Almost every time I mention how Cipro messed me up, I get the response, “Oh yeah, I’ve taken that – it doesn’t affect me.” To which I respond, “I took it several times before I reacted to it too. My body went completely hay-wire the second time I took Cipro. Don’t take it again.”
Adverse reactions to fluoroquinolones aren’t allergic reactions, they’re something else. The pathology of adverse reactions to fluoroquinolones is unknown – to anyone (or, if someone knows, they’re not publishing research papers about it). My guesses to the pathology can be found at https://floxiehope.com/2013/06/20/what-is-fluoroquinolone-toxicity/.
Unlike allergic reactions, adverse reactions to fluoroquinolones often occur long after the fluoroquinolone use has stopped. Antihistamines do nothing to stop an adverse reaction to a fluoroquinolone (though they may be able to help with some of the inflammation symptoms and they don’t seem to hurt most Floxies).
Though some people react to their first dose of a fluoroquinolone, many don’t, which leads them to falsely believe that these drugs are safe and that they won’t react to them in the future. Unfortunately, an adverse reaction to a fluoroquinolone can occur even if (maybe especially if – because there is (anecdotal) evidence that fluoroquinolones accumulate in the body and that there is a “tipping point” at which the body overloads) they have been taken with no adverse reaction in the past.
Looking back, I had some of these warning signs after I took Cipro the first time, in 2010. My eyelid twitched and I developed strange, but passing, abdominal cramping. I experienced a “weak bladder” that I attributed to genetics and age. I had itchy legs at times and just thought it was dry skin. I didn’t connect any of these things to the prescription antibiotics that I took to treat a urinary tract infection.
If I had connected those symptoms to the fluoroquinolones, I may have been able to avoid taking Cipro again, and I may have avoided the pain and suffering that I went through starting in December, 2011. (https://floxiehope.com/lisas-story/). I hope that this list of minor symptoms serves as a warning to you. Please don’t take any fluoroquinolone antibiotics no matter what, but especially if you are experiencing any of the following, heed your body’s warnings and stay away from these drugs!
What FQ can do (HINTS AND CLUES THAT MIGHT SAVE YOUR LIFE)
Perhaps you have taken quinolones in the past and you think that they worked well and that you did not react negatively to them. Check the following subtle symptoms of the beginning stages of a quinolone intoxication from an earlier treatment and the normal interpretations that people make of them.
* You had a strange bout of tendinitis, for instance in the outer tip of the hip, normally diagnosed as trochanteric bursitis caused by tight belts or resting on you side at night. The same applies to other areas of the body, like the elbow (epicondylitis) diagnosed as an overuse of your tennis racquet or gardening practices, but you remember that you had never had it before.
* It takes you longer to recover after exercise. It is not alarming and you have not paid much attention to it.
* You sleep worse than before; it seems normal as you have a lot of pressure at work.
* From time to time you have some small throbbing pains in different parts of the body. They last only for a few seconds, so there is nothing to worry about it.
* It is strange- but you have occasional twitching in an eyelid, or any other part of the body. It is not painful.
* Some nights you feel some mild itching migrating along your body. One brief itch here, and another there. It is more intense in the scrotum or groin. Instead of identifying it as a peripheral neuropathy, you conclude that your clothes, your perspiration or the new brand of soap that is more irritating must be causing it.
* You feel some stiffness, and your range of movement is not as full as before, especially in one or both legs, but it is normal because you are getting older.
* You do not tolerate coffee as well as before. Now you have to reduce the amount of coffee that you used to drink.
* Your memory is not as good as it used to be. The cause may be too many things to think about and too much stress. And you are no longer a young person.
* There is an urge to urinate when the bladder is partially full. When you feel the need to urinate you have to rush for the toilet. Most urologists think that it is due to a dysfunction associated with a benign enlarged prostate but in reality it is a neurological deficit caused by the prescriptions of quinolones that they gave you.
* You cannot flex fully, or strongly, your big toe (one or both), or sustain the flexion for more than a few seconds. This is an indication that your large nerves (anterior tibialis) have started to fail due to the toxicity. This sign is a strong warning that your body will not tolerate more quinolones.
* Sometimes, you have nightmares while falling asleep that scare you. How strange you think. They are toxic panic attacks that reflect toxic damage to your brain.
If you have experienced some of these symptoms since you took your first quinolone, perhaps you have reached your first threshold of tolerance, that -once surpassed- can result in the destruction of your life soon thereafter if you take more quinolones.
I wouldn’t want even my enemy took fluroquinolonas (Ciprofloxacin, Levaquin and Avelox), are true poisons!
Cipro brought down my life, but din´t kill me!
Thank you Lisa for everything!
Many people have stories of healing, (one of them is Lisa) and I also have faith that my healing will come!
Thank you Lisa for everything!
NEVER TAKE CIPRO!
Faith, Faith,Faith, Faith,Faith, Faith,Faith, Faith
I’ve someone in my life i WISH i could share this with, but she doesn’t want to hear it. Thank you so much.
The delayed severe adverse reactions and the the fact fluoroquinolones have a cumulative effect in the body is the most insidious way this poison does its damage . I see time after time people commenting that they were fine and did not have any side effects , or maybe they just had a twinge here or there,don’t be fooled people, the damage is being done, it is just at present occurring ” under the radar ” , you just do not notice it yet, because you
have not exceeded your own tolerance level. I took levaquin and norfloxacin in the past, and it was only when I was prescribed cipro (unfortunately along with an NSAID) that I exceeded mine, this was three years ago, Some things have improved for me, the balance coordination, twitching, so their is a light at the end of my very long tunnel, any improvement Is a blessing, so things can get better. Thank you Lisa, It is so nice to find a site that lifts you with positive vibes , we sure need it !
Thank you Lisa for this post. I took Cipro for the 1st time back in July 2013 and sever nerve pain in my neck and head started within 24 hours. My Dr. keeps telling me Cipro isn’t the cause and that I just sleep wrong. Saw a neurologist yesterday and he is almost certain it’s from the Cipro. Going for an MRI today to see how much nerve damage has been done in my head and neck. Pain is better since I stopped Cipro, but I can tell my neck still isn’t anywhere near what it used to be. Plus I am shaking all the time now. I will NEVER take this class of drug again
I developed dry eyes and mild insomnia after my first few rounds of fqs (in addition to a couple of the symptoms you mentioned above). Several other floxies I know also had these 2 symptoms before the “last straw” dose that pushed them into acute FTS… I think they’re definite harbingers.
You all can be helped. I am recovering quickly. I am seeking help from a Classical Homeopath, who btw is 80 years old, no aches and pains and going strong. I have also found out my blood type and eating the diet that works well with my type. I am seeing an amazing difference already in just a week or 2. WOW! I was about to give up hope, when God sent someone to me, to tell me to seek this particular Homeopath. I have a cleaning business so can’t afford to go down. I have always been an active person and I am now 58 years old, back to exercising and walking the dog, cleaning and carrying on with my day. Now I won’t say I am 100% but the journey has just begun and it’s working and I am praising God every step of the way! My symptoms were muscle pain, bone pain, burning in tops of feet, all the symptoms of neuropathy. I have (not gone yet) but improving) floaters in my eyes, and noises in my head,urinary problems, including leaking, horrible groin, bladder and pelvic pain and too many symptoms to list but I was getting so sick of it, I was asking God to heal me or take me home. Life is NOT fun spent feeling this way. It is not an overnight journey, but my journey with God. He took me on the journey with Inflammatory Breast Cancer, and I beat it, without chemo, radiation or drugs. He never gives me a quick healing but chose me to show me the way, because he knows I will speak out and speak truth. Don’t give up, there is always hope. 🙂
Sue, what state are you in? I’m asking to see if he is anywhere near me. I am in Pa
Do cipro ear drops do damage? I have been so dizzy and sick since 2009, and yes I’ve been on a steady supply of cipro pills and drops for chronic ear issues. Now I have migraines ” fibromyalgia” neck pain. Every joint in my body hurts, as well as some embarrassing other stuff. Could this be associated?
I have opted not to take this drug for Lyme (bartonella). I took a sulfa drug recently and had the most awful reaction to it and this sounds exactly the same. The fact that it might happen again is more than I can endure. I’m going to have to try something else.
I have also experienced fluoroquinolone toxicity. About 8 years ago, after just a few doses, I went to bed one afternoon feeling exhausted. I woke up after having horrific vivid nightmares, and found myself sweating, shaking, and literally having auditory hallucinations, anxiety, tachycardia, and a strange prickly sensation covering my entire face. I started vomiting profusely. I felt like I’d been given really bad LSD.
I stopped taking them and my synptoms went away after a few days, luckily.
To this day I can’t find anything that describes the kind of CNS effects I experienced while taking the fluoroquinolones, and I’ve had several doctors act like I’m just crazy, or insist that it must have been triggered by something else. But I know these antibiotics definitely were the cause.
Permanent CNS damage: Shingles (active mild), Sjogren’s, Reynaud’s, plaque psoriasis, drug-induced lupus for over six years following a course of Cipro. None of these will ever completely resolve. The molars on the right side of my jaw are now all crowned or cracked from clenching my teeth in my sleep from the pain. I have awakened several times with a mouth full of broken tooth fragments. Sleep deprivation and continuous neuropathy are the norm. Pain management drugs such as dilaudid, Neurontin, and tramadol made me even sicker, so I have learned to tolerate more than I would ever have believed possible. Thank you VA and thank you Bayer! This will no doubt eventually kill me. I’ll ignore the wrong pain and pay the price. Things hurt that shouldn’t and don’t that should. I’ve had shingles in my eyes and heart more times than I can count. If I went to the ER for every pain I would soon be the “boy who cried wolf” with no credibility and mountains of bills. What is worse is that I’d be giving the doctors that did this to me a chance to do more! No thank you! I take special forms of magnesium and vitamin C which helps with symptoms without being laxative. I take 1 tbsp. of magnesium solution daily in a monoatomic form that is nearly 100% absorbable. This helps with both the neuropathy and especially with sleep. Now instead of waking up every hour to hour and a half, I only wake up every three to four hours most nights. Sometimes I even sleep for five straight hours. What a blessing! When the pain index is up even the Mg doesn’t help much. The vitamin C I take is lipospheric and also highly absorbable. I take 10 grams of it per day which helps control the shingles. It limits the amount of new vesicles to about a third of what I would normally have. I also limit the amount and severity of shingles with a low arginine/high lysine diet. Permanent CNS damage is exactly that. The flouroquinolones cross the blood/brain barrier to directly attack the brain which cannot heal itself. The worst part of this is that one year after this all started I went to my doctor for another problem. I shared my suspicions about a Cipro cause of my symptoms and syndromes with my doctor, and he not only ignored me but referred me to another doctor who put me on another course of Cipro which made it all even worse. Silly me for listening to doctors. I don’t do that anymore. Either they listen to me or I fire them. The sad thing about this is that the people who read it likely have already taken a flouroquinolone. The people that need to read it are the ones who haven’t taken it yet!
True I have seen many patients who have got ciprofloxacin toxicity especially the adverse effects on tendon and joints. Some patients get copying tendonitis and arthritis like symptoms.
That’s it! You are absolutely right! I will never ever take them again. They are causing most everything you named. I can add that it moves around from elbow to wrist to thumb joint. It’s crazy! I know it was the Cipro. I don’t take any meds so when I took this one I was left with these lingering effects. Two years now….
I had a 4 month sinus infection last year and within days of taking Levaquin last March, I developed tendonitis in my elbow (non-dominant arm). I had my first surgery in November and am getting ready for my 2nd one. All of my lateral tendons will need to be removed. It wasn’t until a friend shared the blog post from Mountains and Mustard Seeds with me today that I realized there might be a connection between my sinus infection and my elbow injury. So scary. Thanks for all of the info on your website. I look forward to learning more and am grateful I haven’t had worse issues.
First, I want to say..WOW!! I’m very impressed with the amount of time, and research, that went into the site, cause, articles, posts, etc. Very informative!! After reading the overwhelming evidence regarding the potential theories, especially at the molecular level, I would like to add a strange question and/or thought. Yes. Unfortunately, no answers, although it seems like you guys are practically there. Of all of the facts stated, it seems we know that it must be one, or several in combination, that are doing this to our bodies. So, we know the cause, more or less. But because all of us experience it differently and for an undesignated amount of time, it seems that we are looking for the different variables among the affected group? If so, my curiosity wonders if blood type would play a vital role in the adverse effects/longevity? For example, I’m Rh-, which means that I do not have the “monkey” gene. The study done on animals showed positive relief of symptoms after given…”blank”?? Would this mean people with Rh+ blood have a better chance at recoveringmore quickly, or at least a treatment for the symptoms become available? Also, if blood plays a significant role, how do they compare in terms of reacting to Quinolones during and after poisoning? If this does have any importance, MAYBE… One day, this specific drug class would only be used on a specific target group..? Sorry, I wish I had more. I hope my crazy mind/thoughts helped in some way. Thanks again for letting me share. Keep up the good work!!
So what do we do now? Suffered for 20 years, just getting worse and worse.
Yes, I have lived this nightmare. Avelox permanantly blurred my vision. It boiled my blood as a chemical reaction when it hit my. Bloodstream. I have tendon ruptures in hip and pain in elbow and Neck. I had taken Cipro, levequin in the past. Six (6) months after my 4th FluroQuinolone RX I had tendon damage all over my body.
Wow…I am completely amazed at the amount of suffering that has been caused by these antibiotics. I am a 35 year old female, mother of 4, and I have been on a search for the past 8 years to figure out what has been causing pain in my pelvis and legs. This year the symptoms have gotten a lot worse including CNS symptoms (twitching, decreased sensation in legs, pain, blurred vision), and it led me to seek out a neurologist, one of the only of many, many specialist I hadn’t seen yet. After MRI and CT scans he couldnt find any evidence of MS, which is what he thought it was, but concluded that there was something attacking my spinal cord; however, he hasn’t been able to come to any conclusion following several lab tests. I stumbled on this information after being prescribed Levaquin by a new urologist, after being diagnosed with a UTI a couple of days ago. I had been prescribed Cipro by a urologist in the US (Im now living overseas) about 8 years ago for chronic UTIs and had been taking it 2-3 times a year for the past 8 years. I am realizing now that more than likely my symptoms are from the very drug that was supposed to be helping me. I am very grateful that the Lord has sustained me this well, especially after taking it about 20 times! I am praying for more answers and ways to advocate for the safety of patients. Blessings to you all and I am so sorry for your pain.
I was given cipro in 2002 for a UTI and ran a fever of 103. Within a day temp went to normal and returned to work. I am a carpenter and was in the middle of building a wall when I got sick and when I returned to complete it I drew A TOTAL blank on the order to complete a half framed wall but felt phyically fine. I leftt work early telling my boss I was feeling ill again.Went home felt fine and when I woke the next day felt great then it got really strange. Been working at this project for a year and was a ride that was easy/simple. After turning off the highway couldnt remember if there was a stop or yeild sign coming up from that point I have no idea how I made it to work. The moment I stepped out of my car I went into a seizure and guys at work brought me to the hospital. Got CAT scan and hey told me to continue cipro. At this point it was as though I had full blown parkinsons…shuffle stepping, extreme shaking throughout entire body to top it off with massive depression. I was totally non functional physically. My father picked me up at hospital and hrew the cipro out. I was unable to work, drive or take care of myself or home for 6 months. My GP was shocked when I informed him of what happened and the neurologist also had no expaination. Since then I dont have the severity of the effects but some remain like short term memory loss, massive amounts of widespread chronic pain primarily in my back and only get 1 or 2 hours of sleep at a time from being woke in agony.It feels like my joints are litterally being torn apart. I was always in great shape and extremely active now I just try to go to work(ofcourse I am not a carpenter any longer because I am not phyically capable)and survive. Doctors just keep trying arthritus meds and they do nothing at all. Its been a long time since I looked up info on cipro and ALOT more info is available now to warn people about the life changing effects this drug is capble of.
I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia/ME about 10 years ago….but I just read the symptoms on this page and I have every single one! Now I’m wondering if I could be suffering from this instead. I’m not sure what I would have taken FQs for, thoughts on that??