My doctor said I had a kidney infection so prescribed ciprofloxacin after taking first dose I felt very sick and after five doses woke with terrible pain behind left eye and over forehead, went back to docs who said its sinusitis and I have developed a terrible chesty cough, now tendonitis in right heel.
Is all this because of these tablets? Will I get better? How long will it take? I have two small children. Thanks you for any replies
Hi emma. Are you in the uk?
Hi yes I'm in the UK. Staffordshire.
I'm in Wolverhampton. 30 year old male. I have two kids as well, 3 and 5. I took 5 tablets if ciprofloxacin for suspected epidimitis. Which it wasn't after I've been back and since had an ultrasound.
For some reason it hit me pretty hard as well. I stopped taking after 2.5 days as I had nausea and headache s. For me I started getting pins abd needles in my hands and feet which spread to my knees within a few days. Naturally I was concerned so I went back to gp. He assured me it would subside within a few days. It didn'. It oprogressively got worse and I ended up with pain in all my small joints. Wrists, ankles, elbows, knees etc.i was very concerned as I run around 40miles a week and also cycle to work in Birmingham 3 days a week so I was petrified this would end my involvement in sport and the clubs I'm in.
3months have passed now. I've been to see a sports therapist, had reflexology and even been referred to a rheumatologis. II've had loads of blood tests done and doesn't showanything. Pain is cobsiderably better now thab 3 months ago and I hhaven't got puns and needles anymore. I have aching around my achilles heel and ankle, however I haven't stopped doing any sport apart from running. I swim and cycle still but the wirry did taje its toll and I genuinely felt like my body was shutting down initially.
I haven't been taking any supplements as I didn't take tablets before and I won't put anymore down my neck. The greatest challenge u have us getting any to believe the tablets can cause this. Genuinely even I can't believe it sometimes.
It will get better with time. Keep your chin up and if u want anymore advice just pm me if I can help.
P.s. I've spoken to two guys who were hit in Oxford, one is an elite cyclist for a team, he's 2 years out and tge majority of his problems are fixed and he's back racing, another guy is 5 years out and hes heale. Neither of tgese guys could walk after there reactiin. So things do get better.
Try to stay off the web though as reading the hhorror stories will scare u to death like they did with me.
Emma the only thing I'll advise at this stage is to avoid any nsaids, I.e. ibroprofen or steroid injections. These may well be pescribed for tendinitus bybyour gp, but are known to make your symptoms worse as they react with the ciprofloxacin still in your system.
Apart from that eat loads of fruit, vegetables, gentle exercise, will boost your immune system which will help in fighting off the potential damage the drug can do. Limit alcohol intake and eats lots of veggies with magnesium in such ss broccoli etc.
Oh and try not to get obsessed by all of it.
Chris
Hi, thanks so much for the reply its good to hear I'm not alone in this. I'm 25 and my children are 2 and 4. Don't have any family nearby so it's been a huge struggle the past few days. I can't believe that tablets can do this to someone and that they are allowed to be prescribed.
So rather than going through the doctors for lots of tests do you think I need to just wait it out til I get better? Have you heard anything about magnesium helping?
Sorry posted without seeing the last message. Thanks so much for the advice Chris
Its a difficult one emma. Many websites/forums will suggest taking magnesium supplements amongst other supplements as well. I'm just very wary of taking pills fullstop. In fact I even questionned these antibiotics st the very start and I was assured tendon reactions are extremely rare. I wad even advised by s hospital cobsultant thag these were s safe drug to take.
I've never had any joint problems in my life and straight after these tablets I get all sorts going on with my joints. Very scary and it sent me into a bit if a panic. Even my wife can't believe its still causing aching etc.
I found s lot of reassurance by visiting website floxiehope. I personally haven't taken suplements but have tried epsom salt baths and eat tonnes of veg now and whilst I didnt drink much alcohol before have cut most of this out since it happened.
It seems anyone affected in this way seems to follow the same pattern. I've very rarely hsd any medixation in the past and to have a gp pretty much not believing what you're saying is hard. Blood tests have all come back normal.
Have u been diagnosed with tendinitus or are these just symptoms you're having and self diagnosed??
Symptoms can and do seem to progress withinbyhe first few monyhs but seem tk ease litle by little. Rveryone is different.
Hope yhis gelps
Chris
I wouldn't discourage going back to your gp if concerned. Whilst its common for nothing to show up in bloods again everyone is different. So it could react with your system differently. I found tge first two months s real struggle. All I wanted was reassurance things would be ok but no one can give you this. So its just s case of gettinv on with it and hoping for the best. I'm sure in time you'll be ok. Not everyone has reactions to these drugs we must just be the unlucky few.
Stay positive all will fix. Keep things as normal as possible. I haven't missed anytime off work regardless of how I've felt.
Yes doctor has diagnosed tendonitis in right heel but assures me it will fix itself in no time with rest. I was warned this was a side effect but the doctor who prescribed it reassured me chances of a healthy 25 year old developing it is highly unlikely.
My partner works a lot so I'm not gonna get much chance to rest or wallow in self pity for long with two young children. I'm not quite sure my partner actually believes all this can come from antibiotics.
You've given me hope knowing things will improve, thanks for the help.
Hi Emma
To me it seems as though the GP is taking the tendonitis a bit too lightly. As a pharmacist we have always been told to counsel a patient to stop taking a quinolone antibiotic (such as ciprofloxacin) if symptoms of tendonitis develop because of the risk of tendon damage. Agree with the above comment to avoid anti-inflammatories for the time being.
Tarun (hospital pharmacist)
Tarun- what is your knowledge around mitochondria? I'm trying to undo all the effects these tablets gave gad on me naturally. After a bit of research it would seem the drug has the ability to change dna of the mitochondria cell and this is what can cause intolerances and other affects such as gi problems or joint pain?
I've approached pharmacist s and excuse me for saying this but don't seem to know a great deal about interactions if the drug. I was even told to take ibroprofen by one gp!!.
If I tailor my diet to the repair of these particular cells un your opinion do you believe this will help?
Chris
Tauran I insisted recently on a kidney and liver test as I wanted reassurance they've nit been damaged. Both have come back within range. Surely I should be able to take comfort this?? Or can damage be caused further down the line??
Any advice (from a professional) wiuld be greatly appreciated.
Emma also worth mentioning that tendon damage caused by quinolones is different to that of a normal case of tendinitus. This is because its thought the drug itself attacks and alters dna in our cells which breaks down collagen and connective tissues. Therefore shouldn't be treated in the same way as tendinitus caused by overuse injuries. Effectively the damage is already done now. Start to eat extremely healthy cut out anything that depletes magnesium such as alcohol, stress, other medications, and hopec
That things will get better with time.
Rest/ice will not necessarily work.
If your kidney and liver function tests have come back normal then you can be very re-assured !
As for the previous post, ciprofloxacin and other quinolones (and indeed antibiotics in general) work because they target bacterial cells rather than human cells. Antibiotics are designed to target differences between human cells and bacterial cells otherwise they would be useless drugs because they would cause too much damage to humans. Ciprofloxacin targets an enzyme that is ONLY present in bacteria. I'm not entirely sure what effects if any it has on human cells - I would leave this to researchers to be honest ! When you start doing trials and studies at this level it becomes near impossible to prove a specific effect of a drug on the body based on lab tests.
Hi Emma
My story is written on another discussion here called 'Ciprofloxacin Poisoning?' but I would just like to add, that I was first affected by Levofloxacin (same group of Fluoroquinolone antibiotics as Cipro) 9 months ago, and I literally couldn't walk for nearly 5 months and was in severe pain. The good news is that now I have improved hugely. I still have pain in all the affected tendons and can't walk for too long but things are so much better.
I agree all that Chris above, has said and wouldn't bother doing the rounds of many medical specialisms. I am not a doctor but from my research on Fluoroquinolones, which has been quite extensive, I don't believe there is any quick fix and you do have to take care for a few months yet, that you don't put too much strain on your tendons (especially the large ones) because of the risk of rupture. As Chris says, Collagen is destroyed and doesn't actually regrow exactly the same as before the toxic effect - because the DNA strands are damaged.
The reason why this particular group of antibiotics causes so many problems is that it penetrates more deeply than others and doesn't only attack bacterial cells, contrary to what Tarun says, I'm afraid.
I would also strongly urge you to get your GP to mark your notes in bold, that you must never be given another Fluoroquinolone!
I wish you a speedy recovery........everyone else too.......
Very warm wishes
Plodding on
PS. I forgot to say, that there are a couple of good, closed groups, for people affected by FQT but they have to be accessed via Facebook. There is a wealth of information there but you must take care not to freak yourself out.....it's easily done!
There is also a very comprehensive list of all the Fluoroquinolones and their brand names on the Quinolone Vigilance Foundation site.
Plodding on
Tarun, if what you're saying is accurate, then how is it that a side effect of the drug is able to penetrate tendons and cause ruptures/tendinitus/periphial neuropayhy amongst many other side effects? All antibiotics not inly wipe out bad bacteria but also the good as well which is why you should also take a prebiotic whilst taking them?. I'm not a trained pharmacist but I'm sure that is common knowledge. The people that I've had contact with are all in professional positions, teachers, it consultants and myself in professional banking so I can't believe why medical staff still to this day will find it difficult to believe thats its affected us all in the same way. I'm not interested about placing blame - I'm passed that, I just need to understand whats been damaged so I'm able to put things right and concentrate on getting backbto normal.
As all my blood tests have come back normal uts difficult for me to prove anything anyway, and believe me if u pursue this its likely that you'll be treated like a hypochondriac. Better just get on with and hope that you'll body will recover through a nutritious diet and exercise.
Chris
Fluoroquinolones can penetrate any cell, organ, all soft and connective tissues, cross the blood-brain barrier and can cause a myriad of known side effects, which can and do (very often) cause systemic damage; often occurring as delayed adverse reactions. It is the fluoride molecule (sometimes more than one molecule of it) that allows such deep penetration. There are warnings in the doctor/patient literature about the many and varied side effects and that some of the damage is permanent. This is fact and there are also clear statements sent out by MHRA (these are readily available on the site for all to read) that these antibiotics should never be give as a first line defence but only if other antibiotics have failed.
Although my blood tests didn't show anything unusual, the Ultrasound on my Achilles tendons and feet did show damage and I was asked if I was a regular serious walker or went running........I have never done either and so the damage was attributed to the Quinolone.
Plodding on
Plodding on - what course of treatment was given to the recovery of your achilles tendons? Or what were u advised to do to aid recovery?.
Also what are your symptoms? I just ache around my ankle achilles area, it doesn't stop me from walking/swimming/cycling but it is constantly there.. also they ache by thw end of the day. Therws no stiffness, theyre not aesnsitve to touch or painful just achey. Is that similiar to you.
I won't be pursuing this any further through rheumatologist though as I don't want people thinking I'm juat making this up and by all accounts I just want to get on with life..