One of my symptoms of fluoroquinolone toxicity was memory loss. For a while, I lost my short-term memory, and I struggled to remember basic information and tasks. I also felt as if I lost my reading comprehension, and I struggled to remember what I had read shortly after I read it. Completing work-tasks that had previously been easy was suddenly difficult, and I struggled to do my job.
I felt stupid and incapable, and I worried that I now WAS stupid and incapable.
It was horrible. The loss of mental capacity was the most worrying and anxiety-inducing symptom of fluoroquinolone toxicity that I experienced. I was worried about my body–going from being able to do Cross-Fit to barely being able to walk was scary–but I was more worried about my mind. I could cope with not being fit, but I couldn’t deal with being stupid. And I felt stupid.
Over time, my memory and reading comprehension improved. The post, Healing my Brain After Cipro, lists the things that helped me. I am now able to function mentally. My memory and reading comprehension are adequate enough to do my job, and I don’t think that I come off as a total nitwit when I converse with people.
I still worry a bit about my mental capacity though. So much time has passed since I took Cipro–I got floxed 6 years ago, at the end of 2011–that it is difficult to tell how much of my perceived reduced mental capacity is due to getting floxed, getting older, spending way too much time on the internet, eating foods that are inflammatory, lack of mental stimulation, or some other factor.
I tend to blame the internet, and my mild (or not-so-mild) addiction to Facebook, for a good portion of my memory and attention-span loss, and studies seem to back-up my hunch that the constant dopamine hit that social media gives us isn’t actually good for our brains–especially our memories or attention spans. I read The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr to learn more about, and reinforce, this notion.
I expected The Shallows to provide information about the deleterious effects of the internet on my brain (that IS the premise of the book), but I didn’t expect it to link antibiotic use to memory loss. Yet… this quote jumped off the pages:
“In the 1960s, University of Pennsylvania neurologist Luis Flexner made a particularly intriguing discovery. After injecting mice with an antibiotic drug that prevented their cells from producing proteins, he found that the animals were unable to form long-term memories (about how to avoid receiving a shock while in a maze) but could continue to store short-term ones.”
An antibiotic kept the mice from forming long-term memories! Whoa!
The antibiotics used in the referenced study weren’t fluoroquinolones, but still…. it’s an interesting connection, and I wonder if the link between antibiotic use and memory (or memory loss, or memory formation/lack of memory formation) has been studied further.
I experienced difficulty forming memories after taking Cipro/ciprofloxacin, and I have heard from many others who have had similar experiences. I wonder how wide-spread, or significant, this problem is. I don’t believe that the effects of fluoroquinolones on human memory formation has ever been studied. It should be studied though. Our cognitive abilities–especially our ability to form meaningful memories–are at the base of both our intelligence and our humanity. Wouldn’t it be horrifying for antibiotics that are given out by the handful to millions of people each year, to be deleteriously affecting our memory formation, our intelligence, and even our humanity? Ugh. That’s a somewhat horrifying thought. I appreciate that some mouse studies have been done though, and the connections are always interesting, even when they are scary. Maybe someday we’ll have more information about the significance of these connections. I hope so, even if the information is frightening.
And yet another thing does caffeine tolerance eventually go back to normal as well? Obviously take your time answering as I got nothing but all the time in the world. Lol. And about toothpaste, I use Colgate total. Does the fluoride in that really cause more devastation? I haven’t noticed anything yet, and I obviously use it everyday, but it just now kinda dawned on me.
How e
I also have a drs appointment Early Monday morning, and am wondering what blood tests I should absolutely request to rule out other lingering issues. One I think I’m going for is ANA. That red face I told you about from showering has turned into something that looks like a Malar rash. Knowing being floxed can cause an autoimmune disease is pretty damn terrifying and I’m almost afraid of opening that can of worms…because then what? I can’t really utilize the proper medicine. I had an ANA test and some of the other big ones for auto immune disease two years ago and they all came up negative. Do you have any other suggestions?
And last but not least, mito q. Should be arriving at my house any day now. I’ve read that it helps a lot of floxies, but what are the potentially bad side effects?
*Just put this here because it’s easier to see and to add
Any other tips when it comes to diet? I’m a notoriously and ridiculously picky eater. That’s been my fatal flaw ever since I was a kid. I’ve tried to clean it up a bit. I’ve of course haven’t had any caffeine or alcohol. I’ve been taking pro biotics. I’ve basically been living off of bananas and fruit cups in the morning, bologna sandwiches in the afternoon, peanut butter and crackers with milk in the evening (weird combo I know lol) and maybe another banana at bed. That’s the regular. I’ll also have Mac and cheese, pasta, roast beef, roast chicken both with mash potatoes and gravy and green beans.
I’ve been avoiding excess sugar and sweets to the best of my ability. The other day I had 3 Oreos and I think it triggered my anxiety the next day a bit, so I stopped and have been feeling better. I’ll indulge in junkier food (pizza, chicken fingers and fries) maybe 1-2 time a week as a treat and haven’t noticed any ill infects so far. Have floxies with less than perfect diets seen recovery? I know you said before you ate pretty much what you wanted except sugar for six months.
I don’t think I can go full organic and vegan and all that.
I also want to say that my physical symptoms such as my pinky pain and rib pain has subsided significantly but my anxiety has creeped up again the last few days. Not as intense as before but a bit more constant now. My sleep pattern is also out of whack, again. I’ll have to take two melatonin 5mg each and an antihistamine to fall asleep and then I’ll wake up six hours later and can never fall back to sleep. It gets a little better day by day though. I unfornunately feel there’s no way of avoiding taking the ranitidine because I can’t take a big deep breath lying down and it’s the only thing that seems to relieve it even a little (I did have this for a while pre flox).
My fatigue also has returned, not as bad as before but still constant and persistent.
I realize this is average for cycling to recoccur but if they’re happening not as bad as before, does that mean healing is on its way?
Lol, no no. I was just seeing when I could possibly return to social drinking down the line, but I’m in no rush for that.
When it comes to listening to my gut, it becomes a very confusing thing. It’s hard to tell what answers the right one. For example, the oreos. Sometimes I wonder if my relapse was inevitable, or if the Oreos themselves triggered it.
Yes my symptoms have relapsed. The last two weeks I felt much better, with few gripes at a time that weren’t too terrible to get through. But then all the sudden the left pinky and rib thing happened, then the anxiety and bit of depression. The anxiety and depression aren’t AS horrible as they were (at least not yet). But it feels like they’re lingering it on a bit longer than before. Longer, but less intense. Does that make sense? Is it normal?
Also something else I should mention. The floaters and tinnitus. They both are just barely happening to me. And I mean barely barely. Essentially since the beginning, they both would come very briefly (like literally a minute or two) and then go away. This happens maybe twice a week. Also the other day I woke up with my left knee burning. Like hot lava was being poured onto it and then started dripping down. I started rubbing it for about a minute or two and then it went away. Didn’t bother me again the whole day. My concern with these symptoms is the question of whether or not they’re “fun” little mini symptoms and that’s all they’re gonna be, or if they’re just a small preview of what’s yet to come..
What really worries me about this relapse is my stomach. Up until a couple days ago it felt almost normal. Now it feels really worrisome. My appetite is sort of back to meh again. I don’t know if it’s the ranitidine or what, but other than that I really haven’t been doing anything different. Is that also normal?
I may have spoke too soon before about the symptoms not being as harsh. My fatigue is back in full force as I’m just now finishing the work day. I also feel pretty tired and borderline nauseas.
In
Yeah I definetely didn’t mean to make this the “Bobby” show. I’ve just been so scared and literally have no one in my personal life that fully believes levaquin did this to me. Sorry about that guys.
Ruth do you have an e-mail address instead? I wiped my Facebook a long time ago (job opportunity thing as well).
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