Symptoms started appearing 1 months after taking antibiotics and it is progressive

Hello Everybody

I took Cipro on mid June and it didn’t hit me then except minor bruising on my under arm .But then after a month I started feeling pain on my legs ,then shoulders and recently(after almost 3 months) I feel pain on my small joint of wrists, hands, feet, fingers etc. I am sick worried if I have rheumatoid arthritis or it is Cipro post side effects?

Does anybody know if the symptoms can wait that long to appear and be progressive after or it is probably rheumatoid arthritis?

Thanks

Sarah

Hi Sarah

I'm so sorry to hear that you are having an adverse reaction to Cipro - you are not alone!

It is extremely likely that all these symptoms/pain, is due to the Cipro and what you are experiencing is a very common side effect.

Delayed Adverse Reactions can occur for years after stopping taking these Fluoroquinolone antibiotics. So the answer to your question is "yes", many symptoms can appear for a long time. This is well documented and is written in the information about these meds. Unfortunately, most doctors are ignorant of the dangers with Cipro,  Levofloxacin(Levaquin) etc., and refuse to believe their poisoned or 'Floxed' patients; this is a huge problem.

I urge you to research these antibiotics and make sure that you NEVER take any of them again, unless every other antibiotic has failed and it is a life or death situation.

Quinolone Vigilance Foundation and Floxie Hope are good sites to begin with.

Check out the other conversations here about Cipro too and please keep in touch.

plodding on x

 

Hi Ploddings

Thanks allot for your reply. It is such a shame that we and our health and our lives can be played this easily...

I really appreciate your reply and comforting me.

Did this poison hit you too?how did you manage it? I sincerly hope you are doing fien now...

You're welcome Sarah but I don't think it's much comfort really, though I hope you don't get worse, of course.

I am 18 months out from taking Levofloxacin and for almost 5 months last year, I was unable to walk and was bedridden. Both my Achilles' tendons and all the other tendons in my legs, ankles and feet were affected. The pain was screaming and when I got up for the bathroom, I couldn't lift my feet off the ground- I could only slide/shuffle my feet very slowly. It felt like I had sharp stones under my feet too. I had to take morphine for the pain and still do, though the pain is very much better. I still can't walk for too long and my tendons ache in the evenings. 

I am suffering with insomnia now and I believe this is a delayed reaction, as I have never suffered previously. Also, my brain is much foggier and my memory is shot.

Many people have been permanently damaged and are crippled completely and so at the moment, I feel I am one of the luckier ones but the scary thing is that I have no idea what will happen as time goes on. 

There is no cure, though some people say that high doses of Magnesium helps. I would recommend that you get any levels checked with your doc before taking supplements though. 

Are you in the UK?

plodding on

Hi Ploddingon

I am exteremly sorry for what you went through..It was beyond my imagination that this antibiotics can cause such a severe damages...My heart is really aching for you now and for eveybody who is going through this ...

I am not in UK BTW,I am in Montreal,Canada.I got 500mg/twice a day for  5 days,for simple UTI...and since a month after the end course,every single day when I wake up  I am afraid what new has happened to me!

Ploddingon,My heart is with you,I wish there was something I can do or say to reduce your pain and mine.I will do alot of reserach and update you if I come cross any remedy .xx

Sarah

Hi Sarah

Thank you for your kind words and my heart goes out to you too.

I have spent the last 18 months reading about Fluoroquinolones and all the various types if damage they cause and it is truly mind-blowing. I have researched everywhere and if you are on Facebook, then there are a few groups for Fluoroquinolone Toxicity/poisoning, where you can find loads of information in their files section and also meet others who are happy to answer questions and give support too. I have met a few Canadians there. So it could be very useful for you.

I took 500mgs Levo twice a day for 9 days and began to be affected after the 3rd tablet but didn't realise what was happening. I don't even know what infection I had! My sad story is in the Cipro conversatIons here somewhere but I am loads better than I was a year ago and I just hang onto that, despite all the strange symptoms that appear constantly......and as you say, wondering what each new day will bring :-(

You take care now and stay in touch here.

plodding on x

Hi Sarah

I also had somewhat of a delayed reaction although i had a few problems whilst on Cipro, mild dizzy feeling, depersonlisation, restless legs, i did 12 days of Cipro before calling it quits, felt fine for a month and then it all kicked in.

Brain fog, tinnitus, crazy fatigue, proper dizziness, feet pain, leg pain, pain everywhere, aches that feel like the flu, tendon pain, my whole body felt tight, popping joints, popping hips, wobbly knees, shoulders feeling like they are ripping themselves to bits.

You will be amazed at what Cipro can do but also what can feel like permanent damage only to go away in days, my shoulders felt awfull for months then almost overnight got better, just because there is pain does not mean it is real damage, even popping joints can be just nerves not controlling your joints right.

I am 5 months out and i still have tinnitus and acid stomach problems, the rest have largely resolved so far, not to say more or all of it might come back.

I made my dizziness far worse with Alpha Liporic acid that i thought might help me and i took some true Lipsomal Vitamin c 100mg again because i thought it might help, it made my heart race immediately and i went downhill rapidly from a fairly early recovery.

Magnesium seems a safe supplement, otherwise don't bother, eat right, plenty of organic vegetables, avoid pork and chicken, full of Cipro family antibiotics, British beef and lamb probably ok.

stay calm, try to ignore the crazy stuff happening to your body, keep moving   carefully, don't damage yourself but you need the tissue turnover so keep moving, many people recover, have faith!

Just noticed you mentioned your hands, I also had carpel tunnel, arthritic wrists, i don't right now though. hope that helps

Hi tim91877

 

Thanks for sharing your story and giving me comfort...

 

I am glad that your symptoms are almost gone! I wish everybody poisoned by Cipro could get off it.

 

I really really hope that mine are related to Cipro and they go in couple of months.

 

Again apprecaite your help and comfort,it really fill my heart how ppl who have never met me help me through this :-* Stay in touch !

 

Sarah

I have virtually no doubt it's Cipro related

I'm glad that Tim has given a more positive outlook than I did. As he says, people do recover. I have just been spending too much time reading about all the worst cases and must take a break from those horror stories again.

I am much better than I was this time last year too.

I am also convinced your problems are Cipro related.

take care both Tim and Sarah.

i have just lost my post - this website is rubbish...illogical and not user- friendly! Grrrr

plodding on

Cheers Ploddington, i figure somebody else is always worse off, i'm already much more compassionate for people in constant pain and severe illness, atleast with Cipro there is a good chance you will get better, i have a friend with muscular distrophy, very difficult to moan about what i'm going through to him.

Got to stay positive! there is a definately a mental element to Cipro, it's just another symptom like everything else it does.

I would also avoid all medications as far as physically possible, it will just confuse your body and it's healing process! The body has amazing ways of healing but it takes time................sometimes a long time!

Hi Sarah. Have a look at the website 'floxie hope'. You will find it if you google it.(If the mediators let me print this). It is a mind of information and very supportive. It is one of many sites but I have found this one to be very well written.  

Hello tim!

I have a quetsion for you!I am doing alot of reserach and I am not seeing anywhere if this toxidity can be progressive by tiem or not?coz what I am observing now is that the pain is progressing and getting worse,although it has been 3 months since I have stopped using it,Do you think this can still be related to Cipro?

Thanks allot

Sarah

Hi Sarah

sorry you are still feeling bad and yes, this toxicity often continues long after finishing the Cipro. Some people only start to get the adverse reaction long after they stopped the Cipro, or Levo etc (all the FQs are the same) Sadly, what you are experiencing is very normal in this FQ poisoning.

side effects can change and pain can move from one area to another. There is no logic to the reactions. Other meds and certain foods can reignite the adverse reaction too, so that you might think you are recovered from one problem, then a different one appears.

take care

plodding on

Hi All,

I'm new to to the group so hope this doesn't sound crazy.

I'm 10 days into a 14 Day prescription of 1x 500mg Cipro twice a day for suspected prostititus , firstly great my pain in my scrotum has gone but weirdly I'm now having kidney pains and stomach cramps.

Today I had a really weird turn , lightheaded and shakes , my urine smells odd too , and I'm noticing pain in my small joints and ankles.

Surely these cant all be attributed to the Cipro can they?

I'm in a dilemma now , do I continue the course for 3 more days to make sure the original infection is cleared? Or stop the Cipro now?

I honestly felt terrible today , I was convinced at one point I was dying.

Sorry if this sounds crazy , but it's good to at least share this with others.

Kindest Regards,

Alex

Hi Sixxdog/Alex

Please stop taking the Cipro!

you don't sound crazy at all and it sounds like you are definitely having Adverse Reactions to the Cipro. They are very common and not rare at all.

Read the conversations about Fluoroquinones.

They are NEVER supposed to be prescribed as a first - line defence, except they are and I have met thousands of people online, who have been severely damaged by them. I am one. Took Levofloxacin 2 years ago and after the 3rd tablet I began to get more unwell. By the 7th day I could no longer walk as both Achilles and all tendons in both feet and ankles were damaged. I was bedridden for the next 6 months.

I had other ADRs too but luckily I can now walk a little and other effects are improving. the affected tendons still hurt but this is not surprising as one ADR is for all Collagen to be destroyed and if it grows back, it does so in a higgledy piggledy way; not the same aligned structure as before it was attacked.

Look up these antibiotics and if you go to the MRHA site, which might come under the Govt (.uk) umbrella now, you will find a Drug Safety Update from 2012, stating when these should not be used. Problem is, that doctors don't seem to have read it and the drug companies have 'hidden' the ADRs in their patient info leaflets, also making out that these are rare. Believe me they are not! I know people who have been crippled permanently by them, in many various ways....often after just one tablet.

The main thing is to STOP taking them.

I wish you well

Plodding on

 

Hi There,

OMG , what the hell have they given me?

No way I'm taking any more , is there anything I can do to stop the onset or to rid myself of the dose I've just taken before reading this?

Im terrified now , I feel better than I did earlier , but am now scared to death this is just the start. :-(

What can I do! , should I contact my ER now?

Blind panic has now set in.

Please Advise.

Alex

 

PS Alex. If you are on Facebook, there are support groups and much info too. Also look up the Quinolone Vigilance Foundation...they have a website, so you don't have to go through FB. 

This a very user-unfriendly site to be on. I have seen people answer or ask questions, from others, that were posted over a year ago and don't revisit.

Conversations can get very fractured and lose chronological order.

good luck

Plodding on

Scared to death about sums it up right now. :-(