*The following is an individual’s story of surviving fluoroquinolone toxicity. It is not medical advice. Please see the disclaimer at the bottom of the story. Thank you, and please be cautious with all treatments. 

Mark was floxed about 2 years ago.  His floxing included insomnia, weight gain, anxiety, crippling exhaustion, brain fog that made doing his job difficult, and tendon and muscle issues that made doing his passion, biking, difficult.  I asked Mark to write his recovery story for this blog.  I’m sure that he’ll get around to it once he finishes winning bike races.  Yup, winning.

Here’s an article in his local paper about the win – http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/yournews/sport/10587784.CYCLING__Jones_bags_A40_time_trial_glory/

That’s a pretty thorough recovery.  Go Mark!  Congratulations on your recovery and your win!

Per Mark –

“So, how did i get better? Lots of positive mental attitude and ignoring the pain. The depression is a bitch and you need to kick it in the teeth.  6 months in i was walking around the park, barely a 100 yards,it wiped me out. every week i walked further, getting slightly more strength and endurance. Then at Christmas (12 months) i started riding a stationary cycle. 7 minutes a day was all i could manage. By February I rode to work and back – 24 miles, steady though not full belt. Bare in mind, I was an elite cyclist previously and used to pain and hard work on the bike. It felt like a hundred miles at race pace used to. when i was tired i rested, but i had to be really tired to do that. I got on the bike whenever the exhaustion wave first hit to see if i was really tired or just mind tired. Come April I still had extremely painful feet but entered a local race and won by a handful of seconds. This was a massive confidence boost that made me continue to press on.  I get stronger and fitter every day now. I ride the 24 miles to work and back every day no problem and may do a mid week race or one on the weekend.

What am i left with out of this ordeal? My feet sting from time to time and my toes are numb. My little finger on my left hand side stings all the time and my shoulders and forearms ache like I have done a good days work. But I am a load better than I was and I hope in time these things will disappear into the background. Anxiety is still there (it was extreme) but not as bad as it was and sleep is still disturbed but I get about 7 hours a night all be it in chunks. The body responds to stress and will repair itself when stimulated – hence why athletes get muscles and fitter when they train. Sitting around for recovery to happen was doing nothing for me and I realized this at 6 months, i was 40 and needed to do all i could to get better. So I basically started to train. Tissue turnover increased and I started to repair at a greater rate than when sedentary. I have moments each day of feeling spaced out but they are getting less and less.”

** 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.