer you is stories of perseverance, hope and healing.  There are tips contained in each story and hopefully what helped the Floxie who recovered can also help you.