I was a 56 year old mother of two, athletic runner and busy massage therapist until February 5, 2016 when my life changed forever.

I went to a new dentist that fateful Friday afternoon and during a root canal was horribly injured and went straight from the maniacal dentist’s chair to ER to ICU for 4 days, where I received IV Decadron (a fluorine based steroid), IV Flagyl and Vancomycin. Upon discharge , I was handed a script for 2 weeks of Cipro and prednisone. Little did I know, how much worse my nightmare would become. I laid in bed from the dental trauma for nearly a month under heavy sedation. My pallet had split open from swelling and the pain was excruciating.

I did recover and went back to work in April of 2016. Upon my first massage, my elbows and wrists became inflamed. I chalked it up to being in bed for almost 2 months and powered through. By July 20th, I was toast. I gave my last massage that day due to severe tendon issues. I thought that my body was failing from all the steroids and never imagined it was from the antibiotic, Cipro. Fast Forward to month 9. I had every symptom you could fathom:

Frozen shoulder
Tendinitis in elbows and shoulders
6 herniated discs
Vision and hearing loss
Suicidal ideation
Severe peripheral neuropathy
Depression
Anxiety
Leaky Gut
Ringing ears
Systemic Candida
And more symptoms than I can list.

I had little use of my arms and walking was difficult as well.

One day I googled idiopathic , bilateral shoulder tendinitis and BOOM! Cipro/Levaquin Toxicity popped up. I read in horror . I felt I had been given my death sentence.

I took this information to my doctor who patted me on the head, told me to stay off the internet and shoved a prescription for Lyrica and Abilify in my hand. I immediately found Lisa’s Floxie Hope site (shout out to Lisa Bloomquist who, with this site has no doubt, saved my life and most likely, hundreds of others just like me).

The very first thing I did was find a good functional medicine doctor on this website: www.functionalmedicine.org

I started receiving weekly IVs of glutathione and a blend of nutrients known as the Myer’s cocktail. I received these IVs every week for 6 months. I was the first Floxie my functional medicine doc had treated, so, this was new to him. For the most part, I researched how to reduce inflammation, how to heal the gut, which in my opinion are most critical in the acute phase. These antibiotics create immense oxidative stress / inflammation and obliterate our intestinal flora and the lining of our digestive tract, creating an onslaught of symptoms that are beyond comprehension. I cut out ALL sugar, gluten, dairy, msg, soy, processed foods, fluoride in my water and toothpaste ( fluorine is the element in FQs that allow this poison to cross the blood brain barrier and its highly toxic and must be avoided at all costs). I purchased the Berkey water filter ( it’s one of the few that filter fluorine out of tap water).
https://www.berkeyfilters.com/ Fluorine is also in the herbicides and pesticides sprayed on produce, so eating ALL ORGANIC fruits and veggies is important. In addition to eating organic, it’s very important to avoid standard beef and poultry as they are commonly treated with FQs. Eat only free range, grass fed organic meats.

I added a boat load of supplements as well. My supplements are powders and come in bulk from Micro Ingredients. They are organic, soy free, msg free, no fillers and made in the USA. I put all of my powders in a smoothie with Pea Protein Powder 2x per day.

-Vitamin C in powder form by Micro Ingredients
-Collagen Powder by Dr. Axe or Bullet Proof
– NAC / Micro Ingredients
– ALCAR/ Micro Ingredients
– L Glutamine/ Micro Ingredients
-MSM/ Micro Ingredients
-Quceritin/ Micro Ingredients
– Colostrum / Sovereign Brand
-Multi Vitamin : powder by Innate brand
-Amazing Grass Superfood Alkalizing and Detox powder
-BCAAs: in powder from Micro Ingredients
-L Arginine : Micro Ingredients
-Hyaluronic Acid: Micro Ingredients
-MCT Oil: Sports Research

I place all my powders, MCT oil, filtered water, one banana and a few organic frozen strawberries in my blender 2x per day. Powders are pure and more easily absorbed.

I highly recommend investing in a food processor. I use mine every day and blended all my food before eating it the first 6 months because my guts were destroyed and I was not absorbing nutrients. I blended my salads, my chicken, everything!

Miscellaneous supplements:
-vitamin D/K in liquid form
-vitamin E in liquid form
-selenium
I use Pure Encapsulations and Thorne Research for my miscellaneous tablets that are not available in bulk.
– Topical Magnesium gel ( daily)

-Magnesium is CRITICAL!
I use Perque Plus Mg
-Omega 3 gel caps
-Organic Bone broth
-Boron for detoxification and bone health.
-Digestive Enzymes before every meal.
from Enzymedica are very good. I open one capsule in water and drink before every meal.
/ Pro and Pre-biotics to heal the gut.
I use RESTORE to heal my leaky gut. This can be found on Amazon and it is amazing! I also had systemic Candida and used Candacid Forte by Orthomolecular in conjunction with a strict diet to tame the Candida.
For pain: Wobenzyme in tablet form is the best thing for aches and pains I have ever used.
I also use Kratom from Coastline Kratom for pain.
Mitochondria and fatigue :
-Mito Cell PQQ
-NRF-2 Boost by Pure Therapeutics

Avoid: NSAIDs, Steroids, any drugs with a fluorine base (Diflucan, Flonase, Paxil, Lexapro, and a few others.) Please go research if you are currently taking any prescription or OTC meds, as these could unknowingly prevent you from healing.

Other meds that can worsen our situation is immune suppressant drugs for various auto immune issues created by FQs…Plaquenil is a quinolone and will take you down a road of no return. Enbrel and Humira, to name a few. The vast majority of these meds, vaccines, Tamiflu, Flonase, SSRIs, Lyrica, sleep meds, Benzos, all have safe alternatives . Always search for safe alternatives before running or reaching for a poisonous quick fix. The costs far outweigh the benefits.

The most important piece of advice I give to others who are injured by this antibiotic is to stay out of the doctor’s office! They do not understand FQT. They can only mask ( not heal) symptoms with more toxic poison that will damage us more, making recovery exponentially more difficult. I should know, because I was ruined further in those first 9 months with IV NSAIDs and steroids. We are far better staying at home, eating healthy and utilizing supplements.

Big Pharma and doctors put us here, so, why return to the scene of the crime for more punishment?
I also wanted to gain my muscle mass back, as I had lost over 25 pounds of muscle mass the first year. I was a skeleton with lots of excess skin. I looked horrid! I started eating, drinking and training like a body builder in hopes of filling that loose skin with muscle. I drink 10 organic egg whites every single day, bought a rebounder and resistance bands at Walmart and began the journey back to being healthy. I am happy beyond belief to be running 5 plus miles every day, lifting weights and living life again. I try and reach out to others as often as I can, as this has helped me make sense out of this nightmare.
I have some permanent damage such as vision loss in my left eye from an eye stroke in October of 2018, I sometimes struggle with flares due to weather, stress, etc… but it is manageable with a clean diet and Kratom.

I know to the core of my being that healing is absolutely possible. I pray my story gives others hope .
I must say that there was one very special person that I must thank from the bottom of my heart, because without Robin Bailey , her steadfast friendship love and support, I’m not sure I would have made it out alive. I love you Robin!

** 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.