I am having horrible writer’s block, and I haven’t thought of a thing to write for floxiehope.com in a while. I apologize for the neglect, but I’m really struggling with finding the time, energy, and motivation to write about this very important topic.
This post consists of the few FQ-related thoughts that have been running through my brain lately, but it’s not a very fluid or comprehensive post, and I apologize for that.
If you are interested in helping me to keep this site active and relevant by writing a guest-post, I would greatly appreciate your help! Here is a link with info about writing for Floxie Hope:
https://floxiehope.com/2017/12/07/write-for-floxie-hope/
If you have topic requests that you would like me to write about, I am open to suggestions. Please don’t hesitate to contact me.
*****
I have been meaning to write a post about the recent finding that most of the planet’s rivers are polluted with antibiotics. This is a topic that deserves its own post, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. Anyhow, here are some articles about this awful travesty:
- The Guardian, “World’s rivers ‘awash with dangerous levels of antibiotics: Largest global study finds the drugs in two-thirds of test sites in 72 countries“
- CNN, “The world’s rivers are contaminated with antibiotics, new study shows“
- National Geographic, “First global look finds most rivers awash with antibiotics: Almost two-thirds of the rivers studied contained enough antibiotics to contribute to the growing problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.“
Nothing about this is okay. Rivers have microbial communities that need to be alive for the health of the river and all the life within it. Killing bacteria throughout a river ecosystem is wrongheaded and likely horribly consequential for all the life in the river. As people ingest the water from the river, they are getting dosed with antibiotics, some of which are fluoroquinolones, and thus increasing their risk of suffering from fluoroquinolone toxicity and other adverse-reactions to antibiotics. Constant low-level ingestion of antibiotics is horrible for the human microbiome too, and microbiome destruction and imbalance is linked to many diseases. And, of course, low-level constant dosing of antibiotics leads to antibiotic resistance (the main problem that these articles focused on). It’s awful and tragic and depressing.
*****
On a happier note:
I went on a hike this weekend with my Dad and a couple of his friends. One of his friends mentioned that her 90-year-old father was saved from getting floxed because she was aware of the dangers of fluoroquinolones and told the doctors in no uncertain terms that they were not to give her elderly father these dangerous drugs. She was aware of the dangers of fluoroquinolones because of my advocacy efforts, and it felt really good to hear that from her. We know each other through my dad, not through any of my patient-advocacy work. Still, she heard and she listened, and she kept her father away from these dangerous drugs. One person at a time – the word is getting out and people are listening. Keep posting about the dangers of fluoroquinolones. Keep screaming about the damage these drugs have done to you or your loved ones. People are listening.
Here are some posts on both spreading the word about fluoroquinolone toxicity, and people listening:
*****
I have been hiking a lot lately. Though I have been on dozens of hikes post-flox, something has shifted recently. I am strong again, and I’m capable of getting stronger quickly. Strong and capable of building muscle easily and quickly was how I described myself before I got floxed. Cipro made me feel weak and incapable, and I certainly didn’t describe myself as strong post-flox. After I recovered from the acute phase, I could move and exercise moderately, but I never felt like I was increasing my capacity or getting stronger. Lately, I have returned to feeling strong. I went on two pretty intense hikes this weekend (both about 5 miles, with a significant amount of elevation gain), and I felt strong during and after both of them. I have been doing after-work 50-minute hikes lately that have been getting easier and easier. It feels really good to not only be capable, but to be strong and fit. I didn’t feel that way for a very long time.
As always, I mention these gains not to brag or to make light of the horror of fluoroquinolone toxicity, but in hope that my recovery gives you hope for your recovery.
Love and hope for recovery for all of you!
Hugs,
Lisa
*****
Thank you for all that you’re sharing. In particular, thanks for sharing your improving fitness.
I have, hanging by my front door, a pair of Nordic walking poles, waiting for me to be fit enough to used them. Seeing you with your trekking poles makes me feel like maybe I will get there one day.
About the writer’s block, I know that for me, when I’m doing a significant amount of healing, I can’t divert energy from that, into communicating with others about this condition, or the dangers of fluoroquinolones, despite the importance of these issues. At those times, it is right to be focused on self-care.
And so kudos to you, for giving yourself enough emotional grace to not force your writing, so you can keep your energy where it belongs, on your continued healing.
When you mentioned elevation, my first thought was:
I wonder what pH and redox responses FQs have in vivo?
The gurusphere is all about oxygen but then there is some recent pushback that good oxygen exchange and controlling asthma is more about the carbon dioxide than it is the over-hyped oxygen. I’m not a personal fan of rarified air but it may have its place in restoring health. There might have been more than sunlight going on in TB sanitoriums.
Hearing about antibiotics in the world’s rivers makes me sick to the stomach. It’s bad enough that they’re poisoning humans and animals with antibiotics but now they’re dumping them into the rivers? What’s next? These anti-life psychopaths are stopping at nothing in their quest to wipe out life.
On a happier note, I’m glad you’re active and living life to the fullest, Lisa. We all have varying degrees of damage but that doesn’t mean we should let these drugs stop us from making progress. Progress is about taking little steps, not big leaps. We’re all capable of it, we simply have to believe.
Also, I’m super happy to hear that this 90 year old man was saved from these poisons. I can only imagine how many people have been spared thanks to your website and on-going advocacy work. If you ask me, you deserve the Noble Prize for the outstanding work you’ve put in over the years.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, thanks for all that you do.
🙂
Be blessed Lisa
Thank you for all of your excellent work! Glad to hear you are still doing so well! Do you still take supplements? To what do you attribute your recovery?
Thanks Lisa
for your interesting site which I have been following although I am not a “floxie”.
I became interested because a person near me was given ciprofloxacin. This was in 2005, I guess. Thanks to Internet I found Stephen Fried`s book – “Bitter Pills” and http://www.fqresearch.org (the “old” one). Later on I discovered your site and others.
When I read your text about water pollution I remembered writing to a Swedish researcher in 2011. By then he had made several trips to India to investigate the environment around pharmaceutical plants, particularly the water. I sent him an email telling him about my friend and also about the floxie-stories that I had read.
He answered – told me to google this: ”killer pharma industry” and “State of community health at medak district”
I am sure you will also find some information if you google “Joakim Larsson + ciprofloxacin.
You can also google “Pharmaceuticals sold in Sweden can cause serious environmental harm in India” (12 pages). I think it`s equally relevant in USA.
Please read Katherine Ebans new book.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/13/books/review/bottle-of-lies-katherine-eban.html
Glad to hear that you are still improving and hoping your writer´s block will disappear.
Dr. Malcolm Kendrick in the U.K. is suffering from something similar. In spite of it he has written a very funny/interesting text with the title “Writer`s block” on June 4th, 2019 (www.drmalcolmkendrick.org)
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